𝕍𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕙

《 Three - Old Relationships, New Dynamics 》

Abhimanyu immediately switched roles from a loving, caring uncle to a responsible, respected surgeon as he entered the Birla Hospital after dropping his nephew, Ayaan, at school. He settled in his cabin, wore his doctor's coat, and called the nurse.

"What's today's schedule? Other than Mrs. Patel's surgery?" he asked the nurse as soon as she entered.

"You have two follow-up appointments, doctor. Nothing else," she replied.

"Right. They are scheduled at 11:00 and 11:30 if I am not wrong."

"Yes, sir," the nurse said curtly.

"Great! So till then, I'll do my rounds and brief Mrs. Patel about her surgery. Ask the interns to meet me for the rounds," Abhimanyu instructed the nurse.

"I'll do that," the nurse replied, leaving the cabin.

Abhimanyu sighed as the nurse left-only if he could avoid talking to people, making any conversation, big or small. But no. His job was such that he had to communicate to understand people's problems and pain. Abhimanyu had turned into a robot for the past five years-a heart surgeon with a broken heart-what an irony! He never showed any emotion or pain; he only smiled a little when he spent time with Ayaan.

Without wasting any time, he got to work. He met with all his appointments, completed his rounds, and performed the surgery-tirelessly, without a break.

Just as he returned to his cabin to relax for a bit, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said, permitting the person at the door to enter.

"Accha hua tum yahi ho ab tak," Aarohi spoke as she entered the cabin.

Abhimanyu-who had immediately put on a cold, indifferent face upon seeing Dr. Aarohi-asked, "What happened, Dr. Aarohi?"

"The new patient who is admitted today for the bypass surgery, you are on that case, right?" she asked.

"I am," Abhimanyu stated.

"Okay, so can I take over that case from you?"

Abhimanyu let out a sigh. This wasn't the first time Aarohi had come in with such a demand. Ever since she had completed her MD, Aarohi was on a hunt to get all the best cardiac cases that came to the Birla Hospital. She was in a race where she was the only competitor. She was doing all this to impress the Board of Directors of the Birla Hospital so that they could promote her to the post of Medical Director. Abhimanyu never had the energy to argue or play games with Aarohi, so he always gave up on cases. But he was also well aware of Aarohi's history as a doctor and did not want to endanger his patients' lives. Hence, even when he transferred cases to Aarohi, he made sure to keep checking on the patients and be available during their surgeries, just in case. However, the patient that Aarohi wanted this time was critical and required the expertise of a senior surgeon-he was not sure of handing it over to a novice like Aarohi.

"I am not sure if I want to do that, Dr. Aarohi. The case is critical, and I-"

Shocked at Abhimanyu's words, Aarohi immediately cried crocodile tears and cut him off, "And you think I am incapable of performing a critical surgery. Why? Is that because I am a woman? Or is it because you have something against me?"

Abhimanyu sighed again. He had lost count of the number of times Aarohi had done this drama. But he couldn't jeopardize his patient's well-being this time.

"No, Dr. Aarohi. I never said that. I am totally aware of all your capabilities. Main acchhe se jaanta hoon tum kya-kya kar sakti ho," Abhimanyu said, subtly throwing an indirect at Aarohi, "Also, stop self-victimizing. Old habits die hard, isn't it?" he added.