Separated Love

Chapter 27: Kartik & Naira Move Back to Udaipur for Naira's Surgery

I finish my final exam, and I feel so relaxed now! Kartik says we should go on a lunch date to the botanical gardens so we packed our food ahead of time today. We walk hand in hand, even though all of the students watch us from the corner of their eyes trying not to be obvious in their stares.

"Now that this semester is over, I can walk around freely holding your hand." He takes my hand and kisses it. "You're not my student anymore."

"Kartik, relax. We are still at school." I see a few girls blush seeing his gesture. "Plus, I'm going to miss being your student." I wink at him, clearly catching him off guard displayed by his shy smile. "By the way, why did you make the final so hard!" I honestly don't even know if I passed or not. I decide not to tell Kartik this.

"Maybe if you focused more on studying for the final rather than bothering me every 2 seconds you would've been fine."

"Oh so it bothers you? Okay fine I won't do anything anymore." He grabs me from my arms to face him.

"Naira! I'm just kidding! Please don't stop." There's my majnu Kartik. We both smile, and he puts his arms over my shoulders as we walk. "Are you nervous for your appointment?"

"I mean... yeah. Kartik you know how surgeries, needles, and everything hospital related scares me." I think back to when Kartik fainted before my surgery. Seeing the grin on his face I realize he's remembering that day too.

"It's okay Naira. WE will get through this." He takes a gulp of air.

"Kartik, I swear if you pass out again I'm going to smack you awake this time!"

"Naira, why do you always go into sherni mode? You know I'm scared too. Imagine if you woke me up in a romannnnntic way." He purposely emphasizes romantic.

"KARTIK! I will be getting SURGERY done. I won't be focused on waking you up in a romannnnntic way." I imitate him.

"SORRY SORRY SORRY!" I married a child. Then again, I'm no less, but he doesn't need to hear me say that.

We get to the botanical gardens and sit between jasmine flowers. The fragrance from the flowers makes the date all the more romantic. I talk to Kartik about my time in America and all of the friends I made there. He catches me up on how he took a trip to America too, and we realize we were both there at the same time. What are the odds? We finish up eating and walk towards our car to leave for my appointment.

When we arrive at the hospital I start getting super anxious. Kartik sees this and firmly holds my hand to let me know he's by my side. This gesture of his often calms me down.

"Well Naira, I wish you had gotten this surgery done much sooner. If you don't mind me asking, why did you wait until now to get this done?" I don't want to tell the doctor why. Papa always used to tell me to get it done, but I just couldn't. I needed Kartik there. I see Kartik looking over at me.

"A lot had happened. I was dealing with family issues, and shortly after I left for America. Anyways, did this cause a serious problem?"

"Well, ideally you want to get fractures taken care of when they happen, or else the bone fragments can misalign overtime. That is what happened in your case which is why we are going to have to do an ankle fracture open reduction and internal fixation surgery." The sound of the procedure is enough to make both Kartik and I start sweating. We look at each other with worried faces. This makes the doctor laugh. "Don't worry it's actually a pretty simple procedure. We will reposition your bones to the correct alignment during the surgery, and put a few screws in to prevent the bones from healing abnormally. You will be put under general anesthesia during this time so you won't feel a thing."