Chapter 20: Chapter 20
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The next day Sayyam woke up to feel a gentle hand on his forehead, he tilted his head up and saw Suhani, who had tears in her eyes.
“Sorry Beta-” Suhani started.
“No Maa,” Sayyam sat up, “It’s my fault…If I hadn’t-”
“It’s no one’s fault,” Yuvani cut in, entering the room, followed by Yuvraaj and Sharad.
“Why are you all here? You’re acting as if I’m sick or injured…” Sayyam asked. Yuvani face-palmed and Sayyam realized that he was in fact injured. Whatever happened the previous night came rushing back at him and he felt his head throb. He looked around him, and realization dawned upon him. He wasn’t in the outhouse…this was Krishna’s room.
“Who bandaged me yesterday?” he asked, slight panic in his voice. Everyone was silent, not knowing who’d taken care of Sayyam.
Yuvaan, who was leaning against a wall, spoke up irately, “Yeah, that’s what I was asking, why is he in Krishna’s room? Who took care of him?”
“Yuvani did,” a small voice was heard from outside the room. Krishna walked in and nudged Yuvani. “Right Yuvani?” Krishna stressed. The two girls shared a subtle look, while
Sayyam looked on clueless.
“Uh…Yeah,” Yuvani fibbed, “I took him to Krishna’s room ‘cause Krishna was sleeping in my room anyway…”
“Thanks, Yuvani” he looked up at Yuvani and gave her his most grateful smile, while Yuvaan went back to his position against the wall. Krishna turned away, fixing her stare on a photo frame. Sayyam wondered why she was being so distant; then he internally smacked himself, remembering that he was the one who was supposed to be distancing himself from her. She’s Yuvaan’s fiancé, he reminded himself; he had to stop thinking about her.
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For the entire of the next week, Sayyam was forced to stay in bed. “Just in case,” his mother had told him, “What if you get hurt even more?” Sayyam was more than happy with all the extra love and attention from Suhani, but he was dying to get out of his room. To add to it, he’d barely had any human contact except for when his mother occasionally came to bandage him. Yuvani would sometimes drop in to talk to him, but it seemed like everyone was busier with Krishna’s engagement.
Krishna.
Every time she entered his room to give him his food or medicines she would keep glancing at him. It was like she was almost…guilty. It was obvious that she thought he didn’t notice, but it was hard not to take note of her when she was consistently peeking at him. There was a more pressing issue on his mind though; he was concerned about Anjali, it had been a week since he’d met her. Her treatment would start soon, and here he was, stuck on a bed.
He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t seen Krishna enter the room. It was only when she held out the medicines in front of him that he became aware of her presence. He took the packet from her hand and quietly watched as she set down a plate with breakfast on the bedside table. He observed her steal a couple glances at him and leaned back in the bed, exhaling calmly, “Look, Krishna, I know I’m devilishly handsome, but you don’t have to keep sneaking looks at me.”
Krishna jumped at the sound of his voice, tripping over the rug behind her. Sayyam couldn’t stop himself from smirking. ‘Some things will never change’ he shook his head in amusement. Before he could complete that thought, his eyes widened in alarm. Had he just called her…Krishna? Why did he feel so comfortable? Her name had so naturally rolled off his tongue; it honestly surprised him.
“Um…sorry…” Krishna whispered, standing up.
“Sorry for what?” Sayyam raised an eyebrow, “for falling?”
“No,” Krishna shook her head, “what I said that day…it wasn’t right…”
Sayyam stiffened. “It doesn’t matter.” His voice was ice-cold.
“It does!” Krishna exclaimed, a new-found vigor in her voice. “Everything I said, it wasn’t true. I didn’t know the truth.”
‘The truth?’ Sayyam cocked an eyebrow in surprise; had Yuvani told her everything? Even if she had, he couldn’t blame her, he probably would’ve done the same for her. He sighed, letting the whole issue blow over. He had more important things to do.
Sayyam scooted over to the edge of the bed, wincing a bit when his injured foot touched the floor. Ignoring the pain, he stood up, almost immediately losing his balance. Krishna rushed forward to steady him, her eyes reflecting his pain.
“I’m serious,” she pleaded, looking at him earnestly, “I’m sorry, please Sayyam.”
Sayyam pulled away from her slightly, “I know, it’s ok…it doesn’t matter.”
“It does matter!” Krishna pouted, pulling him back to her innocently, “and where do you think you’re going? Your foot is still healing.”
Sayyam collided with her, his irritation clear on his face. “Excuse me, Girnewali, I’m going to meet Anjali, and the likes of you can’t stop me.”
Krishna huffed, “Look, Mr. Khadoos,” she raised her voice, imitating him, “Suhani aunty put me in charge of you, and besides, who said I was stopping you?” she paused for a moment, walking to Sayyam’s drawer and taking out his car keys.
“I’m driving you there.”
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Wow, what an unsuspenseful cliffhanger, am I right? hehe…
Also, guys, the voting time is done, so I just want to say that those of you who guessed were ALL correct…entry #3 is mine…Thank you to all of you who voted and everyone who took the time to read it..I was a bit flustered when I was writing the kisses cause I felt like I wouldn’t be able to do justice to Kriyam. I’ll post the OS under my username soon…thnx again for everything guys!
Also, since everyone guessed correctly, I might just sneak in a Kriyam surprise into this ff soon..you never know 😉
Love you all!!
– Shreya <3