Chapter 5

They were just leaving the canteen when somebody entering collided with Naina, knocking her off balance. Raj quickly reached out a hand to steady her, holding her arm above the elbow until she regained her balance. It was only after making sure that she was fine that he looked up to check who had bumped into them.
     
"I'm so sorry," The smooth voice said very sweetly, "I was in such a hurry that I didn't see you there."

"That's alright," Raj told her, "No harm done."

"Aren't you going to introduce me, Captain Rajveer?" The very elegant woman wearing a sari asked, "If I'm not wrong, then this is the person that all of us have been anxious to meet."

"Of course I'll introduce you," Raj replied calmly, "Dr Mishra, this is my wife Naina. Naina, this is Dr Ritu Mishra, the academy's psychiatrist."

Naina politely put her hand out in greeting, and as Ritu shook it, she looked Naina up and down, intending to gain a better understanding of who the enemy actually was. After all, this girl had managed to ruin all of her plans simply by the very fact of her existence.

Naina was how Ritu might have imagined the wife of the oh-so-good-and-proper Captain Rajveer would be. She looked like a perfectly sweet, traditional and modest girl, just right for the goody goody army Captain. Looking over her rival, Ritu decided that she wouldn't be much of a challenge, all she would need to do was sew some doubt in the girl's mind and she would quite quickly be gone.

"You know it was quite a shock to find out that you existed," Ritu told her casually, "Before we found out that Raj's wife was coming to KMA, none of us even knew that he was married." She turns to Raj, a sweet smile on her face, "It was very bad of you, you know." She tells him, "You should've told us from the very beginning before you broke so many hearts."

Raj glances down at Naina uncomfortably, hoping that she doesn't take Dr Mishra's comments in the wrong way. He knows that she's been trying to flirt with him for the last month, and if he had been single then he would probably have been interested. But no matter what the circumstances of his marriage were, he takes his vows very seriously. However it would be very easy for Naina to get the wrong idea about him based upon this comment.

Raj needn't have worried, Naina understood perfectly why he might not have wanted to mention her to anybody. After all, if they had known he had a wife then it would've led to questions about why she wasn't there, questions that he wouldn't have been able to answer. However there was something that she hadn't liked about this woman's tone of voice, almost as if she was trying to suggest something about the way Rajveer had been behaving while Naina wasn't there. If there was one thing that Naina didn't appreciate, then it was people who created misunderstandings.

"It was nothing like that, Dr Mishra." Raj replied, trying to keep his tone calm even as he glanced at Naina who was regarding Ritu without any expression. "I just like to keep my private and professional lives separate."

"I agree," Naina said calmly, surprising Raj quite a bit. "There was no reason for Rajveer to discuss our marriage with anybody at KMA." Her expression doesn't change at all, and Raj realises that she has probably gotten used to hiding her feelings over the years.

However Dr Mishra's expression does change slightly, as her jaw tightens almost as if in annoyance. "I heard that you're studying medicine," she tells Naina sweetly, "So that makes us almost colleagues. What made you decide to become a doctor?"

However Raj decides that was quite enough for one day, he knows Naina is tired, and he's in no mood to deal with this right now. The less that everybody finds out about Naina's past the better, especially the resident psychiatrist. "You'll have to leave the psycho analysis for another day, Dr Mishra." He tells her, trying to keep his tone light, "Naina is quite tired after her journey, I just brought her to the canteen so that she could eat her lunch but I think it's best that she gets some rest now."

Before Ritu can say anything else, he quickly steers Naina out of the canteen, his hand back on her elbow. Naina doesn't protest, she really is exhausted after having almost no sleep during the night journey on the bus. She also realises what Raj realises, that it's better for the residents of KMA not to learn too much about her past. Because Naina knows that the moment anybody finds out the truth about her identity, Rajveer's mission may be compromised.

Reaching his quarters, Raj walks her inside to the bedroom, making sure that she's properly settled.

"If you need anything at all, I'll be in classroom 105 for most of the afternoon," he tells her, "You can always send an orderly to find me or go and see Dr Shalini."

"It's okay," Naina reassures him, "I think I'll take a nap and then freshen up, I shouldn't need anything at all."

"Then I'll see you in the evening," Raj promises her, and leaves, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he's gone, Naina curls up on the bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes. Within a few minutes she's sound asleep.

**

The cadets were relaxing outside in the sunshine while they waited for Major Nair to arrive for their next drill, grateful that they had a bit of extra time off.

"Well I think she's really sweet," Pooja remarked happily, "I'm so glad that my Veer has the perfect Zaara!"

Huda looked a bit annoyed, still embarrassed by the mistake that he had made earlier. "Yaar, why is it that simple, boring guys like Captain Rajveer get such beautiful girls? It's injustice, it really is. Girls like that should be with dudes like Huda."

Yudi scoffed at that. "Dude, look at yourself and then look at Captain Rajveer. He's a hero, and you only think that you're one."

"Tere to…" Huda got up, intending to chase Yudi, until Ali stepped in, shaking his head slightly at their behaviour.

"Rehne do, Hudabhai." He told him, "You must admit that Captain Rajveer doesn't have any equal as a soldier or a gentleman. Of course he should have a good wife."

Alekh had stayed silent while they discussed it, but even he was thinking about Captain Rajveer's wife. The others had noticed that she was sweet or that she was beautiful but he had noticed something else entirely. As somebody who had suffered in life, he recognised the signs of somebody else who had been equally as hurt. It was obvious in the hidden pain in her eyes, the quiet sadness in the way she sat and held herself.

Alekh didn't say much because he chose to observe instead. And he had definitely observed the protective way that Captain Rajveer acted around his wife, the way he glanced at her when she wasn't looking, with a concerned expression. He knew there was a story behind all this, but Alekh felt no need to find out what it was. It was their business not his, and he certainly wasn't going to mention what he was thinking to anybody else.

Their conversation was interrupted by Major Nair's arrival and all of the cadets quickly stood to attention, knowing very well what would happen if the Major caught them slacking off.

**

Naina woke up three hours later, slightly disorientated and unsure of where she was. It took her a moment to look around the room to remember where she had arrived and what she was doing there. Naina stretched and decided that she had probably slept enough for the time being, otherwise she wouldn't sleep at all that night. Still feeling tired, she took a shower in order to freshen up, dressed and then came out to the main room looking for something to do.

Her college didn't start until tomorrow, and Rajveer was currently busy teaching a class. Naina remembered his words from earlier and decided that she would head to the infirmary to see Dr Shalini, perhaps she would be able to be of some assistance. After all, so far besides the cadets, Shalini had been one of the most welcoming people that Naina had met in KMA.

Going outside and locking the door, Naina headed down the corridor towards the infirmary when a loud voice stopped her.

"Cadet! Where do you think you're going without your uniform during training hours?"

Naina assumed that some poor cadet was in trouble and turned around to check but she found herself alone in the corridor with a rather stern looking man.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not…" she began to say, realising that he had made a mistake.

"You should be saying, I'm sorry 'Sir', Cadet!" The man replied, "Are you new here?"

"Well actually, Sir…" Naina started to say, wanting to clear up the confusion as quickly as possible.

"Major Nair, she's not one of your cadets, she's Captain Rajveer's wife." Shalini broke in, coming out of the infirmary with an amused expression on her face. "That's why she's not wearing a uniform."

"Oh," Major Nair said, looking Naina up and down with an expression of contempt, "Carry on then." And he walked off down the corridor.

Naina stared after him, so this was the Major Nair that Navin had hated so much during his training days. She decided right then that everything Navin had ever said must have been true.

"Don't mind him," Shalini told her reassuringly, "He's just as friendly to everybody else. He especially hates all women and girls, and as you're Captain Rajveer's wife you're guaranteed not to win his approval."

Naina smiled at that, "I suppose he still thinks of Rajveer as one of his cadets," she suggested, "It must be difficult for him to treat him as a fellow officer now."

"I think you're perfectly right," Shalini told her, "Anyway, was there anything you wanted? Were you on your way to see me?"

"Actually I just woke up, and I have nothing to do." Naina admitted, "So I was wondering if I could be of any assistance in the infirmary. My college doesn't start until tomorrow and Rajveer is busy at the moment so…"

"I would appreciate that," Shalini told her, "Major Nair's drill has just finished so there's bound to be at least one injured student on their way here." She grinned at Naina after saying this, and Naina couldn't help but smile back.

They made their way to the infirmary and sure enough five minutes later, Ali and Huda helped a limping Yudi into the room as Alekh and Pooja followed them in.

"Oh fo Cadet, what happened this time?" Shalini asked, while he was one of her favourite cadets, Yudi was also one of the most accident prone. In the month they'd been in the academy he had already been in the infirmary five times for various reasons, this made it the sixth time.

"Major Nair was making us run while holding rifles," Yudi told her, "This damn Huda distracted me and I tripped over a tree root but Major Nair wouldn't let me stop until I finished the drill."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Naina asked Shalini, a bit shocked about the lack of concern about cadets health.

Shalini shrugged in a 'what can I do about it' way. "Now that you're here with us, you'll get used to it eventually." She told her, "That's what military academies are like."

She turned to Yudi, "Well Cadet, how about we let Naina try fixing you up."

Yudi looked a bit hesitant about that, after all he trusted Dr Shalini, but he had no idea what Captain Rajveer's wife would be like at fixing up his ankle. However he nodded and sat back while she first examined him, then selected a balm to apply then bandaged it deftly. It was done in less than ten minutes and he found himself amazed at how easily she had managed to relieve the pressure and ease his pain.

"Apply some more of the balm tonight," she told him, "And I know it will be difficult, but try to stay off your ankle as much as possible. Come back tomorrow and we'll re-do the bandaging."

Yudi stared at her in amazement as if shocked to see this side of her after meeting the quiet and polite side of Captain Rajveer's wife earlier.

"Don't look so surprised, Cadet Sahni." Shalini told him teasingly, "Naina is in her fourth year of medical college you know."

"That was rocking, ma'am." Yudi told her with a grin, "My ankle feels so much better now."

The rest of the cadets were now looking at her admiringly too, but Pooja was the one with the biggest grin on her face.

"At least now we know that when that mucchad… I mean Major Nair, makes our batteries go flat we have somebody else to go to for our recharge." She announced happily, and Shalini just smiled in amusement as Naina looked as if she was trying to work out a translation of Pooja's mobile speak.

"We'll just take Yudi to his room now, ma'am." Ali told Shalini politely, and the five of them set off together chatting and laughing.

"Ah, Cadet Ghai…" Naina started to say, still looking a bit confused.

"Don't mind, Pooja." Shalini told her, "It takes awhile to get used to her special language, but she's a very sweet girl. Completely obsessed by mobile phones but she's got a spark in her that I like."

Naina nodded, smiling slightly. "Could you tell me a bit more about them?" she asked Shalini, "They seem like a very fun bunch."

Laughing, as she thought of everything the five had gotten up to in their first month of the academy, Shalini began to tell Naina stories.

**

Raj arrived back to their room and was surprised to see it locked, momentarily he became worried about where Naina might have gone and if she was alright or not. She had seemed so tired that he had expected her to sleep for the rest of the afternoon.

"Hi Sir!" he heard a voice call out brightly as Pooja passed by him in the corridor, heading towards the library.

"Cadet Ghai, have you seen Naina by any chance?" he asked her.

"I think she might be with Dr Shalini, Sir." Pooja told him. "She was there earlier and she fixed Yudi's ankle for him. She's definitely not a standard handset, but is packed with extra features."

Raj smiled, feeling a sense of pride. He was glad that Naina was getting involved at the academy already, it reminded him of Navin. No matter what situation Navin had found himself in, however challenging or strange, he would never hesitate to join in or make the best of a situation.

"Thanks Cadet Ghai, I'll go and see if she's there." He told her warmly, and was just about to set off when Pooja interrupted him.

"I'm just so glad that you've brought your wife to the academy, Sir." She told him happily, "I hope that we'll be able to have lots of talktime in the future, we've only just made our connections but I just know that her network is going to work well with all of ours."

"I certainly hope so, Pooja." Raj told her affectionately, he was quite fond of all of his cadets and Pooja was definitely one of his favourites. "Don't be afraid to make friends with Naina, she's the same age as all of you and I know it's been difficult for her to leave everybody behind and come here to join me. I would really appreciate it if you help her to settle in."

"You can count on us for that, Sir!" Pooja told him enthusiastically, "I'll just go to the library now, Lolita Ma'am has given us an assignment to complete before tomorrow and if it's not done then she'll cut our connections."

Raj signaled for her to go and she left quickly, muttering to herself about the unfair tasks that Lolitaji always assigned them.

Raj made his way to the infirmary, where sure enough Naina was sitting with Shalini, smiling as she listened to a story about what the cadets had managed to get up to the previous week.

She looked up as Raj walked in, and the small smile that she gave him made his heart flip. Gaining control over himself he moved to join them, sitting in the spare chair.

"I heard that you worked wonders on Yudi's ankle this afternoon," he told her with a smile, "Cadet Ghai was more than happy to tell me about it."

"Naina's definitely had a very busy day," Shalini told him, "Guess who she met on her way to the infirmary,"

"Not…"

"The one and only Major Nair," Shalini finished, "Don't worry, as you can see, she survived the encounter."

Raj grimaced, "I think I would've preferred to be with you when you met him for the first time." He told Naina, "Major Nair is definitely… an experience."

"He certainly was." Naina agreed, "He thought that I was a cadet and asked me what I was doing out of uniform. He's so forceful in his manner that for a moment I forgot that I wasn't a cadet and started wondering where my uniform really was."

Raj starts laughing, and then realises that it's the first joke he's ever heard Naina make. It might have only been a small one, but it shows him that they're definitely making progress.

It has only been a day since she arrived, and already she's starting to settle in and to relax.

He vows to himself that as well as completing his mission here, he will do his best to bring happiness back into her life. He will make her the same girl again that Navin once described to him, a girl full of fun and life and laughter.

He will do it not only for Naina's sake, but also for Navin's.

He won't fail his best friend.