“That Unknown Feeling” – Chapter 47: New thoughts, New Desires

To revisit all previous chapters:All Parts Here

Happy New Year guys! This next chapter has a bit more plot development and fluff, hope you like it ❤

*****

Sayyam stalked through the corridor, multiple thoughts flitting through his mind at a dangerous speed. Krishna being the main focus of all of them.

It just didn’t make sense; nothing added up.

Krishna had been unusually nice to him through the whole dinner; visibly grinning his way, and giving him attention. Her behavior had almost caused him to be able to ignore the cold stares of a select few members of the family.

But as far as knew, and trying to look past how happy her attention had made him, this wasn’t how Krishna normally acted. She was never this vocal, not when it came to him. How could she go from meek glances and obvious cues of hatred – to this? If Sayyam didn’t know better, he’d say she was just…

Putting on a show.

He was going to have to talk to her; or at least try. Maybe something was wrong, and it wouldn’t hurt Sayyam to finally be forward with her and just communicate for once.

Gathering up the courage to talk to Krishna directly, Sayyam turned into their room, his hands nervously stuffed in his pockets.

But all unspoken words were lodged in his throat, his heart plummeting down, when he saw a pale-faced Krishna, leaning against the wall, and panting. He stood where he was for a while, his body freezing up, while his mind worked it’s way into overdrive.

It was the sight of her struggling to take a breath that had Sayyam’s feet lurching into action again.

He stumbled forward, in his haste to get to her, and wrapped his arms around her form protectively, trying to get her to the bed.

He watched her set a page on the desk next to her, still coughing violently, and found himself wondering what was in the paper.

‘Priorities, Sayyam, Priorities,’ he mentally slapped his mind for getting distracted.

Krishna only stopped coughing for long enough to allow herself to be half carried, half pulled, onto the bedside.

“Krishna?” Sayyam’s hand naturally went to rest on her cheek, as if to check her temperature, but the fondness and concern in his eyes told otherwise.

“Close the door,” Krishna gasped, trying to get as much air as was possible at this point. “The others don’t have to know.”

“What the fu-”

“SAYYAM!” Krishna finally made eye contact with him, and if looks could kill, Sayyam would most probably not be dead, because her glare was nowhere near as serious as what she was aiming for.

If anything, Krishna looked like a lost puppy, her eyes wide open and glassy, as she gripped the edge of the bed so hard, her knuckles turned white.

Sayyam could tell she was in pain.

“Why the he- heck, did you not tell anyone you were sick,” Sayyam hissed, supporting Krishna with a hand on her shoulder now.

“Could you please, for the love of vodka, shut up?” She groaned, leaning forward into him, and Sayyam took another lucky guess that she was probably feeling cold as well.

A third guess told him that Krishna wouldn’t do much talking until the door was closed.

He couldn’t help but not want to move away from her though, and it didn’t help that she had a tight grip on his shirt, and that knowledge did certain things to certain parts of his body.

He sighed, setting up a couple pillows for her to lean into, and made it to the door in record time, the door making a slight ‘click’ as it latched shut and took a quick detour to the bathroom to get a damp washcloth,

Ignoring all deceptive thoughts, he sat down on the edge of the bed near Krishna, wiping her face gently and trying to cool her down at the same time.

She mumbled something about “Baby’s stupid kheer,” and leaned closer to Sayyam, visibly enjoying the feel of the damp cloth against her forehead.

She moaned quietly, and her voice was most probably the most sinful sound Sayyam had ever heard. He froze, his hand not moving an inch. She clearly didn’t understand what havoc the sounds she was making were causing.

“Alright,” Sayyam said firmly, trying to distract himself, “What about Baby’s kheer?”

“Shedidn’tmakeitthewayyoulikeandsheforgottoaddsaffron,” Krishna grumbled, her voice feverish, and Sayyam cursed; he sucked at handling situations like this.

“When did this start?” He set the cloth down, noting that Krishna had already change into something more comfortable.

“I dunno, you temme, fo’ how long has Baby been makin’ kheer?” Krishna huffed irately.

“No,” Sayyam frowned. He was beginning to realize that a sick Krishna was just as bad as drunk Krishna. He preferred the latter though, not that the decision had anything to do with a certain kiss.

Sayyam decided he would smack himself if he had anymore suggestive thoughts.

As if on cue, Krishna began to cough again, and Sayyam pressed his hand against her temple, checking to see how bad her fever really was, sighing in relief when she just felt a bit warmer than normal.

“When did you start feeling sick?” He set two fingers against the pulse point, gulping when she shivered at the touch, baring her neck to him.

He kept his hand in place, forcing himself to look at the watch on his wrist. Her pulse was a bit faster, but nothing was wrong, and Sayyam sat back, leaning again the headboard in relief.

“Three days,” she murmured, her lips barely moving from exhaustion.

Sayyam nodded, doing the math in his head, “and when did it get this bad?”

“Today,” she rasped out, before another coughing fit hit her.

“Pneumonia,” Sayyam stated, matter-of-factly, “you should only be contagious for another day, but you’ll feel like dirt for two more days probably,” he winced in sympathy.

“Gee, thanks doctor Sayyam,” she said dryly, her voice weak after all the coughing. Then she paused, her while body tensing for a moment, and her eyebrows shot up.

“Get away from me!” She squirmed away from him, her eyes wide in panic.

“What?”Sayyam fell back off the bed in a hurry, reflexively putting some distance between them. Something tugged at his heart, but he ignored the sting. She was right; what was wrong with him suddenly? Why was he getting so close to her? Guilt welled up in him, and he leaned back against the wall, still fighting down the panic from her outburst at him.

She seemed to have noticed the far away, guilt filled look in his eyes, and let out a tired sigh, “No you idiot, I’m only saying that because you just said I’m contagious, there’d be no one to take care of you if you were sick.”

Relief flooded Sayyam, his stomach flopping over happily, and he couldn’t stop what came out of his mouth next.

“You’d be there to take care of me,” he quirked an eyebrow up suggestively, and Krishna could only stare at him blankly, awkwardly shifting on the bed.

Sayyam promised to smack himself once this was all over.

“Krishna,” he tried again, “I had pneumonia once when I was a kid; and besides, I’ve gotten the vaccine recently, unlike someone stupid I know.”

Krishna blinked at him, her eyebrow twitching, and Sayyam controlled the laughter that was threatening to escape him.

After a long, tense moment of silence, Krishna nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

There was another heavy pause, and Sayyam shifted awkwardly, not knowing how to fill the silence, or how to busy his restless hands.

So he did what felt natural; he leaned closer, back into Krishna’s personal space, and pulled the blanket over her, tucking her in warmly, and stepped back a minute later, noting that Krishna had fallen asleep already.

He could get his answers later.

But for now, keeping her safe was all he needed.
*****
Oh my god. Guys I’m so sorry. I swear I thought I posted this on that Thursday I promised to post on. I’d even mentioned in that post that I wouldn’t be able to update until January 18 since I have a really important test coming up…and then I logged on to the site today, to check the comments, and I realized that it never got posted….so you can imagine how guilty I felt ?

But here it is, and the next chapter is coming on January 18th, and I’m sorry for being so irregular, I know how it sucks to wait for a chapter of a story you’re reading.(I’ve felt the agony myself for other stories) But with my finals and other tests coming up I’m pretty stressed ?

Love you guys! And see you soon!
Yours,
– Shreya <3