Na Jaane Kyon...

Seene se tere sar ko laga ke... sunti main rahun naam apna

Title is the song 'Rehna tu pal pal dil ke paas' from the movie 'Pal pal dil ke paas'

Naina woke up in the morning to sounds of repeated sneezing. Sameer was sitting up in bed, pressing his nose into a handkerchief.

"Sameer, kya hua? Aapki tabiyat theek nahi hai kya?" She got up and shifted closer to him.

"I'm fine. Bas thoda cold hai." He smiled at her assuringly.

But his red eyes, and flushed face told a different story. Naina touched his forehead. Though not very hot, it was warm enough to indicate a fever.

"Aapko toh fever hai." She worriedly held his wrist, and found it to be equally warm.

"Fever nahi Naina, cold ki wajah se lag raha hoga. Don't worry, theek..." before he could complete his sentence, he again sneezed loudly.

"Aap rest kijiye, main adark wali chai banake laati hun." She turned to get off the bed.

He held her arm, "Nahi, tum kahin mat jao. Idhar hi raho. Please."

She smiled at his childish pout, "Main do minute mein aa jaungi. Chai se aapko relief milega."

"Mujhe chai nahi chahiye, tum chahiye ho." He grumbled, before sneezing again.

She could see the same obstinacy as Ayush, when he fell sick.

"Achaa baba, main kahin nahi jaa rahi. Ramdhari bhaiya ko call kar dun? Woh chai le ayenge." She patted his hand, smiling gently.

He did not let go of his hold on her. She pointed at the phone on her sidetable.

"Mera le lo." He gave her his phone.

Naina switched on the phone to find it locked, "Yeh pattern locked hai, Sameer. Aap open karke..."

"M." He provided, ignoring her extended hand.

"Oh!" She quietly entered the pattern, called up Ramdhari and instructed him to prepare tea with grated ginger and add a pinch of pepper at the end.

Pushing aside the questions tumbling inside her, she asked him to lie down and take rest, to which he complied, feeling drained. Tea did provide relief to his constant sneezing, but Naina was sure it wasn't just plain cold. His voice had turned a little rough, his eyes remained red and the skin felt warmer to her touch now.

"Sameer, aap aaj ghar pe rahiye. Office jayenge toh fever zyada ho sakta hai. Main mummy ko bata deti hun." She insisted when he tried to get up after a while, citing that they were getting late for office.

"Main tumhare saath hi jaunga. Akele nahi rehna." He stood up from the bed, but a shooting pain in his head made him sit back with a thud.

"Ahh!" He pressed the side of his head with one hand.

Naina was worried sick at his condition. He was definitely coming down with a flu. She made him lie down, and called up Vishakha.

"Sameer, kya hua beta? Sardi kaise ho gayi?" She was in their room within five minutes, frantic at his condition.

"Kuch nahi mummy, bas thoda cold hai aur sar dard ho raha hai. Main theek hun." He stated.

"Dikh raha hai kitna theek hai. Thand lag gayi hai tujhe. Yeh saare symptoms tabhi aate hain jab tujhe thand se fever aata hai. Kitni baar kaha hai theek se sweater jacket pehna kar lekin sunna toh hai hi nahi tujhe." She checked his forehead, cheeks, neck and wrist, grumbling, then paused, as if trying to remember, "Par pichle do teen dinon mein toh tu kahin gaya hi nahi. Office aur ghar mein kaise thand lag sakti hai?"