The meaning of Love

Mumbai - 6

I woke up early the next morning, it was Monday and a bad morning for me. I brushed my teeth and took a hot water shower. I was in the dining room for my breakfast. My Mother was serving my breakfast and she asked," How did you wake up so early?"

I replied in a soft voice, “I never slept".

My mother asked, “What?"

I replied, “Nothing"

"Are you alright?” she asked.

"Yes, I am alright", I replied.

I left for school. I was very much upset and it was noticed by most of my friends. Some of my friends asked me about my bad mood. I didn't answer and was thinking all the time about Shruti.
I met Aditya in the class. Aditya asked, “Did you talk to her".
I shook my head
"There must be some reason for all this", Aditya said.
I remained quiet.
"Don't be so sad”, he said.
I nodded and said, “I think something is wrong, we must find out".
Aditya agreed and we decided to go to Vijay Nagar, Shruti's home in the evening.

We were going home when Suraj came towards us and gave us a letter.
I was about to open the letter when he said, “My sister said that you must not open it now, you must open it when you reach home".

I asked, “Why?"

He replied, “I don't know, she said this to tell you".

I asked, “Who said this, Shruti?"

"No, Isha didi", he said.

I was wondering, who is this Isha; I wanted to read the letter but agreed to what the little boy said.
I reached home, in a second or two I removed the letter from my pocket and was about to read when my mother interrupted, “First go and wash your hands and legs after that do anything you want".

I quickly went to the bathroom, cleaned my arms and legs and was back in my room with the letter.
I opened it and started reading,

Hello Arjun,
I am really sorry for not coming yesterday but it was none of my mistakes. I tried to be there but on my way, I met with an accident.
Luckily it was a minor accident and it didn't have a serious effect on my health. I told you to read this letter when you get home because I didn't want you to go home with a tensed mind. I know you were trying to text and call me but I have lost the phone somewhere. If you want to talk, call me or text me on this number.
Take care of yourself and don't worry about me.

I immediately dialed the number but the number was out of range. I tried and tried but was unsuccessful every time. My mother called me for lunch. I had my lunch and was lying on the bed; trying the number she gave me.
After a long time, her phone rang. I felt superb.
"Hello", I said.

"Hello", replied a soft voice.

It wasn't Shruti, I was now tensed.

"Is Shruti there", I asked.

"She is sleeping now, please call later", said the soft voice.

I asked, “Where is she now?"

"She is in the hospital", said the person on the phone.

I took all the details of the hospital and kept the phone. I was feeling very bad, I wanted to meet her.
Meanwhile, Aditya arrived and was ready to go to Shruti's house. I told him everything about the call and said, “Let’s go to the hospital".
He agreed and we took a cab to the hospital. We went on the third floor. I asked the ward boy, “Where is 508?"
He said, “Go straight and take a right".
I ran towards Ward 508. When we reached there, we saw a girl sitting outside the ward.
She wore a pink top and black jeans.
She was of the same age and height as mine. She was pretty and was looking beautiful in the pink top.
I asked her, “Shruti?"

She stood up and replied," Are you Arjun?"

"Yes, do you know me", I said.

She said," No, I don't know you but Shruti told me about you, I am hearing about you from the morning".

I asked, “Can I meet her?"

"Sure", she replied.

I went inside, she was sleeping. She looked cuter today. She had a bandage on her head and a bandage rolled over her little finger of the left hand and it looked so cute that I wanted to kiss her finger.
I asked Aditya to stand outside, he agreed and stood outside. I gently took her finger in my hand and wanted to kiss it but she got up.
When she opened her eyes, I felt really good, now I wanted to kiss her but controlled my emotions.

I asked her, “How are you?"

"Good", she replied.

"The entire fault is mine, if I haven't called you, it may not occur", I said.

"Shut up, it was my mistake”, she said.

I wanted to tell her, what was in my heart but couldn't. She said after a second, “What about our date?"

I was shocked when I heard 'date'. I said, “We will do it when you get perfectly fine and it wasn't a date".

She said, “I was just kidding".

I smiled and took her leave. I asked her to be online tonight. She agreed and we left. I came home and was chatting with her on my phone. She was unable to chat for a long time and then we ended our chat.
I removed the pen and kissed it many times, I was feeling great after meeting her. I switch off the lights and slept peacefully.