Yours Accidentally (4 page)

NINE

“Please
don’t faint this time. It’s quite bad for my self-esteem,” said Sameera, standing
at the door awkwardly, not knowing what to do next.

“What the
hell are you doing here?”

Her brow
creased. “Oh, your signature greeting once again. No ‘hello, how are you’
stuff. This will take some getting used to.” Sameera sounded more confident
than she felt. Her heart echoed Gautam’s question;
what the hell was she
doing there anyway?
Yesterday she had resolved to steer clear of him, and
today not only was she seeing him again but also standing in his house. Too
late to retract, she tried her best to look professional and make light of the
awkward situation. “I’m here to try Gopal’s tea, which he claims is amongst the
best in the world. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Gautam
looked thoroughly perplexed.

“Gopal was
in a state of panic when he called my clinic and insisted on speaking to me. He
told me that your pain had increased greatly. I gather that the car ride was
not the best thing for your limbs. Car rides are ruled out, but therapy must
continue. So while I wait for my tea, let me take a look at you and see what
can be done.”

The clouds
lifted partially over Gautam’s brain, but he was still not ready for this, not
after his dream. “I still don’t understand why you should come home to help me.
Neither do I deserve, nor desire, such generosity.”

Sameera was
thoroughly professional in her attitude. “Don’t think so much. Just relax.” She
pulled a chair close to his bed and set up her portable equipment. As she
unraveled the extension cord, he observed her smooth fingers and perfectly done
nails. She did not wear a ring on her left hand; for some strange reason, he
felt relieved. As her fingers touched his knees, a ripple passed over his
entire body. The effect
was
electrifying.

“Like
yesterday I will apply the gel on your knees and ankle and then start the
diathermy. Don’t hesitate to tell me if you feel any discomfort.”

He looked up
at her face. Her skin glowed as usual; she wore no makeup except for a mild
line of
kajal
and pink lip gloss. She was dressed simply but elegantly
in black cigarette pants and a crisp white shirt that highlighted every contour
of her body. The more he looked at her, the more he felt intoxicated. Myriad
thoughts raced through his mind.
Why has she come? Why was the universe hell-bent
on making their paths meet? Was there a deeper meaning to it all?
He was
confused and torn between numerous conflicting feelings—indignation,
anticipation, shock, longing.

“You look
flushed. Are you alright?” Sameera asked with concern. “Is the temperature too
high?”

Gautam could
hardly tell her the real reason for his discomfort and just shook his head, not
trusting his voice at the moment.

Though she
looked the picture of concentration, Sameera’s mind was in turmoil.
I can’t
allow anyone to shatter my peace, not now.
She continued her rhythmic
movements, which eventually succeeded in relaxing his muscles and finally his
mind. By the time she was done, he was calm and at peace while she was
internally agitated. His physical discomfort had reduced considerably and for
the first time in the day, he managed a smile.

“You smile.
I was beginning to worry about facial muscle injury.” Sameera smiled. “So, may
I stay for tea?”

Startled at
her lapse in self-control, she wanted to apologize and run away but his smile
grew wider.

“Sorry.
Stay,
please
. And sorry for my appalling behavior. I was completely
surprised to see you here but could I request a small concession based on
that?”

“I quite
like this new tone.” Inside her, the question reverberated—
would I regret
this decision later?

“
Chai
taiyaar hai
.” Gopal entered the room carrying a tray laden with yummy
looking
pakoras
and two cups of steaming hot tea.

Sameera
picked up a
pakora
from the plate. “In Mumbai you call them
kanda
batata bhajjiya
. Thanks Gopal, they are yummy.”

Gopal looked
earnestly into her eyes. “Thank you for coming over. I couldn’t bear to see him
in such pain. See? It’s not even an hour since you came but he is already
looking better. God bless you.”

Whatever
irritation Gautam had felt over Gopal’s decision to get in touch with Sameera
without consulting him melted when he saw the anxiety and concern in his old
companion’s eyes. His loyalty was unquestionable.

As Sameera
reached for the
pakoras
once again, her finger touched his; she dropped
the savory as if burned by it. Before Gautam could say anything, she tactfully
withdrew her hand and exclaimed, “These
pakoras
are to die for. I must
do something to stay in his good books.”

“Gopal
already thinks you are God-sent and that you alone can cure me. Actually he
doesn’t know that you’re not even a proper doctor.”

“There we go
again. Just to set the record straight, we are legally allowed to use the
prefix doctor; this is a medical profession. Now stop fidgeting and don’t move
your right arm.”

Gautam gave
Sameera a mock salute with his left arm, “Yes, doctor.”

With
practiced ease, Sameera readjusted his sling and propped a cushion under his
knee. Her proximity made him feel tense while
she
seemed completely at
ease. He sat silently, his heart in his mouth; her mind raced to find
impersonal and harmless topics to talk about as they sat finishing their tea.

“In case you
are interested in football, El Clasico is on tonight, Barcelona vs. Real
Madrid.”

Gautam
raised his eyebrows, “Do
you
like to watch football?”

“Oh yes. I
try to catch the big matches of both EPL as well as La Liga. Would ideally love
to watch Champions League as well, but the matches start too late.”

“Does your
boyfriend love football?”

Her smile
faded and her body became more rigid. “That’s a leading question. Are you
asking me if I have a boyfriend?”

“Maybe.”

“You’ll have
to do better than ‘maybe’ if you want an answer.”

“Okay. Do
you have a boyfriend?”

“Is it of
consequence to you?”

“I was
wondering how a girl like you could love a masculine sport like football.”

“Last time
you were quite off the mark. What’s your analysis now? What kind of a girl do you
think I am?”

Gautam
thought for a minute. His first reaction was to be defensive and clamp up. But
on second thoughts, he had been wrong and decided to be fair. “Sorry about my
opinionated donkey avatar, but, let me say this in my defense. If we did a random
sampling and asked a hundred people to guess your profession, not one guess
would be accurate.”

“Why? Do
physiotherapists have horns on their heads?”

“You’re
too...” Gautam stopped in mid-sentence.

“Too what…?”

“You’re too
girly.”

“Is that the
best you can manage? ‘Girly’? It’s not even a proper word. Anyway, I need to
go. I must thank Gopal for the treat. Take care.” Sameera turned to leave, glad
to get away before she got carried away by her confusing responses.

“Sameera?”

She turned
around, her eyebrows arched in question.

“I would
like you to continue with my therapy if that’s okay with you.”

“That’s nice
of you. Thanks.” She needed more time to think. “Let me look into my calendar
and confirm tomorrow.”

≈

TEN

For Gautam,
Sameera’s presence lingered in the room even after she left. Her fragrance,
voice and words hung around him. He had always liked being alone, but suddenly
he felt lonely.

He knew that
she was only doing her duty as a doctor—it was definitely not her job to
entertain him—but whatever she did seemed to irritate him, one way or the
other.

He was
irritated that she had arrived unannounced; after she left, he was angry
because she did not stay; when she spoke, her incomplete responses upset him
and when she didn’t speak, her silence peeved him. What was she doing to him?
Why couldn’t he behave normally? She liked watching football; this was the only
new information he had about her. Not only had she avoided answering his
questions but had also put him in a spot once again. Why did he let her
manipulate him? Why had he not raised the subject of her arrogant behavior in
Delhi?

***

Next
morning, Gautam woke up thinking about Sameera. Would she come? Not that he
cared, but then, neither did she. She was merely doing her job and getting paid
handsomely for it.

It was eight
a.m. Even if she came in at six p.m., he needed to kill ten hours in between.
He recalled their conversation from the previous evening. She had been
articulate while he had faltered. How could he level the playing field?

He swore
loudly to himself. Why the hell was he thinking about her first thing in the
morning? It was the first time in many months that he had woken up preoccupied
by thoughts not pertaining to his work. He couldn’t let that happen. He tried
to get up but was too sore and shouted out for Gopal.

“Coming,
Gautam Baba.” Gopal rushed into his room flustered and out of breath. “
Kya
hua
? Are you okay? Should I call Dr. Sameera?”

“Just shut
up and calm down, Gopal. You’ll do nothing of the sort.” Gautam’s curtness took
Gopal by surprise. “Why are you obsessed with Sameera? Is she some magician who
can cure all ills? Don’t try to call anyone without my permission. Is that
clear?”

Gopal was
dumbfounded. Gautam had never screamed at him. He lowered his gaze and mumbled,
“
Theek hai
, Gautam Baba. I will not call anyone. When you yelled I
thought you may have hurt yourself, so I was very scared.”

Gopal’s eyes
brimmed with love and concern but his voice was heavy with hurt and pain.
Gautam was overcome with embarrassment.

“Sorry for
yelling, Gopal. I seem to be losing my mind after the accident. Don’t worry so
much about me, I’m getting better. I don’t want you to fall sick with anxiety.
Now help me get up and get dressed. I’m starving. What’s for breakfast?”

The mere mention
of food cheered up Gopal; he liked nothing more than cooking and feeding
Gautam.
“Garma garam aaloo ke parathe
.”

“
Aaloo
parathe
? No way,” Gautam retorted. “Just give me some milk and muesli
first; I’ll have some fruit later.”

“You kids
know nothing about nutrition. Pure
desi ghee
does no harm. It is good
for broken bones.” He shook his head. “Your bones need lubrication.
Ghee
will fix your strength and reduce the pain.”

Gautam
couldn’t help laughing. “Let’s replace all the medicines with a tin of your
miracle
ghee
.”

“You can
make as much fun of me as you want, but I know I am right.”

The day
moved ahead at snail’s pace. Sameera had still not called to confirm and Gautam
wouldn’t enquire. He called Jai at work to check on the team’s progress.

As soon as
the call ended, he called Gopal to his room. “Gopal when did you change the
sheets on my bed?”

“Just two
days ago, Gautam Baba.”

“They look
shabby. Change the sheets again and please use something decent. Do you have
new white linen sheets?”

“If you have
not bought new linen sheets, how will I have them? You’ve never been fussy
about these things. What’s happened suddenly?”

“Nothing,
just do as I say.”

While
surfing channels, he chanced upon Katy Perry’s ‘Fireworks’ video. He missed
dancing as he used to in the old days, but the thought of dancing reminded him
of Sameera in her silver
lehenga
.
It’s just an association, nothing
more.

Despite his rationalizations,
Gautam felt restless.

He called
out to Gopal again, “Gopal, come here. Can you use my electric razor and give
me a shave?” Gopal nodded and got the razor.

When he was
finished, Gautam asked him to get a mirror. “No, the shave is not a close one.
I still don’t look clean enough. Do it once more. And I hate my hair. Get some
water to wet my hair and then get me my gel from the bathroom.”

“Are we
going somewhere, Gautam Baba?”

“Can’t I
look good at home?”

Gautam
brushed his curly hair vigorously. “Get me my bottle of cologne. No not that
one, the other one. I have changed my mind, get the first one.”

Gopal
nervously pottered around, trying his best to keep peace with a visibly irate
Gautam. Post lunch, much to Gopal’s relief, Gautam settled for a nap but the
moment he woke up, his incessant demands began again.

Gopal prayed
for the day to be over and was about to revolt against mopping the room for the
third time that day when the doorbell rang. Sameera stood at the door. Before
she could say anything, Gopal blurted out. “I am
so
happy to see you,
Doctor sahib.”

≈

ELEVEN

“Why, is our
patient in pain again?” asked Sameera with concern.

“I don’t
know what’s wrong with him, but I’ve never seen him so restless before.”

Sameera had
finally decided to come. She had been like a cat on a hot tin roof all day in
her clinic. Her nurses had seldom seen her so distracted and preoccupied. Even
Mr. Verma, one of her regular patients who came for traction every day,
remarked that she did not look as bright as usual. Her mammoth reservoir of
patience had suddenly run dry.

Normally she
would push her patients to try harder while simultaneously being empathetic
towards their pain; she always got them to do what was needed without getting
frustrated.

But that day
she was a different person. She snapped when Mrs. Ahuja complained she would
not squeeze the therapy ball for more than one set. “Then please don’t waste my
time,” she said. Taken aback, Mrs. Ahuja meekly completed her routine.

Finally at
lunchtime, Sameera sat alone and tried to clear her head. Why was she so
anxious? He was supposed to be very intelligent, but she had never had an
intellectually stimulating conversation with him. He was supposed to be very
good at his work, but then so was she. Yes he was young and good looking but
she had several young, good looking and sometimes even famous patients who were
much better behaved. They would be in awe of her skill and beauty while he was
rude, unpredictable and moody. That certainly could not explain why she felt
attracted to him. Or could it?

She knew she
avoided guys who tried to woo her, always tried to avoid unnecessary attention;
Gautam never sought her, never approached her and never tried to start a
conversation with her. Delhi could have been the first and last time they met,
but fate brought them together again. Something about him was honestly
endearing—his deep brown eyes, his brusqueness.

What shocked
Sameera the most was the physical attraction she felt towards him. That scared
her. She wanted to walk away unscathed. She hardly knew him and with all that
she had seen in her life, she just could not risk getting involved.

Yet, as the
evening approached, she cancelled her much-loved piano class and headed for his
home. Though she tried to disguise this act as professionalism, in her heart
she knew that there was much more than ethics involved.

***

Gautam was
lying propped up on his bed, looking expectantly at the door when Sameera
entered. He was looking even more dashing than she remembered.

“Hello
patient. I am glad that you look better.” She looked around the room.
“Expecting someone special?” She wanted him to deny it but he just smiled.

He was
thrilled. She had not called all day but now that she had come, he didn’t want
to complain and start the evening on a sour note.

“Let’s see
how those ligaments are behaving today. The swelling is much less. There seems
to be...”

But his mind
was elsewhere. How could she look so lovely all the time? She was dressed in a
simple white
chikan kameez
and a light blue
churidar
, with not a
crease out of place. How did she manage to stay so pristine in the humidity and
filth of Mumbai? Her hair was pulled up loosely in a bun, clasped with a
butterfly clip that let stray strands escape and fall softly around her face.
The most striking feature was her neck, exposed for the first time minus the veil
of her cascading hair. He stared at the neck, long, slender and white, just
like a swan’s. Uncluttered with jewelry, it was a canvas waiting for an
artist’s touch. He longed to be that artist. No longer in control of his
surging emotions, he just wanted to stroke her neck, to feel the softness with
his lips.

“Are you
feeling feverish, Gautam?” Sameera’s voice broke his trance. “Your face is
quite red. I wonder how I missed it earlier. Let me check your temperature and
blood pressure.”

With his
heart beating as wildly as it was, Gautam was quite sure that if he allowed her
to check his BP, he would be spending the night under observation in a
hospital. “No, I’m fine, just feeling a little hot. Could you ask Gopal to turn
up the AC?”

“Let me do
that.” Her perfume filled his senses as she leaned across him to get the
remote. “That should be better.”

She pulled
her chair close to him and resumed her work.

Not trusting
himself anymore, he just lay back with his eyes shut as Sameera gently attended
to his wounds. He was relaxed and for the first time felt no resentment. He
longed to know her better and decided to start afresh.
He would apologize
for his previously moody behavior and caustic tongue and let bygones be
bygones.
He had been completely wrong and hasty in his judgment. He did not
care for the past. She was here, with him, and strangely, that felt very good.
He opened his eyes and saw her looking at him.

“What are
you thinking about? Your guest?”

Gautam
blushed. “Nothing; just relaxing. Your treatment is very soothing.”

If she was
keen to meet the rude Gautam, a polite and suave Gautam would surely be
irresistible. She was on sticky ground and needed to escape. “Let me not push
my luck and leave quickly before your special guest arrives.”

“No special
guest. Why don’t you stay for tea?”

She wanted
to bolt. “I’d love to, but I really need to rush. I’m late for my pilates
class.” She got up hurriedly and almost knocked the chair over.

“Before I
leave, here’s some good news. Your leg looks much better and you can try
walking for some time if it does not hurt. Don’t overdo it initially. Take it
slow. We can try physiotherapy every alternate day. So I will see you day after
tomorrow now. Take care.”

As always,
she left before he could say anything further.

Gopal
entered the room bearing a tray with two cups of piping hot tea and a bowl of
poha
.
“She’s left and I don’t want to eat anything. Also, change the bed sheets. I
want the old one again.”

≈