I grabbed my breakfast tray and walked to the table where my dear friend Nisha had already taken a seat and was noshing on a sandwich. I dragged a chair and sat opposite her, placing the cheese omelet plate in front of me on the table.

Phobic thoughts of night duty haunted my brain. It was a hectic one, the whole night I was awake and like a pendulum, I kept shifting from one ward to another and floor to floor monitoring the patients. Even that beast didn't let me sleep. To be clear with my statement, it's not his thoughts, it's his calls every two hours to get the live status of patients. Nothing personal, we conversed only professionally.  

I gave a stroke to my cheese omelet with a knife and stabbed it with the fork, pushing it in my mouth.

"So, how was your night duty with Dr. Ishaan?" Nisha asked with a mocking and teasing tone. Before replying to her my brain rewound all memories of last night. The way he howled at me in the ward, managing of baby, and mainly his warm and tender behavior in the post-operative ward. 

"It was exhausting. Had so many patients to monitor. There was a surgery which lasted till thirty-past-eleven. And then monitoring. Monitoring and just monitoring. That's all. I didn't have a proper sleep and lasted with a bulge, sore, exhausted, inadequate sleepy eyes". 

Which began my worry. 

"Oh!! That's all. Nothing more than that? You guys didn't do anything interesting?" she asked in a depressed tone as if I didn't have my night duty but rather a blind date with him.

"Interesting!?" I chuckled,  "Did you expect me to walk with him hand-on-hand in the hospital corridors?" She nodded shamelessly with a grin. "Too much. Your thoughts are limitless. And let me pronounce: we had a night duty, Dr. Nisha". I added and deposited another large piece of cheese omelet in my mouth. Not only the omelet, but even my friend's thoughts are also cheesy. 

"I mean: You both didn't speak". I shook my head. "Seriously. You both didn't speak?" I shook once again. "Not even for five minutes" She pried. I gave her a deep glance and then nodded before averting my gaze back to my breakfast plate. "What?" she asked curiously.

"I dunno what I or we or he tried to converse. He is different Nisha. He is..." I remembered the way he looked at me when I advised him to bandage his wound. "His behavior is like a split-personality disorder person. For a moment warm and then cold. Eventually, I liked his behavior with patients"  I shrugged, took another bite, and chewed contemplating him.

"I dunno about him. But, Ishika don't you think, you are quite absorbed with him."

"Huh! It's nothing like that. It's just..." I shrugged my shoulders, waving the fork in the air. I was left with one-by-fourth of my omelet. Meanwhile, I debated whether to share about the dinner thing or not, my stomach wanted to eject but my brain signaled, to keep it hidden, at last, I vomited, "last night he ordered food for me. As he thought I didn't have time to eat because of surgery. But when I mentioned, I had eaten already he further offered me to accompany him."

"Oh, my Gosh! You knew, what does that mean." I rolled out my lower lip and shook my head. "He is interested in you, Ishika." Seriously! "Did you go, then?"

"Denied!"

"Seriously!" I nodded. She tsked, "If I were in your place I would have regretted a lot to miss the chance to eat with that person, whom I started falling for. And I would have never rejected the offer". I gave her another deep look. She has a point in her words and by the way, I regretted that, right? An extreme regret with depression for a few minutes.

"I regretted it. But I was not in way to deny nevertheless my mouth went numb because of his warm, amiable, and surprisingly tender behavior. But, Dr. Nisha I didn't start falling for him." Did I start falling for him? No. Again he is enticing but not so much that I give my heart for him. 

"People have already wandered off from their paths but resist to admit it" she mocked.

"What does that mean?" She gave me a broad smile like-don't-be-so-innocent. "No. no. Obviously no. You want me to go crazy with a peculiar brain like him. With the person who changes his behavior like a chameleon changes its color".

"But. He thought about you and ordered food for you.  And even after knowing you had your dinner, he asked to accompany you. That means he is interested to speak with you and spend time with you". Her words went over my head. But again she has a point, he ordered food for me in other words he showed care for me. 

Focus. Dr.Ishika. Focus. Why did you come to Lucknow? To do post-graduation not to graduate in love. I shook my head and snapped that crazy person's thoughts out of my brain.

"Dr. Nisha," I stood from my chair and objected to her words "stop depositing stupid things in my brain. I have to go now I have surgeries to assist".

"Whom will you be assisting, today?" she asked and stood up.

"No idea. Should go and see". I replied and we both went out of the canteen.

"I hope the surgeon whom you will be assisting should be him" she mocked, I narrowed my eyes, furrowed my brows, and with flared nostrils glared at her while walking inside the hospital. She gave me a lopsided grin. "Ok. Relax. And I accept just for your satisfaction that you didn't start falling for him." And before I comprehend her words she paced out of my reach.

*******

I went to O.T. and then to the pre-operative room, where the patient gets prepared for surgery. Like injecting an Intravenous(I.V.) cannula and giving preoperative medications. I had three surgeries to assist. The first surgery was a 'Laparoscopic cholecystectomy', in which the gallbladder of a patient will be removed by laparoscopic surgery. The second was a Breast Fibroadenoma case. The third was a Lipoma, a benign tumor of fat tissue on the back of the patient's right shoulder.

I checked the reports of the first patient. I asked the patient to change his dress to an operation gown. After he came, I injected an I.V. cannula into the patient's right forearm vein. He didn't have any medications to be given before surgery. But he appeared to be quite tense because of surgery.

A few minutes passed by now, since I have been waiting for the main Surgeon to come. I walked out of the pre-operative room and started wandering to and fro waiting for the surgeon. And once again my stupid brain starts preparing to distract me. What if he was the one, whom I will be assisting? No. He can't be the one. Moreover, we have five more surgeons in these hospitals other than him.

And the dear brain, stop your fanciful expectations. And be within your limits. We have to focus on surgery and surgery and surgery. Only.

Finally, the main door of O.T. was opened and a similar figure started walking toward me. Watching him coming towards me, I let out a sigh of relaxation. No. He was not him. Though a part of me was quite unhappy to not see him in the place of the Surgeon whom I will be assisting on that day.

"Did you shift the patient to the operation room, Dr...? Sorry, I don't remember your name," Dr. Gautham asked. He was short, chubby, healthy, and older than Dr. Ishaan. 

Is it necessary for me to remember his name mentally repeatedly?

No. Obviously. No. 

So, dear brain expunge his name from my memory.

"It's Dr. Ishika. No not yet, sir".

"Ok. Then shift the Fibroadenoma case," he said, pointing his stubby index finger at the fourth-bed female patient. "The laparoscopic surgeon is busy with some other procedure. And it might take him an hour or two. So until that we will operate the Fibroadenoma of the breast".

It took me another fifteen minutes to prepare the patient and shift the patient to the operating room. And another fifteen minutes to induce a patient in anesthesia.

Dr. Gautham started the surgery, I stood opposite him. It was a solid, non-cancerous, non-invasive mass of the left breast. He explained to me first how to give an incision and separate the tissues to view the mass. After the mass came into view, he slowly separated it from the breast tissue and excised out.

"Will you suture the wound?" he asked.

"Yes sir" I replied very enthusiastically. The favorite thing to do in surgeries at present is suturing. He did a few sutures and then handed me a needle and thread to finish it. I gave a final suture to the fresh wound and bandaged it.

"Nice. But keep on practicing the suturing. You need to train your hand for accuracy and speed".

"Yes sir and thank you for explaining".

"Shift the patient to a post-operative ward, check the vitals and note down in the patient's case sheet," he said and walked out. I did as he said. Then I went to the pre-operative ward to shift the 'gallstone patient' to the operating room. I asked the ward boy to shift and waited outside of the preoperative ward. The ward boy came in a few minutes but without the patient.

"Mam patient is not agreeing. He said he didn't want to undergo the surgery". I went to the patient to know his actual problem regarding denying surgery. I walked and stood beside the oblong face patient's bed. He gave me an angry look and then ignored me. Haa! How insulting? 

"What happened?" I asked in a very dignified and polite way.

"I already informed the ward boy. I don't want to undergo surgery" he said without seeing my face. In short, he was ignoring. I controlled my exasperation as it was not an uncommon matter for every doctor to experience the rude and calculating behavior of their patients, sometimes.

"But. I think you already agreed to surgery by signing all documents and even deposited the surgery money. Then suddenly, why did you change your mind?"

"I know you all will play with my stomach and move my intestines here and there. Because I just now saw the cholecsyctomony procedure on the internet". The way he pronounced cholecystectomy made me giggle, but I strived to control it. He was in his late sixties age and argued like a four years old boy. He appeared to be cute but the way he kept ignoring me made me angry.

"But, surgery is important for your health. If you don't get operated on now, it will turn infectious with unexpected complications" I tried my best to reassure him but he didn't show even a quarter of interest to listen to my words and just ignored and ignored me. It looked more like a mother trying to feed his very notorious child.

With extreme levels of irritation and annoyance, I walked out of the preoperative ward so that I could go and inform Dr. Gautham. But I stopped when a voice called my name. Not just Ishika but the complete name Ishika Mishra.

"Ishika Mishra!!" I turned my head to find a boy, older than me in his late twenties. He was averagely built, ordinary in looks but appeared to be good-looking. It surprised me to find a person knowing my complete name. I stood confused with my eyes narrowed and stared at him for a second. Then for two, three, four, and then after another five more seconds, I recognized him. But he stood with a full-fledged broad and wide smile during my identification and evaluation process.

"Sahil?" I asked and he nodded. Sahil was my senior in my bachelor's. He was in his final year when I started my bachelor's. We both had a quite good acquaintance from the day of our freshers' party. But it's a surprising fact that he still remembered me. That means I haven't had any facial changes for four years.

"Yeah, Sahil. But, what are you doing here?"

"Post-graduation in general surgery.  And you?"

"Orthopedician." He replied smiling more brightly. And my thoughts wondered, how would Dr. Ishaan, appears when he smiles. Let him look like a joker or alien, I shouldn't hallucinate about him. "But did someone irritate you or complimented you?" 

"Irritated. A patient who has to be operated on now is disagreeing. I tried to convince him but... Uff" I let out a sigh.

He tsked and flirted, "How unlucky. I guess he is not aware of, missing the chance to get operated on by a beautiful doctor" though it made me smile. That's what his nature was. But, I punched his belly.

"Ouch! It hurts" he sneered placing both hands on his belly. "So, how is your post-graduation going on?" he asked with the same broad and wide smile. He looked so charming.

"It's my second day. But... um... You still remembered me"

"Yeah. But, not from the first glance. I mean since morning I observed you a couple of times. And when it hit my memory I thought to confirm by myself".

"Sahil I have to go now. Can we meet in the hospital canteen at five... Most probably if I finish my surgeries".

"Yeah for sure. So, all the best...." he said and offered his hand for a shake. I took his hand and shook it.  And at the same time, the main door of the O.T. hall opened and a very familiar personality entered inside. While passing past us, he eyed me for a moment then drifted his gaze at our hands, then turned. I watched him push himself into one of the rooms.

If Dr. Ishaan is here, then he should be the laparoscopic surgeon. The main surgeon to do surgery.

I bid my farewell and for once I tried counseling the patient. Again he acted like a mule and denied it to my face.

With frustration, I stomped inside the operating room only to get affirmation to my apprehension, that the split-personality moron,  scrubbed in a light-grey O.T. dress is a laparoscopic surgeon. I was not surprised to see him, cause I digested the fact that we work in the same department and can have multiple encounters. The only thing I have to keep in my mind is to avoid speaking with him.  

When I explained the patient's denial of getting operated on, Dr. Gautham decided to go and counsel. But, Dr. Ishaan informed him, "As he is my patient, I will counsel him." I watched him walk to the door, pulling the metal door inwards then tilting slightly towards me, with his eyes staring at me "You can join me, Doctor!" 

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