"Congratulations Dr. Sharma your 25th successful delivery. Yay! " Nurse Ambika shouted elated.

We were in the changing room, changing our clothes after the delivery.

I smiled at her enthusiasm, "thankyou! Ambika".

" Nah! I don't need a simple dry thank you of yours. I need a proper party for the silver jubilee ".she smirked folding her clothes neatly.

she is in her 40s, always cheerful, and a very humble woman. she has been working with me for the last four years. She is a very hardworking lady and I respect her a lot. Since she has two sons and always wanted a daughter, she treats me like one. she always brings some or the other thing for me to eat whenever she cooks, else it's always her husband who cooks, he is a teacher by profession. she does not get much time for cooking although she desperately loves cooking. Alas! being a nurse in one of the top hospitals of Amritsar is not an easy task.

" Sure! Sure! " I patted her back and resumed searching for my stethoscope.

Being a gynecologist for 4 years has been quite tiring but it's my dream job. I am living my dream now in 'life hospital', one of the most reputed hospitals of Amritsar.

I remember how much I struggled to get here. First the NEET examination then 5 years of MBBS, studying day and night then MS in gyno, internships and finally I am here, where I always wanted to be and I absolutely love my job.

My parents are proud, they have only one complaint about me that I am 29 and going to be 30 in just two months and still not married.

My friends and colleagues think I lack ' love' hormone since I never dated anyone, neither has a crush on anyone.

But how do I tell them that I also tasted the sweet poison called love, I loved a person like no end. my heart also used to beat for someone who had the power to make my breath hitched every time he looked at me with those pearl eyes. A person for whom I could die.With whom I planned my future.

the same person who never thought twice before breaking my heart into pieces.

how naive I was to think that we will live together 'happily ever after'. I wonder how I managed to strike myself in that fairytale.

Gathering myself strong, like how I have been managing myself all these years, and not to end up crying like a pathetic soul like every time, I pulled out my mobile to check the notifications.

I headed towards my cabin when vaidehi bumped into me.

Vaidehi, my high-school-time friend who knows I don't lack 'love hormones'.who knows about us. who knows all the buried secrets.

she is a Gujarati girl. her parents live in surat, Gujarat. they always visit us once a month. since she is a pediatrician, she also does not get much time to visit them. she is a simple girl, who loves her dhokla like crazy. trust me she can put up a wrestling match if someone dares to separate her from her dhokla else she is a sweet girl. she has become my family in all these years. even our families gelled up very quickly in spite of the cultural change.

"Sorry, suha. Actually...yeah.let's go to a nearby restaurant for lunch".she hesitated before saying.

" Vai you are hiding something? "

I asked suspiciously.

"N... N... No" Her eyes grew wider.

She started getting hiccups as soon as she said that.

That's when I caught her. She can't lie. Whenever she lies, she starts hiccupping.

"So? " I smirked at her." you have no other option except telling me the truth. c'mon spill the beans now".

"I just want you to be fine. I want to take you away from all this " She whispered looking down.

her hiccupping stopped, even if this hiccupping was not in the scene I know she said the truth. her love and care for me are so bare. I can't help but thank god for sending her into my life.

"I am fine. Let's just go " I assured her but the truth I was broken.

I never knew the person from whom I was running away all these years will come in front of me like this.

I waited for him, but he never came.

Today he came.finally he did. but he came with h...his...his preg...pregnant wife.

I was numb when I saw him running, shouting, and going all crazy to save his... His wife.

I could not figure out what to do for few minutes.

And what a lovely coincidence, my 25th delivery was his child.

His son.

I know I have moved on from him but I don't know which part of my heart didn't understand this.

It felt like he stepped upon my heart, breaking it into million pieces. Again.

It hurt like hell.

tears pooled in my eyes, I wanted to cry so bad but I can't because I was on duty.

It just deepens the pain when you want to cry so bad but you can't.

Tears knock every second but you can't help them fall. you keep blinking them away.

Vaidehi knows everything about me. She has seen us. the reason, she wants us to lunch out, so that she can divert my attention. Even I think that would be a great idea.

I nodded at her. She tried her best to give me an assuring smile.

Removing my coat and stethoscope, I joined her.

We were moving ahead, talking on a political affair, when my eyes landed on ward no.20.

the same ward where his wife is shifted after the delivery.

my legs could not help but stop near the door of ward no.20, I peeked inside through the glass window to see him sitting beside her on the stool ,dressed in a royal blue shirt, with his sleeves rolled up to the elbow.he looked handsome. he has always been handsome.

he was slim and had a light stubble,when i last saw him.

Now he has changed into a musculine man with thick beard.his hair were falling on his creased forehead along with sweat beads.

and his eyes,his eyes were still so beautiful like a deep ocean.they are same. i remember once i complimented him about his eyes and he was blushing like a newly wed.since then whenever he wanted me to listen to him,he would just battle his eyelashes in front of me with a puppy face.

Picking up the bowl,he was trying to feed his wife while his newly born son was sleeping in her lap.

he caressed her hairs and resumed back to feed her not before kissing her forehead.

My heart broke again,i felt left out again.My tears threatened to come out anytime

i quickly rushed out of the hospital.

leaning on the wall,i took a deep breath.

My mind kept showing me the events of that dreadful day.

tears were continuously pooling down my eyes while i was trying to inhale the fresh air.

He said love was like fresh air.

No No, No suhani stop his stupid thoughts.

He is a liar, a cheater.

I closed my eyes again, washing all his thoughts. I hate this helpless feeling.

when Vaidehi hugged me, that was when I knew I wanted a hug so bad. I hugged her back unable to bear the resurfaced pain.She caressed my hair, my back and I kept clinging to her like a child.

Why he came here? Could not he just go to any other hospital?

Why I saw him after so many years.

Why?

I wonder which medicine can heal me.What is the medicine for heartache?

I didn't want to break down and weep like a hopeless person in front of my working place.Cleaning away my tears, I tried my best to smile at vaidehi and passed by to get my car.But she knew better. She sat on the driving seat, giving me my own time on the passenger seat.We didn't speak. I was thankful to her for not bringing up any topic.I would have broken down completely.

We reached 'Pind balluchi' ,one of my favorite place.it has a great ambience and it is famous for tikkas and tandoorias.

His favorite place too. My mind reminded me.

Shut up don't remind me of him.

Didn't he say he loved me?

No, I was a fool.That was just a facade.

Vaidehi ordered paneer tikka for us when i was busy in remancing those bitter memories,bringing me back to the reality, the same reality in which he came with his wife.

Paneer tikka

He loved it.

He fed me. Once.

Please take away his thoughts, let me live, let me breathe.

"No... No... I think... C... Coffee will be fine for me " I said enough loud to be heard by vaidehi.

She looked at him concerned, I wanted to bury myself, somewhere deep, where I can avoid all the gazes.By her looks i know what she wanted to say but i was not ready to listen to those words.understanding my silent plead,she kept quite and changed the order to coffee.

Keeping her hand on mine, she caressed my hand, "suha relax".

I can't, I am trying hard but I can't.

His... His sudden appearance has left me baffled.

I can't control myself from crying .i have so many questions to ask him but will he answer them?.

whom i am fooling? he would not even spare me a glance.he is married now. happily married.And i should just stay away.let him be happy.

but Why did he do that?

Why did he play with me?

Collecting myself strong, I tried my best to smile, I nodded at her.

our order came sooner than expected.

Sipping my coffee, I got reminded of our first meeting.

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Chapter edited by 🤗❤. She has beautified this chapter with some really cool and fitting words.

Thank you all for giving the story a chance 😍❤.

And

A very happy independence day to all❤❤.

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Please ignore grammatical mistakes.

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