My Lover's The Sunlight...

BAARISHEIN

Seeing Mayank touching Ishan in a way that was his own reignited the feelings Shubman was trying to bury in his heart. It was what it was. He could not live with Ishan being his "best friend". He needed more, he needed everything, and in return, he would give till he himself he had nothing left. He would have approached the two, but his eyes landed on Abhishek. It had been long since they talked. He had always had beef with Mayank and in the process had ended up estranging his friend. Was it only him or Abhi really seemed subdued these days?

All that did not matter as soon as he saw Abhi running away with tears streaming down his eyes, after probably listening on to Ishan and Mayank's conversation. What the actual fuck were they talking about? Shubman was in a dilemma - he wanted to hide Ishan with himself, but at the same time how could leave Abhi in such a state. The Punjabi munda began speed walking toawrds his friend from his U-19 days, when the other lad suddenly tripped over some cricket equipment some messy younger player had probably littered on the ground. "Abhi!" Shubman called out, but received no reply.

He broke out running himself, and found the lad unconscious. How could just a bit of tripping render someone unconscious? Abhishek must have been experiencing something worse. Shubman picked the senseless lad on his back and took him to the medical room where Kamlesh bhaiya was sipping on a piping hot cup of coffee with the junior. "Arre, Shubman? What happened to Abhi?" asked the older medic. "Bhaiya, I don't know. He was running when he tripped and fell. Phir unconscious ho gaya." He laid Abhi down on the bed there, where Kamlesh started checking his vitals and junior jotted them down. After a good fifteen minutes, when the checkup was over, Shubman asked, "Abhi thk toh hai na bhaiya?" The senior medic had a grim look on his face, "Dehydration hai usko, aur left ankle main sprain hua hai. Kal ke din rest karega, toh thik ho jayega." Saying this, he left the room.

Shubman sat down on the stool by Abhi's bedside as the junior attached an IV drip and pushed some medications into it. "Ummm, Shubman sir?" stammered the junior. The prince looked up, "Han bolo." "Sir, main ek opinion du?" "Bolo na, itna buildup kyu le rahe ho?" chuckled Shubi good-naturedly. "Sir, Abhishek sir ko kya self-doubts issues hai, overthinking karte hai?" This stuck a chord in Shubman's brain that had been gathering dust for a long time. Just after U-19 when Abhishek had not been selected for team India, he had to undertake therapy for about three months, was he going back to that stage? "Kyu?" "Aap ek bar kisi psychologist ka opinion le lenge toh zyaada achha hoga." "Tumhe yeh sab kaise pata?" "Maine Kinesiology main major karte hue, psychology main minor kiya tha." "Damn! Smart ho!" 

The junior blushed as he lowered his eyes. He had moved on to wrapping the compression bandage around Abhi's injured leg. "T-thank you." "Naam kya hai tumhara?" "Zachary, aap Zach bhi bula sakte ho." "Achha Zach, tum kab join kiye? Pehle toh kabhi nahi dikhe medical team main?" "Woh, sir, bas 1 saal hi hua hai maine join kiya hai. And it's just been one month since I am tending to the players with Kamlesh sir." "Achha hai, age kitni hai tumhari?" "I am 25, sir." "Toh ye sir, sir kya laga rakkha hai? Bhaiya bolo bachchu, bhaiya!" "O-okay, si- bhaiya." It seriously was cute with how the junior was stammering. "Humari ICT family jaisi hai, aur tum sir bologe toh apne nahi lagta. Idhar kisiko sir sunna achha nahi lagta. Thik hai? Jaddu bhai se ragging nahi karwani toh bhaiya bolna, thik hai?" "Ji, bhaiya." Shubman loitered in the medical room for more 30 minutes before Abhishek woke up. 

Abhi felt disoriented. Where was he? Oh, it was the medical room. There was a figure on the desk, filling out some paperworks, must be the new junior and there was another figure on the sofa, wait, was it Shubi? Abhishek rubbed his eyes to ensure that they were not cheating him - it indeed was Shubman. The other looked at him, the moment he felt his gaze. "Saale, uth gaya tu? Pata hai kitni chinta thi mujhe?" "Toh isliye mujhe pichle 2 months main ek message bhi nahi kiya tu aur mere saare messages seen par chhod diye?" Abhi chuckled bitterly as he tried to get up but felt a pull on his left arm. "Abhishek bhaiya, please do not get up, you need to finish this bottle of saline." The junior was already by his bedside. How the fuck did this child move so fast! "Mainu maaf de. Ab se din main 3 baari call karunga!" "Jhuthe promises kyu karta hai be! Ishan bhai aa gaye hai, yeh bohot hai ki sabko yeh yaad rahe ki main exist karta hun!" 

Abhishek turned away his glistening eyes. He would have hated Ishan if he could, but the other guy had suffered enough in his life and he was probably the best person in the whole ICT. As if summoned, Ishan entered the room. "Abhi, maine suna tu behosh ho gya tha? Abhi thik hai?" "Ji bhaiya." "Kab chhutega idhar se? Humko Harry bhai ki party main jaana hai!" Ishu questioned the junior medic, who slipped into confident professional mode, "I am afraid, Ishan bhaiya, Abhishek bhaiya is in no condition to go to a party." But alas, the professional shell cracked as soon as Ishan took out his deadly weapons, his puppy dog eyes and baby pout. "Please, Abhi nhi jaa sakta?" On the other hand, Abhishek was caught between the devil the deep blue sea. He did not want to miss out on the enjoyment, that would distract his overthinker of a brain but he remembered Mayank's tone as to how he casually said that he would have dropped him in a moment if Ishan had just asked. He did not want to experience a full night of the torture of having to see his boyfriend sticking to someone else, while he sat at the bar, drowning his self-doubts in alcohol. 

Zach, unable to resist the Ishan Kishan's pleading, relented, "He can go, but he cannot put pressure any pressure on his left ankle and no, absolutely no alcohol." The pocket dynamo agreed, swearing on his honour that he would follow the doctor's orders. Abhishek sighed inwardly, it was going to be a long, long night....

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hi, guys, main zinda hun, well, abhi ke liye zinda hun. Filler scenes likhte likhte story bada ho gaya, aur Character development bhi thik se nhi hua. Par agle chapter main, pakka party hone waali hai aur yeh party mere Mathematics exam ke baad hogi. Hopefully February khatam hone se pehle main ek aur update de paunga. 

Bye, and don't forget to comment your feelings about this story. Take care and stay hydrated.

Enjoy, Adiraj!