rajveer naina - fated

chapter 18

He had placed a blindfold over her eyes, leading her down, and when they had arrived and he removed it, she couldn't help but smile, honestly surprised.

"Aalekh, this is…"she had said, but he had shushed her, as if to tell her not to dare thank him.

All of her friends were there, gathered around a cake with candles, with Suriji, Lolitaji and Dr Shalini there as well.

Her eyes searched for him, and finally found him near the back of the group, arms crossed over his chest, an expectant look in his eyes.

He had known that she would look for him.
And when she cut the cake, she had offered the first piece to him…just as he knew she would.

He had closed his fingers around hers, as she had brought the cake to his lips, and it had taken all of his self control to take the piece out of her hands and raise it to his own mouth.

"Happy Birthday Naina…"he had told her,

"May all your wishes come true."

And although she had denied it…although she had never admitted it even to Pooja…What she had really wished for was him.

/It has been only four days since Hussein has regained consciousness, and while he had been moved out of the ICU the day before, he is still confined to his bed.

He had an almost constant stream of visitors, whether it was Aalekh and Abhimanyu or Asha and Amiya or Samir and Dhiraj.

He had woken the night before to find Dhiraj sitting by his bed, watching him, and as Hussein had opened his eyes, he had been surprised at first, wondering what he was doing there.

"Did I wake you?" Dhiraj had asked him, pouring water into aglass and offering it to Hussein who gladly accepted, sipping it.

"No, I generally wake a few times throughout the night when the pain medication is running low," Hussein tells him,

"What are you doing here so late, Sir?"

"Actually I had wanted to talk to you, but hadn't realised it was so late…" Dhiraj tells him,
"And then I thought I would sit with you for awhile."

"Tell me, Sir." Hussein says, struggling to sit up as Dhiraj leans forward to assist him,

"What was it you wanted to talkto me about?"

"Actually I wanted to thank you…" Dhiraj says quietly, "For…for risking your life.

If it wasn't for you then…"Hussein knows that Dhiraj won't be able to complete the sentence, and taking pity on him, nods to let him know that he understands.

"As long as I'm there I won't allow anything to happen to her… to either of them." Hussein says,
"I've taken them as my sisters, and it is a brother's duty to protect his sisters."

Dhiraj nods, looking as if he longs to say something but can not find the words.

"I can never repay you for this." He finally says, "Never. If she had died…"If she had died then the world would've been empty, without meaning.

If she had died then there would've been no point at all in him continuing to live.If she had died then he would've torn this world apart at the seams, set fire to it.

But how can he say all these things to the young man in the hospital bed in front of him? How can he possibly say them to anyone?Hussein is his junior officer, and there's no way that Dhiraj should be telling any of these things to him.

"It's alright Sir…" Hussein finally replies,

"I understand."For some reason Dhiraj does not doubt for a single momentthat he actually does.