Muddat

11. Consequences

The next morning, Aadrika woke up feeling groggy and weak. Her head was pounding relentlessly. Blinking her eyes open, she saw Advait sleeping beside her, his head resting awkwardly on the edge of the bed. A pang of guilt surged through her as she glanced at the clock. A sigh escaped her lips. How did I end up sleeping for so long? She tried to sit up, the movement waking Advait from his sleep. He sat up abruptly, his concern evident as he looked at her.

"Theek hai?" he asked, gently pressing a hand to her forehead. The fever was still there, but it had reduced to a mild warmth.

"Aap soye nhi na puri raat?" she asked softly, guilt evident in her voice.

"Jo pucha voh bta" Advait responded curtly, his tone carrying a hint of disappointment.

"Theek hun dada" she mumbled, lowering her gaze. Advait stood up to leave, but Aadrika reached out and held his hand.

"Gussa ho?" She asked

"mai gussa kyu honga Aadrika?" he replied,"It's not like things are the same between us"

"Dada please"

"Kya please?" Advait interrupted, his voice firm. "You were sick tune aake btaya? Agar mai nhi aata raat mai toh? Kya mai ab teri health ke baare mai jaanna bhi deserve nhi kara?"

"I... I didn't want to burden you, Dada. Humesha agle din mera fever theek ho jaata hai, I didn't thought it was important"

"Tu kab samjhegi Aadrika? Kab samjhegi you're not a burden mai kya karun bta. Kya karun jisse you'll believe that you're not a burden, kya karun jisse you'll trust me with your problems" Advait looked at her fighting his own tears.

"I trust you dada I do-" Advait cut her off

"No you don't, ye tu bhi jaanti hai aur mai bhi. Agar trust karti toh sab btati, you weren't well mujhe khud aake btati but no tujhe sab khud handle karna hai toh kar. You want to keep pushing me back voh bhi kar tu, but ek cheez dhyaan se sunle. No matter what, chahe tu kuch bhi kare, kuch bhi bole, kitna hi mujhe khud se dur rakhe mai nhi hatunga. Hatna hota toh ussi din hat jaata jis din you questioned my love for you, still yahin hun mai and aage bhi rahunga. Tujhe jo karna hai kar, mai voh karunga jo mujhe sahi lagega. Mai khaane ke liye bhejta hun kuch" Advait said and left Aadrika's room, on his way he passed by Advik without sparing him a glance.

Advik sighed and knocked on Aadrika's door. Seeing him, she quickly wiped her tears and forced a weak smile.

"Aao na bhaiyu, you don't need to knock" she said hiding her surprise as to what he was doing here. Advik came next to her, checked her temperature. She was still running on a mild fever but it wasn't as severe as last night. A feeling of relief washed over him as he kept a strip of medicine at her side table.

"Make sure to have them after eating something, abhi theek hai? Body ache? Headache? Anything?" He asked finally looking at her.

"Aap kyu kar re ho" she whispered

"Just answer the question," Advik said, his tone sharp.

"Just a little headache" Advik nodded he already kept the medicines at her side table. He was about to leave but stopped hearing Aadrika

"Kyu bhaiyu? Jab itni care karte ho toh pretend kyu kar re ho?"

"I don't care," he said, turning to face her, his expression cold. "I'm just doing my duty as a doctor."

"Just a doctor bhaiyu? Kya yahi rishta bacha hai humara?" Aadrika asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

Advik's eyes softened for a moment, but his words were firm.