Time ki problem nahi hai, Prerna thought to herself as she paced in worry. How would she tell them that she has a fear of injections? Mr. Bajaj would surely laugh at her childishness.

What's it to you if he sees you as a child? It's not your fault he married someone younger than him.

Prerna had never gone to a clinic without her mother, and here she was with a man who she had no relationship with.

Prerna was sitting on the bed when the nurse came in with her cart, with too many things on it.

"Y-yeh sabh kya hai?" Prerna asked, pointing at the the tray.

"Doctor ne aap ke liye vaccines likhi hain. Drip se pehle aap ko lagani hain," the nurse told her.

Come on! More than one needles?! And she had thin veins too, meaning that the nurse would have to prick her a few times to get the needle in the right place.

"Roll up your sleeve, please," the nurse directed her, and Prerna nervously rolled up her sleeve.

The nurse grabbed her arm and just as she knew, the nurse couldn't see a vein. She massaged her elbow pit, and did a lot of slapping and trying to get her veins to show up.

The nurse laughed. "Aap ki veins hain bhi ya nahi?"

Prerna nervously laughed in response.

"Give me a second, I'll go get a tourniquet," the nurse said and left the room.

Prerna took her chance and bolted out of the exam room. She bumped into Rishabh in the hallway.

"All done?" He asked, confused at her state.

"Y-yeah, all done. Abh chalein?" Prerna grabbed his arm and was dragging Rishabh to the exit when the nurse started calling after her.

Rishabh noticed her rolled up sleeve and stopped, yanking her back to him. Prerna reflexively put her hands out, ending up with her hands on his shoulder before she caught herself and pulled back.

"I think kuch reh gaya," he said, a smile slowly coming on his face.

"Please! Mujhe injections nahi pasand. I promise main sari medicine le loon gi, sara khana loon gi! But main ne injections nahi lagwane!" Prerna pleaded.

"You should have thought about that before. Let's go," he started taking her back to the room but Prerna dragged her feet.

Rishabh stopped and scooped her into his arms while Prerna resisted.

"Aap ko bhi Kukki ki tarha bribe kar na pade ga?"

"Aap ke saara bank balance ke liye bhi nahi karna mujhe. I'm serious, Mr. Bajaj. Mujhe needle phobia hai. Agar aap mujhe pehle bata dete..."

"Agar pehle bata deta toh aap kabhi nahi aatin," Rishabh said, already back in the room.

"At least mentally ready toh hoti," Prerna whined as he put her down on the bed.

More nurses had come in the room in case they needed to help. Prerna tried to get up but Rishabh kept her down.

"Ms. Sh- Mrs. Bajaj. Mrs. Bajaj, listen," Rishabh tried to convince her. "Yeh aap ke liye nahi, aap ke baby ke liye hain. Injections mein five seconds lagte hain, at most. Agar na hue, aur aage jaa ke aur badi problem ho gayi toh..." he didn't need to finish that thought.

Prerna sat still at his words. "Lekin main..."

Rishabh fit his hand against hers, clenching his fingers. "You look at me. Dekhein gi nahi toh dar kam lage ka."

Prerna looked at their clasped hands. Rishabh squeezed her hand to reassure her.

"Take deep breaths," he instructed and Prerna followed his model. "Relax."

"Oh, I forgot. Kukki ne aap se interview kar na tha. Morning rush mein reh gaya. Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

"Y-yeah, sure," Prerna nodded.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked, pretending to type on his phone in his other hand.

Prerna answered his questions, and each time he asked her to explain why. She didn't notice the injections.

"Umm, injections ka kya..." she finally looked away from Mr. Bajaj and found a drip already on her other elbow.

"All this fuss for nothing," Rishabh teased and stepped away. "Do you mind if I leave? Woh..."

"Yeah, it, it's fine," Prerna replied without needing and explanation.

"Thanks. Main ne uh, dusri car mangwa li hai ghar se. Woh aapko ghar le jae ga."

"Thank you," Prerna said, and Rishabh simply smiled tightly before starting to walk away. "Mr. Bajaj!"

Rishabh stopped and titled his slightly in her direction.

"Thank you," she said again. She was trying to thank him for all that he had done for her.

Prerna arrived back home close to noon, having spent most of the morning at the clinic. She was hungry, but went up to change out of her hospital clothes before going to the kitchen. In the kitchen, she noticed more containers and appliances on the shelves than usual.

"Yeh, cheezein cabinets mein nahi rakhni?" Prerna asked as she got herself a glass of water.

The kitchen head, Ms. Briganza, smiled at her. "Yeh aap ke liye hain, ma'am," she said, and introduced all the new things to Prerna. The big container was full of puri. The serving style dish had all the components for a diy pani puri or chaat etc., and the juice dispensers had different waters.

"Now you don't have to eat street food, ma'am!" Ms. Briganza said proudly.

Prerna hadn't ever told the staff what she liked, but she had stopped for street food when Mr. Bajaj was bringing her home. Prerna smiled awkwardly at the kitchen worker, both of them recognizing that this was Rishabh's doing.

"Aap mujhe sunroom main laa ke de sakti hain?" Prerna asked, not used to ordering people for her own needs.

"Sure, ma'am," the lady nodded, and Prerna went to sit in the sunroom.

There was a half circle window, looking out at the backyard. The window was sort of like a nook, with enough space to sit comfortably on. Prerna picked up a cushion off the bench and sat down, hugging the pillow as she looked out the window.

Her life couldn't be more perfect, but that perfection got in the way of her own wants. She came here for Kukki. She came here for Anurag. She hadn't come here for herself. Why didn't anyone realize that?

Mr. Bajaj took care of her as if she was naturally his wife. Her family had almost broken all contact with her for her last second decision. And Anurag? Anurag couldn't see what she was going through for his sake. For their sake.

Ms. Briganza came in with a trolley of snacks, but Prerna didn't have an appetite anymore. "Sorry, mujhe bhook nahi hai," she tried to dismiss the lady, but she didn't go away.

Ms. Briganza sat across Prerna instead. "Sir really cares about your health, ma'am," she chuckled, recalling something only she knew so far. "Mr. Bajaj ne full schedule banaya hai day ka. Kabh aap ko medicine dena hai, kabh din mein snacks dene hai..."

The lady told her all the ways Rishabh had arranged for her care, and Prerna listened.

Why couldn't he just ignore her? He didn't owe her anything. Why care?

How was she supposed to stay alone with Mr. Bajaj for a whole two weeks while Kukki was boarding at school?

She decided she didn't have to be. She needed to refocus. If she was only here for Kukki, she would only be here when Kukki was here. Make her life easy, so she wouldn't lose sight of what she wanted.

Mr. Bajaj was nice, but she loved Anurag. She had gone through many trials for him. Her being with Mr. Bajaj was driving Anurag crazy, and she needed to fix that. She didn't want him to lose sight of their future. She needed to remind him that she was still his. That he didn't need to antagonize Mr. Bajaj for anything.

Prerna spent the day keeping herself busy in the house. She got to know the workers better, she walked in the lawn, and she face timed her family. Even Shekhar called her later in the day, just to check up. His voice sounded like he wanted to say something, but he didn't ask anything out of the blue.

Mr. Bajaj came home later than usual, bringing work with him. He went to his room and got straight to work. After some time passed, Prerna came up.

"Aap, yahaan? Everything alright?" Rishabh asked as he turned his laptop down.

"Haan, all good. Woh, niche koi tha nahi, aur Kukki bhi ghar pe nahi hai. Toh, akele ghutan ho rahi thi. Coffee?" She passed him one of the mugs in her hand.

"Thanks," he said, taking it. "Lekin aap..."

Prerna made a face. "Coffee nahi ha. Some herbal tea," she raised her mug to him.

"Yeah, you can stay here. But, uh, aaj meri kuch international calls hai, so I'll need to talk," Rishabh warned her.

"Please, don't stop on my account. Waise bhi mujhe abhi silence nahi acchi lag rahi," Prerna went to their closet and got some book to read. She sat on her side of the bed, close to the window, and quietly read her book while Mr. Bajaj was busy with his meetings.

Once he took a break, Prerna was considering asking him something, but didn't want to bother him.

"Something on your mind?" Mr. Bajaj asked.

"Woh, main soch rahi thi, ke main kuch days ke liye ma ke paas reh loon. Waise bhi Kukki abhi ghar pe nahi hai..."

"You're right. Jabh Kukki ghar pe nahi hai, so you don't have any reason to stay here," he agreed. "Aur, you don't need my permission to go home, Ms. Sharma. Aap jabh jaana chaahein jaa sakti hain. Just make sure you're here before Kukki comes home."

Prerna nodded in understanding and both returned to whatever they were doing. Eventually, while Mr. Bajaj kept talking, Prerna fell asleep listening to his voice. Once he noticed, Rishabh started speaking low, or staying quiet. After a while, Prerna got agitated and woke up.

"Woh, silence mein neend nahi aa rahi," Prerna chuckled. "So, aap bol sakte ho."

Mr. Bajaj smirked and nodded, wishing her good night before returning to speaking at normal.