After Advait left Samaira heartbroken on the day that was supposed to be the happiest of her life-their wedding day-her world shatters. Picking up the pieces, she barely manages to rebuild herself when her family insists she marry Aarav, a successfu...
The sterile air in the hospital room felt cold and foreign to Samaira as she waited outside the operating theater. Her mind buzzed with a whirlwind of thoughts, each more chaotic than the last. She hadn’t expected any of this. One moment, she was caught in a web of power and intrigue, and the next, she was holding the life of the man who had once betrayed her in her hands.
Her heart raced as she waited, pacing anxiously outside the door. The reality of the situation seemed to settle over her in waves. Advait was alive. That was all that mattered for now. She could see the flashes of the chaos, the attack, the blood... But she had to keep her focus on what was ahead. *He has to be okay*, she kept telling herself. Once he was stable, once he was conscious, she could leave.
Her body was tired, but her mind wouldn’t stop. She had to get away. She couldn’t let herself stay in this dangerous world, tied to someone like Advait Shikhawat. No matter how much her heart wavered when she saw him fight to protect her, no matter how his strength and determination stirred something inside her, she knew one thing: he was still a dangerous man. And she was trapped.
After what felt like an eternity, the door to the operating room opened, and a nurse stepped out, offering Samaira a brief but polite smile.
“Mrs. Shikhawat,” she began, her tone soft yet laced with concern, “Mr. Shikhawat is asking for you.”
In the patient details form, Samaira marked her relationship with him as his wife as what else could she have written there, a woman who was betrayed by him?
The title Mrs. Shikhawat caught Samaira off guard for a second but, but she quickly masked her emotions. “I’ll go right in,” she replied, her voice steady.
The nurse’s expression softened. “He’s awake now. He’s going to need rest, but it would do him good to see you.”
Samaira’s heart thudded in her chest as she entered the room. Advait lay there, still looking pale but no longer unconscious. His eyes fluttered open, and his gaze immediately found her, though he didn’t say anything at first. His breathing was shallow, the effect of the blood loss still evident on his face.
For a brief moment, they just looked at each other. Her breath caught in her throat.
"Samaira..." he whispered, his voice hoarse.
She stepped closer to his bedside, her hands instinctively reaching for his pillow to adjust it, careful not to aggravate any of his injuries. "Advait, you need to rest. We’ll talk later, okay? Just lie back."
Her words were firm, her heart hammering as she tried to keep her own emotions in check. She needed him to be okay. Then, and only then, would she leave.
His eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but they didn’t leave her. There was a silence between them, and Samaira could feel the weight of it, the unspoken things both of them had been avoiding. His gaze lingered on her bridal lehenga, the red fabric stained and torn in places from the events that had unfolded. She noticed the softening of his expression but chose not to acknowledge it.
"Do you want me to inform anyone?" she asked, breaking the silence, trying to keep her own emotions at bay.
His voice was barely audible as he replied, “Just... Rohit. Inform Rohit.”
Samaira nodded, her fingers brushing her hair back as she moved to the door. “I’ll let him know.”
Before she left, she paused, looking back at him. “You need to rest. Don’t make me tell you again.”
Advait managed a small, almost imperceptible smile, his lips twitching. “I’ll be fine. Just... get him here.”
With that, Samaira stepped out of the room. She moved quickly to the coat left hanging outside, grabbing Advait’s phone from the pocket. She located Rohit’s contact number handing the phone to the medical staff and asking them to notify on this number once Advait woke up, after the effects of the medicine wore off.
---
As she gave the phone to the medical staff and asked them to notify Rohit, Samaira’s mind raced. "It would take around 1 to 2 hours for the medicine to lose its effect and this much time is enough for me to get out of here, get away from him"*But why does he have this effect on me?* She thought as she turned away, barely able to hide the rush of emotions that flared up. She couldn’t let her guard down. Not now. Not when things were so precarious. Advait was not someone she could afford to stay attached to, no matter how much her heart sometimes betrayed her.
She was still wearing the bridal lehenga—her wedding attire, torn and stained with blood. The irony of it wasn’t lost on her. She was supposed to marry Aarav, yet here she was, tending to a man who had broken her heart. *What am I even doing here?*
She took a quick look inside advait's room, her mind finally at peace seeing that he was all fine. But why was she concerned for him? Maybe because she was a doctor and couldn't see her patient die? She felt a strange sense of calmness seeing him sleep so peacefully. She quickly shoved her thoughts away and then rushed to step outside the hospital and escape to somewhere where he could never find her
---
After an hour or two, Rohit (his assistant )entered the room, his eyes scanning Advait’s condition. He spoke briefly to Advait, giving him the update on the aftermath of the attack, but then Advait’s voice, weak but urgent, interrupted him.
“Where is Samaira?” he asked, his eyes searching the room for her.
Rohit looked surprised. "Was she here? I thought she left you in this state, prioritising her escape"
Advait’s brow furrowed. “She was just here. What do you mean, prioritising her escape, infact she is the one who saved me. And after a small pause he continued "Honestly I also don't know why despite hating me so much she saved me, maybe she was doing her duty or was she really concerned about me?" He questioned to himself and the moments of few hours ago flashed before his eyes, her concerned look and constant tries to keep him conscious.
Rohit stepped out, his mind already working. *That means she’s gone? But if she saved you why would she leave?*
He quickly returned to the nurse's station and asked about Samaira. The nurse, who had been on duty when Samaira had brought Advait in, responded with a knowing glance. “The lady who brought Mr. Shikhawat in—Mrs. Shikhawat, I should say—left about two hours ago. She asked us to inform you when he regained consciousness. She left your contact number for us to call.”
Rohit’s expression shifted to one of concern. *Samaira had left?* He immediately took the number and returned to Advait’s room.
“Where is she?” Advait demanded as soon as Rohit re-entered.
“She... left,” Rohit replied, frustration creeping into his voice. “She gave my number to the staff and asked to be informed once you were awake. She’s not here anymore.”
Advait’s gaze grew cold, a spark of anger flickering in his eyes. “Find her. Now. No matter what it takes.”
Rohit quickly nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. “I’ll get to it right away.”
And yet, a small part of advait wondered if he already knew the answer. Samaira was strong. Independent. She had never been one to rely on anyone, especially him. And now, she was gone. *Was she afraid, did she think that he will still be ruthless to her even when she saved her life?* *Or had she never truly meant to stay in the first place?*
Whatever the reason, Advait knew one thing for sure: He wasn’t going to let her slip away so easily.
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