I'll Love You Longer Than Forever

Chapter Ninety Eight

"Aatchhhoooo!" Armaan sneezed, yet again. He blew his nose and then turned back to his reports. So, maybe getting wet in the unexpected rain last night after dropping his parents to the airport had not been the best idea. But Riddhima had insisted, and as always, he was never able to deny her anything.

Which begged the question... where was Riddhima? Since he was sneezing so much, he was confined to his cabin and not taking rounds lest he pass on the cold to his patients as well, so he hadn't seen her all morning. He just assumed she'd be with a patient, but it was almost 11 am and she was never on rounds at this time. Plus, she hadn't even answered any of his texts or calls in the morning.

Sighing, Armaan abandoned the reports and decided to go look for her. He didn't find her, but he did run into Anjali.

"Armaan, kya hua? Are you okay?" Anjali asked after he sneezed twice before getting a word out.

"Anjy, I'm fine. Woh chodo. Riddhima kahaan hai? Main subah se phone try kar raha hoon, but she's not answering. Aur hospital mein bhi nahi dikhi," he said, in between a few more sneezes.

"Oh, Ridzy. She fell sick after your little detour last night. Usse kaafi fever ho raha hai, toh she's sleeping it away," Anjali told him.

"Oh. Sh*t! Maine bola tha usse ki aise bin mausam barsaat mein nahi bheegte. But tumhaari behen kabhi meri baat nahi sunti! How is she now? Mumma hai uske saath?" He asked.

"No, yaa! Mom aur Nani toh kal raat ko hi Lonavala chali gayi thi. Aur Dad bhi Pune gaye hue hain. Main khud rukne wali thi Ridzy ke saath, but meri aaj back to back 2 surgeries hain. Abhi Rahul hai uske saath," Anjali told him. "She's doing better, but tumhe pata haina how cranky she gets when she's sick."

"I know! Yaar, I shouldn't have listened to her!" He moaned.

"Armaan, relax! It's just fever," Anjali replied. Her pager went off then, and she left, leaving Armaan standing there in the middle of the corridor. He was debating whether or not he should go to Dr. Keerti and beg for a leave when he saw an agitated Rahul walk into the hospital. Armaan immediately rushed to him worried that something might have happened to Riddhima.

"Rahul!" He called out. "Kya hua? Riddhima theek haina? Tu yahaan kya kar raha hai?"

"Armaan!" Rahul cried. "Relax. It's okay. Riddhu is fine. Yahaan hospital mein emergency hai. I just got a page. Isliye aaya hoon."

"Oh! But... Riddhima is fine, right?" Armaan cross checked.

"Yes. She's doing better than before. But bukhaar abhi bhi hai. Usse sulaakar aaya hoon. Yeh stupid emergency! Ughhh," Rahul replied, frustrated. "Maine kaha bhi Dr. Keerti se ki Riddhu bimaar hai and I have to stay with her, but tujhe pata haina... yeh Gabbar kabhi kisi ki nahi sunnti, toh mujhe aana pada!"

"But Riddhima ghar pe akeli hogi na ab?" Armaan wondered out loud.

"Akeli toh hai... but koi aur option nahi hai na iss waqt. Chal... I have to go! Mujhe late ho raha hai. Tu zyada tension mat le... Riddhu will be fine," Rahul said, walking away.

"Ab toh jaana hi padega," Armaan decided, walking to Dr. Keerti's cabin.

An hour, and a lot of pleadings with Dr. Keerti, later, Armaan was parking his car outside the Gupta Mansion. He opened the door with his key, which Mumma had provided him with just a couple days ago after the wedding date had been fixed, stating that now that Armaan was officially a part of the family, he should be treated as such and she didn't want him to feel like a guest in his own house. Which is why, she'd given him the key. Armaan had gotten emotional and hugged her really tightly in order to hide his tears but she'd felt them anyway and pulled away to wipe them from his face, stating that she didn't like to see her kids cry and Armaan better not do it again, especially in front of her.