Words Count- 4600
Attached Song- Falling like the stars.
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[ Neha Mehra ]

"Sir, I am ready to assist in the next surgery." I chirped as I saw Raaz thoroughly doing his surgical scrubbing. His hands were upwards as water from the tap gushed over his sparsely hairy soapy forearm. The tap was set with a timer of 5 minutes, so it stopped as he was done.

Water droplets kept dripping all the way from his wrist to elbow. I saw him looking out for the surgical gown and gloves. I was busy gawking at him when he spoke.

"Why are you here? Where's Dr. Parul?" He inquired.

"She got some urgent work." I spoke confidently, flashing my most innocent smile ever to him.

Do you think, I would've done something?

Huh, never.

Maybe. Just maybe, I could've tempted her with a lunch at her favourite restaurant if she lets me assist this surgery.

Nothing big!

"Back to Earth, Dr. Neha Mehra." I heard him say.

"Yes, sir."

"You sure, you can assist me in the surgery?" He asked, unsure. Now, he went too far.

Does he think I am good for nothing?

Damn, I worked hard to reach to where I'm standing now. How dare he?

"What were you trying to imply by 'You sure, you can assist me in the surgery?" sir?" I mimicked, as my nostrils flared rosy red.

"Uhh. I mean, with you zoning out once in a while, it seems impossible to me though." He replied, shaking his head.

"So, it's better if you call Dr. Parul or Dr. Asmita here?" He suggested, which seemed more like an order. As if I am so obedient!

So eager to see those horny wolves, are we?

"Which part of 'she has some urgent work' you don't understand, sir?" I whispered dangerously as he twirled for me to tie the surgical gown around him. All the while, an extra sweet smile gracing on my lips.

"So, everyone is busy except you?" He taunted.

"I will see you after the surgery is done." I threatened as he chuckled.

"Will see." He mumbled under his breath.

"Btw, That girl in your batch is so amazing. I'll show her to you, do tell me her name after the surgery." He said as he smiled a big time.

Ugh, who is this girl now?

There were several interns too in the surgery. Soon, Raaz's whole composure altered as his hand held the instrument. His eyes held no trace of emotions as they held profound focus in them while his steady hands worked in the paralysed body, that laid on his mercy.

After six-hours of tedious work and feet numbing standing for hours, we discarded the blood-smeared gloves. His tired eyes met mine. But, I could see the glint of happiness, pride, and satisfaction glazing in his eyes. I could see my lips twitching up, witnessing his joy.

"You did a great job." He complimented and my smile grew even bigger.

We changed into our medical navy blue scrubs and as I exited, I saw Asmita standing outside.

"I thought you were busy with some urgent work." Raaz intentionally stressed on 'urgent' as his stare wavered from her to me.

"No, sir. Did someone say you so?" Asmita asked back, as her eyebrows were about to touch her hairline.

"Yes, I seemed to have heard that from someone." Raaz replied with a smug look.

"Even though I would've got some work, I can always take out time for you, Sir." She told with such a shy smile that made me want to puke right away.

"Great. But, hey, I am not that old. We will be just having a year or two of difference, so call me by my name." Raaz suggested and my immediate response shocked them as well as me.

"Nooo." My own voice shouted, shocking three of us. I glared at Asmita, who was as red as a rose with Raaz's recent not-so-sweet suggestion.

"Girls, I gotta go." Raaz left as his phone buzzed.

"Neha, I came here to tell you that Dr. Gupta is ousted from the hospital by the hospital management authorities. No one knows who submitted the evidences against him, but thank god, he is out finally." Ashmita informed, as soon as Raaz walked away.

I had a subtle idea about who was behind it. An instant adoration for him filled my insides, which was surfaced by rage as my mind reminded me of his recent act.

"Are you alright?" Asmita asked me, peeping at my face.

" Very alright." I snapped.

" Then, why are you blushing? You are all red. Does it concern a certain honey brown eyed male specimen?" She mumbles.

Yes, I am blushing because I want to kill someone right away.

"Neha, you are already married and this is your condition. Just think, what would be happening inside a twenty-eight years old single woman like me. His talks are only sufficient to burst a bag full of butterflies in my tummy." She sighed dreamily as she continued patting her red heated up cheeks.

My fists were tightening more and more.

"Asmita, leave it there." I threatened her as my anger was already at an extreme level.

"Chill, Neha. I read everything about him from his linkedin account and even, Instagram. Though I checked facebook, he isn't not that active there. So, summing it up, I have his bio and like-list by-heart." She flaunts her ever so charming smile to me.

Doesn't his bio mentions, he is already married to me?

"You know what, though his marital status says, he is married. But, I feel he is trapped in a toxic marriage or some marriage-of-convenience. Yes, he seems like a less social media friendly person but he has not even put a single picture of him and his wife together. There's not even the name of his wife mentioned. Yes, I saw him hugging a girl near the mess, but she didn't give away any wifey vibes. Some juniors even say, he is getting a divorce soon and his mom is looking for matches for him. So, I do have a chance with him." She squeezed out everything off her heart in words and sighed, shocking me to the core.

"What nonsense you are spitting out? When did you start believing in those flying rumours?" I scolded her.

"Oh my god." She screamed.

"Now I know, what would've happened? Yes, yes. I finally connected the dots." She jumped in happiness as my heart thudded faster.

I had an epiphany, she would say something that would hit me hard. And, yes, she did.

"What did you guess?" I pulled out those words out of my mouth, reluctantly.

"How can I forget that his mother is a businesswoman? Ofcourse, it must have been a business-related marriage for Raaz, that couldn't survive long. Love is all about sharing feelings and having no expectations, but when the marriage is itself based on benefits, how can it ever end well?" She explained, as my heart stopped.

Business deal.

Wasn't that the only reason, he had to marry me?

I kept my cool and ran away to my cabin. I sat under the fan on a chair and gulped water down my throat. I readied my things to leave for home.

I was about to turn the door knob, I saw Raaz standing there. His hair was messy, after running fingers hefty number of times on them.

"You go back home. I have got something to do. Be ready, as soon as I reach back home, we will together go to Mehta Mansion. Is that okay?" Instantly, a smile tugged on my lips seeing him. Shrugging all the disturbing thoughts at the back of my head away, I nodded vibrantly.

I do trust him.

I picked all my stuffs and reached my car. As I settled on my car, I saw Raaz coming towards his car with a girl, holding her hand tightly while crossing the road.

Not any girl, but my junior, Dr. Das.

Infront of me, they both settled on his car and drove off. I patted my heart and rebuked my heart to not be so suspicious.

But, what important work can he have with her? Even if he had, why was he holding her hand?

Shaking all my negetive thoughts away, I drove back home.

I took a short hot shower and slipped into a wine coloured saree as we had to head back home for Aisha's upcoming wedding.

In the next fifteen minutes, I saw Raaz entering our building parking. He gave me a small smile and hurried to his room to get ready.

In a few minutes, he was back, dressed in black t-shirt and jeans. He was driving the car as I was admiring the scenery through the car window glasses. There was a little snowfall, the way I love it. I was feeling a bit irritated, as my hormones were all over. To add on to my miseries, my menstrual cramps were killing me.

"Abdominal cramps?" I heard him ask, as his gaze was directed to my hand, clutching my lower stomach. I nodded.

"dysmenorrhea" I replied haughtily, to which he laughed, shaking his head.

"You can also say it as 'mentrual pain', no need to use fancy medical terms in these trivial matters because your husband knows them too." He replied, laughing.

"Will you keep clutching your stomach, trying to tend your crying uterus or mend it with some dark chocolates and herbal tea?" He taunted, causing me to snort. I nodded in a yes.

"I did. But, it doesn't help." I made a scrunched up face as he laughed.

"Keep laughing. Only if you had ever faced what menstrual pain feels like, you would've known." I retorted.

"If you don't want them to trouble you for some months temporarily, you can always tell me. I'll be happy to help." He jested, with a smug look adorned on his face. Colours crept up my cheeks as I caught his meaning through that flying flirt.

"Huh? So, that it hits me in its 10x stronger version after the end of your so-called temporary relief. Is it?" I gave him a pointed look.

"Is it your day one?" He asked, his eyes glued to the road.

"Day 5" I mumbled, as my stomach twisted in pain again.

"Unusual. It's supposed to pain more on the first three days, right. I mean, both Aisha and Saanvi always complained of the same." I heard him talk to himself, I shook my head at his curious childish self.

"The length of the cycle and intensity of pain faced varies from female to female." I answered.

"Though mine were never this bad. But I guess, sometimes it happens." I mumbled, but got surprised as he stopped the car near a pharmacy store. He went inside came with a pouch in his hand. He handed me the pouch, as I read 'Herbal period pain relief heat patch'.

Adjusting my seat in an inclined obtuse angle, he asked me to tear the packet and stamp the heat patch on my lower stomach.

"Now lay back and chill. Your cramps will be gone soon."

We both shared a laugh at that, as my mind propelled a question out of my lips involuntarily.

"Was there some emergency? What was the important work, you left to do at that time?" I asked, completely oblivious.

"Rakesh sir wanted me to drop his daughter back home." He smiled and replied. I nodded and smiled.

See, he never lies to me.

"Oh. You mean, my junior Dr. Das?" I asked again.

"Yes. That girl Bhav. Rakesh Sir was our proffesor of pharmacology in the second year of MBBS. As all of the boys of our batch used to bunk his lectures except me and some others, I was his favourite. Though what drugs to prescribe in what condition, their mechanism of action, their adverse effects, interactions, contraindications etc. were interesting, but it was really boring too. At that time, as both he and mam were busy all day their daughter used to stay at our home. Not the one we stay now, but our earlier residence. So, I know her pretty well." He smiled while sharing the memory.

"She was in 9th grade, when I was in my first year. The aim of her life was to get me scolded by Maa 24x7. She was one heck of a notorious kid, but now when I look at her she looks so differently grown up. Both in character and knowledge." He laughed and his tone was nurtured with admiration for that girl.

"So, you know her closely." I found myself speaking as again silence endowed on us. I broke the comfortable silence with the question, that has been bugging me from last few years.

"You always wanted to do PG abroad, then what made you change your plans?" I uttered as his body tensed up.

There was no response from him as his eyes through the rear mirror showed me the combat going underneath him. I was about to change the topic as I had no hope left for my answer.

"Sh-" I was cut off harshly by a deep voice.

"I didn't. I didn't change my plans. Life forced me to do so. When I had both my hands filled with responsibilities, I felt my dreams crumbling and drowning under their load." The raw pain in his voice with the cool breeze blowing erupted ripples in my body.

"What happened?" I asked, quite instantly. His eyes met mine for a split nanosecond, as his eyes turned around promptly hiding his dolor tears.

"At the age of 23, I had a baby in my arms and a girl by my side to take care of and a house to sustain. I was in my final year, with endless syllabus to complete. Maa was against my profession. Literally, I didn't have an ounce of energy to sit in the USMLE exam. I did what was feasible at that point of time." I heard him reply, calmly.

"After Dad passed away?" I asked, to which he nodded.

"Whose child is Urvi ?" I asked randomly.

"You still don't know that ?" He questioned, startled.

"I thought, she is any relative's child. But, she called you 'Papa'." I answered.

"She is Arjun Bhaiya and Urmi Bhabhi's daughter, Urvi." His answer shocked me again.

Urvi is Arjun bhaiya's daughter!

"Why is she staying with you, then?" I inquired, curiously. He visibly tensed, and his jaw was set hard.

"Because, they are no more." His voice sounded calm, yet the hint of agony and longing in his deep voice made me shudder.

"How did Urmi Di- oh my god!?"

"She lost her life, while giving birth to doll five years ago." He mumbled as his voice broke.

"And, Arjun Bhaiya?"

"He had an accident on the day of our hotel incident. He was trying to stop you from leaving, but he left us instead forever." His voice cracked again as his eyes were red. But, the land slipped beneath my foot.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea. None ever told me about it. I feel so guilty, maybe, he could've lived a little longer if I heard him out that day. Maybe, he could've been with us today." I whispered as my eyes turned glossy. It was all my fault.

"It was the fault of fate, not yours. What is meant to be, will always find its way out." He said as if reading my thoughts. Still some amount of guilt tormented me.

Another question striked me. So, having this only chance to ask him, I shot my question without any further ado.

"Why did you marry me, Raaz?" I asked, to which he stared at me dumbfound. Then, he dragged his stare back to the road.

"Because, my Maa asked me to marry you."

"Not because you love me?" I piped in.

"No." He shrugged.

"Was our marriage based on the crappy business deal between my dad and your Maa?" I articulated as fear gripped me.

"A sort of. It's nowhere an arranged or a love marriage. So, yes you can settle for it." He said, casually.

Unbelievable!

"Really?" He nodded.

"I guess, It must be your plan to marry me to avenge Arjun Bhaiya's death after Viraj ran away. Isn't it?" I threw my words venomously as I felt the car halting with a jerk.

"Wha-what did you say now?" He exclaimed in shock as I was shaking in anger bubbling inside me as my eyes stared out of the car window.

"Repeat, what you just said?" I hissed as his fingers clutched my upper arm roughly. In the surge of my anger, I repeated all of my previous words again.

"If I would've been carrying such motives in my heart, you wouldn't have been here, sitting beside me after all that you have accused me of." I heard him say with a hiss as my arm started to ache.

"Wow, so now you blame me for all the miseries of your life?" I grinded my teeth to draw those words out of my lips.

"That was nothing surprising for me, having known your special trait of hasty conclusions from years. Somethings just never change." He whispered, loud enough for me to hear. I felt like a bucket of ice cold water was poured on me.

"Why was I even conversing with you at the first place?" He muttered under his breath. The rest of the journey of few minutes went in a silence of restlessness for me.

Did I do something wrong again?

A loud sound of the door drew me out of my daze, I saw Raaz going out of the car. I too jumped out of the car and walked fast to match his pace.

As we neared the door, I remembered Maa's disappointed look towards me. It's almost been a year, since I have visited here. I was stiff, trying to figure out what would be her reaction seeing me after so long but eventually relaxed as I felt Raaz's fingers entwining with mine. I scooted closer to him.

"I am sorry." I murmured in his ears, as he sighed. He rang the door bell and Saanvi opened the door. They both shared a hug and she even hugged me, taking me by surprise.

"Welcome home." She chirped as she hugged me tightly. I smiled big and reciprocated the bear hug.

"Thank you, sweetie." I whispered, pinching her cheeks gently.

I didn't feel like it was the first time, I was chatting with her. She was a bundle of positivity and liveliness. Raaz withdrew his hand out of my hold and went inside home, leaving us two to talk.

"Why is my hulk in a sulking mode? Had another fight?" She nudged me.

"I messed up." I mumbled, my face a little downcast, comprehending if she would take me wrong.

"Oh oh." That was her exact reaction.

"How do you make upto him when he's angry?" I asked her.

"Chill. That's easy. Feed him food, pamper him like a baby. Tada, his anger will melt away in a second. You can even give him a good kiss as a bonus." She winked at me as heat crept my cheeks.

"Yes, it also depends upon the range of his anger or the severity of the issue you raised. Btw, what did you say?" She asked with a raised brow as I gulped.

"I was angry and I accused him of marrying me to avenge Arjun bhaiya's death." I mumbled slowly, trying to gauge her facial expressions.

"Then?" She asked.

"He got really angry." I paused.

"By now, he should have been habituated to your 'cooking up stories' skills though." She muttered under her breath.

"How do you know?"

"When does your hubby-bubby stops speaking about you? He is 24x7 into you. Though, your impulsiveness hurts him sometimes." She continued.

"He uttered something like this too." I exclaimed, to which she shrugged.

"I know your husband well, boss." She flipped her hair and spoke haughtily.

"Then, tell me the remedy." I pleaded, as his eyes blazing fire flashed infront of my eyes.

"He seems 75% angry. So, start with saying a sorry. Don't cling to him, he hates clingy girls with a passion. Serve him his dinner and feed him too. Then, massage his hair gently when he is drowsy. The next morning, his rage will be gone." She narrated. But, there was a problem.

"We stay in different rooms, massage things can't be done." I informed.

"My sweet sisy, that used to happen in your house. But, here you both need to cope up in a room." She answered, with her hand resting on her waist. As we both continued walking downstairs, I saw buggie strolling wobbly towards me.

"Buggie." I called out, as her round honey brown eyes stared at me. She walked steadily towards me, uttering her own set of gibberish.

Cutely she raised her arms for me to hold her. I picked her up and kissed her supple cheeks. She was playing with my wedding chain, that hung around my neck. Her two piggy tails were bounching as she shook her head side by side.

I saw Kiara Di coming out of her room. As soon as Buggie saw her, she wriggled in my arms to go back to her mother. Di laughed seeing her and picked her baby from my arms. I kept gazing at the lovely interactions of the mother-daughter duo. It ringed a bell in me as I recalled buggie's first rice eating ceremony.

"Maa, did you call for me?" I asked with a smile as I put the platter of sweets on the round table.

"She is Raaz's Chachi and She's his Bua." She introduced me to them as I bowed to touch their feet out of courtesy, after covering my head with the free end of my saree.

"Malini and Ratna ji, She is my younger daughter-in-law."

"She is a doctor." Maa further added proudly.

"Okay. Let go about her profession. Women's first responsibility is to take care of the house and give heir to the family." Chachi stated as I stared at her, weirdly.

"I heard, your younger son got married first. What about your younger son's children?" Bua asked, scanning me from head to toe. I saw Maa shifting on her place awkwardly. Maa shook her head and I saw two of them sharing a look.

"Adults these days are all alike. It's already been almost 2 and half years, still they are not ready to have a child. I told you to get them married by the age of 25, but, you had to wait till they turn 28. Now, regret as much as you want. Or else, you would have been grandmother to 3 kids by now." Chachi taunted.

"Now its high time you think of a child." Bua suggested.

"Neha Di." I heard a shrill call.

"Where are you lost?" She inquired, to which I shook my head.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about something."

We got busy in selecting jewelleries for Aisha and rings of engagement. Along with that, Maa and Kiara Di were busy in choosing sarees and dresses for different occasions.

Four hours later, we were done. I was sipping on my glass of orange juice, when I felt a soft nudge.

"Your hubby-bubby is sitting alone. Go and pacify him." I heard her whisper as I saw Viraj going out.

I was about to go, when Saanvi murmured in my ears, " Both of you eat from a single food plate."

"Huh?"

"I have heard, sharing food from a single plate increases love." She winked as I smiled, shaking my head. I showed her a thumbs up.

I stood up and strolled to where he was busy checking and booking halls for wedding and other pre-wedding functions.

I tapped on his shoulder and he mumbled a 'what'. I tapped on his shoulder again, this time a little harder. He nodded his head, but his eyes were still glued to the laptop screen. I tapped this time again more harder than the two previous futile attempts.

He looked up at me clueless.

"You must be hungry. Come and have your dinner." I stated, more like an order as rats had already initiated their gyrate in my belly.

"I am not hungry." He retorted.

"I am hungry and how will I eat alone when everyone else is working here. Pleasee, come with me." I beseeched, not missing that short glimpse of a smile, tugging on his lips.

He shut down his laptop and followed me. I told him to go to our bedroom, as I served the food in a plate from the kitchen and carried it to our room.

"Why did you bring just one plate?" He inquired.

"Can't let them know that I am here to eat sneakily, can I?" I whispered as I sat beside him on the sofa.

"Then, you eat. I will eat later." He said.

"We can share." I declared, while pushing some vegetable pulao into his mouth.

I fed myself too. He sat like an obedient boy, gawking at me as I kept pushing food into his mouth at regular intervals. As we were done, I kept the plate back in the sink and came back to our room to see him still sitting there, his head resting on the headrest. I ruffled his hair gently with great care, feeling the texture of his hair. Slowly, I began massaging his head and saw him relaxing in my touch. Leaning closer, I placed my lips on his forehead as his eyes were still sealed.

"I am sorry." I whispered my one arm curved around his face as his jaw rested on the edge of the triangle of the underside of my elbow. His eyes shot wide open in a flicker.

"Ah, yes." He hissed.

"I knew it. A freaking apology again." He muttered his breath as he awoke from the sofa and took a pillow and blanket from the cupboard. His eyes held pain for some sort of reason. I saw him going to the balcony.

I trudged to see him sleeping on the fluffy mattress laid on lengthy space of balcony as the blanket carelessly hovered over his limbs. His bare back was on display. I brought another large comfy blanket from inside as I sat in the blank space beside his sleeping figure.

His face was towards me as he was sleeping on his stomach. As I caressed his face, my palm felt wetness in his cheek. I poked his bare back, trying to ask him why was he behaving so strange but heard no response.

"Good Night." I wished him as I placed a kiss on his cheek. I dragged the blanket to cover both of us as I hugged him to sleep.

All the while, a thought wandered in my brain.

Was he crying ?

___

Hey peeps,

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Love,
B❤