Chapter 16

Blithe

@nancy56

#Faded#16


People never knew the earth was round until they traveled and risked their life on an imaginary edge. We, too went away in opposite directions, thinking that we won't meet again, until our world again met at a circle, bringing us closer than we had started.

Shravan squarely looked at the small abode of his ladylove. He had driven straight from the cantonment, marking an end of his field duty in Leh. He stood, with his cheeks scared, his one arm supported in a cast. It pained like a symphony in his blood, but the warm air of being back at his place was shadowing everything he felt. He just stood across the small manicured garden, Suman Tiwari possessed, when he heard his mother scream. Okay! That was a surprise. 


Kavita ran to her son, who stood in front of her like a dream. He had this habit of bragging in the house after months together, giving her a small heart attack every time. 'Bless you!' she murmured as he bent down to touch her feet. She could barely contain her shivering as she measured the hurt of his arm. She fanned her palms slowly in his hair, traveling to his war cuts, but then he just flashed a million-watt smile. 'Back in a single piece, yet again.' He tried cracking a joke until he was all shut up-ed in a tight embrace.


Shravan could feel relief washing his senses, as he could take in the familiar scent of comfort- his mother bought with herself. It didn't matter if the crown of her head touched his chest, that to his 6 feet she was just a 5feet 2inch, she could still hold his soul together in those heavenly arms. 'Do I get the honor of knowing your presence here, at this time?' Shravan asked.

'I like the girl who sits inside, waiting for you. She just came back from work.' Kavita chuckled, and Shravan couldn't believe his ears.

'Seriously?' his lips curled in an infinite grin, as his mother nodded in affirmation.

'I am going for an evening walk. I will be back with some sweets.' Kavita left, as she merrily walked for a venture. 

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Suman had watched him standing there all by himself when he had entered through the gate. She also saw Kavita Aunty running to her son, she saw him hugging his mother. There were 100's of things in the background, even now, when she stood just behind him, about 4 feet away. His back was stiff, his one arm cast with a fracture. She wanted to run and tell him that how much she had missed him, that how lucky she was to get him back, but something tied inside her stomach, so hard that it was difficult to move. Rather she would have loved to paint the moment, imprint in her eyeballs- the strong sense of rhapsody she felt while just looking at his breathing figure- the euphoria that ran in her every vein. As silly it might sound, she wasn't able to move.

I moved around, as her scent hit my senses. I could feel her watching me with an intent to store me forever inside her. It felt special. They say its a boyish thing to do. To stare, till she blushes down. But Suman Tiwari had proudly switched the roles. She bore in me, watching me again and again. So, I kinda helped her. I stood, relaxed, and rooted to my spot, fulfilling her wish. She was standing a size leaner, her heavy hair made up in a loose bun as she wore a plain cream kurta. There were knots and zig-zag designs on the seams of her kurta- rosewood in color, which complimented her curves. And then after 2 minutes of watching her look happy and helpless at the same time, I walked across and lifted her in my sane arm- the one which was intact for her. She resisted my move, making me realize that I was fractured but I didn't give a dime to her this request. I held her by her tiny waist and lifted her so that her nose crashed in the nape of my neck. Slowly her arms curled around my upper body, as she let us stand in the beauty of silence. 



Shravan had a cut on the left side of his cheek luminescence. His forehead sported two bandaids. His face looked thinner and he was tanned. Period.

I checked his scars again and again as he moved inside, carrying me tight with his arm. I was all cheeky at his intent to not leave me for a second and almost thanked his mother for giving me the opportunity to speak with him alone. I thought if Shravan had learned the art of timing from his mother- he never faltered- not when he was an iridescent teenager, not when he is an Army officer. I could barely speak when he decided to speak up.

'I think you love my scars more than me.' he pretended to huff.

'For a second' Suman smirked 'I think I did. But then I looked into your eyes and forgot everything.' She laughed.

'Then there are a lot of things you need to see.' Shravan's intentions weren't clear but Suman almost punched him to change first and freshen up. But before he could get up, she again cupped him in a hug, his head touching the nape of her neck this time and murmured thanks to all the lords and gods she had prayed to in the meantime. She gave him a kiss at the crown of his head.

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As Shravan wore his towel along his neck, Suman fiddled with a nursing kit. She looked cute reading the content of the first aid box, scrunching her nose, and then disposing of some expired medicines. 'I swear...' she murmured under her breath, cursing her irresponsibility about keeping dried up stuff in the kit.

'What's in there love?' Shravan walked and sat beside her.

For milliseconds Suman let his endearing address wash her eardrums as she felt immobile. She looked up at him, sitting in his vest- as he emitted the scent of the shaving cream he might have used a few moments ago. It didn't escape her notice that she loved the minty fragrance he had bought with him. She gave him a peck at his cheek and then returned to her work at once. 

Shravan felt being thrown into a trance. After so many days of being all alone and all by his own he had almost forgotten to be touched. He felt her lips, like a soft touch of rose petals, and barely wanted to be without it. 

'Open up.' She commanded in her most imperative voice.

'What?' Shravan couldn't help but spit the question.

'I mean, take off your vest.' She smiled, looking at his hysterical expression. 

'When did you become a nurse?' He threw his part of the debate, in the voice he had forgotten 7 years ago.

'5 minutes ago.' She responded with equal rigidity.


Shravan looked at her, her eyes swimming with the same intensity as his. He could look at her and tell her that this where his search has ended. That he was finally at peace.

When he took off his vest, Suman went for a gasp. She would have loved to run her hand all over him if the occasion was different, but alas it wasn't. But then there were battle scars which made him all the more attractive, the rash which screamed his love for the country had now her medicined hands running across it- screaming her love for him. She traveled to his chest and saw her name inscribed on it. S-U-M-A-N, she traced every word of her existence on the left side of his chest- straight on his heart. 

'I carried you here.' He touched the tattoo 'The only thing I never felt wrong about.' he chuckled.

Suman let her fingers trail over her existence and then leaned over to mark it with her lips. She could feel his heart going on a race, beating hard against his ribs. 

Before she could catch his gaze and measure his happiness he had already captured her for a kiss which stretched as long as her mind bubbled with his breath and skin.
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Part 17 Page 21