The Weeping Stars

Playing the Part

The unusual activities near Indra's room caught her attention, but she did not have any time to investigate. 

'Bullying the whole household most likely', Isha thought to herself. 

She was running late. She had cried herself to sleep. It did not help that to phone kept buzzing with messages from Nitin. Isha was too weary and upset to answer them. 

The day passes in a blur. Bhibhuda dropped her to school and was also there to pick her up. Any other day this would have surprised Isha. But today she was just thankful to rest her feet. 

Back in her room, Isha looked at her phone. Her message box was full of messages from Nitin. Isha did not feel like reading them. Instead she went on the terrace. Today was a beautiful day. But Isha could not appreciate any of that. Lost in her thoughts, she did not hear Ishaan approach. 

'Hello'

Isha jumped but recovered quickly.

'What is the busy doctor doing here? Have you abandoned your patients?'

Ishaan smiled ruefully. He pointed to his brothers room. 'I am currently attending a very stubborn and difficult patient. Your neighbour' 

Isha blinked unbelievabingly. Surely he did not mean Mr.High-and-mighty.

Ishaan elaborated, 'He got thoroughly drenched yesterday, and caught a bad cold. In fact, there is an infection in his chest, that needs looking after. He needs to stay in bed but went on working till late. Now he is too weak to get up.'

Ishaan tried to ignore how pale Isha looked. He knew he was overdoing it, but he had to play his part. 

'Can you do something for me? Can you keep an eye on him. He is resting now. But you need to keep a tab on him in case he over exerts himself. I am asking you because you are practically next doors and everybody else is terrified of him.' He chuckled, 'This morning he practically cbellowed the whole house downstairs. But you don't look like you scare easily.'

Isha did not need a double prompting. Throwing propriety to the air, she almost ran to Indra's room. Ishaan hid a small smile as he followed Isha inside. 

Indra's P.O.V.

Indra looked up from his bed. Things did not go as planned. He did actually develop a high temperature. He could not believe his luck. He had so much to do. His business needed him more than ever. The last thing he needed was a blasted flu.

Ishaan could not stop laughing as he took his temperature this morning. Indra felt too weak to be angry. 

'The Gods are kind. You got your wish.'

'Tell me I don't need to spend the whole day in bed. Do you know how many deals are waiting to get finalised. Time is very crucial now.'

Ishaan signed, 'You need to take it easy for a couple of days if you want to recover quickly. Dad and I are going to take care of everything. Follow the doctors instructions and you might get the nurse after your heart.'

Indra had no intention of being tied to the bed. He had carried on as usual until noon. But right after lunch his head started aching. Now it has become so bad that he could not help but crawl into his bed. 

That is when Isha came into the room followed closely by his brother, smiling like an idiot.

The look of concern on Isha's face soothed his aching head a bit. 

His unshaven look Made him look more attractive. But Isha could not believe a strong and powerful man could look so helpless. 

She walked straight up to his bed. His booldshot eyes gave an indication of his temperature. She reached up to feel his forehead; it was burning. 

Isha glared at him. All this time, Indra's eyes had not left her. He reached up to catch her hand. It seemed both had forgotten Ishaan was also in the room. 

Ishaan hastily turned away and made a great show of finding the thermometer. When he returned to Indra's bedside, Isha was seated at the foot of the bed. Ishaan popped the thermometer in Indra's mouth and checked the watch.All  three waited in tense silence as the minutes passed by. Isha had a hard time hiding her anxiety. She felt it was her fault that he fell ill. He was in her room in wet clothes for such a long time. 

'103', said Ishaan, almost accusingly. Indra ignored the look. 

'Give me some medicine and get me back on my feet'

Ishaan narrowed his eyes and turned to Isha. 

'He needs rest. I will send some food up, just make sure he finishes it and the give him one tablet of this. He also needs plenty of fluids.' Ishaan did not wait for an answer as he handed her a strip of capsules and  left the room.

After his abrupt departure, Isha did not quite know what to do. She walked up to a table and put the medicine down. She suddenly felt very shy to be in Indra's room. Minutes passed before anyone spoke.

'Are you not talking to me' said Indra almost sadly. 

'What makes you think that. And you should be resting, not talking.' Isha lifted up a chair and placed it near the bed. 

'Do you need water?'

She filled a glass and handed it to Indra, who pushed himself up. He sipped the water slowly and   surveyed Isha in leisure. She was wearing a green saree today, which softly clung to her curves. Oh how he ached to trace them with his finger, to explore every crease.

He shook his to clear his head. He needed to woo her with care, lusting after her will only scare her away. He wished she would at least look at him, not stare out of the window.

'Are you not scared that you will catch the flu?'

'Are you sure it's flu? It looks more serious! Do you think you are superman? How long were you standing in rain yesterday?' Isha burst out.

Her outburst took both of them by surprise. Isha was shocked that she had shouted at Indra, the man everybody is scared of. Indra was surprised at the intensity of her feelings.

'I did not know you had an ANGRY button in your system! I should press it more often, it's quiet entertaining.'

Isha's hot retort was lost as Raghuda entered the room pushing a trolley full of steaming soup and some sandwiches. Isha settled herself on the chair while Raghuda arranged the food on a bed table.

'I am not having soup' Indra snarled.

Raghuda glanced uncertainly at Isha. She took the tray from him and thanked him. Raghuda cast Isha a sympathetic look as he hastily left the room.

'Just try it, smells heavenly. It's will soothe your throats and make your snarl better. Think of the possibilities...you can actually shout the whole house down from tomorrow!' Isha stole a glance from under her eyes and hid a smile.

'Are you going to feed me?'

'No!'

Indra smiled and held up a sandwich, 'come, I'll feed you'.

Isha could not resist. They finished the meal in silence, but their eyes held the promise of many such intimacies to come.