| Secrets to Solace | A Medical Romance

| A New Wound Inflicted |

Meerab felt frozen. A chill enveloped her even in the centrally heated room and she felt it seep into her skin and deep within her bones. She felt it in her chest and it felt like icy tentacles had spiked all over her heart and were now clenching it in their vice-like grip. Sudden memories; them, their wildness, their softness, though much less, and their fortnight of reckless abandon. Of freedom. Of a slice of life just before her world for not only turned upside down but trashed about so mercilessly that she still didn't think she had recovered from it.

The guy she had known; handsome, intense and so, so dreamy. That guy now didn't exist. What existed was the man in front of her; hard, serious and as intimidating as he was familiar. And now he wanted to know if their fortnight of reckless abandon had left her with a heart aching parting gift.

And Meerab, with the answers that she had, wasn't ready for anyone to hear them. They'd been her burden for so long. She had carried the weights of guilt, contempt and regret for almost seven years and now, it felt even criminal to voice them alone, let alone share them with the man who technically was half the culprit in everything which had occurred.

He most likely didn't see himself as a culprit though. That was how he saw her.

Meerab's eyes flitted to the bed behind him, her cortisol now through the roof and the metallic taste of stress and fear in her mouth rancid.

"This is a patient's room." She tried to inject as much rationality and force in her voice as she could. "You should know better than me to be doing this here." His eyes narrowed further. "In fact, I would prefer not to do this at all." She spat out now, fuelled by words. "Leave me alone. Please."

She couldn't fall weak. She couldn't let him see her cry or show any sign of weakness.

You are strong. You are smart. You have been through scarier things. He cannot affect you now. Do not let him.

"Happily." Came his biting response. "Just as soon as you answer my quest-"

He never got to finish his sentence and Meerab was eternally grateful for it because the door handle shifted, and just as they realised someone was about to enter, Meerab pushed at his hard chest with all strength and freed herself in the one moment he took to register the interruption.

Her legs taking her to the other side of the room, right next to bed and far away from him, she tried to regulate her breathing as the door swung open. Her eyes alternated from the senior female doctor entering to Murtasim, who turned and looked at the door, the fingers of one hand adjusting the cufflinks on the other.

"Oh! We've got a party here already." The female doctor, stunning to boot, exclaimed as she looked down at her iPad. She smiled at Meerab before turning to Murtasim with a wider smile. "I was just taking the interns on a little ward round. We'll skip this room though-"

She hadn't even finished when Meerab cut her off abruptly.

"No!" she stopped, realising she sounded too sharp before lowering her voice. "Uh, I had just came in for a quick look. Please continue with your ward round. No need to skip this patient." she murmured.

The doctor blinked and then nodded, smiling. She popped her head out of the door and told her interns to go into the next room. Then, looking at Meerab, reassured her.

"We'll let you finish and then pop back." As Meerab nodded, the interns behind her left.

As soon as they were alone, her eyes widened as the female doctor leaned towards Murtasim, who stood with hands in his pockets at the door, and placed a hand over the breast pocket of his pristine suit jacket. Her shiny French-manicured nails set a contrast against the navy blue fabric as her hands smoothed over the area.