"Only my money will be spent on the treatment." Vennela announced.

"Fine." Amar agreed. It didn't matter to him whose money they used as long as the treatment worked in their favour. 

"You shouldn't ask me to rest for the entire day. I'll sleep only when it is required."

"Okay. But I won't let you strain yourself" said Amar, firmly. She nodded.

"Here comes the hardest condition. You shouldn't touch me without my consent--"

"As if I ever did" retorted Amar.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. What I meant is we are just friends. So, you shouldn't waste your time serving me. You should concentrate on your duties. Work is important. Don't neglect it." 

"So, I'm being friendzoned again." 

Vennela felt extremely bad for doing this to him. "Amar, I'm not doing this to hurt you. I don't want you to make any sacrifices for me. I'm doing this to make you stay away from suffering. Staying close to me will only give you pain." 

"Yeah. Whatever." Amar sat down. He looked at her bags which were packed. He felt proud that his wife trusted him so much, she followed his advise and kept her luggage packed, ready for traveling. "You knew I am going to win the challenge. Didn't you? We leave once you are strong enough to travel." He threw the fake legal notice away.

"It's just a journey of five minutes. We leave right now." Vennela couldn't wait to go back home. "I forgot. There's one more condition."

"What?" asked Amar.

"Promise me you will never shave your head without telling me."

"WHAT!" Amar looked at her for a few seconds without blinking. Then, he examined her medicines to see if they can cause any serious damage to the brain.

"I haven't gone mad. Just promise me" said Vennela. He promised.

Nanditha was apprehensive to send Vennela when she told her she changed her decision. "Why? Why are you leaving? At least stay till the head injury is cured." 

"Amma, let her go with her husband. That is where she belongs." Lasya consoled her mother. "At least she has given up the stupid idea of divorce."

"Aunty, trust me. She will be fine with me. I may never be able to compete with you and Prakash uncle in terms of loving her. But, I promise you, I will serve her dutifully." Amar promised.

"We trust you. You have proven yourself to be worthy of her many times. My brother Pranav, will be happy to see his daughter with a man like you" said Prakash. Everyone blessed Vennela.

Anirudh and Shruthi were putting Vennela's bags in the car. Aisha, the beautiful neighbour of Dhanunjayas, waved at him. Rishi-Raj introduced him to her during Amar's wedding reception. He waved back with a dreamy expression to annoy Shruthi.  She deliberately injured him with her elbow. "Oh! Sorry. This is what happens when you divert your attention and forget the work at hand."

"Someone's feeling jealous." Anirudh remarked.

"Why would I feel jealous? I pity her. She seems to like you. Poor thing." 

"She likes me? Mind giving me her phone number?" Anirudh teased her. Her ears were red due to anger. She glared at him and stormed away. Anirudh laughed. 

Vennela slept in the car with her head on Amar's lap. "Whatever happened to no touching?" asked Amar, smiling.

"I'm tired. I can't travel in sitting position. If it bothers you, I'll try to sit." She tried to get up.

"No. Don't. Sorry, I was just kidding." He looked worried. He gently massaged her head. 

They reached their home in a few minutes. Vennela was welcomed like a queen. All the servants, who stood on either sides, applauded when Amar helped her get off the car. Her eyes twinkled as they showered flower petals on her. She thanked them.

As the wheelchair neared the main door, Shambhavi stopped them from entering. "Wait. Let me welcome her." 

She circled a plate with a sacred lamp around Vennela's face thrice and applied vermilion on her forehead. Vennela observed that the living room was decorated with flowers.

"What is the need of all this attayya garu?" Vennela asked her.

"You have come back to your house. This is the least I could do" said Shambhavi. They took her to the dining hall for lunch.

Vennela couldn't eat much. "My head is aching." She lay her head on the dining table.

Amar shook her. "She's fainted." He panicked and splashed water on to her face to wake her up.

"I didn't faint. I was just feeling tired." She wiped the water from her hair. "Archana, take me to my room."

"Sorry" Amar tried to follow her. She stopped him. "Have your lunch. She will take me."

Archana used the lift to take her to the first floor. Vennela always disliked the idea of having a lift inside the house. "I never used this lift before. I used to feel that it will make me lazy. But now, I can't use the staircase thanks to my wheelchair."

"Only for a few months" said Archana. "You will get well soon."

"I hope what you say comes true." Vennela reached her room. She felt a sudden rush of emotions as she entered. She reminisced the beautiful moments she spent in that room. She smiled. And then she remembered what happened the last time she was there. She accused Amar of infidelity. The memory brought tears. She did nothing to wipe them. She let the tears flow.

"What's going on here?" Amar brought a bowl of hot soup for her and placed it on the table to cool down.

"Vadina is crying." Archana answered.

"Why?"

"Because you ruined my hairstyle" said Vennela. Amar knew she was lying. He asked Archana to leave.

He sat on the bed and started applying medicine to her legs. She wasn't looking at him. He tickled her left foot to draw her attention. She didn't respond. He tickled again. No response. He pinched her foot. Still no response.

His heart sank. 'Did she lose her sense of touch too?' He decided to test. He took a needle and pricked her foot. 

She yelped in pain. "What are you doing?!!"

"Can you feel the pain?" Amar asked her.

"Of course I do. I'm not a stone." She answered.

"Thank God." Amar felt relieved.

"My husband thanks God when he sees me in pain. I'm so lucky" said Vennela, sarcastically.

"Hey! It's not my fault. You weren't responding" said Amar, defensively. "I thought you lost the sense of touch."

"Oh God! Only you can think like this. Amar, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. By the way, what are you doing here?" Vennela noticed that he was sitting at her feet.

"I was massaging your feet." 

"Really? Didn't I tell you not to waste your time? You need to concentrate on your work. It was one of my conditions." Vennela reminded him.

"My point exactly. You said I have to concentrate on my duties. Serving you is my foremost duty which I cannot neglect." Amar continued massaging her feet.

"But I wanted you to focus on your work. Work as in business related work." Vennela was desperate to make him understand.

"Sorry Mrs. Vennela. You failed to mention this in your condition." Amar smirked.

"You cheat!" She tried to throw a pillow at him but couldn't pick it up as she wasn't strong enough.

Amar hit himself with the pillow. "Happy?"

She sighed. "Amar please please try to understand. You are a talented businessman. Don't waste your time on a woman who may not be able to walk normally again. I won't be able to give you the happiness you deserve. I'm just a burden. Don't strain yourself." 

"Oh God! Not again Vennu. You want me to chase material things? I'm not a money making machine. Let me tell you, I have earned enough to afford a luxurious life. You don't have to worry about me going bankrupt." Amar was angry.

"I didn't mean that. What I mean to say is that, you don't have to do this yourself. Let the servants take care of me." Vennela offered a solution.

"Let me ask you something. What would you have done if it was me who met with the accident? Would you let the servants take care of me? Or will you stay with me 24 X 7 ?" He made her look into his eyes so that she doesn't lie.

She clutched his shirt tightly and answered honestly. "I would have stayed with you till the end of my time."

"That settles the matter. I brought soup for you." He poured the soup into a small bowl and tasted it. "It is cool and less spicy. You can have it." He made her drink it.

"Amar, what if I never walk again? You may have to carry me in your arms everyday? Won't people laugh at us?" Vennela asked him.

"Did people laugh at your parents when they carried you in their arms?" 

"That was different. I was their daughter."

"And you are a my wife. My wife is never a burden to me. Serving you is not my duty but my right." Amar spoke with a rare emotion in his eyes.

"That's exactly what mom used to say." She kissed his hand and embraced him.

"I suppose this is also a part of your conditions?" asked Amar.

"The condition says you cannot touch me without my consent. What I didn't mention was, I am allowed to touch you whenever I want." She winked at him.

---***---

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