Chapter 2

Blithe

@nancy56

Faded Part2

I would smile, look at you, but don't let me say a word. Our silence is worth a whole lifetime, cause maybe we loved each other.

Shravan was still holding up to Suman's changed demeanor, till she measured her words- and instantly looked down at her hands, fidgeting. She was in big trouble and she admitted that she had lost herself for a while but she would, of course, make for it. Her mind rushed on lines of how well she could craft an apology for her senior, who, for the last few minutes was just silent and sitting. How can she not comment on the god awful comment he passed in his god awful ego! 
A Thanks, and then bombard the receiver with shame. Lovely!

But putting aside her anger, (which was actually concern and enormous fright for his life) she looked up. Before she could say anything, Shravan put her hand in his, patted the back of her knuckles, and nodded his head. 'Take care.' He commanded in his cold voice, which looked so warm when he had expressed his disappointment on her impulsiveness. She felt her words dissolve in her throat, like eating ice cream in summer. She saw him stand up, straighten his shoulders, stiff his spine. The man she thought was 6 feet, looked suddenly a few inches higher, unbearable for her to see and recognize. She opened her mouth and forced a few words or she may just find it difficult to flutter an eye lest sleep. 'Major!' She didn't know but she enjoyed it when he generally turned around on this address, like the hero she had imagined in her dreams. If Army was her dream, then Army men were, of course, the ideal men- anyway.

'I apologize, in my fair judgment, I shouldn't have used any profanity, especially when you were expressing your views.' She put her eyes on the floor, gulping at the sadness which surrounded her heart. She had worked so, so hard - had topped each class, but still, she felt tied to the system of ranks in expressing her viewpoints. It was such a suck all.

'And in my fair judgment' Shravan could see the fine lines of pain on Suman's forehead, how disappointed she was with her own words 'You said it all right. You are a free woman, a free Captain, a free server of the nation. Nothing can bind you for doing good to your unit or country. Not me, not anybody.' He turned his heels around the minute he stopped his speech, even if he badly wanted to read the happiness of her lips and the glow of her cheeks. Even if he had always craved for her one smile, even if he had once loved her.

Suman lifted her head and was welcomed with the sight of an exiting major. The man who stood tall across all the officers in the room, whose voice was crisp- so sharp that it may cut your skin. And then when she heard him say those lines, her eyes closed in concentration she remembered a 17-year-old boy, with wavy hair falling all over the place, maybe dancing on a DJ, or clenching his jaws to look even cooler than possible. Both ways, he had all the eyes in the room on him. And Suman laughed on the memory that was no more sweet, no more bitter. It was just, a memory, of her first love.

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Early up 5 in the morning, Suman was all blinking bad with the tire of rest.

Tire of rest.
yeah, you heard it right!

She could not imagine staying up there, till late and doing nothing. She deserved a run, a reward of not moving at all last night. She stared at her phone, which won't ring at least for an hour now. All her relatives might be having a good sleep in their beds, and nobody would be reminded of calling her up. So, she, or as Suman Tiwari would decide, pulled out of her bed, in her pink floral, (she hadn't worn such things for god knows what time) and seeing the inability of her left arm she decided that she won't make a bun. Her hair was full of split ends, frizzled maybe but she had no option but to leave them open. Moreover, it was just the hospital campus, barely any officer would see her like this. So here went Captain Suman Tiwari for her normal morning walk, in an unusual condition.

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Shravan decided to take on his shower, at 5:15 sharp. He had already run for like, 10 km, a bit light as his body too asked for rest after a rather hectic mission. Before that, as soon as the water touched his bare body, he glanced at his schedule. And suddenly something crossed his mind. 'I should call her.' Such was his hurry, that he decided to cancel his shower for another five minutes. He had decided to put Suman on a Holiday, at least for today. She was the only one to escape a close attack, and so it was his duty to provide her with some rest. She was a teammate, an asset to his victory.

He swiped to call for the tenth time in the last 10 minutes, his calmness testing him every other second. With an irritation sitting at his brows, he smashed the phone on his bed. No matter what, Suman, hasn't ignored any of his calls since the last year of her joining. She always greeted him with a "good morning sir", which he took like a snack. Light, sweet, and energizing.
'Silly Girl!' He mouthed as he pulled up a t-shirt, kicking his plans of a bath for the time. He would run to the hospital and look for his captain himself.

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Suman traced her steps on the grass, dewed with drops of water. How much she has missed this feeling of relaxement, and today she was unusually jovial. 'Morphine could do that to you.' She could hear Latika tell her all about analgesics and its effects. The calming one, the one which had killed her pain.

Shravan hurried his steps in the corridor, finally reaching the room. He stood outside for a moment, knocked, and waited. He put his hands on his back, stretching a little, and then knocked again. His body was nearly having an earthquake in anxiety, just like he had it yesterday before seeing Suman all fine. Having waited for what seemed like several minutes he muttered a 'SODD OFF!' under his breath and pushed through to filter in the room. He was welcomed by cold breezes of solidarity, a clumsy bed leaving strains of Suman's body on it. He could see her phone lying on the bed stand, her sandals missing. 

'Three claps for Suman Tiwari, where the hell...' before he could curse more, he saw a girl, so familiar yet so far, walking in the grass through the hospital window. She lazily walked around, and might even start dancing with such a wavy aura. And yeah, she was the captain he was finding. Without wasting a moment he sailed his ship towards her.

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Shravan struggled to enter, into her personal space. She wasn't wearing her uniform, her tresses were dancing devoid of the bun she made as a routine. She wore a floral, and her figure was just so visible. And this made his stomach churn. He did have the privilege of curling around that waist for a couple dance, a few years ago, but not now. He too wasn't in his uniform. He just had a jacket, maybe that would do to express the purpose of his visit.

It was professional, completely.

Even when he thought about it, he still wanted to have a chit-chat, which went away from the arena of the Army. Not too far, it may hurt. 

But when was it toxic to smile? 

When was it toxic to not have a nightmare every night? 

When was it toxic to sleep happy and wake up with a shine?

Just when he proceeded to get away from his subconscious state, he heard a familiar Good Morning. Suman Tiwari had caught him, she always did.
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Part 3 page 3