Reunion

Chapter thirteen

The car drew up to the front entrance of the hotel and Ranveer lifted Deepika out of the car in his arms, uncaring of who might be watching. Her eyes fluttered as he strode through the doors. One of the porters came up to them.

"Do you need any assistance, sir?" the man asked.

"Yes, my fiance is feeling unwell. Do you have an in-house doctor?" Ranveer walked towards the lifts as he talked. The fact that Deepika didn't say anything about him carrying her worried him, as did the fact that she hadn't put her arms around his neck as she usually did. When she didn't protest him asking for a doctor he grew even more worried. She lay limp in his arms.

"Yes, sir, we have a doctor on call. Shall I fetch her?" The porter's question broke Ranveer's worried focus.

"Yes, please call her. We're in room 1288. Could you send someone up with us to unlock the door?"

The porter nodded. "Of course, sir." He headed to the reception desk and quickly explained the situation to the night manager before accompanying Ranveer up in the lift. Once at the room door he opened it with a universal keycard. "I will be back soon with the doctor, sir."

Ranveer nodded and carried Deepika into the bedroom before setting her down carefully on the bed. She let out a little pained whimper. "Shh, it's okay, baby, you'll be okay." He kissed her forehead before letting go of her to take off her boots. She blinked her eyes open as he did.

"Water," she whispered, and he jumped off the bed to go get a glass of it. He set the glass down on the bedside table and helped her sit up so she could sip from it. "Thank you." She tried to smile at him, but her lower body felt like someone was driving knives into it. She'd never had cramps so bad. The smile became more of a grimace. He started to let her go and she panicked. "No, stay." Her hands clutched at his arms. He was the only solid thing in a world that was tossing.

"I'm not going anywhere, baby, I'm right here," he soothed, pulling her against him and settling back against the headboard. He felt her relax slightly against him, though her shivers were back. "Deepu, baby, do you think you could move your legs? I can pull the blanket up." For a moment he thought she hadn't heard him, but then she groaned and shifted. He untucked the duvet on the bed and brought it up to cover her. He continued to rub her back and slowly the shivers subsided. He watched her face and saw it slacken into a troubled sleep. Her mouth turned down unhappily at the corners.

He sighed. He was to blame for this. Then he told himself, it didn't matter right now. She was more important. Taking care of her was more important than feeling bad. He continued to hold her until he heard the doorbell chime. He carefully set her back on the pillows. She whimpered and frowned. "Shh, I'll be right back," he whispered, kissing her forehead. He walked to the door. A tired-looking woman stood there with a large bag. The porter stood next to her. "Welcome doctor, thank you for coming so late."

The woman nodded. "It's my job," she said. She spoke with a heavy German accent. "Where's the patient?"

"Through here." Ranveer gestured to the bedroom. The porter waited in the living room. "She's been having bad stomach cramps accompanied by nausea and dizziness." He rounded the bed and moved to sit next to Deepika, leaving space on the other side for the doctor to set her bag on the bedside table and take a seat on the edge of the bed. "Deepu? Wake up, meri jaan, the doctor's here to see you." He kissed her forehead and caressed her face.

She blinked open her eyes. "Doctor? Ranveer, I said no hospital." She struggled to sit up and he helped her. She looked around and realised she was in their hotel room. Then she saw the woman sitting by the bedside and realised he must have called her. She looked at him in silent apology before turning to the doctor. "I'm sorry for disturbing you so late at night," she said to her.