Chapter Fourteen #2
“Come, Bhaiya,” Malini called in her most bored voice.
Roshan stepped in and found Malini sitting on edge of the exam table.
Seeing her in the hospital gown was a punch to his gut.
She was tested every three months, but the gown got him every time.
It brought back memories of a younger Malini who had lived in those gowns for a time.
A Malini he had read stories to and played games with.
He’d even braided her hair and done her nails.
He rubbed the moonrise shell in his pocket and walked in. A little extra courage helped.
She was four years out from her last relapse now. Her CBC was taken like clockwork, along with the occasional metabolic or endocrine panel. If her counts were normal today, that would put them so much closer to the all-important milestone of being five years in remission.
“You actually look less tense than usual,” Malini said.
“I don’t know what that means,” Roshan said as he looked over her chart as if he hadn’t already memorized it.
“It means that I think Nimita is good for you. You seem happier, more relaxed.”
“I am.” He flushed.
“You’re welcome.” Malini grinned at him.
“For what?”
“For bringing you two together, duh.” She rolled her eyes. “And for making you blush.”
“Is that true? You weren’t in Hawaii.”
“And whose fault is that?”
Roshan inhaled. “Never mind.”
“I brought you two together with my post. You wouldn’t have known where she was if you hadn’t seen the picture I took.”
He shook his head at his sister and laughed. “Okay. Fine. Thank you for that.”
He glanced at the time. “I have to go. I’ll see you later tonight?”
Malini looked away, suddenly interested in the posters on the wall. “Well, I have a work thing tonight. So I’ll be really late.”
“Okay.” Roshan shrugged, still eyeing her. His sister was acting weird.
Dr. Boseman walked in just then. “Reading my charts again, Roshan?” she teased as she breezed by him.
“Just checking on the troublemaker, Paula.” He grinned.
Paula squeezed his arm and smiled at him with affection. “Mali is trouble, but she is going to be just fine.”
Roshan nodded. “Thanks for everything.” He looked at his sister. “And since when have you been going by Mali?”
“I’ve been trying it out for a while. You and our parents are like the only people who don’t call me Mali.” She said it like he was very boring because of it.
“Fine, Mali, I have my own patients anyway.”
Malini widened her eyes. “Go take care of them, then.”
* * *
Roshan finished seeing patients and quickly changed before going to Nimita’s house to help her father start his garden, Finn in tow.
Roshan thought it might be easiest if they simply did planters in the garden, which would be easier to handle if Uncle wasn’t up to serious weeding or didn’t want to bend all the way over to the ground.
Nimita had purchased the planters, the mulch, the plants and other supplies.
All that was left now was to actually plant a little planter garden.
He loved gardening, and it made him feel good to be able to help Nimita’s father in this small way. Maybe impress him. Possibly even impress Reena.
He went directly to the back of the house and found Uncle waiting for him. “Hi, Uncle, how are you doing?”
“Excited about this garden.” He chuckled.
Roshan worked with what Uncle was currently capable of. MS was unpredictable. Uncle’s mobility could get better or it could get worse. He decided to assume that Uncle would stay the same and set things up accordingly.
Reena popped outside, Naya toddling behind her. “How are you doing out here?”
Roshan stopped, surprised to see Nimita’s sister. “He’s doing great. The only thing he can’t do is lift the heavy bags and pots. He can easily water them and check on them. I’ll be by periodically to see how it’s going. Pull a few weeds, that sort of thing.”
He went over to Naya with Finn, knelt in front of the little girl and had Finn sit. He was rewarded with a giggle. Naya proceeded to play with Finn, who was extra gentle with the toddler.
“Why are you doing this?” Reena asked, bringing his attention back to the garden. She was nothing if not direct.
Roshan shrugged. “I love gardening. And so does Uncle. And it would be really good for him. Gives him not only purpose each day but a level of joy.” He nodded in Uncle’s direction. “See?”
Reena and Nimita’s father was fussing with the dirt in the pots, spreading it around, muttering to the plants. He was in his own world, and he was happy.
“Us gardeners have to stick together.”
“So nothing having to do with my sister?” Reena asked.
“This has everything to do with how I feel about your sister. Uncle is important to her, so by extension, he is also important to me.” Roshan swore he saw Reena smile. “I just happen to have a skill he likes, so why not help him?” He paused. “He’s also important to you.”
Reena raised an eyebrow. “You’re trying to impress me?”
“Of course. You are Nimita’s sister.”
“So all this is because you’re trying to impress my sister,” Reena stated.
“I will never stop trying to impress your sister,” he said quietly.
Reena just stared at him. “Well, thank you,” she said at last, watching her father.
“Of course.”
A couple hours later, they had five pots with two kinds of tomato plants, bell peppers, spicy chiles and jalapenos.
Roshan checked his phone and found that his parents had been trying to reach him. He called them back.
“Where have you been? What have you been doing?” His father sounded anxious at the other end of the phone.
“I was helping my girlfriend’s father with a garden.” Roshan could not help the soft feeling he got when he said girlfriend.
“Is that really your priority right now? Malini is not picking up her phone,” his father barked at him.
“She’s at a work thing,” Roshan said. “Sometimes she can’t pick up.”
“You need to go check it out,” his father said.
“She’s probably fine. She was in for testing today. Paula seems positive,” Roshan said.
“Roshan. She’ll answer if you call,” his father insisted, the panic in his voice increasing.
“Okay. Okay, Dad. I’ll check it out.” He ended the call. He didn’t really need to go check, but he would, to keep his parents at peace.
“Hey, Reena. I’m sorry. My parents are freaking out because my sister isn’t picking up her phone.”
She smiled—actually smiled—at him. “No worries. I’ll have this clean in no time.” Reena started cleaning. “Go make sure your sister is okay.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“She had cancer, right?” Reena met his eyes, compassion in them.
“Yes, but she’s in remission.”
“But you just don’t know, do you?” Reena nodded, glancing at her father.
Roshan followed her gaze. “You really don’t.”
“It can be a full-time job,” Reena said, and he felt a moment of understanding with her.
Roshan and Malini had each other on their Find My Phone app in case of emergency.
Roshan was under strict orders never to use it except for emergencies.
He supposed this counted. He pulled up the app and saw that she was at a fitness studio about a ten-minute walk away.
It was a beautiful day so he took Finn with him to check it out.
Sure enough when he walked up he saw her car.
Though a fitness class wasn’t really a work thing, was it?
Weird. She could have walked from the house. He shrugged and headed for home. He was sure his parents were freaking out for no reason.