Fitoor

55 | I'll be there for you

Shehnaaz

It was a miracle how we reached the hospital within five minutes but I don't dwell on that. My sandals slap against the tiled floor as I almost jog my way to Neha's cabin with Sidharth in tow.

As soon as we reach the hallway, I see Rohan barking orders to someone over the phone near the lounging area and spotting him, I quickly make my way towards him. Hearing our footsteps, he turns and ends his call.

"Hey, I'm sorry for disturbing-" I cut him off and say incredulously, "Are you serious? You didn't disturb us at all. Is she talking?" From the corner of my eye, I see Sidharth's eyebrows rise mockingly in my direction.

Ok fine, maybe we were disturbed in our morning's sexual rendezvous but who cares?
Neha's more important! For her, I'm ready to ditch a thousand Sidharths.

"Yeah..about the talking part..." Rohan rubs the back of his neck nervously and avoids meeting my eye. "What?" I ask him with confusion and fear lacing my voice.

"Her vitals are ok, but she is not talking" Seeing my wide eyes, he quickly explains, "She hasn't gone mute. It's just that she doesn't want to talk about.....anything...at all"

"Oh..." I whisper and watch Rohan grimace whilst Sidharth remains quiet. "I'm not surprised. I mean she has gone through so much, it's normal for her to not wanting to talk about it" Sidharth says after a beat and shrugs whilst I nod my head in agreement to his words.

I don't even know what to say to her. I decide to go to Anita and ask her about this. I mean, surely she knows how to deal with these types of situations? On cue, I feel a pair of footsteps approaching us, and turning behind, I see Anita walking in our direction with a handsome doctor walking alongside her.

"Hello everyone, I'd like you all to meet my colleague Dr. Jaidev Chadha. He's our internal medicine doctor who will be observing Neha's condition" She points at the gorgeous man beside her who just merely offers us a small polite smile.

Before Anita can move further inside the hallway, I sprint towards her and grab her wrist, halting her. "Uh, hey...can I talk to you for a second?" I ask her nervously as she watches me dubiously.

"Yes, sure" She nods and steers me near the floor to ceiling glass walls on the other side of the floor and turns to face me, "So...what do you want to talk about?"

Judging from her expression, it was obvious that she knew what I wanted to talk about but I know that she wants me to admit it out loud.
"I don't know what to say to her" My shoulders slump with resignation and I look down at the floor, not being able to look her in the eye.

I hear her sigh and she calls out my name which makes me look at her concerned face.
"Just go a bit easy on her. Try not to say anything that might trigger her because she needs to stay mentally stable too" I nod my head and mentally prepare myself to face my best friend.

"I just feel so lost. It has always been me who runs to her whenever things go wrong. But now the roles are totally reversed, I just don't know what to do..." I say truthfully and keep my hands folded over my chest to prevent them from shaking.

She places a comforting hand over my shoulder and says, "Just don't say why she did what she did. Just be by her side as the friend that she needs right now and besides, I'll be outside the room too with Dr. Chadha. If things go out of hand, we'll handle it. Also, don't talk much. Let her wrap her head around all these"

I nod again and watch her head towards Neha's room with Dr. Chadha. "You know, we should get a move on too" I hear Rohan murmur beside me and turn to look at him.