She remained silent again.
“Am I high risk?”
“What is your obsession with being high risk? You want to be high risk?”
“Take a wild guess.”
“Keep quiet and maybe change your ringtone. That volume and beat are not good for the heart.”
“That will solve all my problems, huh?” He laughed bitterly.
“That’s a start. And stop being so cynical, bitter and morose all the time. That might actually solve half the problem.”
“Pot calling the kettle black?”
“Pot is not struggling with heart disease.”
“I don’t have a heart disease,” he retorted sharply, too sharply.
Ritu blinked. She glanced sideways, and he was looking out of his window — at the wall of the tunnel. What was this man really like? An asshole of the highest order but then offering his car services in a time of emergency. Scared of accepting his disease but constantly chattering about it. Hiding it from the world, but screaming about it around her — even in a seemingly non-medical space such as this one. Firing bullets at her and ready to bite her head off in her own OPD but not ready to switch cardiologists. She thought she was figuring him out, and then he would flip.
The rat.
“What did you call me?”
“Huh?” She went back to the road, the glow of sun shining up ahead as the tunnel came to an end.
“You called me something just now, you sneered it under your breath.”
“I was thinking about the cardiologist in Juhu. Dr. Ramineni. He has a good35 yearsof experience,” she stressed. “Used to run his practice with Dr. Shravan, operates in KDH and Lilavati, and, he is known for his…”
“I want to stay with you.”
“Mr. Patel…” She took her foot off the accelerator, managing the slope up and out of the tunnel with ease. The roads made it easier.
“I was referred to Dr. Shravan by Rajiv. I am not going anywhere.”
“Dr. Shravan is not here. And you do not want to be treated by me.”
“And who are you to decide that? Does my brain whisper to your brain?”
She clamped her teeth on her lip, looking at the new Mumbai in front of her in order to ignore him. What met her eyes was a dream. The last time she had been here, Worli Seaface had been a different place. Now, it was a marvel of bridges and highway spirals, running up and around the sea like the veins of the heart. The shimmering Arabian sea looked pristine, sending sparkles into her eyes. Ritu smiled at the scenery, eyeing the promenade running parallel to them. What was this version of Mumbai and how had she not known about this? How had Maya blabbered about everything and notthis?
“You have no answer to my question, or smiling in the distance in the middle of a conversation is a personality trait?”
She wished she could close her eyes, take a deep breath and let her rage, frustration and helplessness go with a sigh as long as this man’s tongue. Unfortunately, she had a highway to navigate, and a heart patient on her passenger seat whose presence wouldn’t allow her to race across to the suburbs and let this journey end.When will this road end?!
“Silence when you do not have an answer is another personality trait, it seems.”
“Ok, I will get off your car as soon as we cross to the other side.” Ritu reached for her mobile to start booking an Uber to pick her up from Reclamation when he snatched it off her knee.
“What are you doing?!” “What the hell are you doing?!”
“I said it first!” She retorted.
“I saw it first!”
“What?”
