Chapter 2
As they approached the doctor’s cabin, Khushi saw Arnav’s worried look and held his hand. Arnav stopped, looked back at her, touched her hand and gave a slight smile, as if to say, ‘I am fine’ and continued walking holding her hand. Khushi smiled and was touched by his concern, sometimes it became too much, but still, made her feel belonged, wanted. She came out of her reverie when Arnav knocked on the doctor’s door. The name plate on the door read ‘Dr.Basanti T.’. ‘Come in ‘, a lady doctor’s voice was heard. Arnav took in a deep breath and went in to the cabin, followed by Khushi.
‘Ah, Mr. & Mrs. Raizada. Please, come and sit’ Dr. Basanti had met ASR before on official purposes. She was on AR Design’s Doctor’s Panel for some time. Arnav and Khushi sat on the chairs facing her. Arnav asked ‘Good evening, Dr. Basanti. You’ve got the reports?’
‘Yes, Mr. Raizada. I have gone through them. Mrs. Raizada needs to take some days of rest. She is a little weak right now. I will prescribe some medicines. She can start them right away. After a month, we will get a scanning done. So, till then she can continue these medicines.’
The doctor was talking so fast that Khushi didn’t get half of what she said. But, by the time the doctor finished, Arnav’s heart was beating fast.
‘Medicines? Scanning? Wh… Why…What’s the matter, Doctor? Why all this? What’s happened to her?’ asked a scared lover and husband.
The doctor looked up confused. ‘Didn’t you meet the junior doctor before coming here?’ asked Dr.Basanti.
‘No, ah… Actually I insisted on meeting you directly. I didn’t want to hear any confusing and unsure diagnosis from the juniors’, confessed ASR.
‘Mr. Raizada, our junior doctors are quite competent. You needn’t worry about their capabilities. If you had met the junior doctor, you wouldn’t have been sitting in tension till now. This is a hospital and you have to listen to the doctor’, berated the doctor.
She continued, ‘Anyway, now that you are here…’ and the doctor said something which both Arnav and Khushi didn’t expect to hear, at least in that moment.
‘Mrs. Raizada, you are pregnant. Congratulations, to both of you’ the doctor announced and smiled.
There was silence after she said that. The doctor was waiting for their reaction. But, the news was too unexpected for both of them. Both their mouths were half-opened. They looked at the doctor, then at each other and then looked at the doctor again. Realisation dawned on Arnav and his half opened mouth turned into a smile. He was about to say something when Khushi aksed, ‘But, how is this possible?’
The doctor got surprised at the query and immediately looked at Arnav suspiciously. Arnav understood the meaning behind that look and asked Khushi in a low tone, ‘Khushi, what are you saying?’
‘No, I…I…I mean, normally, if one gets pregnant, then she will be having nausea, I mean feel dizzy, vomiting, etc. Isn’t it? But, I don’t have any such symptoms.’ Khushi asked. Arnav heaved a sigh of relief at her query and the doctor chuckled at her doubts.
‘Mrs. Raizada, it is true that feeling dizzy, vomiting are pregnancy symptoms. But, it need not happen with everyone. Some women have different symptoms like getting tired too quickly, losing interest in eating, feeling depressed without reason. Sometimes, women nauseate in the 4th or 5th months. Some women are lucky, they don’t have nausea at all. In fact, there are cases where women don’t realize that they are pregnant till the 4th month. But anyway, the dates are always there to guide you.’
‘Of course, the dates.’ thought Khushi. Of late, she hadn’t been paying attention to them at all. Khushi was lost in thoughts when she felt Arnav’s hand on her hand, which was placed on her leg. She looked up at him and saw him smiling. A bout of shyness came over her and she immediately looked away, but couldn’t stop smiling herself.
‘Mr. Raizada. I’ve written everything in here. If you have any doubts, you can call me. You have my number, right?’ the doctor asked.
‘Yes doctor’ said Arnav.
‘Good. You can collect your reports from the reception. And congratulations once again’ said the doctor with a smile.
‘Thank you, Doctor’ said Arnav and they both left the cabin.
As soon as they came out, Arnav wanted to hug Khushi. But, Khushi stopped him and signaled that they were in the hospital corridor which was full of people. Arnav observed that Khushi had been feeling very shy ever since they got the good news. A naughty thought came to his mind. He smirked and started taking steps towards Khushi. She got flustered at his actions and started going backwards. Soon, she hit the wall and stopped.
‘A…Ar…nav…ji, What are you doing?’
‘Wha…at! I am just about to hold my wife’s hand. I don’t think anyone should have a problem with that’, said Arnav and he held Khushi’s hand.
Khushi was relieved realizing that he was being naughty. ‘Arnavji, aap bhi na. You scared me!’ complained Khushi. Arnav’s smirk turned into a broad smile and he said, ‘Shall we go? Come.’ Khushi too smiled and followed him.
After completing the formalities at the reception, Arnav and Khushi boarded the SUV, which was parked in the hospital parking lot, and wore their seat belts. ‘Khushi, I am very happy today. Are you happy?’ Khushi smiled and nodded.
‘Khushi, let’s go somewhere and celebrate’ Arnav said.
‘No, Arnavji. Not today. I am already tired. And, didn’t the doctor said that I should take rest?’
‘Yes, you are right. We will go home. Celebrations later’ said Arnav and he started to reverse his car.
‘Nani and Di would be very happy. I am eager to see their reaction when you tell them this good news’, said Khushi.
Arnav who had finished reversing and had pressed the accelerator to move forward, suddenly hit the brakes. The SUV came to a screeching halt.
~ ~ ~
… To be continued …
