My Strange Neighbour

Chapter 10

She opened the door and looked apologetic.

" Sorry, sir!! " She looked embarrassed again.

" Sorry?? Just a minute ago you threatened to call the police. Please do that. " I said as I was very angry.

" No !! I thought... It was..." She started saying but I was agitated.

" You thought again?? I told you not to think at all. " I frowned at her.

" Sorry, sir."

" Don't say the damn word!!! I am sick of you and your sorry. What is the point in saying sorry if you find yet another way to torture me?? " He said pressing his head.

" But I didn't disturb you now. " She said meekly.

" Who in their right frame of mind sing at the top of her voice like that?? Your voice can make even dead people uncomfortable in their graves. Please have mercy on me at night or you will pay for it during the daytime. " I threatened her.

" This is not fair!! You... " She started speaking again but I glared at her.

" Not fair? I am just trying to sleep since early morning and you are making too much noise. Have you ever heard about civic sense?? " I asked her.

" Sorry, I could not sleep. " She said.

" So??? You will not even let your poor neighbour sleep too?? Why should I suffer for your insomnia?" I roared.

" No! I can't sleep here as this is my first night in this house. I can't seem to sleep alone in this new house. Is it safe?? " She asked and looked a bit scared.

" It was absolutely safe till you arrived. Now if you continue to do what you usually do, I don't guarantee your safety. Someone might just kill you out of frustration. Now, listen carefully, if I hear, another noise, I will kill you with my bare hands. " I threatened her, she shrank back.

" But... I am scared. I can't sleep alone in the house. " She repeated.

" That's not my problem. Just don't make another sound to disturb me. " I was so frustrated that I turned on my heel and went to sleep.

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and slipped between the sheets. After about another 10 minutes, there was a knock on the door.

I literally cursed and dragged myself out of the bed and went to open the door to see the most irritating girl standing there.

" What is your problem now? "

" I can't sleep... " She said though she looked embarrassed.

" So?? "

" Please, help me." She asked hesitantly.

" You want me to sing a lullaby for you? " I was annoyed as hell.

" No!! "

" What the hell do you want from me? " I asked.

" I can't sleep alone. " She said and I was shocked at what she said.

She was asking me to... O, God!!

" WHAT? So what do you want? Oh, my God!! You want... ? Sorry not possible. "

" Please !! " She insisted.

My eyes were about to come out of my skull.

" No way!! " I said firmly.

" Please, try to understand... It will help me to sleep. " She said sweetly.

" Are you crazy?? I mean, I was almost sure, you were crazy but why are you hell-bent to prove it? " I asked.

" Please!!! " She tried her puppy face looks. She looked cute but no way!!

" Get lost! " I said shaking my head.

" It is just a matter of one night. " She said again.

Oh, God!!

" What do you mean, just a matter of one night? " I asked her. My jaw had almost touched the floor at her weird request.

" I will get one for myself tomorrow. " She said.

" Are you out of your mind? I am not that kind of a man. " I said immediately.

" What does that mean? I know you are a good man. " She said.

Oh, at least she thought of me as a good man, so she wants to sleep with me. Just sleep may be... But I could not do that. No way!!

" Shut up!! Go back to your home. " I said and was about to close the door on her face but she held it.

" C'mon it is not a big deal. Just a matter of a few hours. I will return the favour very soon. " She was literally pleading me.

She was definitely mad...

" What?? How?? s**t!! I mean, why am I even asking you? I don't want any such favour from you. " I said shaking my head.

" Ok, anything you want, see tomorrow I will get a new one for me, I promise, I will bring one for you as well. Absolutely new! " She said.

" What?? Wait a minute!! What are you talking about?? "

" Your headphones... What else could I ask for?? I thought you already understood. I can't sleep in a new home like this, I am very scared. I need some voices so that I don't feel that I am alone. So I thought of asking you so that I don't disturb you. "

Oh, thank God!!

Stupid girl!! Could not she ask for it properly? I was shocked beyond a limit. My heartbeat had increased as much as I dislike her, I was getting turned on, with her pleading me like.

Couldn't she simply say that She needed my headphones??

I went inside and got my headphones and gave them to her.

" Thanks a lot, sir. But I didn't understand one thing... You were arguing with me, without even knowing, what I was asking for?? And you call me weird? What did you think, I was asking for?? " She asked.

" Take it and leave... Immediately. " I said.

" Sir please, I am very curious to know... Tell me what did you think, I was asking for?

" Dr Riya, I am not in a mood to give you any answers. You got what you wanted, now please leave. I want to sleep have mercy on me. Good night!! Don't come back to knock even if some earthquake comes. " I said glaring at her and she nodded.

" Thank you so much, sir, I will return it back tomorrow. " She said with a smile.

" There is no need, take it. Just stay away from me. Don't disturb me again or I will murder you. Not another word. " I said and closed the door on her face.

I leaned on the door and took a few long breaths to calm down.

Thank god!! She was asking for headphones... Stupid girl!! She gave me a heart attack.

She was crazy for sure and I was getting there very soon if she comes knocking at my door like this.

I was shocked as hell and now I was laughing at my assumption. I shook my head and went to sleep.

Parth's POV

I slipped into my bed again, thinking that hopefully, I would not have to murder that girl.

But whatever happened a few minutes back, left me wide awake.

What kind of a girl was she?? She was different! Yes, very different from the usual girls.

She was about 5'5" in height. A bit on the healthier side, not too overweight but a bit chubby. She had a soft baby face but her dressing sense was pathetic, wore very boring oversized clothes. She wore glasses, like those nerdy students and looked absolutely unorganised because of her unkempt hair, always tied up in a boring untidy bun.

She was clumsy and irritating, but what irritated me the most was the way she starts crying at the drop of a hat. I kept getting irritated and sometimes even smiled at her stupidity and finally slipped into slumber.

********

I got ready and reached the hospital. I was scheduled to give a few lectures to the students as one of the doctors who taught them was on leave so I reached a bit earlier and chalked out everything, found some reference books ready for my 3 assistant doctors to read carefully.

They started to come and report one by one. I gave them the work and went to deliver the lecture to the young students who were studying MBBS.

I got free just before the lunch break and gave a lot of work to Kunal. But later on, I got to know that he already found a chance to go and meet Shruti. Siddharth got very annoyed because of that and scolded him very badly.

I was annoyed as well and decided to give him all the urine and stool tests to perform. He was really annoyed but had no option to do anything. I scolded him as well because he left the department without my permission. I don't know why but Riya was looking at me weirdly.

What was going on in her mind??

Later in the day, a patient came with a naughty child. The lady was having a very high fever for many days and the doctors has asked her to get all her tests done, as it was Riya's duty that day to work with me, Disha and Kunal had gone for a short coffee break.

The nurse and Dr Riya had to take all her samples with the nurse.

But the child was very naughty and pushing the nurse continuously so someone had to hold the child so that the nurse could take the samples.

Dr Riya was trying to catch him but he was too strong and naughty to be handled by her.

She told the nurse to hold the child and she would take the samples. The nurse nodded and held the child tightly. Dr Riya took a sample and got ready to take the sample for a blood test now.

" Sir, I am a bit confused about something, should we not take the test for typhoid as well along with other tests? " She turned to ask from me and just then the child managed to get out of the nurse's arms and pushed Riya very hard. Before I could do anything, She lost her balance and she fell on me.

" Ouch!!" The needle that was supposed to take the blood sample, pierced my arm instead.

" Oh, God!! Dr Riya, I am not the patient, but will be one very soon, if you stay near me. How many times do I have to tell you to stay at least 5 feet away from me? " I shouted at her.

" S..sorry, sir!! " She said looking very tense.

" Can't you manage to stand properly? This is the limit, Dr Riya, even a child can push you." I was still annoyed.

Her head was bent and the tears started flowing from them.

" Sorry!! Please, excuse me!! " She said and ran out of the room wiping her eyes.

Oh, God!! I should not have shouted at her, it was not even her fault. I felt bad and I thought of going to bring her back and apologize.

But the patient was here. I glared at the child and told the nurse to give the biggest injection to the child if he comes anywhere near me. The child got scared of my stern look and went away, I took her blood test.

Once she gave her sample, I wanted to go looking for her. But there were other patients too. Disha came to assist me instead of her.

" Where is Dr Riya?? "

" Sir, she is not feeling very well at the moment, so she requested me to shuffle her duty with mine."

I should not have shouted at her...

" Where is Dr Kunal?? "

" He is with Dr Riya. She was very upset and since she helped Dr Kunal to finish his work, they have become good friends. " Disha said.

Good friends?? My foot!!

I was annoyed but got busy with the patients and after about 10 minutes I saw Kunal coming in holding Dr Riya's hand.

She still looked upset, he was trying to cheer her up. She looked anywhere but at me. I wanted to say sorry to her but she was not even looking at me.

Why??

Why? How can you ask that?? You told her to stay away from you.

I felt bad about my behaviour, maybe I should apologise to her once we go home or are alone.

******

I was noticing the general behaviour of my interns,

Disha was being very smart and quick to learn. While I knew that Riya understood everything but she didn't react much while she was in the hospital. But I smiled at what I had assumed last night when she came to ask for my headphones.

The day was over and I went to meet Sid, he was upset as the tussle was going on between them. I told him to cool down and hugged him. He was crazy about Shruti and was getting possessive and jealous.

*****

I reached home and as soon as I opened the door of my house, the door next to mine opened. Riya came out and offered me new headphones.

" What is this?? " I asked her.

" I got a new one for you as well. "

" My original ones are fine with me. You should not have brought new for me. You didn't need to return them as well as I have two. " I said.

" Take at least one of them or I will have three. Thanks for lending them? "

" It's ok!! Not a big issue. Listen, Dr Riya, I am sorry for the way I behaved earlier in the hospital, it was totally uncalled for. " I said, she just nodded. I felt very light after apologizing.

She nodded with a smile and said good night.

Just then her phone buzzed. Her eyes became large and her hand shook and she looked absolutely frightened.

But frightened of what??

Out of curiosity, I saw the screen and it flashed ' Private number'.

The phone was buzzing and she started shaking. What was happening to her??

" Are you alright?? " I asked but she was still looking at the phone as if it was a live bomb.

What happened to the girl??