BENEATH THE MOUNTAIN: CHAPTER 1 Stretcher!

A Story by Vidushi Sharma

Because it is all about finding your childhood love in a Hospital!!

A young girl,Arti entered cabin with a laptop bag and placed it on the table.She looked around the room and signed. Everything was almost perfect as doctor liked.she opened the laptop and placed it on the table. She arranged the files in order on table and while she was doing so, Dr Kavya bhardwaj entered.A young lady of 26 who has achieved success and name that no one at her age could imagine.afterall being a only nanomedicine specialist in India was no small thing.

She immediately checked her files ,picked up the one that she was looking for.She was due in Dr A.M Arora’s cabin to meet a patient.

“Arti, I’am coming in few minutes, you arrange these and then can go.ok” she said .

Arti nodded and then continued with her work.

Kavya took her file and went out to Dr Arora’s cabin, smiling and giving responses to everyone who wished her.She was respected by one and all.Her charm and managing skills were known well and wide.

She knocked on cabin’s door, heard ‘yes’ and entered with a smile.

“good afternoon doctor” she said.three men in the room turned to face in her direction.

“good morning Kavya, we were just waiting for you.” Said doctor arora as she moved in.

Doctor then began to introduce “this is Doctor Kavya bhardwaj, and Kavya, this is Mr Ashvin Vashisht and his son .” She faced both father and son and wished them without reflecting the change that suddenly her insides felt.her heartbeat raced, must be thumping hard against her ribs,all blood rushed to her face. But she had learned well to hide it all behind her professional front.

Ashvin vashisht was old man of 55 and his son Ridhaan was young, dark, handsome , very tall and was watching Kavya with surprised eyes.His heart was racing too,though slower than that of Kavya.

‘IMPOSSIBLE!’he thought. Kavya Bhardwaj! He took in every feature of the girl standing in front of him:

Tall, extremely fair, oval face, beautifull pouting lips,very pink, lively eyes and the most charming smile he had ever seen anybody had.her hair were falling over her shoulder and she was wearing suit beneath her white coat.He recognized her. It was her.Same yet changed.everything about her had changed.her personality, identity, way she talked and carried herself.so professional and confident.

And then a new thought erupted : has she recognised him. She hasn’t reflected even the slightest hint of recognition. He felt awakward. In so many years he had thought about her a lot, wondered, imagined and worried.some part of him had wanted to know what she was doing? how she was? Where she was? Will he be ever seeing her? Etc etc etc. But he always restrained that part of himself from contacting her.He had made a promise.

Subject of his thoughts was thinking about him too.a part of her brian was listening and replying to the doctor but the other part was running at highest speed of BMW. Ridhaan Vashisht! No no no!

Dark, shiny jet black hair that she was fan of,broad shoulders,beautifull 6 feet physique, mature face that reflected his intelligence.he hasn’t changed much. Now he was a man.

“Mrs Vashisht has cancer in lungs.I explained to them the basis of treatment but I want you to give them full details.Mr Ashvin has agreed to go for this treatment. ” explained doctor.

“thank you uncle, we will do our best and I can assure you that aunty will be more than fine in just few months.” She smiled.”you can come to my cabin, I shall explain procedure to you in full details.”

Ashvin stood up followed by his son.”I can just hope.i had heard about this treatment a lot.new technology.”

“yes, and this new technology has been possible in india only because of Kavya and her hard work.” Doctor proudly smiled at her.

“you are embarrassing me doctor.Mr Vashisht, I’ll show you way” she nodded at doctor and stepped out to lead the way.

She entered her cabin. Arti had arranged it to her liking and comfort.It reflected her personality and way of working.she walked straight to her desk.Mr Vashisht and his son followed her.Both had worried expressions on their faces.but there was a difference, Ridhaan still had that effect of maintaining neutral expression on his face, that hides the storm going on inside him.Kavya had learned to hide her feelings from him only. still same! She wondered.

“please be seated” she pointed to the chairs across the table.She took her seat when both father and son were seated.she was fully conscious of Ridhaan’s watchfull eyes that were noticing every single movement of her body and her expressions.She pretended to pay no attention.

“so, Uncle, doctor gave me whole file on patient and her condition.reports of all the tests that were undertaken.i went through it and it was then that I had agreed to take up treatment.” Both Ashvin and Ridhaan listened to her every single word with rapt attention. “cancer is 2 inches wide and broad in muscle.chances of operating it successfully were not pretty good.there are always chances of spreading by left after cancer cells and considering health condition of patient ,it was not very suggestive.” Ashvin nodded in agreement. Kavya twisted her laptop that was opened by Arti such that Ashvin and Ridhaan could see the screen clearly.she continued. “the treatment that we will follow to cure it based on nano robots.these are very tiny robots of nano scale which we will leave in her circulatory system, it will flow with her blood without any trouble.these nanorobots will contain a miniature television camera, through which we will be able to control navigation of these robots and direct them to the cancer region. These nano robots will be designed as per requirement of the patient.these will contain medication and tiny tools that will diagnose and destroy cancerous cells.once the treatment is over, these robots will be directed out of the body.”

Both the men’s forehead creased. Like father like son!.Kavya thought.

“these robots, they won’t cause any trouble with other functions of the body?” Asked Ridhaan .the sound of his deep voice caused a different kind of sensation in Kavya’s stomach.How much she had desired to listen to it in past years.It was deep and peaceful. Ridhaan, vast, silent, peacefull, beautifull, full of wonders and mystery.

She struggled to keep her voice even and devoid of emotions that were up surging inside her. “these are extremely tiny robots- nano, you see,they are designed such that they move through the blood vessels without causing any problem to normal flow of blood cells.” She clicked on a link and a 3D model of a tiny robot moving through blood stream appeared on screen.she further explained, “these contain locomotive parts that cause locomotion.for example, this one” she pointed to robot on screen,” contains flagella .like bacteria has.”

“you have such robots in India?”asked Ashvin.His worry was obvious.

“No, this is what I’am working for, promoting nanomedicine in India.Presently, We will get these nanorobots from Germany.I had pleasure of working with Doktor Antenne Robertson, specialist and a researcher in nanomedicine in Germany.I assisted him in five different cases of nanomedicine there.i came in India last year, and since then , I have taken 3cases on my own with the help of doctor Arora.I have contacts there, I will be sending case file there and they will send nanorobots.”

Ashvin seemed assured now.she could see that she had she had managed to win his confidence. Ridhaan’s face was though neutral, she knew there was a lot going on in his head.And out of nowhere a new question arose in her head:

‘is he married?’

She controlled her thoughts to focus on the present situation. And as she was doing so, Ridhaan spoke, “and have all those cases of nanomedicine been successful? ”

“yes, I can assure you Mr Vashisht, that chances of this treatment failing are rare.Thanks to new upcoming technology, even a cancer patient can look forward to lead a healthy and simple life once the disease is cured with no chances of reoccurring. it will take few months. ” she answered. And now it suddenly struck her, she had been so occupied with his thoughts that it came as a shock to her: His mother had cancer! She was sick and he must have been disturbed by it lately. Somehow now this idea pained her. She hadn’t given a thought to it even once that this patient was his mother!

“these robots , to move, all those machinery require energy.How will this be available to all those nanorobots in body?” asked Ashvin Vashisht.

‘Intelligent man.’ Thought Kavya.

“Nanorobots could get power directly from the bloodstream. A nanorobot with mounted electrodes could form abattery using the electrolytes found in blood. Another option is to create chemical reactions with blood to burn it for energy. The nanorobot would hold a small supply of chemicals that would become a fuel source when combined with blood.This is most widely and convenient way of powering a nanorobot but there are many other ways too.” She explained.

Ashvin considered the whole conversation for a minute in silence and then furrow on his forehead ceased. “I will be really very thankfull to you.I see a hope now.You can’t imagine how disturbed we all were ever since we found out about it.whole house was under clouds of sorrow.My wifes life is in your hands now. ”

“Please Uncle, just believe in God and thank him. Aunty will be extremely fit and feetle.”

“and how much this procedure is going to cost?” ashvin asked.

“I’am sorry but this discussion will be taken by Doctor Arora.I only take care of my work, this procedure will not be cheap infact quite expensive.You see, Nanorobots are made and imported” Ashvin was already nodding his head in agreement.

“when should I get my wife?”

“next week, Doctor will inform you.By that time , I shall design and order nanorobots.I will keep my preparations ready. The moment robots are ready, we will start treatment without delay”

“thank you.” Ashvin nodded and got up.Kavya and Ridhaan stood up too.She smiled her approval. Ashvin and Ridhaan went towards the door and got out.

As the door closed,Kavya took a deep breath and collapsed in her chair.Her heartbeat was still uneven.She hadn’t felt so out of herself ever before.She was again surprised to find that that guy still had the same effect as before.so, the whole practice of staying away from him had been a waste.she had lived like a zombie, cried every night, never given way to new love in life and purpose of all of it failed. She felt weak.Can anybody have so much influence in other person’s life as he had in hers.What ever she was, the way she was, the life she lead now and everything that encapsulated her life had been influenced by him.Her cheeks were hot, must have been red throughout whole conversation.she closed her eyes and took her face in her hands.his face whirled in front of her.He was troubled.His mother was sick.

There was a knock on the door.She opened her eyes, composed her face and called “come in.”

Door opened and Ridhaan entered.her eyes opened wide and she forgot to blink.He moved towards her desk. She got up.

“yes Mr Vashisht?” she tried to sound indifferent.

“eer, congratulations for your success.” He said in a serious tone.

“thank you.”

“it is a surprise to see you after so many years.really.”

“yeah, but the occasion is not pleasant. I’am very sorry to hear about aunty.She will be fine.” She gave a faint smile.

He was staring at her. “yes, I know. Can I ask you something if you don’t mind?personal? ”

“yes” she wondered what was he about to ask.

“its been long time since we last talked.I still remember our last conversation.is it all over? I mean the problem you had with me…”

“oh no ! oh no! aa, I’am sorry, ” she wondered what to answer him. Truth or assurance. “please don’t worry about it.I was little girl.immature.I never had any problem with you.I now pay attention to only my work.I hav forgotten it. Be at ease.” She smiled.

He smiled too.”Yeah, I can see that.you really are very professional.”

Kavya smiled only in response.

“so do you mind being like old friends?” he asked.

She played with the pen in her hand absentmindedly. “sure” she watched her pen.She couldn’t look at him, scared if a tear might be seen at brim.

“thanks, eer bye.see you soon”he said and went out.

And a tear rolled down her cheeks.

TO BE CONTINUED.................