Aditi went to the staff room to change out of her scrubs. It was four hours after her surgery fiasco. The patient was out of recovery and had been taken to the ward. She thanked God at least he hadn't suffered on her account.

Standing at a drink dispenser, she glugged a glass of cold water. A door opened behind her, and Dr Reddy stepped in.

"You did well today. You knew exactly what you had to do." He sneered. "A surgeon needs such presence of mind. Well done."

"How could you, Ashish? You risked a patient's life for your personal agenda. Shame on you!"

"He was never at risk." Ashish laughed. "Do you think I'll stake mine and the hospital's reputation for such a trivial thing? All the meds given were correct right from the beginning. The nurse knew what she was doing. I just wanted to create panic and you fell for it."

She colored. So, he had fooled her. She should have seen through it. But on second thoughts, she would do the same again. In that situation, when you can trust no one but yourself, you have to do what's best for the patient.

"People will talk. The nurses, and the OT attendants. You will be exposed."

"No darling. They are my trusted people. We know each other's secrets and look out for each other."

She didn't know what to say. She never knew this side of Ashish. It was hard to believe he was Ruchi's brother.

"Why? Is it because I refused Ruchi yesterday? I did what I thought was the best for us both. You know I can never love you."

Ashish shook his head. "It's not about love darling. I can live with that. But this is the last time I'll have a hold on you, and I intend to use it to the fullest."

He gave a satisfied smirk, then left. The next few days went without much happening. People whispered, but not about Ashish. They discussed her failure in the OT. They took bets on how long until she was shown the door.

She kept her head down and got on. The only way to shut the gossip was by proving her mettle. She got plenty of chances. She was given harder, more complex surgeries by other professors. They were all successful but alas, they did not count toward her final assessment.

Her final assessment would be set only by Dr. Ashish Reddy. She will have to do what he designed for her. She waited with bated breath for a new date to be set. When it was, she was surprised to find it was a straightforward case.

"It's a simple leg amputation. The patient injured it three years ago. Has tried a few surgeries- none successful. Now it's too bad to keep it any longer."

"And what's the catch?" She frowned as Ashish gave her details. Ashish smiled.

"I'll let you find it out yourself."

He gave a mysterious smile and left. Aditi frowned and logged on to her computer. It was a thirty-three-year-old male patient with no previous medical history. The name was Darsh Rathore.

*****

He was in ward 6. It was on the third floor. She raced in a mad rush only to be stopped by Zorawar in the corridor.

The man looked like he always did yet something had changed. His face looked weathered. Worry lines creased his brow.

"How is he?" She asked panting breathlessly. Zorawar shook his head.

"Not good."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Darsh Sir didn’t allow. I had to force him to come. He didn't want to leave Palampur."

"So you knew all along where I was!"

"Yes." The man looked ashen. "I had to keep an eye on you. You were in touch with Kanta Chachi and she was in touch with me. But we kept quiet as you had warned Darsh Sir not to bother you."

She didn't know what to say. So it was her own warning that worked against her. Everyone knew everything but they kept away.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"So what changed now?" Her annoyed voice startled herself. "What made you come to Kochi all of a sudden?"

"Two days ago, Darsh sir fainted. I thought it was high time, and Kanta Chachi agreed too."

Aditi entered the room. It was a hot Kochi afternoon. The sunrays bounced off the windowpanes to illuminate the patient. Despite the brightness, he looked grey.

Her footsteps woke him up. He gave her a look, then smiled.

"Dr. Sharma. Nice to see you again."

She didn’t reply. After such a long time, setting her eyes on him felt surreal. It was as if she hadn’t dreamt about him every night. As if she hadn’t cursed him every waking hour. Her eyes moistened. He had shed kilos. His face was gaunt, typical for a long-suffering person. At his temples, she could see a shade of grey. What had he been up to?

"What have you been up to, Ms Sharma? You have put on weight. And glasses! My my! You must be burning a lot of midnight oil." He laughed as he gave her his penchant head to toe. Aditi colored. It was a relief to see not all had changed. Some of him was still the same as before.

She sat by his bedside, sometimes holding his hand, sometimes examining the injured leg. It looked bad. She didn't know how he had managed to do this to himself.

"It was an accident. I was coming down from the caves. There were some rabid dogs and Eros freaked out."

"But how?" That forest did not have rabid dogs. They had foxes, wolves, and some stray bears, but never dogs.

"They were Mohit Baba's dogs." Zorawar supplied, simmering with rage. Aditi paled. Mohit was more interested in dog racing than horse racing, but she didn't know he kept his own team.

"He starved them and let them loose on Darsh Sir. We only found him the next afternoon. By then he was under the dead horse for nearly eighteen hours."

Zorawar was tactful enough not to paint a colorful picture, yet Aditi could visualize it vividly. A team of rabid dogs, chasing an unsuspecting rider. The horse tumbles and breaks his back to fall on top of the rider. The dogs catch up in glee, having found their food for the day. The result, as she imagined, was horrible.

She sat numb, staring at him. There were bite marks on his body - on his face, neck, and arms. Her eyes streamed. This was all her fault. Her weird family had brought this on him.

"I am sorry." Her voice was contrite. He shook his head.

"It was not your fault."

"Why didn't you ever say anything? Why didn't you call? I would have come immediately!"

"I did not want to force your hand. And you told Kanta Chachi not to talk about anyone else."

Her face turned ashen. He shook his head.

"It wasn’t your fault. You left me because I did not deserve you. It should have been your decision to return."

She humphed and glared at him. She didn't know since when he had become so morally high. Once he took her for granted. Now he was almost saintly in his wisdom.

Irritated, she bent down to hug him tight, then kissed his brow, rubbing her wet face into his. He stilled for a moment, then his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Careful Dr. Sharma. If anyone sees, you will be charged with indecent behavior with a patient."

"Let them." She didn't care. She didn't care what they did to her anymore. She had more pressing concerns. Her time here had come to an end anyway, she had to take a decision.

Ashish had arranged for this, somewhere in her brain a warning sounded. Be watchful. He must have a plan.

The rest of the afternoon Aditi spent running from pillar to post. She arranged for extra X-rays, scans, and blood tests. The file of his previous surgeries was fed into her brain. She spoke to her seniors, anyone and everyone she could get her hands on to discuss the case.

Alas, the feedback was not positive. The leg had been neglected for too long. It was as if the patient never expected to recover. As if he wanted this injury to be his last.

She listened with a sinking heart. She had mocked him; dared him to commit suicide to prove himself. Now here he was. This was his way of proving his commitment. It was not a jump from her balcony but close enough. At least he had finished all his jobs before the end.

Her heart bled as she went about her jobs the rest of the day. In the evening, she got Neev to the hospital. It was about time he met his father.

*****

Night fell. She was still there. Neev had fallen asleep on his father's chest, having played for ages. His father too looked like he'd been given a new lease of life. His face was content, yet the corners of his eyes were moist.

She held her heart and focussed on the leg. Her fingers traced the blue veins, the rupture marks from the wounds where the splintered bone came out. The previous surgeries and three years had done little to mend it. The skin was grey-green and uneven. Underneath, she could feel lumps of bad tissue.

"What do you think? Is it worth saving?" His voice was quiet. She looked up to see him watching her forlornly.

"Of course, it's worth saving. What a question to ask!" She snapped then realised he wasn't talking about his leg. He was talking about them. Their fractured relationship.

"Is it too late?" He watched her closely. She swallowed a lump.

"It's never too late. You should have come earlier though. You wasted too much time."

"You warned me not to bother you."

"I warned and you listened! Really Darsh! Since when did you need my permission to bother me? Do you know how much I waited? I waited since the moment I left. In Mumbai when Neev was born, here in Kochi for the past three years, but you never came." Her voice broke by the time she finished. She realized her eyes were streaming. He held out his arms. She didn't need a moment's thought to take their refuge.

He stroked her head, running his fingers through her hair.

"I knew it would never work. You should never have left Palampur."

"Then you should not have let me leave."

"I had to. I didn’t deserve you then."

She raised her eyes. "And you do now?"

He looked reassured. "I think so. You should come to Palampur to see for yourself."

She intended to, but not before he was properly fixed. And that would take time, patience, and some careful planning.

She gave him a long look, then snuggled closer to hug him and her baby. Yes. It was worth saving. It's easy to make the cut and chuck away a part of you, but it's not worth it if you spend the rest of your life missing it.

***** *****