Fragile Hearts

Chapter 2

It was late evening when Raghav gained his consciousness. Pallavi was sitting beside him. For a moment he believed that it was just an illusion and she had left him. He touched her face with his palm and when he felt her soft skin against his hand he realised it was reality. "Pallavi...you didn't go" he tried to sit on the bed but the shooting pain in his head didn't allow him to do so.

"I couldn't leave you like that..you were bleeding so much. I didn't want you to....die" She reasoned for her stay. She was so pure, Raghav thought. Maybe she was too good for a tainted soul like him. He didn't deserve her.

After a moment of awkward silence between them, "I am sorry" they both said in unison. "It's alright!" Raghav told her when he could sense the guilt in her voice. "Been hurt worse than this" he smiled.

"Sir, dinner is ready!" The servant knocked on the door.

Pallavi freed her hand from his hand, that was when he realised he had been holding it all the while. She was quick to leave the room before he said anything else. She was not sure what she wanted to do anymore. Even if she would have been successful in escaping, where would she go?
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They ate dinner in silence and Pallavi went to her room. Pallavi couldn't help but think about her current situation, when she was in college she was always surrounded by her friends in hostel, after that when she got married she had Mandaar's family by her side and now Raghav.

To sum up, she had never been alone and she was scared now. Will she be able to survive on herself without any support was a question she didn't really have an answer to. She had just changed into her nightwear when she heard a knock outside her room. "Ma'am sir is calling you in the study" the servant informed. It was a lady this time. "What's your name?" Pallavi asked. "Ruchi" she answered uninterestingly and showed her the way to the study where Raghav was waiting for her.

"You asked for me?" She stood at the door. He was busy typing something on his phone when she arrived. "Yes." He put his phone away.

"Can you change my dressing?" He picked up the bandage and went near her. He had just wished to be near her, he could change it himself if he wanted to but he wanted to inhale her scent and look at her face. He was confident that she would never refuse because she felt guilty for hitting him. His gut was proven right when she took the bandage from his hand.

Raghav involuntarily sat down at the edge of the huge mahogany desk and spread his legs a little to allow her to step closer. Pallavi opened his bandage and examined his wound. The blood had dried but the cut was wide. She started cleaning it with an antiseptic. "Ah it stings!" He screamed and held her waist. "And you said you've been hurt worse" she said completely oblivious of his hold tightening around her waist.

"Pallavi..." he said softly, earning her complete attention, "can I ask you something?"

"Why did you want to run away?" He asked when she nodded in a yes. "I don't know. I can't imagine being with someone. For most of my life I have had people around me but in the end they always tend to leave, I just wanted to be left alone. After Mandaar, I just can't..." she trailed off from her sentence.

"It's okay. I understand." Raghav wiped away a lone tear which made its way down her face. "I will not force you to stay with me but Pallavi... I can't leave you alone. It's not that I don't want you to feel free. It's because I don't think I can stay away from you." Raghav was dead honest about what he felt. Pallavi was already on the verge of another breakdown but she didn't want to lose face and appear as a weakling in front of him by crying.

"It's done" she said after putting the bandage around his wound, trying to divert his attention. She turned around to leave when he pulled her arm and she collided into his chest "Pallavi, give this marriage a chance. Please?!" It appeared as if he was pleading her to save this marriage. Their marriage. The desperation was evident in his voice and he wasn't even trying to hide it. She was his weakness and she knew that somehow. "Just one chance. If it doesn't work, you'll be free." He spoke again but with the determination that what he said would never happen.

Pallavi knew it by the look of his eyes that he needed that chance, for the marriage or for himself she didn't know but she was looking at a man who desperately wanted to redeem himself. Who was she to deprive him of that? After all, what worse could come out of it?

She sighed and murmured a soft, "Okay!" 

That one word had made him feel like the happiest man on the planet that day. His heart did a summersault and he his joy knew no bound. His cheeky smile gave it away and he hugged Pallavi. "Thank you so much" Raghav said against her ear. Upon seeing him smiling like that Pallavi felt like she made the right decision. She had been cared for, she had been looked after, she had been loved before. Yet never in her life had she been wanted like this man wanted her. Her husband she corrected.

"Let me walk you to your room" he said and held her hand. She followed him quietly as he lead the way. He noticed her expression when he said 'your room'. Pallavi was relieved that he will not be sleeping in the same room as her. She wasn't ready for sharing any space with him yet even though she had agreed to give this marriage a chance. He stood outside while she stepped in. "I will be sleeping in the next room" Raghav told her "Call me if you need anything".

"Goodnight" he wished and gently kissed her hand. Her body shivered at the touch of his lips and he noticed that. "Goodnight" she said and rushed inside shutting close the door behind her.
Pallavi poured herself a glass of water from the jug beside her nightstand, "How could he even think I will ever forgive him? I will ruin you Raghav Rao."

Will Raghav's love be enough for their marriage to work or will Pallavi's want for revenge overpower it and ruin their relationship forever? Keep reading!