CHAPTER 3
YOU AGAIN!
MEHR RIAZ:
"We'll meet during lunch hour in the mess hall and have lunch together." Isha says while we walk towards the elevator to get to our assigned departments.
"And don't worry about Dr. Rayyan. I'm sure you'll be able to handle him. Also, I've heard that he's really good looking. Even if he's as rude as the rumors, at least you'll have some good eye candy to look at everyday for the next six months." Isha adds after she sees me sulking, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively at the end of her sentence.
I laugh at her expression and say "Does it matter how he looks?"
"But you're right! I've worked hard for this internship, I'm sure a rude and strict senior is something I can handle. And who knows, the rumors might just be rumors." I smile at her optimistically.
Our departments are on different floors, so Isha leaves first waving a bye to me. I nervously fidget with my bag, waiting for the elevator to reach my floor.
A second later, I realize my phone isn't in my hand. I quickly check my pockets.
Nope, not in here.
Great! If I've left it in the auditorium, I'll be late to meet this infamous Dr. Rayyan.
I need to make a good impression on Dr. Rayyan, so I can't afford being late on my first day. If I don't find it now, I'll just check the auditorium during lunch.
I exit the elevator, while searching inside my bag as well when suddenly, I'm roughly shoved by a passerby in the corridor.
I manage to stabilize myself but it's too late when I realize that an apple from inside my bag literally flew out of it.
Everything feels like slo-mo as I watch helplessly as the apple soars in the air and finally hits a coffee cup held in the hand of a stranger a few steps away from me.
And then there's iced coffee all over said stranger.
"Aaaaaaahhh" I screech in horror, covering my face in embarrassment.
This is such a disaster!
I quickly rush to apologise to the person.
"Oh my gosh! Are you alright? Someone pushed me and my apple flew out. I promise, this has never happened to me bef..." I stop my embarrassing rant as I'm left speechless when the person looks up from his shirt to glare at me with furious brown eyes.
"What the hell!!"
It's the guy from the elevator who was twinning with me.
Oh God! He seems to be very angry!
"You again! Don't you have eyes?! Can't you see or walk properly! My shirt is spoilt because of you!" He grits his teeth in anger.
"Look sir, please speak respectfully. And it wasn't my fault but I'm sor..." I try to calm him down as I see people around us stop to watch the drama unfolding.
"Respectfully!" He scoffs and continues "You need to first learn how to walk and talk around people! And you're the one to talk about manners! You haven't even apologised yet."
Teri tho...
( How dare you... - in a very angry and informal manner)
I don't usually fight with people but this guy obviously needs to be taught a lesson!
"I was going to apologise before I realized that an arrogant, rude idiot such as yourself doesn't deserve my apology."
"Listen!" He tries to interrupt but fails.
"No! You Listen! You're telling me I need learn how to walk and talk around people. What about you, huh? You have eyes as well. You could have easily moved out of the way as well if you wanted to. Guess you need to get your eye sight checked as well.
And let's not forget about your wonderful personality! I was trying to be civil. You're the one who opened your arrogant mouth and started spewing bull-crap. No one around you must have ever told you about the rainbows you throw out of your mouth! It's you who needs to learn how to talk respectfully."
I don't even realise I'm shouting at the end of my angry rant.
Phew! I probably over reacted but that felt good.
And then I notice the pin drop silence around us.
Oh God! What have I done!
Well, can't back away from the fight now.
Everyone in hearing distance just stares at us in shock.
The stranger looks at me like a puppy who's been kicked. He looks shocked and flustered for a moment but then snaps out of it.
"Do you know who you're speaking to?" He says in a low yet dangerous voice, his eyes speaking volumes for the anger brewing inside him.
"I don't care. And frankly, you needed to hear that. You must think you're the King of some place. So, no one's probably ever brought you down on earth from the sky where your inflated ego lives!"
I go to walk away but turn around sighing in resignation.
Damn you, Mehr, for being nice!
"Sorry about your shirt!" I speak softly and push over a pack of tissues from my bag into his hands.
As I walk away, I can feel all the stares.
Especially, the heated stares from the brown eyed stranger.
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I rush to the nearest ladies washroom to quickly catch my breath and check my bag again carefully.
Found it!
Stupid phone! It's all because I got distracted searching for it.
While leaving the washroom, I remember him saying "You again".
I'm was so sure he didn't notice me in the elevator. So, does he know me from before as I thought?
But from where?
Leave it, Mehr. You're never going to meet that guy again, anyways.
You need to reach the on-call room to report to Dr. Rayyan. I'm sure the other interns must be there already!
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As I enter the on-call room, I notice five other people apart from me, three of them are male and the other two female.
We introduce each other and I get to know that their names are Dev, Akram, Yusuf, Gayatri and Ayesha.
The on-call room is a room which is like a doctor's lounge area and it's present on each floor. As soon as I entered, I could see one wall lined up with open shelves and a long counter with a sink. There was a water dispenser and a coffee machine sitting on the counter and lots of food in the shelves.
The room is brightly lit with sunshine coming from the windows and having multiple desks against the two of the walls with computers ready to be used. In the middle of the room, there's a big conference table which can seat up to twelve people. On the opposite end of the room, there are two doors - one leads to the washrooms and locker room and the other leads to a decent sized room where there are two bunk beds placed on either sides of the room.
This is so nice! And looking at the food made me happy!
At least I won't need to starve myself if I ever feel like snacking.
I'm sitting with my back to the entrance of the room speaking to all the other interns around the conference table while anxiously waiting for Dr. Rayyan's arrival when the door opens and I hear footsteps.
"Good Morning everyone! I apologise for the delay."
I turn around and immediately stiffen.
Oh shit!
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I cringe at the situation and try to hide myself behind Gayatri and Ayesha even though there was no point avoiding the inevitable.
The rude, arrogant stranger I fought with in the hospital corridor before is the FUTURE HEIR of NM Hospital!
DR. RAYYAN MALIK himself!!
What do you know, Mehr! Turns out he is the KING. OF THIS PLACE!! 😱
Dr. Rayyan skims his eyes over the room of interns and finally makes eye contact with me.
He looks angry for a moment when he sees me but then a small smirk creeps up the corner of his mouth.
Mehr, you're in big trouble.
I quickly break eye contact and look away. I notice that the coffee stain on his brown shirt is mostly gone. Only a person who knows it was there in the first place will be able to notice it. He's now wearing a white doctor's coat over his clothes and has a stethoscope in his left hand.
"I'm Dr. Rayyan Malik. I'm a senior cardiologist here at NM Hospital and I'll be your incharge for the next six months." He says with confidence.
Even I gotta admit it - His body language tells that he's extremely confident in himself. He has this aura of confidence around him that make him the centre of attention. Who wouldn't be if they had it all? Looks, money, family and fame!
And I hadn't really paid much attention before but Isha was right. He is unfortunately very good looking. He has sharp brown eyes with thick eyelashes. He has a straight nose and a defined and sharp jawline. His frame is wide with big arms and appears to be above 6 feet in height because of the way most of us need to look up at him. He obviously hits the gym regularly.
His personality is shitty though. This is the third time I've seen him today. He's not smiled once and kept an emotionless poker face the entire time. He seems like the kind of person who doesn't like being approached by people and when they do, he's rude to them.
Why did Dr. Khadoos have to be good looking?
(Khadoos - Rude/ Snobbish)
He shakes the hands of the male interns each of them introducing themselves. He just nodded when greeting the female interns without shaking hands with them.
(A/N: Muslim men or women don't usually make physical contact with the opposite gender - with whom they're eligible to get married to)
In the end, he looks over at me and that's when I noticed I'd zoned out and everyone was waiting for me to introduce myself.
"Mehr Riaz. Nice to meet you." I quickly say.
... Not.
And he just smirks.
"Great to meet you all. Let's get on with our work then! Our head of department, Dr. Rizvi is on rounds right now. You'll be soon meeting him and the other doctors in the Cardiology department. Remember to always be RESPECTFUL to all your senior doctors." He says looking me in the eye at the end.
"Your work everyday will be to go on rounds with me to visit the patients. I'll be asking you questions regarding patients or their diagnosis at any time. So, always be well prepared. You'll also be asked to make reports on patients and their medical history. Apart from that, you'll also be working in the ER at times when you're required to." He gives us all this information with a serious face, never once smiling.
"I would also like to make it very clear that I expect nothing else but perfection from your work. If I feel that your performance is not improving over the six months, then you're out."
Out? Out of this internship? Or this department?
Just as I think this, Dev asks "Out from your department?"
"Yes. You'll be then shifted to the ER department where you can enjoy your 72 hour shifts."
Everyone looks at him in horror when he mentions a 72 hour shift.
"Best of luck to all of you! Let's leave for the patients rounds now."
All of us start to shuffle towards the exit as Dr. Rayyan waits for us to leave the room.
As I go to step out as well, Dr. Rayyan calls out "Ms. Riaz! Here!"
He throws something at me suddenly and I struggle to catch it.
It's my apple.
"You're going to regret ever opening your mouth in front of me. Let's see if your brains are as smart as that mouth of yours. But there's no point anyway because I'm sure you'll end up working in the ER department in a few days." He sighs in dissapointment sarcastically and trails out of the room.
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RAYYAN MALIK:
"Dua! Daniyal! Don't use your phones on the dinner table!" Ma scolds them and they quickly keep their phones aside.
There was a rule in our home. Everyone had to have dinner with the family at the end of the day. We're all sitting at the dinner table with Daadu at the head of the table with Dad on his right and Daadi and Daniyal on his left. Maa and Dua sits beside Dad while I sit at the other end of the table.
( Daadu- Grandpa, Daadi- Grandma)
"So...Rayyan. I heard something today." Maa starts and I instantly realise where this conversation is headed.
"Really?" I ask nonchalantly.
"I heard from the nurses today that Rayyan here got scolded by a girl today in the middle of the hospital corridor. Everyone's talking about it." Maa ends up giggling in the middle of her sentence and highfighing Dad. Everyone on the table except for me seems to find this funny because they're all either laughing or smiling at me.
"Maa!!" I whine at my mother.
She's not supposed to out me like that.
Even though my parents didn't support work gossip in the hospital, they both enjoyed it very much at home.
"Finally someone who can tell you off! You don't listen to us when we tell you not to be so rude and aloof with others. Bhukto ab, mere bacche" Maa says. My family is the only one who can probably speak this way to me.
(Suffer now, my child)
"Hua kya par? I want details." Daniyal says eagerly leaning into the table and I shoot him a glare.
( But what happened?)
"Kuch nahi" I say but I'm quickly shot down when Dad interrupts me.
"I'll show you! Someone shared the video on the WhatsApp group. It's the best thing I've seen in a while!" My dad wheezes out dying from laughter.
"There's a video?!" I say in horror.
Ms. Riaz! I'm not going to spare you!
You're gonna to regret ever meeting me.
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2368 words
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