Unconditional Love

41. Hurt

Once breakfast was prepared, Virat fed Aman. "It's the same taste," he said after taking the first bite. To everyone's relief, he could eat it properly.

"We'll work from home today, Virat," Rohit said, to which Virat nodded in understanding. Aman took a nap for a while, laying his head on Virat's lap on the couch while the other three resumed their work.

Virat couldn't focus on his work; Aman's words, and even Rohit's, though not as severe, kept echoing in his mind.

His thoughts were a mess.

He wondered who could have told Aman such things and how a 7-year-old Virat could have been blamed for it. At just 7 years old, how could he have possibly been involved? They had shown him so much love in that one month, and he missed their warmth deeply.

The idea that Aman might believe he was responsible for taking his parents away was heartbreaking. Virat adjusted Aman's head on the pillow and then went out to the balcony to smoke, unable to contain his emotions.

An hour later, Aman's voice brought Virat back to his thoughts and work. "Bhai," Aman called. "How do you feel, Aman?" Virat asked gently.

"Fine, I guess," Aman answered.

Jassi and Rohit came from the study for a break, and Virat got up. Jassi sat beside Aman, while Virat and Rohit went to prepare lunch.

"Are you okay, baby?" Jassi asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't remember anything, Jas. Nothing at all," Aman said in a low voice.

"What do you mean? You went to meet Robert, right?" Jassi asked.

"Only that much, Jas. I did not meet him. I met some person, but I don't remember anything after that," Aman said, burying his head in his hands.

Virat kneeled in front of him as he saw Aman stressed. "Bacha, what's wrong?" he asked softly.

"Bhai, I can't remember anything. I was waiting for Robert, and I don't remember anything after that," Aman said, feeling stressed due to his memory lapse.

"Aman, nothing happened. You, by mistake, I guess, got drunk and called Jassi. He and Rohit picked you up, and then you just slept through the night, waking up 1-2 times," Virat lied to him, knowing Aman wouldn't be able to handle the truth.

Jassi and Rohit couldn't believe how many emotions Virat was carrying within him. He just lied to Aman because he didn't want him to feel bad.

"No, no. I know something happened. You're hiding something, bhai. I can feel it," Aman said, getting up and going into his room.

Virat sighed, knowing Aman wouldn't rest until he found out what he was missing. He had inherited this quality from Virat, of course.

Jassi followed him, only to see Aman pacing in the room, frustrated. He went and pulled him into a hug to calm him down.

"Baby, don't stress so much. It's not good for your health," he said softly, to which Aman cried, burying his head in his chest.

"I know I said something that hurt bhai a lot. I can feel the difference, Jas. I can feel it," Aman sobbed, clinging to Jassi.

Jassi didn't know what to say to Aman. He couldn't reveal the truth-it wasn't his place. But he couldn't stand to see him cry like this.

"Aman, stop crying, please. Virat bhai will tell you, I'm sure. He won't hide it. But right now, he's worried about your health, baby. And crying like this will make it worse. He'll be even more worried than he already is," Jassi said softly, cupping his cheeks.

Rohit knocked on the door. "Lunch is ready," he informed.

Aman washed his face, and they joined Virat and Rohit for lunch.

"Okay, so I just got a heads-up from the board of directors that my presentation is moved up. It's the day after tomorrow. So whatever you are working on, set it aside for two days and help me with this. Can you do that?" Virat asked. The three of them nodded.

Virat assigned work to each of them, and they got to it while Virat went into his study for a meeting. Once the meeting was done, Jassi knocked on the door.

"Yes, Jassi?" Virat asked, and Jassi discussed some points related to the work. Virat guided him with it.

"Anything else?" Virat asked, as he had another meeting in 10 minutes.

"Bhai, you should not ignore or hide things from Aman. He is not like you. He's taking it very hard. Please, for once, think according to another person's emotions. Not many would appreciate your way of doing things," Jassi said. He knew his words weren't exactly right, but he couldn't help himself after seeing Aman cry like that.

He left, and Virat closed the door. He quickly attended his meeting. After it was over, Virat could feel his hands shaking due to the emotions he was holding in.

But he sat there, composing himself for a long time. Right now, he didn't want to face the three of them. They just kept hurting him one by one.

He knew he wasn't very vocal about things, but this was not the way-- they would just say something and get away with it.

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