Discordance

Chapter Thirty-Four

She knew something was wrong but she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was and why? She woke up to an empty and bed for the 3rd day in a row and it sucked because it kind of felt unfair, like he had gotten the shorter end of the stick. She wanted to touch him and maybe make him feel at least some part of the good he made her feel but he always pulled away, she got tongue tied in front of him on a regular basis so she definitely could not ask him about physical intimacy. He had avoided her like the plague the past couple of days and it was making her insane.

It was extremely hard for her to not internalize it and the doubts kept creeping in that now that he had taken the few steps to be intimate with her, her inexperience had thrown him off. It was probably that or something she had said or done, or maybe her brothers had messed up somehow and said something? Yes, that had to be it.

She got dressed for work and on the way called Rishi to see if he knew something. The moment he picked up, she instantly began to ramble.

"Bhai, did you guys say something to Abhimanyu the other night? He has been acting out of character"

Her brother's cautious voice filtered through the phone making her anxiety rise "What do you mean?" he asked

"I don't know, he is normally very prudent, but this is too much even for him, like he is almost wary that I will run away or something" she scoffed.

"And will you run away if given the opportunity?" Rishi asked making Akshara immediately tense.

"No, why would I do that? I like him." She murmured, the thought of leaving him so foreign that her heart and mind instantly rejected it.

"Oh ok. Then I am sure it was nothing, Akshu. Maybe he is busy at work?" Yeah maybe that's what it was, Akshara agreed lost in her thoughts as she cut the call. What was going on in his head?

"What about we go unannounced to the hospital and see how he reacts? it is all in your head I am sure." Diksha offered once Akshara had lightened her heart's load in front of her and she had to roll her eyes at that, trust her friend to take his side with stars in her eyes as predicted. She crossed her arms across her chest and huffed loudly, blowing her hair out of her eyes "No, if he wants to be distant, let him, whatever. I DON'T CARE" she yelled the last part out before getting up and stomping away to get some work done. However it seemed like luck was going to be at her friend and her husband's side because Parth bhai called to let her know that one of the kids was being taken to Birla in an emergency for his appendix.

As she grabbed her things to drive out to the hospital, Diksha yelled after her loudly "Maybe cook a dinner for him to let him know how special he is or something?" Akshara flipped her friend the bird as she ran out but on her drive she kept replaying that suggestion and maybe it wasn't that terrible of an idea.

She ran to where the kid was taken and met with parth bhai who frankly looked harrowed as he paced the floor and his hysteria eased some of Akshara's distress. Thankfully by the time she got to the hospital, the kid was already out of the surgery and being wheeled to one of the rooms and Akshara and Parth followed. She tried glancing around to see if she could catch a glimpse of her stupid husband but he was nowhere to be found.

"Hey, he'll be ok don't worry. Everything went great" Aryan said to her and she would have laughed if she was in the mood because why was he comforting her instead of Parth Bhai who clearly looked like he was going to have a meltdown. Once the nurse had the kid situated, and Aryan had checked everything, he rounded the bed to squeeze her shoulder thinking she needed comfort when in reality she just wanted her husband.

"Bhai" her husband's voice came from behind her and her pulse raced, he was here!! She whirled around to find him frowning at Parth and refusing to look at her. She had wanted to go under the radar away from his scrutiny back during the initial days of their marriage but now a moment when he was nearby and his attention wasn't on her made her skin itch and her fingers of its own accord twitched to touch him.