Doctor on Call

 

Chapter 1

"Chest X-ray, USG Abdomen and a CT Scan just to be sure. Have the samples been sent for Toxicology? Please send it. Stat. I'll be around after rounds to check on him, Sister. And please! That's a Soldier there! Please respect his uniform". She almost yelled at the Nurse who was about to cut through the patient's military honours.

The night shift had just begun, and it looked like a long and arduous night. In fact, for Amy, this whole year seemed rather long and arduous. Internship was everything and nothing like she expected. All the hustle and bustle, seeing real people, real patients, her first prescription, her first patient curing, the long long hours, the litany of notes she had to write, gather and submit, and then go attend lectures all day. But this was what she signed up for. And even if she found it difficult, even feeling tempted to just drop out, she knew she had to motor on. She wasn't a quitter. Once she'd done a round of the general ward, she peeked into the NICU where sweet little somethings were sleeping, blissfully unaware of the tubes and equipment they were plugged on to. Somehow, the sight of absolute  innocence calmed her nerves and lifted her spirits. She blew a kiss to the last one as she walked towards the cafeteria. Her phone buzzed, as she fished it out from her coat pocket.
A notification flew in from the top with a 'whoop'

"I'll be late coming home. In any case, you got the night shift na? Bye".

Her face fell. It seemed like the beginning of the end. She was just about to reply when...

"Amy... Yaar, Thank God i found you. Listen.. you need to do me a big one. I have a hot date tonight but Bansal has put me in the Graveyard Shift. Can you please cover for me? Please please please please? This is my 4th date yaar, and if nothing happens tonight, I'll wear another white Coat and be a Father of a different kind. Thanks! You're the best yaar" 

And he rushed off even before she could squeeze in a Hello. Well, that was classic Amit. Hmmph. So much for having company through the shift, she thought as she walked the empty corridor towards the cafeteria. A little peep and she knew it was deserted. It was that time when they shut down for cleaning and open at 11 for late night services.

She plugged her airpods into her ears as she walked back to the central atrium and out of the back gate where there always were chai wallahs.

"Bhaiyya ek kadak wala chai, aur ek packet Ultramilds dena?"

She lights up and places the packet, and the chai on the tiny ledge of the Hospital wall. She takes a quick strong drag. Damn, the first puff is always worth it. She stretches her arms, does a few back and neck stretches and readies herself for the long night ahead. She dishes out her phone and calls the last dialled number picking it from the Recents list. it's mostly just one number.

"Vinay 💕"

The phone rings on the other end twice and then there's a busy tone. He's cut the call. Again.
"Dekhna ek din you'll cut the call, and I'll find someone hot instead" she had half-joked a few days ago when they were having their usual fight about not having time for each other. Suddenly, that message from earlier seemed like a routine. Just like her love life. She scrolled up and indeed, this wasn't the first time he had asked her this in these exact same words.

Her fingers zig-zagged over the screen as her frustration poured out.

"Just 'cos I have nights shifts doesn't mean you don't come home. And you had to do this tonight of all nights..."

But she didn't hit the Send button. She held on to the backspace, watching these letters disappear and not be sent. Yet again. Much like the rest of her life, a lot was left unsaid.

As she walked back through the giant arch and the deserted lobby to the lifts, heading to her cabin, she texts someone. The phone instantly buzzes back.

"TRUDEEENNG".

She looks at the screen and smiles at the Dancing Guy emoji and 3 hearts emojis that has filled her screen now.

"Pagal" she says aloud. Texts some emojis of her own and sends it back.

"TRUDEEENNG" comes the response. She clicks the mic icon and records into it "Achcha baba, I'll get to the room and call you, mwah, bye" and sends it out. Her phone now beeps the text tones incessantly like a Kids' Bicycle Bell as she sees emoji after emoji on the screen. She blushes as she walks into her floor. A quick glance in, and she realizes that one of the beds is empty, and it's not supposed to.

The nurse, is busy writing her notes in a large boxed file, when Amy walks up to her.

"Woh Army wala patient Kahan Gaya? Shifted to room? Or Army Hospital?"

"Nn..No ma'am idharich hai.. baathroom geye honge" she replies in a way that tells Amy that the nurse is not a native Hindi speaker. And she is also not aware that a patient went missing from her ward. 

"Let me see, Ma'am". The nurse scurries to the Restroom at the end of the hall and finds it empty. She runs back to Amy and says in a frightened state.. "wo... wo udhar nahin hai".

Just then, Amy hears the door on the emergency exit open outside. She looks at the nurse in disdain. "Main dekhti hoon. Ab se stay awake and watch your patients. They are more important than your notes".

She walks out to the corridor towards the emergency exit, finds the door open. As she walks into the staircase lobby, there's a familiar metallic click 

"SHTHNING"

followed by a faint glow. A familiar odour. Nicotine. She looks up and finds the source of these sounds and the missing patient. Standing on the landing, he looks down at her as she's watching him. Pulls on his cigarette and inhales deep. Savours it with closed eyes.

"Aaah... It's been about 12 hours, Ma'am.  Couldn't resist. The ward boy told me this place was ok. Don't take it out on him. Promised him a bottle from the Canteen".

It was the Army man that was brought in earlier that day. A freak accident they said, but no details given as to how. He'd fallen and hurt his head and some bruises on the knee and elbows. But otherwise he was a walking, talking, smoking and dare she think it, a charming man.

"You shouldn't be here Sir, especially unescorted. You know the Nurse could lose her job for this"

"Please call me Dev. Lt. Dev Iyer. I am so sorry, Ma'am. But you know how it is. How much longer could I hold back without smoking? But I am not unescorted now? I am in fiiiine company"

His eyes looked into hers and then seemed to lower and take all of her in his glance as he pulled on his cigarette and dragged the word fiiine. She was very conscious of his presence. But she climbed up the 4 steps to the landing where he was, walked up to him, and without batting an eye-lid, reached across him for the pack of cigarettes on the window sill, pulled one out and placed it on her lips.

"SHTHNING" and the Zippo lit up her cigarette. She pulled a deep drag. Chivalry, apparently isn't dead.

"And it's Amy, not Ma'am. Dr. Amy Sharma" she offered her hand.

He took her hand, but instead of shaking it, pulled it up and kissed her fingers, gently as he looked into her eyes

"Blame it on the morphine, Amy. But I couldn't resist".

Every cell in her brain said 'pull your hand back Amy', but she was moonstruck. By his confidence. By his easy charm and the seemingly romantic meet-cute of a situation.

"Careful, stranger. This might be dangerous to your health", she retorted, smiling almost provocatively, letting him wonder whether he meant the cigarette, the injuries from the day or the playing-with-fire move of his. 

He'd been staring at her so long that the embers of the cigarette finally burnt him and he dropped the stub down suddenly. She walked down the stairs to the Emergency Door turned around and gave him one piercing gaze. "Get back in bed, Soldier. You're still my patient".

Amy walked back to the cabin, feeling a thrill run down her body. What had just happened? Who was this guy? As she closed the door behind her and played with the stethoscope she wondered if he was being chivalrous or flirty. This was so exciting. And so unexpected. She'd been wooed many a times since High School, and had her fair share of crushes, flings and relationships. But this all still felt new. And Goooood.
She felt her coat pocket and realized her phone was missing. She must have left it at the Nurse's table in the ward. As she walked back into the ward, she noticed Dev had slipped back into bed and the Nurse was scurrying towards her to say he was back. She flicked her hand in an "I know", and the nurse went back to her desk and her notes. Even before she could pick it up, her phone was buzzing non stop.

TRUDEEENNG! TRUDEEENNG! TRUDEEENNG! She saw a whole bunch of texts and realized she hadn't called him back like she promised. Putting the ringer on silent, she was walking out the ward when she heard mumbling... And it came from Dev's bed. It seemed like he was saying something.

"Excuse me?" She approached the bed.

"I said that thing has been waking everyone up for the last 5 minutes. Someone else must also want you real bad!" He pulled a blanket over his head and pretended to fall asleep. She just stood there aghast at the casual remark he made! She had half a mind to ask him what the hell he meant by that! But the woman in the bed next to him coughed at that very inopportune instant and she briskly left the ward.

Back in her cabin, she dished out the phone and the hundreds of messages from Funniesh24. She smiled, almost blushing at the barrage of messages from him.

It had been a while since she was on this anonymous chatting app. Perhaps it was because Vinay and she weren't in a great place nowadays. Or perhaps she was lonesome. Wanted a distraction. A feel-good. Something that set the heart at least on a trot, if not racing. Or perhaps she just wanted an escape from the dreary existence her life had become as a Med Student in Residency. After wading through numerous invites and solicitations to "slide into DMs" or Day Trading in crypto she finally found her rhythm. Funniesh24 was one of the first she spoke to on a group setting. And she instantly felt the vibe. They had been chatting for hours together almost every day since. She eagerly looked forward to leaving home and check if he had sent something, which was always.

However, tonight was different. She knew she said she'll call him. And he'd been texting message after message pining for her. But her thoughts had shrunk to the last 10 minutes of her life and from deep within her a crimson tide broke surface on her cheeks. What did he mean by "someone else also wants you". Her heart skipped a beat as she took in the purported meaning.

Yet, she called Funniesh24 and while he spoke animatedly, Amy wasn't really present on the call. At some point, she made up an excuse of pending rounds and cut the call. 

She'd immersed herself in the pile of patient records which she had to clear before the nurse brought another pile. In that pile, there was his file too. Curious, she browsed through it. 32, 6'1", 88 kgs, marital status - No. The nurse had written a detailed account of what happened. A freak accident where he jumped to save the Flag from falling and he accidentally fell over into the moat. There was an Army ID photo of his on file, and Amy noticed him without his injury, and now in bright lights. He was smart, with a rugged jawline and clean shaven. The distinct features of South Indian bloodline, his intense eyes and a genuine smile like that of Actor Madhavan made her gawk.

"WHOO-UP" - some message on WA. An unknown number. She opens it and almost falls off her chair!

Hi Doc.
You're treating me, and yet you give me fever.
I'm supposed to be sedated, and yet, you've made me sleepless.
Need another dose.
Lt. D

                  ----------------------

Chapter 2
She sat staring at the phone. How did he... Even her thought was left unfinished. Her hands trembled from the excitement. She responded.

"Wrong number"
-WHOO-UP-
"Accha, then why would you bother to respond at 2350 hrs?"

"So that you don't message again."

-WHOO-UP-
"Guess it didn't do any good. Am still messaging"

"Enough. What do you want? How did you get this number?"

-WHOO-UP-
"You have something of mine. Give it to me, and I might just let you in. In the stairs. Stat!"

"I don't have anything of yours, and am gonna ask the Nurse to bring you back to your bed".

-WHOO-UP-
"No you won't. Stairs. Please, Amy?"

"Just go to hell!" She typed... And then backspaced it all. Her heart, beating like a V8 supercharged engine, she walked back to the corridor, noticing the Emergency Exit door ajar. She walked through the door, expecting him to be at the Staircase Landing like a while ago. But he wasn't there. She walked up those 4 steps to the landing, not sure where to look, she peeped out the window and looked down.

"Oh no, I didn't jump! If that's what you thought happened"

She looked up behind her. She heard him, but couldn't see him. He was on the next landing. It was dark on the floor above. And as he walked down, he slowly came into view. Like finding light at the end of a tunnel. As he closed the distance between them she took a step back and hit her back against the wall.

"So you came" he almost whispered. For that's all he had to do, being inches away from her. He extended a hand and reached out to her. She thought he was gonna hold her waist, but his hands went into her coat pockets and fished out the pack of cigarettes.

"You took it the last time we met. Maybe you smoke Ultramilds too". That is when she realized that she had taken his cigarettes and put it in her pockets, thinking they were hers as it was the same brand she smoked.

"Ohh..am sorry.. I... Yes. I smoke Ultramilds too". He put one cigarette to his lips, and because of how close they were standing, the tip almost touched her cheeks. A pot pourri of aromas - the smell of fresh tobacco, a subtle remainder from an aftershave interspersed with the distinct pungency of tincture applied on his wounds, the strong bleach from his hospital gown and the dankness of the Staircase all collided - as if personifying the tumult of emotions she was being attacked with.

"SHTHNING" and the flame from the Zippo lit up both their faces in an Amber glow. He lit up the cigarette, and as she watched the little tobacco leaves ignite, somewhere deep inside her, forbidden, forgotten desires met the same fate. He left the flame on for a few seconds longer as he looked deep into her eyes. He took a deep puff, and turned the cigarette, holding it's filter close to her lips. Involuntarily her lips opened and he placed it in between them. As he looked down and into her eyes, his fingers brushed her right cheek. They hit a wayward strand of hair that fell down her face. He gently tucked it behind her ear. The feeling of his fingers on her ear lobe was like a jolt from a defib. And as she inhaled the puff, her cheeks caved in, forming a dimple. He let a finger tip 'mark' that, as he bent and blew the smoke out on her neck. She closed her eyes, in anticipation of the inevitable. Felt a hand pull her closer to him by the waist and another went behind her head and held her neck. After what seemed like an eternity, but perhaps just a few moments, she opened her eyes, and saw him gaze into her eyes. Not searching for answers.

"This is what I want, Amy", he said. This time it was her turn to burn her finger with the forgotten cigarette. It fell on the floor. Still burning. As if mocking and laughing at her state. And before she could utter a word, he held her hand and pulled her behind him as he climbed up to the other landing on the upper floor where he was moments ago.  She almost stumbled but gained her balance and was literally dragged behind him. There in the veil of darkness, he pulled her around and again with her back against the wall, he pinned her, as his lips sought hers hungrily. The first kiss was urgent. And thorough. An affirmation of ownership. Her legs weakened and she felt her heart racing so hard, she thought it would beat itself out of her chest. Lips opened, and his tongue darted into her sweet nicotine coated mouth. His tongue ensured it marked it's territory, and danced a sensual dance with hers. It was so heady, and for the first time Amy realized how turned on she could get.
Even if the kiss was divine, the kissers were but mortal and they had to stop for breath. And that's when he felt the heave of her breasts pressing hard against his chest. He held her head from behind, pulling it down and back as he swooped down and kissed the mole on her neck. She let out a guttural moan. He placed one hand on her lips, pushing his thumb into her mouth, while the other deftly unbuttoned the first three buttons of her coat. The thumb, wet with her saliva, dragged itself down her lips, her chin, to the hollow of her throat and down to her shirt, pulling it down with it. He stood unsure for a half a moment but then both hands held each of the lapels on hey shirt and in one swift moment, tugged and tore it down the middle, buttons flying to the floor, and through the bars down many floors to the ground. At that moment she wanted to look into his eyes. To object, to protest, to plead perhaps that it was quite a new shirt. And when their eyes meet, she saw nothing but sheer desire, he lifted her hand and placed it on his chest, and she felt his elevated breath, heart-beat pulsing on his muscular chest.

"Is this not fever, Amy?" He asked, and without waiting for an answer kissed her again as his hands pressed and kneaded her breasts. Amy was overcome by the raw wanton desire she felt. Her hands went up his back and she realised how taut and warm his back was. The silly hospital gown only had velcro buttons and as she ripped then open, audibly so, the sound they made was quite comical. He sniggered, and then she smiled too and before they both knew it, they were both laughing at this turn of events, forgetting what they had been upto. But then soon the symphony of desire grew louder than the cacophony of cute laughter as they kissed again. This time, he was gentle, savouring her lips, planting a hundred butterfly kisses all over her face, her eyes, forehead and her nose. And as she enjoyed the soft assault of his lips, she almost didn't notice how deftly he'd pulled up her skirt until his hands felt the skin on her ass cheeks, gripping them and pulling her even more closer to his body. A hand slipped into her panties, reached within and stroked her desire. If the hot-spring of need had been slowly sending spurts until now, this act of his seemed to open a flood gate as his finger touched and titillated her nub! His hand was instantly awash with the essences of her desire. The soaked fingers found the core of her womanhood, and she was burning hot down there.

"Yes, it is fever, Lt." She said, as they entered her, seeking sweet surrender.

He curved his fingers within and scooped out all her nectar with frenzied strokes. She could stand it no more. Hell! She could stand no more as her knees bucked and gave in as a volcano burst deep within her and spewed hot lava on his fingers.

"Tell me you're mine. Tell me you want me. Tell me you're my Doctor-on-Call, Amy" he whispered into her ears as he brought up his soaked fingers to his mouth and licked them clean.
He held her waist, steadied her. Lifted her off her feet on to the window sill and kissed her. She could taste herself in this kiss and this thought excited her like never before. Her eyes were closed for the kiss. Then the kiss stopped. He held her face up by placing a finger under her chin. In the darkness she could barely make out his silhouette. But she felt his breath before she heard his words.

"You are my desire, my need, my want Amy. From the very moment I set eyes on you while you stopped that nurse from tearing my uniform. Happy Birthday Amy".

And then he walked down the stairs, and into the the night as the clock tower struck 12 times for midnight.

To be continued...