'OUCH!!'

Rohit looked up to see Sonakshi bent over.

'SONA!!'
He screamed, as he threw the laptop aside and ran to her.
'Kya hua hai? Kahan lagi? Is it the baby? Tum apna dihaan bilkul bhi nahin rakhti. Meri koi baat to kabhi bhi nahin maanti..woh..what?'
As Sonakshi straightened up, and looked at him, a weird look on her face.

'I'm fine, Rohit! Bas, I stubbed my toe on the bed's corner..'

'Stubbed your toe? Show me!'
Rohit sounded upset.

'I can't even see my toes anymore, because of this..'
She hugged her belly.

'Oh, God!'
Rohit bent over to check.
'It's bleeding! Kya karti ho, Sona! Betho idhar..'
He took her by the shoulders and made her sit on the bed.

Sonakshi just looked at him, while he ran to fetch the first aid box, and came back running.
He quickly removed an antiseptic cream and bandages, and knelt on the floor to take a look.

'Dihaan kahan rehta hai tumhara? Abhi agar gir jaati to? Socha hai ke kya ho sakta tha?'
He looked up at her, to see the same weird expression on her face again.
'What?'

'Tum to naraaz thay mujhse, meri taraf nazar utha ke bhi nahin dekh rahe thay..ab yeh itna sab kyun karna hai..'

'Don't be stupid, okay!'
He bent his head, and taking cotton, put antiseptic solution on it.
'Thora jalega..sorry..'
And he put the cotton on her big toe.
Sonakshi gasped as she felt it sting.
'Sorry, sorry..'
He bent more to blow on the cut.

'Meri itni si takleef to tum se dekhi nahin jaati. Mun phula ke kya milta hai tumhe..'
Sonakshi watched, as he cleaned the cut and bandaged it, working with full concentration.
Rohit didn't say anything.
'Rohit! Kuch bolo to..you know you can't not talk to me!'

Rohit put away everything back in the box, and made to get up.
Sonakshi put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
'Ab kya meri taraf dekho ge bhi nahin? Itni buri lag rahi hun tumhe?'

'STOP IT, SONA! JUST STOP IT!'
He burst out.

They both glanced towards Arihaan's cot, but there was no movement.

'Rohit! Itna ghussa kyun ho rahe ho? Mein to bas..'

'Mein to kya? Yeh acha hai, jab dekho mera mazaq bana deti ho..'

'Mazaq? Mein kyun mazaq banaungi tumhara?'

'Yeh kaise behooda sawaal hain? Ke kya tum mujhe ab achi nahin lagti? If I don't find you attractive like this? If I don't like touching you? Don't you know me at all?'
He looked angry.

'Aray..mein to tumhari attention chahti thi..'
Sonakshi began.

'What? Attention? Tum koi choti bachi ho kya?'

'Acha na, I'm sorry..tum mujhe ignore kar rahe thay.. to maine..acha nahin bolungi aise..tum..yahan betho to mere paas..'

'Sona..tum sojao..hum kal baat karenge, okay..'
Rohit stood up, and looked down at her.

'No! It's not okay!'
Sonakshi said loudly, then lowered her voice, as Rohit looked at her.
'It's not okay! Tum baat ko itna kyun barha rahe ho? Can't we just resolve it right now?'

'I'm just not in the mood to fight with you..'

'Mein fight kar rahi hun?'
Sonakshi looked and sounded offended.

'Or nahin to kya! I'm requesting you to go to sleep, but tumhe to zidd karni hai..'

'Isse zidd kehte hai? Trying to make things better?'
She looked at him incredulously.

'Han..mein to..'

'Bas! I get you!'
Anger flared in her eyes.
'Itni mehnat mat karo..'
She began to get up, but these days she had trouble getting up and sitting down, and couldn't.
Rohit reached out to help her, but she clutched at the bed instead.

'Ab yeh bhi to zidd hi hai..refusing to take help..'
He made a face.

'I don't need your help! Thankyou very much for the dressing!'
Sonakshi finally stood up, and he moved back to give her space.

She walked away with as much grace as she could, and lay down on her side of the bed. Switching off the bedside lamp, she turned away from him.
Rohit stood there a few more minutes, just watching.
She usually never went to sleep without hugging him, and because of him, tonight she had to.

What am I even doing? What just happened?

He moved to his side of the bed, and sat against the headboard, bringing the laptop back on his lap. Glancing her way, he saw the steady rise and fall of her stomach.

Pagal ho tum Rohit! Zara si baat ka itna hungama macha diya! Hogayi na upset woh..ab khud hi sambhaalo..pagal!

Rohit gave himself a mental slap, and finishing his work, laid down himself.
Glancing at her, again and again, he finally fell into a deep slumber himself.

             ***********

Samajhta kya hai khud ko? Bina wajah ke baat ko itna barha diya..theek hai..ab ki mein bhi pehel nahin karne wali..dekhti hun kab tak chalta hai aisa...

Sonakshi had woken up in the morning to see him still asleep.

Kitne sukoon se so raha hai jaise kuch hua hi na ho..

Sonakshi had gotten dressed for the hospital and left. All morning during her morning meeting and rounds, she had kept her cell with her, in case he messaged or called. But in vain.

Sonakshi now came out of the theatre in her scrubs, scrubs which she had had to get made in her current size.
Several people glanced at her, surprised to see a doctor working in this condition.
Taking a detour to the ICU, to check on her patients, Sonakshi walked back to her cabin.
She opened the cabin door and came to a stop.
The table in front of her sofas, was loaded with food.
Sonakshi came closer, to see chaat, paani poori, masala dosa and even achaar.
Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten anything yet.

She excitedly bent and picked up a gol gappa, before she realised what she was doing.
She put it back down, and stood up.

'Yeh sab..I'm sure Rohit ne hi kiya hoga! Yeh sab kar sakta hai, magar baat karne ke liye, sorry karne ke liye time nahin hai Mr. Sippy ke paas. Yeh samajhta kya hai khud ko?'

'Tumhara one and only husband!'

Sonakshi whirled around, to see Rohit standing at the doorway of her cabin's bathroom.

'Tum?'
She asked stupidly, as Rohit came forward, towards her, wiping his hands on a tissue.

'Or kitne husbands hain tumhare? Chupa ke rakhe hain kahin?'
Rohit pretended to look behind her big form, and then behind the sofa.

'Ha ha..so funny!'
Sonakshi said sarcastically.
'Kya kar rahe ho?'
As Rohit went and looked behind her large desk.

'Mein to bas dhoond raha tha..'
He shrugged his shoulders.

'Yeh sab kya hai, Rohit? Why are you here? Or woh bhi iss waqt? Shoot nahin hai?'
Sonakshi asked him, not looking very happy.

Rohit came back and stood in front of her.
'Sona! I'm sorry about last night..'
Sonakshi was a bit surprised at his confession, even though she had been hankering after it just a while ago.
'Tum ne woh sab bola..ek dam se ghussa agaya mujhe..and I'm sorry. Tumhe bhi upset kar diya or bina hug kiye sona parra tumhe..'
Rohit looked a bit ashamed.

'Magar tumhe kya faraq parra? Tum to araam se so rahe thay..mein to raat mein kitni baar uthi..'
Sonakshi looked upset.

'Sona, I'm sorry!'
Rohit came nearer, and put both hands on her shoulders.
'Sachi..you know ke tum mere liye kya ho..har haal mein, har soorat mein mujhe qubool ho..to yeh sab..ke mujhe tum ab achi nahin lagti, attract nahin karti, mein tumhe choona nahin chahta..yeh sab ghalat hai, jhoot hai..believe me..'
Rohit put his palm over her cheek, and Sonakshi closed her eyes, at the gentleness of his touch.
'I love you, no matter what! So will you get all this out of your head?'

Sonakshi looked at him, her eyes suddenly becoming moist.
Rohit reached over, and kissed her eyes.
'No! Please! I didn't mean to hurt you..you know that's the last thing I want to do..ever! Ab please maaf kar do na..'

'I'm also sorry..woh bas..tumhara dhiyaan kahin or tha..or mujhe acha nahin lag raha tha, to bas bol diya..'
Sonakshi looked upset.

'Mein kisi kaam mein laga tha, I can never ignore you..can't ever stay away from you..'
His voice lowered, and he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
He lowered his head, and Sonakshi lifted hers. But as soon as his lips hovered over hers, there was a knock on the door.

'Kya yaar! Kitne pyaar ke dushman hain har jagah!'
Rohit protested, as Sonakshi chuckled, and called out for whoever it was, to come in.

Tulsi put her head around the door.
'Sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but Dr. Anuj was trying to contact you about a patient..'

'Sure! I'll talk to him. Thankyou..'
Sonakshi smiled at her, as she left, and quickly called her colleague to fix his problem.

Rohit took her hand and led her to the table.
'Mujhe pata hai meri tension mein tum ne subah se kuch bhi nahin khaya hoga..'

Sonakshi smiled.
'Tumhe to sab pata hota hai na, Mr. Know-It-All Sippy!'
She sat on the sofa, as he passed her a plate, and took one for himself.

'Yes, I do! Chalo, ab jaldi se kuch kha lo..'

Sonakshi fixed herself a plate of gol gappas, and they sat and chatted, while they both ate.

'Wow! This bribe was wonderful! Thankyou!'
Sonakshi leaned back against the sofa, stroking her now full stomach.

'Bribe? Yeh value hai mere pyaar ki?'
Rohit pretended to look offended.

'Nahin! Yehi value hai tumhare natak ki!'
Sonakshi giggled.
'Acha mein change kar leti hun..tum jao apni shoot pe..'

'Mujhe nahin jaana wapas..aaj pack up hogaya jaldi.'

'Oh..'

'Jao change kar ke aao, phir bahar chalte hain na..kab se kahin gaye nahin hum dono..'

'But, Rohit..'

'Na ah! No bahanas. Mujhe pata hai ke you don't have clinic today. Or tumhe pata hai, aaj mausam bohot acha ho raha hai baahar! Chalo na, please!'
He cajoled, till she gave in.

'Okay, okay! Chalte hain..wait five minutes.'
Sonakshi quickly went to change, while Rohit cleaned up her cabin.

Sonakshi came back, dressed in a loose flowy dress, that came below her knees, and she looked beautiful.

'Hunh?'
Rohit realised he had been staring, and Sonakshi had been speaking.

'Rohit! Kahan kho gaye? Chalen?'
Sonakshi picked up her bag and cell.

They both left her cabin, looking like the handsome couple that they were, with the staff's eyes on them. But they had eyes only for each other, as Rohit took her hand in his.

'Hum kahan ja rahe hain, Rohit?'
Sonakshi asked as they waited for his car.

'Hmm..ek idea hai mere paas..ajao..'
As his car arrived, and he settled her in the front seat.

Rohit got in the driver's side and she looked at him, questioningly.

'Batao na..'

'Hmm..call it a surprise of sorts..but I know you will love it..'
As he maneuvered the car out of the parking.

'Well..then hurry along..I can't wait!'

To be continued...