An Hour later..

Lavanya may have sneaked a peak at the ring and the man who placed it on her finger , a hundred times in the past one hour, she can't just help it . The excitement that bubbles up at the knowledge they were engaged was slowly taking roots in her heart. 

For a brief moment she had been distract to see her dida looking tired and the doctor in her wanted to check her into an hospital first until her soon to be husband whirled her out to an abandoned room in the orphanage to kiss her senseless and she was back in an hazy wedding mode.

He always looked handsome, yet today he looked more than just handsome.  Maybe it was the wedding glow she supposed as she shamelessly continued to admire him until the sound of laughter changed her object of attention towards her  friend Akash and her cousin  Kavya chatting with dida .

As always Akash had made even the solemn dida laugh, she never knew how he was capable of bringing laughter to everywhere he go and she finally relaxed from her worry that plagued her few minutes ago .

Then her eyes landed on her best friend Gauri talking with her parents and the scene brought her close to tears. She still can't believe it at times and yet she felt grateful that life offered her another chance with her friend .

And her father smiled at her when he noticed she was looking at them and she found the courage to walk towards them .

"Where is Rahul , I haven't gotten a chance to hold him in my arms yet " Lavanya asked as she made her way towards them . Rahul was the link to her friends happiness and she knew it from the moment they met again.

" He must be with Arnav or Ishaan , I can't get hold of him when he has so many to fawn over " her best friend answered back with a smile and her parents decided it was time to leave them alone which made her nervous all over again .

Gauri had been married once before she married her cousin and Lavanya missed both of the weddings ,she didn't know if being here was hard on her and yet she didn't think asking her about it would be wise either. 

There used to be times when she believed she knew everything about her friend until she grew up and realized when it comes to her friends ,she is more often blind.

"Do you know Akash used to like me ?" She blurted out at the continued silence ,not an trustworthy thing to do when she had been blind about Akash feelings as well .

"Yes ,I was aware and what brought this topic on.  Are you worried about Kavya dating him ,you know it not real right?" Gauri asked her back , she was correct in her way but Lavanya had squashed those concerns because she believed Akash feelings for her changed long time ago .

" It is not that , it just when it comes to friends ,I an totally blind on what they are going through unless they spell it out. It makes for a horrid friend right . I wasn't there for you like I should have been ,I didn't even knew you were meeting someone else back then , if I was good friend you would have been able to confide in me "  Lavanya answered back and realized it was the wrong topic to speak  the moment Gauri tensed up.

"Sorry " Lavanya squeaked out as she feared that she made a misstep .

"No , please don't apologize.  It not something I want to talk about Lavanya . " Gauri answered back closing the chapter of their lives forever locked in silence.

And Lavanya felt the sudden need to change the topic and as her eyes wondered over the kids playing with each other , she found one which hoped is a pleasant memory from their past.

"Come with me ,I need you to meet someone " Lavanya spoke up as she dragged her friend towards the kids and found the familiar face she was searching missing amongst them .

" Khalid, where is Rashika?" Lavanya  asked one of the kid who answered back she was in the room as she wasn't feeling well .

Which was the reason Lavanya and Gauri made their way into the kids room to check on her and found the little girl crying in her bed.

" Rashika ,where does it hurt? " Lavanya asked the little one who confessed she was in pain for quite sometime .

"Why didn't you tell your warden? " Lavanya asked as the doctor in her took over once she noticed how pale the little girl had been .

" Do you remember the book you loved reading and I told you that the person who wrote is my best friend , and you asked to meet her in person . I brought her to meet you ,why don't you talk with her and I will be right back " Lavanya spoke up as she let Gauri take care of the little girl until she could call for help .

Her feet marched straight towards her family to  inform them  of the need to go to the hospital immediately.

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 Vihaan knew the moment his angel went missing from the room with Gauri ,and also the moment she returned looking distraught.  As his feet stride towards her ,he wondered if she was upset because of Gauri .

But when he reached her ,she told him that one of the kids was sick and he knew why she was upset . To his angel, nothing is more important than making sure the kids weren't in pain. And it was because of that he knew she won't just let someone take over the care of the little girl ,even if the room was filled willed with doctors.

She politely declined her aunt Uttara offer to take the kid to the hospital as she was a doctor as well ,along with Rajeev bhai offer to drive the little one to the hospital and ensure the kids gets the access to the best doctors in duty.

" Rashika would want a familiar face , she trusts me " his angel answered back as she declined all their requests , Vihaan or his angel parents didn't voice out the protest as they already knew her mind was made up .

The only thing Vihaan could do now was something he already decided on as he opted to drive them to the hospital . Her eyes met him briefly when he spoke up and she must have seen he was serious just as her that she only nodded her head and went back to get the kid.

On the ride , his angel kept talking to the little girl trying to make her forget about the pain . The little one was fascinated by the ring and the dazzling designs of her lehenga that she momentarily forgot her pain .

As Vihaan took care of the admission ,his angel went to change from her dress because what both of them didn't need talk around the kid had been the fact she needs to be wheeled into surgery as soon as possible. 

As a doctor ,he knows the sign of appendix and unfortunately the little one needs to go under knife ,he was by Rashika side who had  been not dazzled with his pen as he  failed miserably ,until his angel reappeared in her plain salwar with the doctor coat .

And when his angel placed their engagement ring into his hands before walking into the theatre ,he realized how lucky he had been to find someone like her. 

Most kids who grew up in an orphanage try to forget that place once they outgrow them ,unlike his angel whose very essence strives to make their life happier as much as possible.

Rashika remained him about Roshini ,the little girl who died when he had been supposed to look after her . No matter how many times he denied the knowledge back when he first choose to be a doctor, deep down he knew he hated feeling helpless when she died and wanted to be able to save the kids life. 

He settled the surgery bill from his account, while he knew his angel had her trust fund which she had allotted for the kids hospital expense . It felt right to use his account tonight.

A month ago ,his angel decided to add his name to her trust fund as well giving him access to the decisions in regards to the usage of the funds. " We are going to be married Vihaan and I want too add your name ", she told him and refused to take No for an answer .

He knew she had aspired to build a hospital first with the trust funds and once she learned more about the administration aspect it would require out of her ,she decided to use the funds in a simple and more effective way ,help those who can't afford the hospital bills.

And since Rajeev bhai hold majority shares in the hospital they work and his angel could be tenacious when she wants she already have him dancing to her tunes , her first project had been to ensure free checkup thrice a month for all orphanages under her program .

Right now they had about seven orphanages under the scheme and both Vihaan and her give their time for the check up free along with her aunt and uncle. Few of their colleague volunteer to work free of costs as well and few charged less than their regular fee's either way ,his bhai funded the program and refused to let his angel use her trust fund. 

And given her Angel brilliant mind and generous heart ,he knew that won't be the end of her plans . He must have been lost in his thoughts that he had failed to notice his brother in law arrival who informed him that party got over and all of them left .

" I got you a change of clothes " Yuv offered as he realized that he was still in his suit. Yuv promised to wait for his angel while Vihaan slipped inside his office to change ,by the time he walked back to the waiting room .

His angel was already there talking with her brother ,her face lit up to see him and he was relieved the surgery went well .

"She is fine " his angel answered once he got to her and went into his arms tired ,he wanted to carry her back home but she only left with him after the little one was moved to a regular ward and she asked one of her interns to stay the night by her side. 

" Tomorrow Tara Warden promised to stay by her side " Lavanya was speaking as he drove them back home , she had been busy planning for the little ones care.

" Yuv said they wanted to send someone tonight as well and your dad told them that since she would be in the observation all night ,they need not come tonight " he answered back filling her in the details she missed while she was in surgery .

The drive back was short and Yuv bike was already parked indicating he reached before them , he always cherished the few moments he get with his angel before she walks into her house .

" We are engaged " he spoke up making her smile as he repeated her earlier words.

" And what day it had been , are you upset that I refused to let anyone else take care of Rashi . She is new to the orphanage, lost her parents two years ago and extremely shy around others . Also she told me that she didn't tell the warden her stomach was hurting because she didn't want them to miss our engagement " his angel kept speaking, she had a tendency to chatter when she was passionate about someone or something .

It was also one of the reason he was so proud of her , to his angel every kids were their own . She would never let them lose their identity ,she remembers almost everything she learns about them .

" I will be upset ,if you for even a moment to think that I will be upset about what you did tonight . I can assure you that not everyone will leave their engagement midway for someone else but that is why I am so proud of you " he answered back as he learned into kiss her .

Then she reached out her empty fingers to him as he wordlessly placed the ring back on her finger ,a tear slipped out and he knew she didn't like removing it on their engagement day. 

" The ring will tell the world you are mine Angel ,but I don't need that to know your heart belongs to me forever . " he answered back repeating her words back of her which made her smile at him .

As she got down to walk inside her house , he knew it will only few days that stood between them until she will walk beside him into their home together ,and Vihaan can't wait for that day to come soon .

P.S :" That it for now . Let me know your thoughts and feedbacks . Hit the votes if you liked it "

Juanita Reid