"Tum nahi badalne wali ho na" Cabir said smiling. Navya reciprocated smile. "OK, I'm done with my shift and please take of yourself, patients se zyada tumhe tum par focus karna chahiye" Cabir told her. He wished her bye and left from there. "Cabir" he turned back as he heard her calling him. "Thank you so much" Navya said loudly for him to hear. He gestured her as if asking why. She simply shrugged her shoulders and he went on.

************************************************************

"Aa gayi Nandu" Shannoo said to Mr. Murthy as they waited for Nandini. "Chachi, were you both waiting for me?" Nandini asked. "Ha" Mr. Murthy said it short. "Sorry mujhe nahi pata kuch baat karni hai?" Nandini asked them. Shannoo takes Nandini to her room. "Tum aaj Nyonika ji ki ghar gayi na? Kya hua?" she asked Nandini excited. "Ha, I went there and she asked me" Nandini smiled. "Ha mujhe pata hai what she had asked for? Par tumne kya kaha?" she asked Nandini. "Nandu, jaldi batao, I cant wait to hear good news from you, can I take this silence as yes?" she asked to confirm.

"Chachi relax, kuch nahi hua, I said to aunty that I need time to think about marriage and Manik ka opinion bhi important hai na?" Nandini said to her. "Ha, par tumne ha keh diya na, bas itna kaafi hai ab. And Manik, he will also say yes" Shannoo encourages her. "Pata nahi chachi but Manik and me, whenever we meet kuch na kuch ho jaata hai, either we behave as jigri dost or jaani dushman" Nandini laughed. "Ek baat humesha yaad rakhna Nandu, agar do logon ke beech pyar hai tho sab hai. Never let the past ruin present or future" she said to Nandini. "Chachi, I know why you are saying this. I know about Alya and Manik ne mujhse khud kai baar kaha ki he is not going back to her" Shannoo was happy to hear about it."Acha, tum so jao phir, hum kal baat karenge" Nandini went to bed.

********************************************************

"Good morning Sanju" Cabir wished her. "Good morning Cabir" she smiled at him. "Sanju, ye log se tum abhi bhi baat kar rahi ho?" Rakesh taunted. "Ha, ek patient apne doctor se baat karna normal hai" Cabir smiled at Rakesh. "Zyada baatein mat banao, did you find a donor?" Rakesh asked. "Donor ko dhoondna doctors ka kaam nahi hai. Phir bhi aap hospital ke trustee hai tho Dr. Shrivastav is searching through his sources and Aryaman is searching too" Cabir informed them. Rakesh is enraged hearing Aryaman's name. "Don't be tensed Mr. Rakesh, Sanju ko kuch nahi hoga" Cabir smiled at her and left after giving her medicines.

"Sanju, tum in logon ko kyu kuch nahi bolti?" Rakesh asked her. "Kya kahu Rakesh? I know Aryaman aise nahi karna chahiye tha, but he might be mistaken about you. He loved me and I think maine hi usse hope dikhaya" she said. "Your are innocent and he is taking an advantage of it. He and his friends, I wont leave him" Rakesh swore. "Please don't do anything to hurt him, I know you don't like me talking to Aryaman, and I'm obeying you, usse kuch mat karna, I don't want meri wajhe se kuch gadbad ho" Sanju asked Rakesh to leave her alone and said that she needs to rest.

***************************************************************

"Please listen to me carefully. Aapke bachcha Nihal ko brain mein ek tumor hai, and it grows with age. Abhi wo chota hai but jaise wo bada ho jayega tumor bhi bad jayegi" Manik tells about Nihal, his patient, to his parents. "But doctor, there wasn't any abnormality with Nihal so far, but achanak ye tumor kaise?" his father asked Manik. "Nihal had this tumor since his birth, but it took us 8 years to detect or diagnose it. There are few cases in which tumor last stage mein bhi diagnose hota hai. Or maybe symptoms na hone ke wajhe se aap kabhi check karwaya hi nahi" Manik stated the probable possibilities.

"Par doctor, humara Nihal ko kuch nahi hoga na?" his mother asked with tears in her eyes. Manik looked at Alya who stood beside him. "Please don't worry, we will try our level best to save your child. Just keep him happy. I will talk to my chief doctor about this case" Manik had sent them out. "But Manik, you know na, how dangerous that it can be! Nihal had just has 6 months" Alya asked Manik. "Yes I know, but I couldn't say that to his parents Alya. I don't know how would they react that their 8 year old kid will soon leave them in 6 months" Manik gets emotional. "Sab acha hi hoga Manik" Alya patted his back. "We need to meet Dr. Shrivastav for this case, lets go" Alya had come along to meet him.

"Good morning sir" Alya and Manik met him. "Good morning doctors" Raman wished them too. "Sir, I have sent a file regarding Nihal's case" Manik referred to the file. "Yes, I've gone through it. Bahut chota bachcha hai" Raman said. "May I come in sir?" Mukti came there. "Yeah, Mukti come in" Mukti came there and sat. "I've shared the case details with Mukti, she studied it too. I believe tum dono milke iske solution batayenge" Raman said. "Dr. Manik is already handling it so we will go by his decision" Mukti said. "Yes of course and I called you here if you can help him out" he asked Manik for his opinion.

"Surgery" Alya and Mukti are quite surprised to hear Manik saying that. "Are you sure, Dr. Manik?" Raman asked him. "Yes sir, I'm sure" Manik said confidently. "But Manik this is too risky, surgery ki success rate is just 2%" Mukti said. "Yes I know, this is difficult, but there are 2% chances of saving him, agar surgery nahi kiya tho wo 6 months baad mar jayega" Manik said to Mukti. "So, you will kill him today if he is going to die in 6 months" Mukti asked Manik. "But if we don't take a decision now, mauka haath se nikal jayega, we cant be able to save him" Manik made his point clear.

"Ok, let me elaborate it. If we operate on him, there are 2% chance to save him. If we don't perform a surgery, he will live for 6 months. Manik, did you inform his parents?" Raman asked him. "I couldn't do that" Manik said hesitated. "What? We cant take a decision without their consent" he told Manik. "I will tell them soon" Manik said. Alya and Manik came out of his cabin. "Manik, do you really think surgery sahi idea hai?" Alya asked him but Manik didn't answer. He asked her to monitor Nihal's condition. "Alya" he called her when she is about to go. "Sometimes, letting go is less painful than holding back. I think I should tell his parents too" Manik said to Alya.

Manik searched for Nandini to know whether she knew what happened with chacha and him. He didn't find her and realized that she didn't leave for that day. "Yeh Nandini, kaha jaa sakti hai?" he wondered and called her but of no use. He asked receptionist if she had seen Nandini. "Ha maine dekha hai usse" Cabir said to Manik. "Oh where is she?" Manik asked. "But why are you looking for her at this hour? Aap ka shift khatam hua na?" he asked Manik. "Wo mujhe kuch kaam tha" Manik quickly made an excuse. "Ab wo tumhare assistant bhi nahi hai na, I mean Alya is your intern" Cabir gave a wide smile. "I know mujhe yaad hai, but for now, tell me where Nandini is?" Manik asked being patient.

"Ok, but bata diya tho mujhe kya milega?" Cabir demanded. Cabir took Manik aside and went near pharmacy. "Kya chahiye?" Manik asked. "I know you wanted to get rid of me, buy me a chocolate" Cabir asked and Manik made a weird face. "Tu chocolate ke liye ye sab kar raha hai!" he bought a chocolate. "Ha reason tho aap batayenge nahi na" Cabir said. Manik gave the chocolate to him. "Ye aap hi rakh lena, you might need this. Nandini is in library 5th floor mein, and give it to her, she likes chocolates" Cabir left from there keeping chocolate in Manik's hand.

"Nandini" Manik called her seeing in library. "Hi" she said with a smile. "I never knew tum ek bookworm ho!" he said sitting beside her. "No I'm not" she said. "Tho tum abhi tak book close nahi kiya" he pointed at the book. "I'm looking for some information regarding a case" she said. "Ha abhi hi reference lena achi baat hai but not like alone at this hour, you should go home now" he suggested. "Bas thodi der mein chali jaungi" she said noting down the important points. "Yeh tho meri taraf dekhti hi nahi hai" Manik thought. "Cool, then I will leave" Manik said expecting her to stop him. "Okay bye" she said and he was disappointed. "He could have said that he will wait for me, but no he had to go home now, how does he think I will go alone" she thought and saw him going out of her sight.

"Nandini, you know how unpredictable he is! then why are you waiting for him to wait for you, Pehle kaam pe focus karna" she told herself when someone called her. "Doctor, library ka closing time hua" he said. "But I had something to read still" she said to librarian. "OK no problem, I will leave, could you please handover these keys in reception while you lock the door before leaving" he asked her. "Sure, I will lock the library and give the keys in the reception" she took the keys and librarian left. Nandini continued to write and sensed there was someone looking at her. She felt something is wrong and looked at the surroundings.

She suddenly realized how alone she was in the large library. "Nandini, this is why you should stop watching horror movies, Manik, he should have told you that he will wait" she said loudly. She decided to leave the place and locked the door. She heard footsteps nearing her. Suddenly she felt someone put a hand on her shoulder. Nandini tried to shout but the hand closed her mouth making her scared. "Nandini, its me Manik!" he took out his hand over her mouth. "You!" she is a bit relieved and also angry on him for playing a prank on her. "Did you even realize how scared I was!" she asked him.

"Nandini sorry, I didn't knew you were so scared, I'm sorry please look at me" he asked Nandini who turned the other side. "Mujhe aise pranks nahi pasand hai" she said. "Acha main aisa kabhi nahi karunga" he said swearing. "Now please forgive me" he asked her holding his ears. She silently strolled down the steps. "You should have come when I asked you to" Manik said. "Kyu?" she asked him. "Manik, he should have told you that he will wait" he repeated her words. "Aisa kuch nahi hai" she hid her smile. "Accept it Nandini, you were scared and wanted to ask me to wait for you" he said. "Ha, mujhe dar laga tha" she accepted. He got the car and they drove off.

He dropped her at home. "Bye, good night" she said. "I dropped you home these many times, but never you invited me inside" he made a face. She thought for a while. "No need if you don't want to" he said and started his car. "No, you should come inside" she said and he readily agreed. Nandini knocked on the door and her chacha opened the door. "Hi chachu" Manik greeted him with a smile. Mr. Murthy was quite puzzled to see Manik at his door step. "Murthy ji, is it Nandu?" Shannoo asked from kitchen. "Ha chachi, I'm Manik" he answered her coming inside.

She came out hearing him. "Manik beta tum" she asked him with a smile. "Yes chachi, I came here with Nandini to drop her home" he said looking at chacha. "Nandini, why don't you go and get freshen up, till then chacha and chachi will give me company" Manik said to Nandini and she excused herself. Mr. Murthy didn't speak anything and Manik stood before him.

"Yesterday I came with Alya and you rejected me! Today I'm with Nandini, is this enough?" Manik asked looking into his eyes.