Naveen Banerji, a character in the Open Heart series, is a doctor and the former director of Diagnostic Medicine at Edenbrook Hospital. He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 3.
Appearance
Naveen has short, black hair, brown eyes and brown skin color. He wears a white doctors coat (with the Edenbrook logo on it) on top of a black polo shirt.
Personality
Naveen is observant, warm and has a sense of humor. He tells you he loves hospital gossip but doesn't hear much in his present location. His illness causes him to have an epiphany of how many friendships and chances he missed by pursuing "greatness", never stopping to have a life outside of his career.
Chapters
Open Heart
Book 1
- Chapter 3: Hanging in the Balance
- Chapter 7: Patient X
- Chapter 8: Make-Believe
- Chapter 11: Whatever It Takes
- Chapter 12: Panacea (Mentioned)
- Chapter 13: Admission
- Chapter 15: Hearing Impaired (Mentioned)
- Chapter 16: The Curious Case of Dr. Banerji
- Chapter 17: The Oath
Book 2
- Chapter 1: Prognosis
- Chapter 2: The Interns
- Chapter 4: Blind Spot
- Chapter 5: Influence
- Chapter 7: Wake-Up Call (Mentioned)
- Chapter 8: Fair Game
- Chapter 10: The Senator (Mentioned)
- Chapter 11: Countdown (Mentioned)
- Chapter 12: Control (Mentioned; Determinant)
- Chapter 13: Time Bomb
- Chapter 15: Do No Harm
- Chapter 16: The Kindness of Strangers (Mentioned)
- Chapter 17: Hopeful Hearts
- Chapter 18: Inevitable
- Chapter 20: Picking Sides
Book 3
- Chapter 5: Too Late (Mentioned; Determinant)
- Chapter 8: The Die Is Cast (Mentioned)
- Chapter 9: Build Up (Mentioned; Determinant)
- Chapter 11: Wedding Belles
- Chapter 13: Building Up (Determinant)
- Chapter 14: Against the Boards
- Chapter 15: Day in Court
- Chapter 16: Moving On
Relationships
Dr. Ethan Ramsey
- "I wanted you to stop seeing me as a mentor. I didn't want you to repeat my mistakes."
- —Naveen to Ethan
Naveen is the director of the most elite diagnostics unit in the country and Ethan is a Fellow in his department. In Book 1, Chapter 4, it is revealed that Naveen retired (without warning) and that Ethan is the new head of the department. It is later revealed in Chapter 8, in a premium scene, that Naveen has sepsis and the reason he retired was that his kidneys were failing. Naveen threatened to quit and leave if Ethan told Harper about his condition. Naveen is also Ethan's mentor, who took Ethan under his wing when he first arrived at Edenbrook after realizing his potential and seeing his talent.
In Chapter 10, when Ethan purposely loses to Declan Nash and agrees to give the latter's company a contract with Edenbrook, Ethan tells you that Naveen will chew him out because he has compromised Naveen's vision and his own ethics to do business with Big Pharma. In Chapter 11, Naveen tells Ethan that he never takes the time to celebrate small achievements. In Chapter 16, with your diagnosis, Ethan doses the phage that will fight Naveen's infection. In Chapter 17, when both of them return to Edenbrook employment, Naveen names Ethan head of the diagnostics team and your direct supervisor for the upcoming year.
In Book 3, when Ethan is hit with a malpractice lawsuit, you find out that the case is centered around a patient from his residency. The patient went into anaphylactic shock and coded due to a drug interaction, and her larynx was nicked during an emergency tracheotomy that Naveen performed. Ethan decided to take blame for the drug interaction. The fact that Ethan was a resident and should not be raked across the coals for this confuses Dr. Aaron Tanaka; however, Dr. Garret Thorne guesses that Ethan is covering for Naveen and Naveen is pressuring Ethan to keep quiet. Garrett tells Aaron that the surgery department may not have seen Naveen's behavior firsthand like the rest of the physicians did, but during that year of Ethan's residency, Naveen was "out of control".
Your Character
Naveen sees something in you, and if you are romancing Ethan, he notices something happening between you and Ethan as well. He teases you if you frown, saying your face will freeze like Ethan's. In Book 1, Chapter 13, his future rests on how you advise Ethan. If you tell him there is a chance to save him if you keep him there, Ethan will text Harper and Harper will have Naveen officially hospitalized. This saddens him. If you tell Ethan to let Naveen enjoy his time left, Naveen will leave and Harper will remain unaware of what happened. At the end of Chapter 15, you discover how to help him. In Chapter 16, you and Landry test out your hypothesis and find out that he has a phage (c2) and a bacteria (Acinetobacter baumannii) that are fighting each other, using his body as their battlefield. In Chapter 17, he has recovered enough to come to your hearing towards the end and vote on your behalf. His vote sways most if not all the others in your favor. When Harper steps down as Chief of Medicine and he takes over, he tells you that you've been selected to be the junior fellow for the diagnostics team next year.
Dr. Landry Olsen
In Book 1, Chapter 16, you introduce Landry to Naveen when you two test your hypothesis on him. It is your choice to introduce him as your assistant or colleague. If you let Naveen go home in Chapter 13, Landry stays with him when you go to see Ethan about dosing the phage.
Gallery
Other Looks
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- He shares his last name with Mira Banerji from the Rules of Engagement series.
- Naveen (alternative spelling is Navin) is an Indian name, derived from the Sanskrit word navina. It means “unique, new, young”.
- The surname Banerji is an Indian name of Sanskrit origin, which means "venerable teacher". It is a variant of Banerjee or Bandyopadhyay, along with Banerjea, Banerjie, Bonnerjee, and Bandopadhyaya. Its derivatives include Barori, Bhowal, and Bandyogai.
- He quit his job as of Book 1, Chapter 4.
- In Chapter 7, it is revealed that he is Patient X and that he is dying.
- In Chapter 8's premium scene, Ethan says his symptoms started two months ago, first as cough, fever, confusion. Then it progressed to severe headaches, high fever, and the inability to keep fluids down. Then, breathing trouble and organ dysfunction. Soon, it had progressed to sepsis and that he quit his job because his kidneys were failing.
- Ethan also reveals that Banerji isn't married or doesn't have children.
- Naveen's headaches are caused by encephalitis.
- In Chapter 12, it is revealed that his condition is terminal and he only has a month to live.
- In Chapter 15, it is revealed that he was part of Edenbrook's ethics committee.
- In Chapter 17, Harper announces that she is stepping down as Chief of Medicine and Naveen will take her place.
- In Book 3, Chapter 16, following his resignation, he passes the position to Ethan.
- In Book 3, Chapter 15, it is mentioned that he had a sister who died. This caused him to drink on the job.