FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN

The Knight and the Lady

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Neel had never been more relieved in his life. She was safe. Injured but safe and alive . He glanced at her foot again. It was all blue and black and swollen and was swelling up more. He had seen her wince when he had shifted her a bit to adjust her weight in his arm. Seriously, did this woman ever eat? She was light. And smelt of jasmine even when she was covered in mud!

Her chin was resting on his shoulder blade and her arms were around his neck.  He tried to keep his wayward thoughts to himself as he kept up a steady pace to reach the emergency wing as soon as possible. On reaching the emergency wing, she was put on a wheelchair and taken for an X-ray. It was what he had suspected. She had twisted her ankle. And bruised her left side badly. She was to keep her foot elevated and was given some pain medications to keep the pain down. Her next check-up was in two weeks. After buying her medicine, he booked an Uber and took her home. On reaching home, he got her settled on the couch and went to get her a glass of water so that she could take her medicine.

"Here", he said, dropping a few pills in her palm.He laughed when she saw her scrunch her face at the medicines."Go on, take them. This will help with the pain", he said as he went back into the kitchen to get her something to eat. 

He was grateful for the fact that he had made sandwiches in the morning. He poured a glass of juice and arranged the sandwiches on a plate. When he came to the living room, he stopped in his track. Manjari was no longer on the couch. He put the food on the table and made his way to her bedroom.
He knocked at her bedroom door and heard a muffled, "Come in".Neel entered her bedroom and found her sitting on the edge of her bed. "How did you come here?", he asked, his hands folded across his chest. She looked at him and did not reply. Neel rubbed his hands across his face. He had seen her wince in pain and his heart went out to her. Stubborn, stubborn woman. She was ok with bearing the pain but not taking the help. He walked across the room and sat down next to her and took her hand in his hand. She had small hands and her fingers- long and shapely. He noticed her nails were perfectly cut and filed though full of dirt now. How her hand fit his perfectly! He rubbed his hand over the back of her hand and felt her resistance building as she gently pried her away from his.
" I will get you something to eat", he said.
" I am not hungry", Manjari replied in a soft voice. "I just need to rest. Thanks for you help. But you can leave now".
" You need to eat to heal. You can rest after you have eaten.  Wait here. I will be right back".
Neel walked to the living room and grabbed the food tray. When he came back, he was relieved  to see her sitting in the same spot. He put the food tray gently in her lap. "Eat", he said.
He looked at her and explained as if speaking to a child, "You are hurt. It's ok to accept help", guessing rightly that she hated being a burden on anyone.
" I do not want help", she said, pushing the food around on the tray.
Neel took hold of her hand again and said, "I am sure that you can handle everything by yourself, but will like to help."
He resisted a sigh of despair as she withdrew her had again. He stood up and facing her tried again, "Your body needs to recuperate and I am not hearing no for an answer. This service comes at no cost." He even added a bow to sweeten the deal.
She lifted her head to look at him at him and asked, "Why?" Why, he wondered. Why, indeed. Now was not the time and the truth would only scare her as he sat on his haunches in front of her, but her not knowing was killing him. He took a deep breath and said, "because you are special to me . So special. Seeing you like this is killing me. Please let me help. Please." The last please came out almost a whisper.