"If only we could see in advance all the harm that can come from the good we think we are doing."

Luigi Pirandello

Six Characters in Search of an Author

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Dedicated to my Doctor-ni Sahiba, RibelleDelCuore & my reading beta/the hardworking medical student EphemeralEntity...

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"You want to do what?" Aparna Mishra asked.

Shocked beyond belief, she couldn't understand what was happening around her ever since the mysterious case came her way.

"I want to move him to London," the old man sitting in front of her repeated his words to the young doctor.

"Sir, do you even understand how many injuries he has suffered? I know, you want better medical facilities for him, but I can't let you move him anywhere when he is the state he is right now, forget to London," Aparna declared, angry at the inability of the man to comprehend that the patient they were talking about was still in the danger zone.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to think of a way in which she could explain the old man the situation they were dealing with.

"The swelling in his head has me worried - it is the reason why he is in the medical coma now. He has suffered a lot of trauma; his legs have comminuted fractures, his left arm has multiple fractures while his right shoulder had been dislocated and the joint has still not completely healed, it's in quite a bad shape. His back is brutally bruised, thankfully the vertebral column has not suffered any fracture, also..." She informed and would have continued if the man sitting in front of her not have interrupted her.

"Dr. Mishra, can you talk in simple English? These medical terms are beyond my grasp. Just tell me, why can't I take him to London?" He asked her after impatiently listening to her talk passionately in the medical language.

Aparna looked at the old man, incredulous. Controlling her anger, she reminded herself that she was talking with a trustee of the hospital and not to just anyone. She has always disliked how the rich ones got better facilities, better treatment, than the rest of the patients. But ever since she met the old man now sitting in front of her, she has started to despise the privilege the rich ones had. The second he had entered in the hospital, he had made the people of hospital break and bend all the rules they had, till he was satisfied with his exaggerated demands.

Shaking her head, with a deep sigh, she again looked up at him. He was someone who had her confused ever since she met him, almost two days ago. Even though he was the trustee of the hospital she has been working from the past three years, she has never seen him until the night the patient they were talking about was brought in. Before that, he was thought of as the fair one by everyone in the hospital, the one who never misused the power he had over the hospital.

At first, she had mistaken him for a relative, as the way he behaved around the patient showed they were related, even though the name of the patient, for some strange reason, was kept a secret. But as she observed and analyzed, she realized he must be the grandfather of her young patient. She may be the only one who has figured that out, she could tell. The rest of her team-mates were still confused about the involvement of their rich trustee with the secret case they were working on.

"He is in a coma, Mr. Malhotra. In a very critical condition, him being monitored, very closely, for the next a few days is very necessary," she told him, softly even though her patience was running thin.

As the old man sitting in front of her opened his mouth, she raised her hand to interrupt him before he could utter the same insanity.

"The fractures I have just named will heal, but the swelling caused by his head injury has to go down, as soon as possible. He is in a medically induced coma now, as you know. I am thinking to let him stay in it for at least the time the swelling goes down," she continued.

"This means I won't let you take him on a journey of ten to twelve hours in the state he is in now. No matter if you have your own personal jet or whatever it is that your money can buy. Is it simple enough for you?" She taunted the wise man whom she thought wasn't behaving as one.

As she drew a deep breath, she realized the one she just taunted was the one who at the end of the day owned the hospital she worked in. But what else she could do? She could not help it; the patient they were talking about was not fully stable yet to shift to another country, that too so far away. At the end of the day, by not giving him the permission she was doing her job.

As she saw Mr. Malhotra lost in some deep thought, Aparna took a deep breath as she thought about the night; it was just 48 hours back that the patient, a victim of a car accident, was brought in. That night she was on her ER duty when she came across him.

She had no idea where to start from as she had looked at his body, all broken, bent in unnatural angles, full of glass cuts and wounds. It was only when someone had called her out that she had snapped out from the trance she was in. God, the number of injuries the patient had suffered were countless.

Being a realist, she knew the chances of survival of the patient were close to none. But as a doctor, she had to try her best and succeeded. She was very proud of her accomplishment; after all, she has achieved the impossible when she had been able to give appropriate treatment to the victim of what looked like a very brutal car accident.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt it wasn't her or the advance medical treatment he was provided of, but the patient himself was the one who has saved himself with the brave sprite of his. There had been many times she had felt as if his life slipping away from her hands, but before she could have given up, he had jerked back to life, to fight again with the death that seemed so close to taking him away. She was amazed by the fighting spirit of her patient...

That was the reason why she suddenly started to become protective of him, more than she ever had been for her other patients. More than her and any other doctors' efforts, it had been him who had fought to stay alive, now as his doctor and a fellow human being, she couldn't let anyone, not even his own grandfather let that tiring fight go in vain and take risks when it comes to his life.

And that was why she was putting her foot down; risking her job to make sure she made her 'No' clear enough to the old man who has asked her if a patient of such condition could be moved to the other part of the world.

While she understood what he wanted by moving the patient to London, for better medical facilities, but the doctor in her knew that the patient needed to be monitored at least till he was stable. After that what the patient's body needed was nothing more than the time to heal.

"His life is in danger, Doctor. I want him far away from the people who want to hurt him. He has been hurt way too many times," the old man suddenly whispered, looking helpless.

As she looked up at him, she knew she has to use some other way to convince him to give up on moving the patient at least for a few more days.

"So involve the police, make sure no one comes close to him. I don't understand why you haven't let us even inform the police. For sure his life is in danger out there, not in here. He can be protected inside the walls of this institution. No harm will come to him while he is in this hospital," She urged him.

"Involving police will make the matter worse, they will know he is here. No one can know that he is here. Do you understand?" The old man suddenly snapped at the young doctor, who was shaken by his paranoid behavior.

"Okay, no police, no one will know about him being here. But understand, it's just a matter of some days, you just have wait for some days, I promise," the young doctor coaxed the old man to give in.

"This can only go for some days more, in a way or other, with or without your permission, I am going to take him away," the old man commanded, looking like the businessman she knew he was. Gone was the helpless grandfather, now he looked as if he was the one in the control of the happenings.

"Mr. Malhotra, what you want is not possible for now, I won't let you. I am sorry, but till the swelling goes down, I am not promising anything," she told him, firmly. Letting him know that she was ready for the fight if he wanted one.

"Now, you have to excuse me, it's time for me to check on him and the other patients," she declared as she stood to take her rounds.

"But Doctor Mishra..." the old man started to say something to convince her otherwise but he was interrupted by her, again.

"Till the swelling goes down, I am not going to take any chances, Mr.Malhotra," she repeated before walking out of her office, leaving no room for further discussion.

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"Manik," he whispered, his shaking hand reached out to move his son's hair away from his forehead.

As Mr. Malhotra looked at the closed eyes, still body and the pale face of his only son, his heart shook with pain. To others, it may look like as if he was sleeping but only the heart of a father knew what it felt like to call out the name of his child and not get an answer.

As he kept looking at him, the face of his son got hazy as tears started to slip from his eyes. He couldn't help but feel defeated by circumstances. What has happened to his child and why? What was happening in the life of the child he had left in the care of his mother?

Oh, why he hadn't been able to take care of the blessing he had been gifted with after years of yearning...

As the thought of a child with chocolate-brown eyes filled with silent pain, invaded his mind, he couldn't stop the sobs that shook his entire body. That was the last image he had of his son when he had walked out of his marriage with Nyonika. He remembered that being the last time those eyes had shown him their pain as the owner of those eyes had stood there silently, just looking up at him as he in a hurried manner had explained how he was moving out.

After that, whenever he had met him, he had never felt as if he was meeting the child he had left behind. With the same eyes; but more guarded, more in control, the young boy who had come to meet him now and then was nothing like the child he had left behind. He may have looked like his son but acted as if he was someone else. It wasn't as if they had a strong bond, he realized, but before that, Manik had never hesitated from demanding his attention when required. Or at least that was as he thought.

But as the years passed by, his son became more distant, their relationship got more materialistic. He was at fault, he knew. He has always failed in protecting his child and has reduced their relationship into the one in which he only provided financial support.

Even before he had moved out, he had never really been there for his son, he realized now. He has never been capable of doing that: forming a relationship with his son, even though he loved his son like he has loved nothing else. Then, why? He couldn't understand. Oh, why was that the only thing he always failed at? He has asked himself this question countless times, never receiving an answer.

"Sir!" he heard the voice of his most trusted man calling him out.

"Look, Madhav, what has happened to my Manik," he choked in helplessness as tears slipped his eyes.

"Sir, please, don't lose hope, don't worry he will be fine. Time will heal him, what he needs now is our prayers," Madhav assured him, coaxing him to take rest before he himself fell ill.

"How, Madhav? How can I be okay when my child won't answer when I called him out?" He asked closing his eyes in the pain and helplessness.

"I call him, beg him to answer back, but he won't. I feel as if my Manik is angry at me and won't come back," he cried out as the sobs shook his frail body.

"Sir, he isn't, he would be fine, just give him some time to heal," Madhav coaxed, trying to find a way to take his sir's attention away from the matter which he couldn't do anything about.

"And anyway, sir, there so many matters that need your attention, important things, your health being one of them. You have to take care of yourself, at least for Manik," Madhav tried again and succeeded.

Nodding at him, Mr.Malhotra took a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he tried to regain composure. It was only because it came to him easy as breathing that he could slip back to his decades-old controlled self.

"Anything new, Madhav?" He demanded, whipping away the tears that even now won't stop slipping from his eyes.

"Sir, they are searching him," he informed.

"Who? Nyonika? The Fab 5?" Mr. Malhotra snarled, angry at each and every one of them.

"Only one of them, Cabir and the girl, sir," Madhav informed.

"Which girl?" He asked, confused.

"Nandini Murthy, sir," Madhav answered.

"Who is she?" He demanded.

"Sir, she...she is Manik baba's...I think she is his girlfriend," Madhav answered, stammering.

He belonged to the older generation, his middle-class values made the idea of the new age boy-girl relationships uncomfortable for him.

"They come and go, Madhav. Don't let that affect our plan," Mr. Malhotra ordered him in the strict voice of his.

"They can search for him all the want, they are not going to find him. I am not letting them even know where he is," Mr. Malhotra continued, telling him in a firm voice, determined to not let anyone hurt his child. Not anymore.

"But, the girl, sir! She must know, Manik baba would want her to know," Madhav protested. After all, he has observed the couple from afar and for long enough to know that she was very dear to the boy who has grown up in front of his eyes.

"Collateral damage, Madhav, she is going to be collateral damage. I know Manik is in a relationship with her, but they are too young to know any better. They will move on, both of them," Mr. Malhotra's voice rung in his ear, eliminating the doubts he had in his mind.

With a sigh, he nodded. Without a doubt his sir knew best, he was after all the boy's father, Madhav concluded.

"What do you have in mind, sir?" He asked after a long pause.

"Wait and watch, Madhav...Just wait and watch," with a smirk on his face, Mr. Malhotra answered him.

And wait they shall...

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A/N:- Here it is, a glimpse of Manik that you have been waiting for...The rest in the upcoming chapters...

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter, the story... :)

I hope you are liking the story so far...Thank you for sticking by... :)

Thank you! :)