The Boundaries of Love

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Have you ever ridden a Ferris wheel? Have you felt those tiny butterflies fluttering in your stomach as the wheel comes down? Have you experienced the excitement as well as fright, as if you were floating one second and then falling at an incredible velocity; the feeling that could actually leave you breathless?

Well, that’s exactly what I am feeling right now. The emotion coursing through my veins along with my blood, making me dizzy altogether. I stand there speechless. My heart jumps at the very thought of being in love with this handsome man. The way he is smiling at me with that look in his eyes; like a sunflower looks at the Sun.

“Hey.” Shravan extends his left hand. I gingerly walk towards him, still unable to utter a word. The moment I placed my hand in his, he intertwined his fingers with mine. He looks at his parents, “I am perfectly fine. It’s just a minor accident.”

“Minor!” his mother snaps, “Do you even know what could have happened if you weren’t lucky?” Fresh tears form in her eyes, as she shakes her head, “The police told us your car literally tumbled into a ditch and . . .”

I didn’t know about this detail; instantly my hand tightens around his. Shravan sighs loudly as he looks at our conjoined hands, but avoids looking at me. “But again I am here in front of you. It was just an accident. Please don’t cry.”

Nirmala ma'am nods, yet the tears didn’t stop rolling down her cheeks. His father is standing there, as silent as I am. But when I look at his face, so many emotions are playing on it, that makes my heart ache. He keeps looking at Shravan, with a frown; then only I could see the gears in his head turning. Shravan just blinks at him with the slightest of a nod, and then again looks at his mother, who is still unaware of this exchange between them. I would have missed that too, if I wasn’t looking at him.

“Nirmala, we need to go outside.” His father finally sighs, when she tries to protest, “We need to. Suman is here. Let them have a moment of their own.” I look at him, and in return, I get a small nod.

They walked out of the room. “Are you going to look at me or not?!” Shravan chuckled. “I might have damaged an eye, but I can still see you with my good one.”

Only if he knew, why was I avoiding looking at him! This is not the time nor the place to confess, his health is the priority here. Composing my features with a loud sigh, I look at him. Now that I am standing close to him, I can see, around the bandage there is a bruise forming, it hurts to look at him now, lying on this bed yet joking as if nothing unusual has happened.

Still holding his hand into mine, I walk to the other side of the bed where a stool is allocated for the visitors. “What are you hiding, Shravan?” I ask calmly, “This is not an accident, right?” I keep looking at our intertwined fingers.

He stays quiet for a moment or two, “You saw that, didn’t you?” I hear a faint chuckle, “I hope this is an accident but circumstances seem to differ.” He nods. “But we will talk about this later. Now tell me how are you?”

A snort leaves my nose, “You are the one who is in the hospital and you are asking how am I?” He laughs, shaking his head. His eyes are still on our hands. “Shravan,” he looks at me, “the Dr said you were worried about me, why?”

He keeps looking at me with a frown as if pondering over something. I give him a small smile to encourage him to speak but he just nods and looks up at the ceiling, “Maybe because we always remember our loved ones when we are in some problem.”

“You know this is a lie, right?” His eyes snap towards me at my accusation, “What are you hiding? Tell me please!”

“Nothing, Suman.” He sighs, “It’s an open secret that I love you. It’s natural that I would take your name when I am in trouble; so stop reading in between the lines.” I could tell, he was tensed. But about what?!