MaNan: Trust?

28

8 days later

Manik was sitting on the hospital bed without moving a single muscle. His eyes were staring at nothing in particular. He heard the click of the door but didn't blink his eyes.

"Hello Manik sir... How are you feeling now?"

Manik looked at him with forlorn eyes as if none of his words could reach his brain. He would visit Manik everyday as he felt obliged to do so. Manik was his boss & apparently he was the only higher authority in the office who had made him feel like an equal human in all these days.

"Look who is here to meet you today.", Nikhil pointed towards his wife Ankita & his little daughter who was looking at Manik with her innocent eyes.

Manik for the first time in all these days showed some acknowledgement looking at the little baby. He couldn't ignore the heartfelt toothless smile that she gave him.

His lips curved a little making the couple surprised. Nikhil had told Ankita about how he wasn't responding to anything & was going ahead with his daily routine like a robot. He was even managing his work from the hospital but his face hadn't shown a single emotion in all these days. Ankita had insisted on meeting him. She wanted to replace the memory of the bloodied human with a sober one. She had had too many nightmares in the past few days.

His right hand had a sling & left leg was plastered. A bandage was wrapped around his head. Other than that he looked fine. It was just that he needed support to move around.

Ankita went ahead and forwarded the baby towards him. Nikhil looked confused with her sudden gesture but realisation dawned upon him as he saw Manik slowly forward his hand to hold his daughter with a small unnoticeable smile.

Manik placed her on his left thigh & held her close.

He smiled as she poked his cheek with her little finger. Playing with her for sometime, he gave her back to her mother.

"Can I request you something?", Manik asked looking at Nikhil.

"You just have to order sir."

"First of all don't call me sir, you are elder to me. And please stop coming here."

"But why sir?"

"I don't want you to come here for me. I will be fine in a few days. And if you really want to do something then make sure the office is running efficiently till I come back. I'm in touch with Varun, my assistant. You can help him, guide him but just make sure that everything runs smoothly. I will be here if anything goes wrong."

Even being at the hospital he was in complete control of the office. Also he really didn't wanted anyone to take any efforts for him on personal level. He had instructed his assistant to not let anyone from the office know about his accident.

"Okay sir..",

Nikhil said dejectedly & left with his wife & daughter.

******************************

Nandini was sleeping on her bed with Manik's shirt close to her heart.

What must he be doing? Will he ever forgive her for what she did?

A knock on her door made her come out of her thoughts.

"Nanz... Get up we have to go get done with the admission process."

She heard Mukti shout from the other side of the door.

"Yeah Mukti I'll be out in ten.", She managed to utter with her dried throat.