More than a week had passed without speaking much to each other except for a few formal conversations. I was timely feeding Mr. Luthra with his medicinal doses accompanied by diet food, distilled water and proper sleep. His health was visibly improving and Mr. Karthik used to meet us periodically for twice every single day.

Mr. Luthra would sometimes stay awake for fear of something at night, holding onto my palms to pacify his nerves in sleep, and when he used to wake up in my arms the next morning, he used to get surprised and asked for an apology. At other times, I used to find his eyes welling up in tears and his lips murmuring something, but whenever I questioned him, he used to avoid or ignore me.

Under my careful supervision and his capability of tolerating the high doses of medicines, he was speedily getting cured with the passing of each day. He could now stand on his limbs without support for a few minutes at a stretch and move about freely inside the room. The wound below the knees was almost healed and a new layer of the epidermis had emerged on the skin above.

His catheter was also withdrawn and most of the bandages on the upper part of his body was removed. A little portion of the bandages was left out and I had decided to do away with the last dressing very soon. Unlike other patients, Mr. Luthra was showing improvement more rapidly, signifying a positive development of our case.

The reason behind his fears, the hesitation with his phone calls or fiddling with his mobile after a call was still undiscovered. I always feared to enquire him because he would simply ignore me. Though I had discussed about the issue with Mr. Karthik, we both were clueless about it. He didn't want to enrage Mr. Luthra and adversely affect his health by stressing him with random interrogations. I also equally avoided piquing him with my silly curtness every now and then.

We were not much on talking terms until one fine day, I received a mysterious call on his phone. He was in the shower when his phone rang. It was from an unknown number and I hesitated to touch his personal mobile. But the cause of his hesitation and fiddling with his phone were still disturbing me at the back of my head, and I chose to commit the necessary crime.

My lips trembled as I mumbled over the speaker. "He..hello.."

"You are a murderer Karan Luthra, a bloody killer. Your life will be hell for making my life hell. You'll be ditched by your own people....and..."

Random derogatory threats flowed swiftly into my ears for the past two minutes before the call got disconnected on it's own. The skin of my palms ran terribly cold and a shard chill rushed up my veins.

It was a male voice!

Mr. Luthra's fear was now clearly evident on me. The way the mysterious man spat in a broken voice, thrilling me dreadfully to such an extent, I realised why Mr. Luthra used to be so smitten by horror. It took me longer than two minutes to regain my senses from the sudden attack of spiteful words, drenching my skin with profuse sweat.

I could hear Mr. Luthra turning off the faucet, giving me hints of his reappearance any time. I needed to do something to reach to the mysterious caller before he moved out of the bathroom. What if the calls could give us certain hints of the suspicious attackers?

I hastily noted down the phone number in my notebook and replaced his mobile on the nightstand again. What I did next was to move to the window and stare outside in order to avoid his doubtful eyes on me, I mean in any case if he found out what I did a couple of minutes ago and chide me for no better reason.

The door to the loo clicked open and he moved out wearing only a white coloured linen towel, the upper half of his body naked. The wounded scar near his chiseled chest was clearly visible and I tried hard to contain the brewing tingles inside my skin.

Handsomeness was dripping from his strikingly muscular figure, debonair at it's peak. He wasn't fat, he wasn't slim, but he was just the epitome of perfection. His fair physique was firmly defined with almost no glimpses of sun-kissed tan spots anywhere. He was a pure example of graciousness.

I was studying him head to toe from the corner of my eyes when he stared in my direction for a couple of seconds before ignoring me at once. He moved to his wardrobe and took out his clothes, most probably a pair of jeans and a full sleeved shirt. I avoided to stare at him while he was changing as a little more ogle would arouse my feelings in some other direction.

I heard his voice all of a sudden. He was struggling for something and in a hoarse voice, he murmured, "Can you help me adjust my collar?"

I turned and saw him struggling to wear the shirt properly. During the days he was relying on the wheelchair, Mr. Karthik used to regularly change the clothes for him and did the needful as a father would do to his son. Now when he was free from the wheelchair after getting healed to some extent, Mr. Luthra was trying to help himself in everything.

This was the first time after so many days that he was asking for help and I couldn't deny him. Maybe out of my professional ethics or the soft corner developing in my heart for him, I didn't want to refuse him. His dimpled innocent smile and holding onto my palms during sleep were urging me to sympathise with him.

I gradually strode towards him and stopped abreast him, facing each other directly after so many days. The stare of his attractive brown eyes into mine caught me off-guard as I traversed my fingers through his neck to adjust his collar.

"I will help." I mumbled and he stood motionlessly without an another word.

He was much taller than me and I had to almost stretch the calf muscles of my ankles to reach his collarbones. My limbs began to tremble with the temporary accentuation of my height until he caught hold of my waist tenderly, pulling me closer to him.

My eyes widened with his firm touch while he soughed like the winds gushing away in a faraway remote land. I fixed his collar for him and wanted to relax my feet flat on the ground when I felt his gentle hold tightening on me.

I was speechless and could only manage to twitch an eyebrow when he bent lower to peck the top of my forehead. The kiss was sincere with all the passions poured in it while I randomly squeezed my eyes shut.

His warm lips brushed against my forehead and a sudden gust of pleasure ran tingling through my skin. The fragrance of his cologne smelled heavenly and intoxicating to a greater extent until he released his grip on my waist and I found myself reverting back to normal.

"Mr. Luthra...this..." I muttered under my accelerated breathing while shushed my thin lips with his forefinger.

"Don't call me Mr. Luthra anymore. You have earned the rights of calling me Karan from now on. It is only for you that I'm up on my limbs and this single forehead kiss was the mark of gratitude, sweetheart." He repeated his words very casually but it meant a lot for me.

He, being a billionaire must have been in the habit of calling different girls as sweethearts, darlings, etcetera, but for me it was very unusual and rare.

"Do you want to thank me, really?" I asked him with a frown on my forehead.

"I don't want to degrade your kindness by thanking you with a mere couple of words and insult all your efforts. So I chose to show my gratitude in this way." He touched his lips with his forefinger before pointing at my forehead, thus explaining the reason behind his action, with a warm and welcoming smile.

"Hmm..." I was at a loss of words with whatever had just taken place. I had served so many patients in the past three years of my service but nobody had expressed his gratitude in such a way earlier. It was something novice I was experiencing and the heartfelt moment had already captured my weak heart.

"You must be wondering of my cold behavior for the past few days and I want to explain you. I have realised my mistake I committed that evening. I was trying to behave like an ideal husband as if I possessed you but it was not right. I'm sorry for it." He hung his head low before me.

Mr. Luthra...eh... Karan used to always realise his mistake after a time gap and politely ask for an apology. He took enough time before arriving at conclusions for any incident. But I was drastically the opposite to him, every decision I would take was always in a haste, landing me into trouble every now and then.

"I have forgiven you as a wife would... or rather as a false wife." I smirked and he smiled, intelligent enough to understand that his innocent apologies were enough to melt my heart.

"And I'm going to befriend you as a false husband." He chuckled before wrapping his arm around my shoulders to give me a light hug.

"You weren't supposed to befriend me, were you?" I wanted to tease him then and there.

Our cold war was coming to an end and I wanted to know why his behavior towards me had changed all of a sudden.

"Who said so?" He asked, his mouth wide open.

"Shut your mouth otherwise you'll catch flies." I held my right palm against his lips and he dropped his jaw in a second.

"You aren't telling me what you were thinking of me. Why do you think I can't befriend you?" He asked again, his face clouding with temporary puckers.

"It wasn't supposed to be, Mr. Luth... Karan. The way you were giving me a cold shoulder since that evening, there wasn't any chance for you to be friendly with me." I blurted out without a second thought, being always the straightforward lady.

"Then you are mistaken, Preeta. You haven't studied Karan Luthra as much as you do for your other patients," He said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"As if you have studied me and I didn't do the vice-versa?" I was confused with the way he was suddenly amused.

"Huh poor joke, girl! I have always wished to end this formality between us. After all, we have been sharing the same room for so many days and didn't even directly speak to each other except for some necessary conversations. We are married to each other in pen and paper but still behave like strangers living in the same room," He spoke in his normal baritone.

He sounded witty but he was right. We were living together but like strangers, yet he always slept clutching my palms at night. He was himself forwarding his hand to befriend me and a friendship couldn't ruin us I suppose.

"Do you lament for sharing the room with me?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows.

He slapped his forehead before continuing, "I don't but...I lament for not being able to overcome my weaknesses earlier and move out of this formal relationship with you."

"You don't lament for sharing the room but you are ranting to me for not being able to get friendly with me. Is it true that you have shared room with others before?" I and my straightforward questions would never come to an end.

"Were you born idiot? A man is trying to validate his points to become your friend and you are being a Nancy Drew all of a sudden! Don't you trust me? We have been staying in the same room for so many days but have I ever tried to indignifyingly touch you or take advantage of you?" He took a random step forward, stopping very near me. He was still feeling uneasy to walk because of the semi-dried wound but it was manageable.

"Karan... I..." I trailed off for the lack of words.

He held my shoulders in his firm grip and whispered in a pitch audible only to me, "You are the first one with whom I am sharing my room so keep your lame jokes aside. It was you who had proximity issues and I was just maintaining a safe distance from you."

My eyelashes flickered for a number of times, enthralled with the way he justified his truth before me. I wondered if he was trying to woo me or simply trying to become my friend. But it was not clearly evident that the cold war between us had ended and his stiff heart had softened because of my caring nature.

"So you really want to become my friend?" I deadpanned, not sure of what to speak next.

"I really want to befriend you because you are a very innocent and straightforward girl. I respect you, even more than a mere admiration. You cared for me in a way no one had ever done before. You sat awakened beside me for whole nights to keep me safe. You cannot be only my friend but you are my guardian angel. You are the one who held me in you arms when I was even unable to move."

He held my shoulders closer to his chest while marking those meaningful words for me. His face had held honest expressions which could instantly mesmerise anyone like me.

I placed my palms on top of his and caressed them as I spoke, "Nothing will ever happen to you when I'm there. You have earned my friendship, Karan."

My eyes were welled up with salty tears when he wiped them with the tip of his thumbs. "Why are you crying for no reason, Preeta? Did my words turn you so emotional? I'm sorry then."

I gently shoved his hands. "You just now called me a friend and and excusing yourself with a sorry!"

"So sick of me! I should remember that there's no sorry and thank you in a friendship." He tightly embraced me this time, fitting every inch of my curves into his. I could feel his warm exhale near the sensitive corner of my neck and it must have meant that he had found a confined shelter in me.

As we broke the hug, he held my hands again. "So from now, we'll be working together on the case."

"Sure thing, my dear false husband." I muttered as I prepared to move into the bathroom for my morning shower.

"And be prepared for my silly rantings every now and then, my guardian angel," He screamed with a loud laughter behind me as I shut the door to the loo.

Guardian angel!

It sounded so sweet and ravishing. He had finally given me a respectful tag which I was beginning to adore already!

__________

To be continued...