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The next day, Jagdish woke up feeling groggy and heavy. He wasn't able to lift himself up from the bed. He knew this would come for he stood under the rain longer than he should. The heat emitting from his body had him lay on the bed longer than he normally does.

The clock on the wall read half past four in the evening.

"Damn! I don't want to spend my holiday on bed" he whined pushing the blanket off him and dragged himself out of the bed.

An hour later, Jagdish found himself seated at the waiting area of the medical domain lobby for his turn to meet the doctor. 'No. 1129, Room no. 11' he read softly looking at the small chit in his hand and checked on the screen above. He had three more numbers to go and wished those three people leaves without going for consultation so, he could get treated soon.

After what looked like hours, his number was called. Jagdish fasten his pace towards the doctor's room. Approaching room no. 11, the sound of someone sneezing grew louder and it was coming from the room he was assigned to get his consultation. Jagdish peeped in through the door.

To his surprise, it was officer Yashodha moving around the room sneezing. The corner of his lips curved upward a little, what a coincident, he thought.

And then he remembered about the night before, the unknown emotion. Brushing the thought off, he knocked the door.

"Aaccchum... Excuse me. Sorry, I'm sick but don't worry. Come in" the doctor's sweet voice muffled through the mask she wore facing her back to him. She walked around with a bottle of water, shaking it vigorously.

"Good evening, officer" Jagdish greeted and settled on the seat next to the desk. He waited for her to finish up whatever she was mixing in the bottle.

"Oh!! Surprise! It's you" Yashodha exclaimed when she finally saw who her last patient for the day was.

"So, Officer Jagdish... Has the cool guy caught cold?" she asked, removing the mask for sometime.

"Sadly, when I'm on leave. It seems like the cold had caught the cool lady as well" he replied wiggling his brows.

Pouting her lips, Yashodha nodded suppressing her laugh.

"Ah... consequences of soaking in the rain a little too much" she said. "Yes, tell me. What brought you to the doctor?" she asked, though she figured out why.

After he explained his body condition and did all the necessary check-up, the doctor scribbled on his record card before reaching for the slab behind her.

"Here" Yashodha tossed a lemon to him, "warm water with honey. Drink it and you will feel better" she said sipping her lemon and honey water that she mixed a while ago.

"A lemon? I thought doctors give medicines" he asked, confused.

"Haha... I know. As much as I love to inject and puncture patients... Flu shots are not the medicine I prescribe normally. Unless patient insist me to do so" she stuck her tongue out.

He only managed to give her a puzzled look and said nothing. Which doctor would avoid giving flu shots to patients and did she just said puncture? He thought.

"How will someone insist a doctor? Isn't the doctor supposed to know what should be given and what not?" He asked, furrowing his brows.

"Well, flu shots tend to make patients worst then they already are. At least for some people. I noticed it was the flu shots that make them sick longer. Anyway, if you want to get a shot, we can go for it.... Excuse me" she said and sneezed.

"Is it..." he trailed off, thinking of the consequences if what she said becomes true. More than two days of being sick is too expensive, he thought further. "I'll go with the lemon .... Since you are having it too" he pointed to her bottle with the same solution. "I should be fine, I believe"

"Good choice. And by the way, I don't give this option to many people. Consider yourself lucky" she whispered and winked.

His eyes followed her as she paced around the room, packing her stuffs. She seemed different from the rest. At least of those female medical officers he had come across. She isn't of those girls that gawks at him shamelessly or tries to impress him in any way. Yashodha seems to be herself most of the time. 

A while later, Yashodha stood before him with her bag and the fruit basket in both her hands. Placing the basket on the table, she leaned forward and looked straight into his eyes. She whispered, "what if whatever you are thinking isn't true and that it's actually the other way around?"

Pushing himself a little further from her with a scrunching face, " how did you know what I was thinking?" He asked.

"Ha... This is Yasho, the mind reader. I know everything" she laughed marching towards the door with the bag and basket.

Jagdish remain seated, he couldn't believe she actually read his mind. Did she know what he had been thinking before too? Is she even telling the truth or was it said merely to startle him?

'Oh God! What was I thinking all long? Anything bad, anything wrong?' he thought, trying to remember what was he having in mind the first time they met. His heartbeat turned heavy at the thought.

"Are you waiting for the next doctor? Dr. Vashist is coming in next. If you are not sure about the lemon, you might want to get a jab from him maybe" Yashodha said, standing at the doorway. She had returned back to the room after noticing Jagdish hasn't left yet.

"Nope. No jab. Thank you" he quickly joined her out of the room. "Let me help you with that" he took the basket from her hand and followed the lady.

They walked silently out of the domain. However, Jagdish chose to break the silent with his curious question, "Tell me one thing, officer. Do you really do mind reading?"

She stopped and stared at him for a moment, "I can't tell you. It's supposed to be a secret, I should keep it to myself. That's the protocol but now that I said it to you. Keep it to yourself" she muttered, rolling her eyes side to side as if checking for anyone hearing her.

He gulped; it seems to be real that she knows mind reading. Jagdish made a mental note to not have any mind voice when being around her.

He suddenly felt exposed but then why should he care, one part of him said. It is not that he had any bad thought about her.

"Do you carry fruits with you every day?" He asked for a change of topic.

"Not really but when I do, I shove one fruit in every patient's mouth. Not before asking if they eat it or not on daily basis. That mostly happens to those who doesn't eat fruits," Yashodha stopped in her tracks when she noticed Jagdish isn't following her.

Jagdish had a deadpan face, staring at her for her unbelievable statement.

Pressing her lips, she controlled her laugh, "Just kidding. Don't worry, I don't do that anymore" she broke into fits of laughter when he looked at her in shock. Yashodha hooked her arm in his pulling him towards the quarters.

After about thirty minutes of walk, finally they reached Yashodha's room. Unlocking the door, she motioned him inside. "Come in and have a seat" Yashodha pointed at the small coffee table.

"Nice and neat"

"Thank you" Yashodha peeped out at the corridor, she noticed a few running out of her sight. A smile graced Yashodha's face.

"Congratulations officer! We have just made into the sensational news Mumbai Naval Port has ever heard in recent times" Yasho giggled. "We will be the talk of the port in the next few days"

Jagdish looked at her puzzled at her sudden blabbering. 'Is she okay? Has she—' Jagdish abruptly stop thinking further, what if she reads his mind again.

"What sensational news?" he asked, instead.

"You do realise where you are, right?"

Scanning the surrounding. He was in the middle of her room. "Yes, of course. I followed you"

"Has Officer Jagdish ever seen following a lady to her house?" she asked dancing her eyebrows.

Scratching his stubble, he understood what she meant by sensational news and he was least bothered about it anyway. Her excitement about some kind of news about them that is going to make rounds astonished him.

'Stop thinking, Jagdish' he warned himself when she started moving towards him.

She inched closer, "you did not notice what was going on outside, did you?"

Flashing the most drop-dead gorgeous smile, he muttered "How can I look elsewhere when you are around? You are more than enough to keep my eyes on you" he said flirtatiously with a wink.

"Oh, that I am," she turned around mostly to hide the blush spreading her cheeks, she skipped towards the door and checked once again.

They had purposely done it knowing that Jagdish's presences in Yashodha's room had invited curious souls to checkout. And it did, now they were sure the news will spread faster than they can imagine.

"This is going to be a different situation all together," Yashodha laughed and headed to the small kitchen she had in a corner of the room. "I'm going to make soup for dinner would you like to have? It will help you with your flu" she asked.

"That will be great, thank you. Anyways I'm tired to head out for dinner" he had settled back at the coffee table watching her work in the kitchen.

Why they had intentionally got themselves into gossips? Neither of them knows the reason however, they were having fun as if they were friends for years trying to prank people and not of someone who only knew each other five days back.

*********

Extremely exhausted, mentally and the feeling is terrible :(

In regards to the FLU SHOT, I just randomly read from a randomly searched forum written by a doctor. Don't ask me for the link :P

O'rite, thank you for reading this LAME chapter!

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