Knotted in Love

Part 6

Karishma places all the equipment she has used in the tray and takes off her latex gloves. She is now processing everything Chris has said. "How do you know it's not for you?"

"I felt trapped." Chris answers short and simple. "I was losing myself and changing her. We shouldn't lose ourselves or change one another. That shouldn't happen."

Karishma puts both of her hands into her white coat pocket and nods. "Well, you should have worn a helmet when you play a skateboard. I'll send you up for a CT scan. It should be nothing but it's good to be cautious about this."

"Okay."

"I'll be back when I get your result."

"Thank you, doctor. And. That doesn't happen to everyone. What I told you."

"Yeah. Of course."

Karishma smiles and leaves the room. Before she gets to review what Chris has said to her, a nurse quickly tells her about someone who might or might not be expecting her in the waiting area.

"Doctor Singh, someone is expecting you." The nurse says as she gestures to a man who is still having some sort of an endless conversation with the receptionist in the waiting area. "I think."

"Okay." Karishma puts in some orders on her tablet and hands it over to the nurse. "Let me know when his CT comes back."

"Yes, doctor."

"Thank you."

Karishma makes her way out to the waiting area to the middle-aged man who seems restlessly trying to make sense of what he has been hearing.

"So you're saying that you don't have Doctor Karishna Singh." He repeats himself again for the third time with a piece of crumpled paper in his hand.

"We do have Doctor Karishma Singh and I'm positive that we're talking about the same person." The receptionist says with annoying gesture. He doesn't want to go through the same exact conversation again for the third time in a row.

"But she is a girl, correct?"

"Correct."

"Then, it's impossible for my daughter to be married to her and change into her last name. Correct?" The man raises a new argument and before the receptionist would respond, Karishma appears at the scene.

"Hi?" Karishma makes her appearance and as soon as the man faces her, she immediately sees the resemblance of a familiar face; the resemblance of the face that she has been spending minutes of each day tracing her finger on every wrinkle and every line on her face. "I'm Doctor Karishma Singh. I believe you're looking for me?"

"I think there might be some sort of a misunderstanding here, doctor." The partial grey hair man takes a deep breath before restarting his explanation again for the fourth time. He is about to be out of patience but being out of patience will lead to no answers he needs. "I've tried to contact my daughter but I couldn't get ahold of her but I know that she recently got married and I got a name of her partner here. But I think they probably got me the wrong name or something... Listen, my daughter is..."

"Haseena Malik." Karishma interrupts with something that makes the man smiles with satisfaction. "You're Mr. Malik?"

"Yes. Yes. Wait. You're also a Singh, aren't you? So she is like your sister-in-law or something?"

"Hm." Karishma doesn't really know how to go on with that. Since Haseena hasn't talked to her own father for years or talked about him at all, she doesn't know what she can reveal to him or how much she can reveal to him. "I'll call her and I'll see if she can stop by."