Love Me

19

"Ok Roshni, don't be scared. It's four. I will be back before five. Daksh will wake up around six, so everything is sorted," she whispered to herself, nervously starting the bike.

Her hands trembled slightly on the handle, the engine roaring to life. She rode slowly at first, testing her balance, before gradually increasing her speed.

"I know I can ride it… Papa taught me how to ride the scooty also," she said to herself, excitement shining in her eyes.

The cool morning air brushed against her face, and she felt a rush of freedom until a police car pulled up behind her. The flashing lights reflected on her rear-view mirror.

Her heart thumped. She tried looking back, only to find the policemen clearly signaling her to stop. Panic rose in her chest. Instead of stopping, she pressed harder on the accelerator.

"Why are they following me? No, no, I can't get caught!" she said, her voice shaky with fear not of the Police man but the one who was at home sleeping peacefully..

Her thoughts spiraled. "Wait… they can't arrest me, right? But why am I even thinking about arrest? Daksh will kill me before that! They will inform someone… and that someone will be..no, no, Roshni's life is more important than getting caught!"

Breathing heavily, she began to slow down, but her nerves betrayed her. Her balance wavered. In trying to control the bike, she lost grip and fell hard onto the road.

One policeman gasped. "Oh no, sir, she fell down! I told you, let her go."

"I just wanted to tell her to go home, since it's still dark," the other replied, rushing forward.

They knelt beside her. "Are you okay?" one of them asked.

Roshni winced, pressing her palm against the back of her head. "Yeah… just my head is bleeding a little." Her voice shook as she tried to smile weakly.

She glanced at her knees and hissed in pain. "And my knees… it will be good if you can remove this bike from my knees. It's hurting… and my elbow too. God, how am I still talking like this?" she muttered before closing her eyes, exhausted.

The policemen carefully lifted the bike off her and carried her toward their vehicle. "Madam, your contact number? Anyone your parents, brother, sister? Your home address?"

Half-conscious, Roshni whispered her full address. One of them quickly noted it down. They dropped her at the hospital’s emergency ward and then went to the given address.

Daksh reached the hospital within minutes after getting the news, his heart hammering in his chest. His eyes instantly found Roshni lying on the bed, her face pale. Her head and knees were bandaged.

"Sir, we have given her sleep medicine. That’s why she’s sleeping," the nurse informed him softly, before starting to leave.

"Wait," Daksh said sharply. "Discharge her. I will take her to another hospital. Just give me the discharge papers."

The nurse nodded and returned within minutes. Daksh quickly signed the papers, then lifted Roshni in his arms, holding her as if she were the most fragile thing in the world. On his way out, he called Ayaan to inform him.

In the new hospital, Ayaan closed the door of Roshni’s room and turned to Daksh. "How did this happen? How did she manage to get hurt this much? I mean, I don’t know how she fell, but her knees and the back of her head are badly damaged. Her knees especially we’ll need to take care of them."

Daksh’s jaw tightened. "Don’t ask me anything. Just tell me she’ll be fine, right?"

Ayaan placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and nodded.

Daksh exhaled shakily. "I’m leaving. And if she wakes up and asks about me… tell her I died." His voice turn angry slightly as he turned away.

Ayaan watched him leave with a sigh.

Later, the senior doctor arrived and examined Roshni while Ayaan stood beside him.

"Her knee bones are damaged, I’m confirmed. But do an x-ray to be sure. As for the rest, nothing major. You can handle it. You don’t need my help here I will tell a nurse to help you," the doctor said.

Ayaan nodded, and the doctor left.

Daksh walked back into the room almost immediately. Ayaan raised a brow. "You changed your mind?"

"Yes," Daksh muttered, sitting beside Roshni and gently caressing her face. "Why is she still sleeping? When will she wake up?" His voice carried both frustration and pain.

"It depends," Ayaan replied. "Let me do her bandage on the head first." He carefully pushed back Roshni’s sticking hair and examined the wound.

He glanced at Daksh. "Will you mind if we remove some of her hair from here? It’s sticking to the wound and might get infected. Hair will grow back anyway."

Daksh’s eyes never left Roshni’s face. "Yeah, why would I mind? It’s Roshni who will create drama over it. Just don’t tell her unless she figures it out herself."

Ayaan connects her to IV, then removes just the portion of hair covering the wound," Ayaan looked at nurse in between while bandaging.the nurse. A nod from the nurse made him look back at Roshni.

Afterward, Ayaan took Daksh aside they started walking away. "Let her rest. When she wakes up, we’ll do the x-ray of her knees. What a pleasant morning I’m having," Ayaan sighed sarcastically.

Daksh shot him a sharp look.

Ayaan pressed again. "How did this really happen?"

Daksh clenched his fists and finally told him everything the police had said.

Ayaan groaned. "Oh… she shouldn’t have done this."

Daksh’s face darkened. "I told her not to take the bike. I swear, I’ll break both her legs once she gets well. Then she’ll complain that I scold her too much. This time she’ll see what I can actually do." His voice trembled with suppressed anger.

"Hey, calm down. It’s okay. Every mistake is forgivable," Ayaan said carefully.

"Yeah, why not, after facing the consequences of it," Daksh muttered, rubbing his temple, trying to control himself.

"Daksh, calm down. I won’t let you meet her if you keep behaving like this. Do one thing go to college, attend class. Trust me, she’s just a little hurt. She’ll be fine in a week. Don’t worry too much."

Daksh looked at him, doubtful. "You’re not joking, right?"

Ayaan shook his head firmly.

Relief flooded Daksh’s face. "Thank God," he whispered, covering his face with his palm.

But a moment later, his voice grew serious. "I’m telling you… if you act all sweet with her when she wakes up, then no one will be worse than me."

Ayaan blinked. "You want me to ignore her? Why?"

"So she can understand she should listen to us. I would have taken her myself if she asked… but no. She just had to fulfill her wish by giving me a heart attack."

"Let’s go to her room. She must be awake by now," Ayaan said.

They walked in together and their suspicion was right. Roshni was awake, her wide eyes darting around the room in confusion.

"When did you wake up?" Ayaan asked gently.

Roshni bit her lip, looking at him with those doe eyes. But the first word that escaped her lips was: "Daksh…"

Both of them heard it clearly.

Daksh immediately stepped forward. "What happened?" His voice softened, forgetting his plan of scolding her.

"I got scared…" she whispered, throwing her arms around him.

Daksh hugged her back tightly, kissing her forehead with trembling lips. "I’m here. Don’t cry," he murmured, holding her as if he would never let go.