INDIAN TEENAGE. LOVE. STORY...

He pressed the call button and the young nurse walked through the with a broad smile. Ritvik just gave her a nervous smile even though he wanted to flex his facial muscles much more. She looked so out of place . With eyes consumed in what she was doing, she put the needle back in the drip, again taking her own sweet time. Maybe she just cared and was not inexperienced he thought to himself, unnecessarily. But then thoughts never came out of necessity. Anyway, Ritvik got engrossed in the match.

"Chelsea isn't going to win this one. Mr. Singh, you better rest" the nurse said after she had finished and it kind of surprised Ritvik.

"We'll see that later but how do you know anything about soccer?" he asked.

"Football, I guess"

"Whatever"

"Just an amateur fan" she smiled.

"This begs the question then- CR7 or Messiah?" he asked.

"None, I am more like a klose fan, German I striker, leading world cup goal scorer. He has 16 to his name" she said.

"Just an amateur fan I see" Ritvik smiled.

"Seriously Mr. Singh, I'm not much into the same game" she said.

"Just Ritvik"

"Well then Mr. Singh, you should switch off the T.V. and rest" she said.

"Why is the salutation necessary? It makes me feel old"

"Communication skills Mr. Singh" she flashed her smile again as if she just loved smiling. And why not if one is blessed with a pretty one.

"Fine, I will do it" he said. "Miss.....?"and closed the 32 inch LED.

"Joy" she said. "Thank you Mr. Ritvik" and left.

Ritvik recalled every single word of their soccer-driven-conservation again and again. Soccer oops football us an amazing game. It unites people not only on the field but off the field too. Temptations took hold of him as he switched on the T.V. the highlights were over but the points table gave him fair idea that Chelsea had won. That evening Ritvik too had enough reasons to smile.

The following morning however was an unpleasant one. Nothing in particular just, frequent visits from his uncle and all those different doctors like physicians, dieticians kind of pissed him off. It's really difficult to understand what-pleases-when in case of humans. For Ritvik, he either wanted to be all by himself or with Joy.

* * *

"It's not that bad" Joy said.

It sucks; even the drip fluids would be lot tastier" he said.

Joy had been there in the ward number fifteen for a while now insisting Ritvik to gulp down few spoonfuls of khichadi, the so-called- nutritious-khichadi. The dull yellow coloured dish was simply terrible. His uncle somehow forced it down Ritvik's throat in noon but in his absence Ritvik was adamant to not consume it. Even Joy's communication skills for proving to be good enough.

"It's good for you, its nutritious."

"An overdose of nutrition, certainly not for the sick" he chuckled.

"Ritvik" she paused then said "please", her voice had a genuine concern as she offered a spoonful of khichadi to him. A mutual concurrence was through an eye contact. Interestingly the SALUTATION was missing and so was the KHICHDI after few minutes. Strange but normacly is something to be least expected from humans at least at all times.

"You have all traits of good nurse" Ritvik intruted her departure from the room.

"A bit cheesy but I'll take that as a compliment" she smiled.

"I presume you're the best nurse in this hospital."

"Huh you still presume? Hahaha, thank you"

"I am the one who should be greatful. I just can't imagined what would have happened without you" he said.

"You better do than because I am not here tomorrow" she said.

Ritvik's expression asked her the obvious question."It's my weekly day of tomorrow. Sleep well Mr. Singh, goodnight" she said as she left.

Ritvik did not reply ; he didn't feel like replaying. TOMORROW kept bothering him. Life is all about living in the present is perhaps an ideal definition and not the real one. It was long night thereafter for him. His uncle woke him up late next morning.

"Still sleeping young man" his uncle said.

"Good morning uncle" Ritvik said rubbing his eyes.

"Morning Ritvik and the good news is that it's your second last morning in here. You're being discharged tomorrow" his uncle said.

"Great" Ritvik still sounded sleeply.

"But that's no way to react to great news. You're fine?"

"Not suffering from appendicitis at least"

"Fine then, I'll bring you something to eat"

"UNCLE" all of a sudden he sounded awake.

"Don't worry, no more khichdi" his uncle laughed.

Just one more day and he would happily resume his college life. Things were already back in place with the return of experienced nurse Jayalaxmi in the evening shift. She had busy all this while for reasons only good known to her. Ritvik's interest however was captivated by the much anticipated game Chelsea and Manc.h.e.s.ter United late in the evening.

* * *

Twenty minutes into the game with no goals from either side, when the door opened. "Please don't tell me anyone scored" who else but Joy. The white German jersey for her favorite player KLOSE trucked inside the black denim actually look good on her.

"Shouldn't you be at home, it's your day off right?"

"I was, for the better half of the day" she settled down on a chair next to the bed.

"What brings you here, ME?"

"Oh no, the game actually"

"That's so mean"

"I know but then I'm not nursing today" she teased.

"Whom are you supporting?"

"Chelsea" she said."Why is that?" Ritvik asked referring to the earlier incident when she had said Chelsea would lose. It actually didn't happen then.

"Maybe I have started liking Chelsea" she said.

"And who's your favourite player out there?"

"None, maybe I have started liking KLOSE" he smiled.

For about an hour, both of them engrossed in what can be called as one of the scintillating games of the season. Being behind for better part of the match, Chelsea finally equalized in the injury time. The game ended as a draw.

"Nail biting finish" Joy said. Ritvik nooded.

"How was your day?" she asked. Ritvik delighted by her gesture said "good one, out of this place tomorrow."

"That's some real good news Ritvik" she smiled. Her happiness really reflected on her face.

"I fancy your smile, actually I fancy you" he said.

"Okay..." she paused for a second and then asked.

"Really?"

"Really and if you keep nursing me with such a care, I'm willing to stay here forever."

"In that case you may have deal with the khichdi everyday" she laughed.

"Yeah that's risky but anything for you" he laughed.

"Hahaha you won't give up on this" she got from the chair. "I enjoyed every bit of this but it's kind of getting late. Goodbye Ritvik."

"Goodbye actually refers to seeing someone for the last time. Communication skills Joy" he teased.

"Oh load, goodbye Ritvik" she left. Silly girl he thought. It's easy to express feelings are genuine. And same happend for Ritvik. From the diagnosis to the treatment, the journey had been all full of surprises. No wonder Joy being the sweetest of them all.

The very next afternoon discharge paper were signed and Ritvik was officially freed from the hospital. Since Joy worked in the evening shifts he couldn't meet her. But then docter advised him to visit after three to four days in order to get rid of the three stiches on his abdomen. Perhaps then he could.

* * *

"Ritvik Singh" the junior doctor called out.

"Shall I come along?"

"I'll handle it; you please take of these" Ritvik handed the bouquet to his uncle. He was then asked to lie down in order to re-examine the wounds of the surgery. The bandages were removed and each threat underneath was stretched and cut, yes, stretched to its extent and cut from its root. As embarrassment chocked the screams of pain only silence could be heard. He held his abdomen as he came out of the cabin. Thankfully he could scream now.

"You're good?" his uncle said.

"Why are your questions so contrasting I wonder."

"You'll be good then, I should say" his uncle laughed.

"Let's just leave" he said.

"Are these flowers for me or you are returning them to the vendor?"

"Almost forgot, thank-you uncle. Get your hands on the steering and I'll be there in a moment."

"Looks like someone just enjoyed in the hospital."

"In a moment, please" Ritvik smiled.

It had been three long days since the time he last saw Joy. He had missed her like anything. And the beautiful moment itself was just a few steps away. He brought a bouquet although unsure whether her klose fan would like it. Perhaps a klose jersey would have been better. He didn't have much to say except that he wanted to replace a word from their previous conservation-replace 'fancy' with 'love'. He tried to stay calm and ignore the pain but the more he tried, the it became.

"Mr. Singh, how are you?" Jayalaxmi intruded him.

"Good evening nurse, I'm fine."

"As I had said, you'll be up and about in a few days" she said.

"Absolutely" he said. "I'm looking for Joy by any chance...hmm Nurse Joy."

"Why should she be here?" she looked surprised.

"And why wouldn't she be?" he asked.

"She was an intern. didn't she tell you that? She just finished her training two days ago and left" her words seemed unreal. He believed actually knew that it just couldn't happen. He waited for Jayalaxmi to put an end to this awful tale. But it wasn't one, sadly. He lost his sense of reaction as reality struck him. And her words did have a piercing effect. It wasn't that he had given up on Joy. He was just gloomy and confused as to what should he do now.

"Can I have her number or address or any means to contact her?"he asked. Jayalaxmi resisted sternly at first but then Ritvik's pesistent request melted her heart. Love demands believing, believing that either you'll find it or it will find you.

"Nurse..." he couldn't continue as she cut him short. "Sorry Mr. Singh I won't be able to help you any further" she said.

"You've already done enough. Just wanted to thank you with these flowers" and for once even Jayalaxmi smiled. Happiness for sure is infectious.

* * *

"It was heck of a day" she said.

"Yeah it was but I'm tired now."

"Anyways you are going home. I'll catch you up tomorrow morning" she said.

"I'm planning to bunk."

"You're wish, goodbye then" she said and got engrossed in her mobile.

College was way better than internship simply because the former soaked up less number of hours. It was another evening after college and she usually look around twenty minutes to commute back home. On an average twenty minutes unless something unusual happened.

"I still doubt that you are just an amateur fan" he said "Ritvik" that's all she could say. Save simply couldn't respond to his sudden presence.

"Glad you remember me" he said.

"How come you're here and why?" she still looked astonished.

"I'm here for a very special Nurse, for her special smile and for a special interest in soccer, oops football" he said. "Though she didn't even bother to tell me anything, I still fancy her, love her to be honest."

"I wanted to, seriously. I'm sorry Ritvik but I feared that it would be nothing more than just an temporary affection. I strongly believe that it wasn't real" she said.

"Does it feel real now?" he asked. She ran and squeezed him tightly in her arms and said , "Yeah, now it does"

"Ouch, hey take it easy Nurse. I just had appendicitis surgery last weak" he smiled.

"I presume I know a lot more than that Mr. Singh" she smiled back.

👫. 💑. 🤗