Yours insanely

57.Walls, hugs and chaos

It was another happy day.

Waking up with Shubman, joined by Shahneel and Ishan during breakfast, working on your designs, chewing on ice cubes, and chasing after Brownie.

You were playing tag after lunch, chasing him down the hallway.

All good, until you stubbed your toe against the wall. You have no idea how you ended up hitting the wall.

Maybe you miscalculated the timing or your vision was getting poor.

But before deciding on what's the actual cause, you looked down at your bleeding toes, the nail of the second one broken in a rather disturbing manner.

"Well, sh!t," you mumbled to yourself, half-hopping and half-dragging yourself to the living room nearby.

Brownie came running back when he couldn't find you chasing after him.

The plan was to rest on the couch, wait until your bleeding stopped so that you could walk again.

But of course, Ishan had to walk in while eating a slice of the ice cream cake he got Shahneel yesterday as a new year's gift, nearly a week after new year.

"Y/n, do you want a slice too- Why is your toe bleeding!" He screamed in horror, making sure it plausibly echoed through the entire mansion.

And this guy tortures and kills people for a living.

"Gave the wall a hug, Ishu. I'm fine-"

"Who's toe is bleeding?" Shahneel barged inside the living room out of nowhere.

"Y/n!" He screamed again dreadfully, almost scaring Brownie who cowered behind Shahneel's legs.

"Guys, it's nothing-"

"Baby!" Of course, it had to be Shubman.

"Please end me now," you mumbled, covering your face with one hand.

"What happened?" He asked, his voice worrisome before his eyes fell to your minor injury.

Cursing, he rushed to you, resting your foot on his lap as he crashed into the couch.

"How did this happen?" He was looking at you with eyes widened, almost resembling Brownie's doe ones.

"Shubi, it's okay," you tried to calm the trio down. "The three of you, stop panicking."

"You're bleeding, love," Shubman said, fingers wrapped delicately around your ankle. "It's not okay."

He was still inspecting your toe while Ishan ran around like a headless chicken, dropping the plate of ice cream cake perfectly and intactly to the floor.

Worry not because Brownie immediately jumped to finish eating it.

"Ishu, get the first aid kit!" Shahneel's voice was an octave low from scaring you. "No, ma has said that turmeric powder will stop bleeding and prevent infections." With that, she took off somewhere.

"I'll call the ambulance," Ishan took his phone out. "Or let's just get the car. Robin!"

And you facepalmed yourself.

"Ishu, don't yell," Shubman called out in a low tone. You don't like it when people yell.

But you were used to their antics by now.

"Shubi," you held his hand that was wrapped around your ankle. "Baby, I'm fine. Let's not make a big deal out of it."

"At least let's see a doctor," his face was still etched with worry as Shahneel returned with two bowls that had turmeric paste in one and ice cubes in another.

"No, not again," you said, recalling the time you'd seen a doctor after stubbing your toe pretty badly.

Shubman asked for a towel to wrap around the ice so that it doesn't touch your skin directly.

He still kept your foot on his lap, elevating it to reduce the discomfort.

You finally convinced him after five minutes that the ice had numbed the pain, and also reduced the swelling.

"Are you sure, sweetie?" He asked again and you nodded.

"After I clip that nail, I'm fine," you assured and one of the domestic helpers handed him a nail clipper.

"Hold on, baby," Shubman said, bringing the clipper closer to your injured toe. "Just for a bit, okay?"

"I'm sure it's not going to-" Your words were cut off as you felt a sharp pain, realizing that it actually hurts. And the clipper had just touched your nail slightly.

Stubbed toes hurt a lot, despite not always being serious injuries.

You shut your eyes, bracing yourself as Shubman clipped that annoying little broken piece of nail, wincing as if he was the one in pain.

"That's it, honey," he said and you opened your eyes to the sight of him holding the ice to your toe again.

You looked around the living room, the chaos just having gone down, making everything surreal for a moment.

"Okay," you mumbled. "Distress call is over. Are we calm?"

Ishan and Shahneel still seemed concerned, and Brownie had just finished eating the ice cream cake.

Shubman mentally noted that he'll have to take your son to the vet. He could be sensitive to ice cream or dairy in general.

"You said 'not again,'" he repeated your words from earlier, handing the nail clipper back.

"I think it was a couple of months before we met," you said as he massaged your foot.

It was starting to feel uncomfortable from not having moved for a long time.

"Bumped my toe while walking inside the house," you continued animatedly. "Then I thought maybe I could stop by the clinic next to the convenience store. And the doctor just twisted the broken nail and pulled it out. Hurt like hell."

Shubman listened carefully as you spoke, drawing small circles just below your ankle.

"You have to rest your foot, baby," he said after a moment. "Lie down for a while, please?"

As you nodded, he smiled and bent down a little, kissing your ankle before he carefully moved it from his lap.

Shahneel didn't know if she should be teasing you, her best friend and sister-in-law, or be traumatized and gag because there was her brother.

The same applied for Ishan because Shubman is his best friend and you're his sworn sister.

Where was he standing here?

Looking away was a nice option, they decided and only decently side-eyed the PDA.

Shubman lifted you up in his arms, giving Ishan a look before he walked to your bedroom.

His best friend waited till you both were out of hearing range, trailed by Brownie.

Shahneel had just noticed the plate on the floor, recognizing the bits of ice cream on it. She felt betrayed as she glanced at her brother's best friend.

"Robin," Ishan called before he could start with his apology monologue, and the said man appeared as if a genie lamp was just rubbed.

First, he had to finish the task at hand. Convincing Shahneel takes longer than Mondays.

"Get the car ready. We have a doctor to kidnap."