The Straight Line hospital

The EPIC Defamation

“Here,” Said abhishek giving Nirvaani hand. Her eyes were still fixed at Saaransh, she was calculating the circumstances his words would lead to, the media had recorded everything, they even had the evidence. She didn't care about her hospital at the moment all she cared was for Saaransh's defamation all around the country and if the news reached till his hospital in California. It would cost his job.

“Shut the cameras off,” Manisha screamed. But Did the media even care?
“Security,” she shouted.
The guards barged in asking all the interviewers to leave, it was impossible for 4 guards to handle 20 people, no one heard a single word said by the guards Saaransh was struggling to come back to reality and the loud voices of the crowd made it even worse.
Soon the police reached the scene and started arresting the protesters, but was this the end? It was just the beginning of THE EPIC DEFAMATION Saaransh was going to face.

“Come to your senses Saaransh,” Said Manisha cupping his face and shaking him Vigorously.
Except Saaransh everyone was worried about him at the time being. And our Saaransh, he was standing there like a zombie.

Nirvaani stood up taking Batra's hand. “Thank you,” She said to which Abhishek smiled.

Manisha too grabbed Saaransh's hand.
His face was red with anger, he had lost his sense, the man who hit Nirvaani was standing far away with his gang pleading the police. The hatred still rested within him for the man. But would it still be there if he had pushed someone else? And from when did he start caring about his colleagues.
Wasn't he someone who always stayed away from troubles?

“Saaransh, calm down,” Said Manisha patting Saaransh's back, the man barely responded, for a moment he was all blackened, he could feel nothing, he could hear nothing. What was happening to him?

“Let's go from here, hm?” Batra politely asked, while holding on Nirvaani.
She looked up at Saaransh once, Mainsha was there for him, and also he needed some alone time to get things off his head.
Nirvaani slightly nodded, this time no matter how hard she tried she couldn't pass a smile.
Abhishek carefully took her hand, he knew how hard it all was for Nirvaani and how scared she must've been, would the words of consolation do a little help?
“Things are over Nirvaani, you're out of trouble now. Everything’s fine, and you did a great job in handling the situation.” Abhishek assured her. That was all Nirvaani needed at the moment, a slight appreciation for her bravery and intelligence and an assurance that the trouble was over, although it was just the beginning of misery.
Abhishek always knew what people needed. Nirvaani smiled,
"Thank you," That was all she could say.

_

“Why did you barge into Dr. Jain’s matter? You always prefered being on the safer side, and now you invited trouble on its own.” Manisha filled the glass of water for the man  who was massaging his temples while leaning his back on the couch.
Both Manisha and Saaransh were in Manisha's cabin, and Manisha was not so happy by Saaransh's action but she didn't want to get mad at him when he himself was trying to understand his instantaneous reaction to the circumstance.
“I don't know Isha, I don't get it myself. When I saw Dr Jain getting pushed, my brain left my body, I couldn't think, I couldn't stop, it was like my body was moving on its own.” hushed Saaransh. He could lie to anyone but his best friend.

Manisha passed the glass of water to Saaransh and while massaging his shoulders she said, “I get it, you seem close with Dr Nirvaani, it might be the reason.” Said Manisha to which Saaransh frowned, making her hands jerk away from his shoulders, “What do you mean by close? We're just colleagues”

“I meant you guys hang out a lot,” Manisha took her seat near Saaransh.
“No, it's just work purpose. We're not close. AND DON'T SAY THAT AGAIN!” Saaransh sounded serious with the last sentence.
“Of course, of course.” Manisha nodded, although she was not much convinced by his words. She knew something was going on between the two, either Saaransh was lying or he wasn't accepting which seemed to be the case at the moment. In their long friendship of 10 years, Saaransh had never lied to her, although after Riddhima he struggled to accept his feelings towards anyone.

“Anyways, I think you need some time to declutter you mind. I'll take my leave.” Said Manisha grabbing her stethoscope and coat from the handle and walked out of his room.

Saaransh sat on the couch calculating the misconceptions of his doing.
He regretted it? Of course, especially the words that left his mouth. The man could file a case on him for threat and the maximum it could lead to was cancelling of his license, he couldn't afford that. All the years of his heard work, everything would go in vein.
And after that how will he face his father? A leading heart specialist of the country, what would he be more than disappointed if he failed?

_

“Papa, see I got a trophy in science fest.” Saaransh jumped around the house excitedly making his way towards his dad's room swinging the golden trophy in his hand.
He swung open the door excitedly ready to show his achievement to his dad, Saaransh had worked the whole week over the mid school project and finally gained the trophy. He didn't remember sleeping more than 5 hours in those 7 days, he was the first one to win a solo prize in the science exhibition.
“Papa!” Saaransh's smile faded as soon was the view in front of him became clearer, his dad laid all wasted on the wooden chair with a bottle of Whisky in his hand, It was the first time Saaransh was seeing his dad drunk. Drinking was a sin at their house, Saaransh had never even heard anyone talk about it casually.
The trophy dropped down from the little boy's hand as he looked up at his dad. His eyes shined with the forming tears in them.
“Papa!!” The boy ran to his father trying to snatch the bottle away from his hand, but guess what happened next? The boy was pushed away by his dad,
“GO AWAY! GO WITH THAT CHEATER.” screamed Vinod (saaransh's dad)
Saaransh who was lying on the cold ground tried to process his dad's words. A cheater? Who? He cared less about the cracked trophy near his lap but more about the reason behind his dad's condition.
But how could a 10 year old who had just reached the house with excitement of winning a competition could react calmly to such a situation.
Saaransh wiped his tears, leaving everything behind he ran to his mother's bedroom. He wanted answers, not just answers but also a lap he could cry upon, someone who would hear how scared how he was when he looked at his dad, someone who would pat his back saying everything is fine. He was so shocked by the condition that he was barely feeling himself. He felt like he could throw up any second as the smell of wine still made him nauseous, despite that the look on his dad's face scared him to death.
He wanted everything to turn into a nightmare and he would wake up a new day.

“MOM, MOM!!!” Saaransh reached the bedroom, just to find nothing. It was all empty, the furniture was gone, even the bed wasn't there. The room looked like it had been vacant for years, the same room in which he had last hugged the lady he loved the most just before leaving for the exhibition. What happened in those 8 hours when he was out? It were barely 8 hours but to him it seemed like his whole life had changed in those 8 hours.

As the days passed, Saaransh had finally realised his mother had cheated on his dad. He never saw his mother ever again, and his dad, he still saw him everyday but he wasn't the same dad he would go to parks with.
Vinod would come home late from the hospital, sometimes all wasted. The only times Saaransh’s dad spoke to him nicely were when he achieved something. The man who used to care the most for his family had turned into a materialistic monster who only cared about money, goods and his Son's certificates and trophies. After that day, Saaransh's life was never the same. He missed those family dinners, those hospital visits with his parents showing him around how things worked there, the morning walks which were thousand times more fun than those expensive video games his father gifted him as gifts for his good grades.
Those 8 hours changed Saaransh's whole life.

_

A/N - How was the chapter? Do let me know in comments which part you liked the most also don't forget to vote before going.