Page 44 of No Other Love

It came sooner rather than later on the fifth morning of my stay in Aronda.

Twenty-Four

Vikrant

I enjoyed many things about being a local doctor, with none of the pressures of being the best. Possibly because I was the only doctor, so there was no competition as such. But it also meant I was the only one they could rely on. Day or night. In case of an emergency. In fact, the first two months I took up the position, I barely got any sleep because my phone did not stop ringing. For all sorts of things, like a leg sprain to a common cold to a heart attack.

Then I learned to establish some boundaries, and instituted all those weekend camps to educate the residents about how to self-treat some basic illnesses and not just with grandma’s remedies (although they work in a pinch, truth be told). And now I was only called in the middle of the night for true emergencies.

Being woken up because a favorite mom-to-be went into labor was on my list of top three things.

I usually also tapped the OB-GYN from Panjim, the state capital over an hour away, in case I needed some extra help. But nothing in Neelima’s charts or medical history (another thing I was extremely insistent on) indicated a difficult labor, so I went into the hospital on my own that night at one am.

I could have woken up Anika, she was an amazing pediatric surgeon and expert…but I could not bring myself to wake her up.

She’d actually assisted my mom in making dinner while wearing a sari. The sexiest thing I’d seen in a while. And a monumental mending of the bond between my mother and her.She wasn’t drained by the cooking or the dinner, but that bond was not easy to repair, because she’d kissed me with desperation when we’d shut ourselves in our private sexual bubble after dinner.

So yeah, I wasn’t going to disturb her unless I absolutely needed it.

I also needed space for myself. Although, getting my thoughts in order in the delivery room was not recommended therapy.

But as I prepped myself for the birth and watched Neelima screaming her surprisingly clear lungs off, I couldn’t help but think.

Everything was aligning for us now. We weren’t fighting anymore. We were actually getting along. My parents were keeping their distance and their comments to themselves. And Anika seemed…mine. She was enjoying working at the hospital, her pleasure at treating the patients or filing better than me was evident.

My house was hers. The bed I could not sleep in till she came along was hers. Every inch of the home I’d built for her, was hers. So maybe I could ask her to live in it?

***

‘Vikrant,’ Neelima’s husband whispered, looking terrified at his wife’s screams. ‘Is she going to be okay?’

A particularly vicious contraction ripped Neelima’s abdomen in half. And she bowed under its weight, even with the help of Anshul, the night nurse on duty who also doubled as a midwife until this hospital became the place to go to for childbirth.

He turned fearful eyes in my direction. ‘That is painful!Dosomething.’

‘I’m going to.’ I squeezed his hand in calm reassurance. ‘I swear this is normal. And I’ll give her an epidural if things get too bad. But, right now, I want it to be as natural as possible.’

Neelima screamed again, hollering curses in her pain. I kept my grimace inside. That was painful. I squeezed his hand once again and shoved my hands under the water, to scrub it clean.

Then I wore my gloves by myself (a far departure from the time when a nurse stood by my side to do this for me in the bustling super-specialty hospital) and walked briskly over to my patient.

‘Alright, Neelima. I want you to look at me,’ I spoke in soothing Konkani. ‘I’m going to check and see what’s going on down there. You’re going to feel a little discomfort. But I’m going to be very quick. Okay?’

Anshul had helpfully propped Neelima’s legs on stirrups, so her legs were spread apart, but covered modestly by a sheet. Which was stained with amniotic fluid and leaking urine right now.

‘Get. It. OUT!’ She screamed at me, flecks of saliva flying on my mask.

I blinked, strangely pleased at her anger.

She wasn’t concerned about her modesty, which was a small battle won for me. And one of the reasons I was hardcore pushing for more funds. Many of the ladies in town felt uncomfortable and awkward talking to me about their sexual problems or even just about their periods because I was a man.Having a female doctor would make them open up and keep them safer and healthier in the long run.

That female doctor could be Anika…

The sly thought popped up. I pushed it aside when Neelima let out a bloodcurdling yell.

I quickly sat down on the chair and got down to business. Because her contractions were seconds apart, which meant her time was close.

But the thought remained in my head, a weed of hope I could not uproot.