Bound by Blood: A Tale of Mafia and Medicine

3.

"Here, have it." Tanishk interrupted my thoughts with a plate of food in his hands. I hesitated to take it as any food wouldn't satisfy me until I saw my brother all well. He showed the plate in my hands. I stared deeply at the food in front of me. Where did I go wrong? The blood-smeared body of Raj was giving me chills down my spine. I've seen way worse things than this, but a mere gunshot was hurting me so much. How could it not be? After all, we share the same blood. I looked down at my hands with the dried-up blood of Raj.

I stood up placing the plate on the table. Went towards the washroom to wash my hands. I came back and started eating. I was hungry actually. I had been almost 12 hours. Nurses were rushing in and out with blood bags, stained pieces of cotton and whatnot. I did not believe them. I wanted to see the doctor itself. After all, she was the one who was saving my brother. But what if...

My intrusive thoughts were killing me. I heard the OT door unlock. I expected a nurse to come out, but to my surprise, the surgeon, all dressed up in her surgery kit came forward. She removed her mask and the kit and threw it into the dustbin nearby. She walked towards us, I immediately went ahead. She turned to me, and I observed her.

She had beautiful almond eyes, tired yet gorgeous. The smudged kajal was enhancing the beauty of her curved eyes. Her heavy eyelids indicated her constant work at the OT. Her eyelashes are long, dark and dense. Her gaze, pale, yet piercing battled through her eyelashes, looking at me. She had a small bindi between her eyebrows. She had dry and red skin. The red outline of the mask can be seen on her pale cheeks. She had chapped and dried lips. Her hair was dark brown. She looked pale, yet mesmerizing. She stared at me with those dark brown eyes, I could feel something in her eyes. I looked down at her lips as she said something.

"hmm?" I asked not able to recall what she had just said as I was busy observing her. "Raj is out of danger now, you may meet him tomorrow morning...." Her voice lowered and lowered and she closed her eyes. She fainted. Before she could hit the ground, I held her by wrapping my arms protectively around her. Her head dropped on my shoulder as she completely gave up.

"DOCTOR?? DOCTOR??" I panicked, as I couldn't understand what was happening. I immediately picked her up in bridal style and called out for help. I took her to a place where the other doctor guided me. She led me to a cabin, I kept her on the sofa and stood beside her. The other doctor seemed to be her friend. Got a glass of water and ordered someone to bring food. Oh shit, now I get it. She was there since morning. From fucking 8 am. How is she even alive without water or food for such a long time? I felt a strong sense of guilt rising over me. Because of me, two lives are suffering. I looked over her small figure. She was making me feel sick for her. To be honest, I was surprised too.

I left them alone and went towards the room where Raj was kept. We weren't allowed to enter the room until tomorrow morning. So I just peeped through the glass window. He was alive, breathing, and had all the wires connected to him and an oxygen mask. It hurt to see him like this. I saw Tanishk crying while looking at Raj. I immediately engulfed him in a hug. A nurse took a plate of food with her towards the doctor's cabin. I excused myself and went behind her, into the cabin. I saw the doctor's sleeping figure on the sofa. The only thing I knew was pulling the trigger and killing whoever was in front of me. I never thought that saving someone from THAT would be such a tiring task.

I saw her opening her eyes weakly as her friend sprayed some water on her face. She opened her eyes and drank some water. It was not 'some' water, she drank a whole freaking bottle. I could see how thirsty she was. Poor girl. I felt bad for her. Wait. THE ADITYA MALHOTRA feeling bad for a mere doctor? How crazy is this? But she deserves to be cared for, after all, she saved my brother's life. And she is too beautiful to be ignored just like that.

I stood there leaning on the table as she was drinking water. A nurse came and called out her friend who was making her drink the water. Her friend looked at me and I could sense some hesitation in her eyes. She stood up and spoke, "I have to go to the ICU for some routine checkups, I couldn't let them wait, they are already waiting the entire day. Will you please look after Soyra? I can't leave her alone like this. Please, I would be so grateful for your help."

I just nodded and looked at the girl lying lifeless on the sofa. I had to look after her, somewhere, i was the reason she was in this situation. Soyra. She had a pretty unique and rare name just like her. I looked at Soyra, as her friend left, she had her eyes closed and breathed deeply. Is she asleep? No, I can't let her be asleep. She had to eat. Gathering up my courage, words spilt out of my throat.

"Dr. Soyra..." I was trying to sound helpful but, it turned out to be a bit heavy. What the fuck am I doing. I never almost spoke to a woman besides my mom and my sister. She opened her eyes feeling a new voice around her. Her eyebrows drew closer as she looked at me confusingly.