*** Part 16 ***
It has been two days; Viren was needed by dadaji urgently, so he reluctantly went to India the previous night.Virat was being discharged today; he was conscious and feeling much better. Jeevika was with him, trying to talk with him, but Virat was not listening to her. He was quiet and looking towards the window; it was snowing. 'Virat, why is it not snowing yet??' he remembered Manvi complaining last week.
Dr. Shephard walked in with Manvi, he was checking Virat's vitals. "Everything seems fine." he said. The doctor started explaining him why he should never take any drugs and to take as much help as he can get. But, Virat was distracted analyzing Manvi, trying to understand what she is thinking. She has been extremely calm after what happened that night. Not once did she display any signs of anger.
"Virat, you seem preoccupied, do you understand what I am explaining???" Dr.Shephard touched his shoulder to draw his attention.
"Yes doctor" Virat said still looking at Manvi "My family is here, they are going to help me get back to normal" he said. Manvi looked away.
"Ok then, my work here is done, I will check everthing again in the evening, and you can go home after that." Dr.Shepard said. Manvi was walking out along with Dr.Shephard.
"Manvi, can I talk with you privately for 5 minutes?" Virat asked.
"Haan Mannu, why don't you sit with Virat for a few minutes, I need to go to the pharmacy anyways." Jeevika said leaving.
Manvi slowly turned to face Virat. "Do you need anything Virat?"
"Manvi??' itna formal kyu baan rahi ho, fake smile kyu de rahi ho mujhe??" Virat asked troubled by the change in her behavior. He got up and walked towards her, "Teek hai, tum meri doctor ho, but you are my girlfriend first, bool gayi ho kya??"
Manvi gave him a sarcastic smile. "You still need to stay in the bed Mr. Vadhera, you have not completely recovered yet, I am responsible for your well being here. Please..." she pointed towards the bed and turned away, about to leave.
"Manvi'" he called her affectionately "Kya hai yeh sab?? Mr. Vadhera???? Why are you acting like this? I love you Manvi, please don't leave me." he grabbed her hand and pulled her to stop her from leaving.
Those words rubbed on her the wrong way, horrible flashbacks from that unfortunate night coming back to her, "I love you so much baby, you look so sexy like a .."
"Aghhh!!!!'." She opened her eyes, turned back and slapped him hard "Don't you dare Virat!!!!!!!! Don't you dare touch me again, Don't you dare say that you love me."
Virat stood there reeling from shock, palm on his cheek, he looked at her, her eyes were red with rage. "Get it out Manvi, slap me, hit me, hit me more, I deserve nothing less. You have no idea how I feel" he said with a tear falling out. "I feel disgusted with myself. Punish me anyway you want. But' don't say that I don't love you' I love you more than my own life. You are my world, you are everything to me.. Please don't say that I don't love you" he pleaded. "I can't live without you Manvi" he begged.
Her heart was aching looking at him like that, but she had made a decision, she had to stick with it. "That's not enough Virat. Your love is not enough. Your love did not save me when you were high and acting up, did it? I do not have the strength to go though something like that again, so it is better I stay away from you. I cannot be with you anymore. I just cannot." She took a deep breath and continued
"You should take some rest Virat. I am sorry to burst out like this."
"I would never hurt you consciously Manvi, you know that."
Manvi smiled "Is that supposed to be less painful, if you did not mean to do it? You promised me Virat, that as long as you live, you will protect me. Remember that?? Is this your idea of protection?"
Virat closed his eyes tightly, her question stung him. He was unable to answer. Manvi left.
---
"Did you change the IV bottle in Mr. Vadhera's room Alex?" Manvi asked her nurse.
"Yes Dr. Manvi, for the hundredth time, I have checked his fluids and his stats. I have given him food, salad and orange juice like you specified. I have taken his blood samples, they are in the lab and we will have them back in 2 hours. Jeeez, what is your obsession is him? He is a patient not your husband. " the nurse replied annoyed. Manvi had been constantly nagging him to go check up on Virat.
Manvi regretted asking him. "I was just checking Alex, he is my responsibility. Do you have a problem with that?"
"By the looks of it, he already has a girl-friend, a pretty one at that." Alex said with a chuckle.
"What??..mind our own business, willya?" Manvi shook her head pissed off, no end.
---
Later, as she was passing through the corridor, her eyes automatically went towards Virat's room. Virat was sleeping. "Did the lab results come in?" she asked Jeevika, popping her head in.
"Nahi Mannu, aagayengi. Mannu, come meet Maya, she is Virat's friend. See, she got him these beautiful roses."
Manvi looked at them "aha?"
"Hi Manvi!" Maya said extending her hand. "So nice to meet you."
"Like wise" Manvi took her hand firmly but gave her a vicious look. 'Excellent timing' she thought to herself.
"What are you doin here Maya?" Manvi asked a bit rude.
"Ohh, I heard about Virat's accident and I came to wish him a speedy recovery" Maya said with a fake smile that pinched Manvi.
"That is so nice of you Maya. Virat never told me that he had such a sweet friend" Jeevika smiled.
Virat woke up to see three ladies around him. "Mayaaa??" he said rolling his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here??"
"I heard about the incident Virat, I just came to see how you were doing" Maya said, moving close to his bed.
"How did you find out about this 'incident'?"Manvi asked, speaking out of turn. "Nobody other than my family knows about this" she asked folding her arms. Virat smiled when Manvi said my family.
"Virat's friends informed me, Manvi. We have some common friends." she replied looking at Manvi
"None of my friends know about this Maya" Virat spoke out of turn, "And Maya, I thought, I told you very clearly that I did not want to see you again"
"Ohh.. maybe, your brother called and informed your professors or something, but your friends know." Maya said without a flinch. "And moreover why is it important about how I came to know, I just wanted to apologize for everything and wish you a speedy recovery. We both can atleast be friends right?" she asked perkily.
"Unfortunately, visitors are not allowed here at this time, please wait outside" Manvi told Maya politely.
"Mannuu!" Jeevika tried to stop Manvi "Be nice!!"
"Maya, why don't we wait in the lounge, Virat will be discharged in some time anyways; you should come home with us and have tea." Jeevika took Maya out as Manvi gave her a murderous look.
"Kitty party hai kya?? Di bhi na" Manvi started talking to herself, but it was loud enough for Virat to hear.
"Manvi, you don't have to worry about Maya, she doesn't affect me anymore" Virat assured.
"Koi farak nahi padtha mujhe, I was just curious about how she knew about you being here, Jiju bhi nahi hai and I don't want Di anywhere near that bitch"
"You don't want bhabi to be near Maya? Accha?"
"Tum ko kya laga? Don't flatter yourself ok, I don't care if she is with you, I don't care if she is on you.. Whatevaa.. actually you both make a great pair, made for each other. And it is none of my god'amm business" she said glaring at him. If it was any other time, he would have pulled her leg endlessly, but he choose to ignore it for the time being.
Alex came in a raised eyebrow, winking at Manvi, "Here doc, the report for which you have been after me all day"
"Shut up Alex, I have been asking you to do your job."
"ya-ya-ya" he said leaving.
Manvi was looking at the lab report worriedly, as Virat looked at her "Manvi, why are you taking out all your anger on that poor guy. Relax."
That was the first time, she saw him relax in the last two days "Koi poor voor nahi hai..poore building ka number one kaam chor hai" she said as Virat looked at her amused. Suddenly, his attention fell on her neck area, there were scratchs, partially covered by her coat.
"Manvi! Yeh sab kya hai??????" he sprang up lifting her collar, as Manvi stepped back, covering it up. "Kuch nahi hai, chodo" she said looking away.
He freaked out realizing that it was he, responsible for her wounds. He could not to control his emotions anymore, he had betrayed her. His feelings got the better of him, it hurt him so much that he had to get it out somehow; he needed an outlet, to vent. 'I did this, with these ghastly hands, these horrible..' He banged the side table so hard that the vase with the roses broke and cut his hand, badly; blood started gushing out onto the floor.
"Viraaat!!!!! Stop it" she snatched his hand. Her eyes filling up. She got out the dressing, made him sit and fixed his cut. "What are you doing Virat? Pagal ho gaye ho kya? What is all this going to do? STOP acting like so juvenile." She chided him.
Virat just looked away. Manvi looked at him; she wanted to hug him and calm him down but refrained from these thoughts. He has to be able to control himself; she cannot be there for him always. She picked up the lab report. "Dr. Shephard is going to come and discharge you any minute; your lab reports look fine. You are physically, healthy now; I am not so sure, I can say the same about your mental health" she said trying to lighten his mood.
Virat looked away ignoring her and walked towards the window. He looked at the snow which was now mixed with fierce wind. It was gloomy and dark both inside and outside him. Maybe she was right; he should stay away from her.
"Virat, its fine, you were not in your senses. You didn't know what you were doing. We need to put all this behind as a crazy nightmare and move forward. You need to pull yourself together"
Virat still looking out at the roaring wind "Manvi, I don't deserve you or your goodwill. You are better off without me."
"Ohh stop it with the sob story Virat. You say you love me right, prove it to me. Just saying it is not enough. Stop crying like a girl and take responsibility. Find out why whatever happened has happened and try to prevent it from happening again. Love makes a person strong; it does not make you weak like this. Suck it up! I need a strong man in my life, not a crybaby. I will come back to you once you become that person. Let's get you out of this hospital for now." She blasted him and left.
'Was she consoling me or scolding me? insulting me or motivating me? or just discharging me? How can she do all that simultaneously? He stood there scratching his head.
---
Virat was discharged and all of them including Maya reached home.
"Mannu, I am so tired, please make us some chai" Jeevika asked Manvi nicely.
"Chai, ofcourse, Maya, do you want some too?" Manvi asked with the fakest smile ever.
"Sure Manvi" said Maya, crossing her legs with pride. She has entered into their life now.
"Mirch kitna dalu??"
"Excuse me?? You mean chakkar? Sugar?"
"No Maya, I mean mirch, chilli." Manvi asked her seriously, with her hands on her hips.
Maya was staring at Jeevika with a blank expression. Virat could not help being amused with Manvi's behaviour.
"What are you smiling about Virat? This has nothing to do with you and please do not shove your pathetic friends in our face. Some of us have other things to focus on."
"Mannu! Tu chal, its my fault I asked you to do something." "Sorry Maya, Mannu is stressed out with all the happenings of the last few days, excuse us" said Jeevika embarrassed.
"That's ok, I understand" Maya said as Jeevika dragged Manvi into the kitchen.
Maya looked all around and then at Virat who was starring at her "Nice house, Virat" she said.
Virat smiled "Chalo, let me show you my room." Maya followed him with an evil grin, happy to gain his attention.
In Virat's room, Virat closed the door tightly "Maya, what the hell do you want now? Why all this drama? You have no reason to approach my family like this."
"Virat, I miss you so much. The minute I got to know what happened to you, I could not stay away, I came running" Maya said with tears in her eyes.
"Stop it Maya, who told you about what happened to me? Please, I would like to know which common friends you were referring to." Virat was fuming at her now.
Maya felt cornered "Deepak and RK" she replied.
"..and how do you know them? They are my college friends here." Virat was coming onto her now, his face red with anger.
"They are friends of my friends and I saw them with you at your college the other day. I have been following you Virat, because I am crazily in love with you. I promise you Virat, I will not hurt you again, and I definitely will not treat you like that Manvi. I cannot believe you are choosing her instead of me. I heard how she was yelling at you."
Jeevika sent Manvi to give Maya tea and apologize to her, she stopped in front of Virat's door as she heard him screaming.
"Don't you dare talk about Manvi, I will not tolerate it if you as much as take her name again. You want to know why I want her, toh suno, uski gali main bhi mujhe pyaar dikhtha hai. Its ok, I don't expect you to understand that. And yeh jo tum meeti meeti meeti baatein kar rahi thi na abhi? woh sab mujhe gali lagte hai. That's the difference between you and her. Now try to focus your gutter of a brain and get this, loud and clear, I want you to stay away from me, from Manvi and the rest of my family. IS THAT CLEAR MAYA??" he was screaming so close to her face that she was scared out of her senses.
"Yes" was all Maya could muster up, she had never seen Virat so angry. She literally ran out of his room only to see Manvi at the door.
"Did you get everything you came for?" Manvi asked her gloating.
Maya left fuming with anger.
---
Manvi was in deep thought that night, she was tossing in her bed unable to sleep, there was so much going on. She was in a dilemma. She knew that she was still very much in love with Virat, surprisingly. She could not control her feelings when she is around him. She could not believe how unbelievably stupid she acted with Maya around all day. She was this crazy protective jealous person. She thought about Virat, how helpless and hurting he is right now. The poor guy didn't do anything willingly. She closed her eyes and she only saw his face. She felt bad for slapping him and she felt worse that he hurt himself. She remembered his hand and blood dripping down from it. She experienced a strange pull; she walked towards his room, but stopped enroute near the balcony. She took a step forward to enter in. The balcony brought back a flood of painful memories. She took a step back. She stood there fixed for a minute. She saw him outside; he was wearing this huge coat and was in a deep thought. The snow had stopped and there was a strange calm outside.
She opened the door and popped her head outside. "It is freezing Virat, you should not be out here."
"It finally snowed" he said smiling.
She went out and stood by him looking at the snow settled in on the cars and trees, everywhere, it looked so pretty "What are you doing here Virat? You will fall sick."
"So? Tum doctor kis liye ho?"
"You will become a permanent patient in my hospital"
"Koi baat nahi, I like this doctor, she is a pretty one"
"But seriously, let's go in"
"It was Maya" he said continuing a discussion that they never started in the first place.
"What?" she wondered.
"I went over to meet those guys she was talking about. After a lot of threatening and scaring them, they owned up; they said that Maya paid them, a very large amount, to get those drugs in my drink. I recorded everything they said and gave it to the cops.They must have arrested her by now." He said calmly turning away.
"Why didn't you tell me she challenged you?? I am not a toy Manvi and I am not that weak either. You thought I could not handle her?" he asked, almost angry. "Keeping this aside, Manvi, I will do anything to protect you, and in order to do that, I think it is best that I stay away'."
"Stop it Virat! I am sorry, I am sorry for hitting you and I am sorry to blame you for everything. You did drive yourself home that day and you did lock yourself up away from me. You did ask me to leave you alone and I came upstairs. I literally walked into it."
"Nahi Manvi, I would have done the same thing if I were you, I must have worried you crazy'."
"Please Virat mujhe bolne do. I have so much baggage from the past that I could not perceive this as an isolated incident. I started questioning everything, your love, my feelings, us. Maya actually won for making me think this way. I am the weak one, not you. I put you through fire. I am sorry Virat. The fact is that I love you too much and I cannot stay away from you and I cannot let anyone else near you. I love you, just the way you are. I just do."
"No baby, you don't have to apologize for anything, please don't make me feel worse. I know what you went through growing up and I can imagine how you felt when I acted like that drunken animal. Instead of protecting you, I hurt you, in the worst possible way..."
"Virat, enough, nothing further..." Manvi broke down, tears were streaming out. Virat rushed to her but stopped himself from holding her. He wasn't sure how she would react
"Manvi, please don't cry, I can't see you like this..." he said getting anxious, not knowing what to do. She threw herself in his arms and cried her heart out. He hugged her, hugged her tightly and covered her with his coat, tears rolled down his cheeks as well. He was very relieved, he had almost lost her. "You are not weak, baby. After everything you had gone through, you did not fall apart, you stood strong and you did not let me fall apart. You pushed me out of my guilt cocoon to go after the people who did this. You are my pillar of strength Manvi and I love you so much, you have no idea" he said kissing her forehead. "And I I will never be that way again, never ever" he promised her and himself.
---
Manvi was still in his arms, neither of them wanting to let go of each other. After some time Virat spoke "Manvi, its cold, let's go inside"
Manvi looked up with a 'do not disturb me look' snuggling in more.
Virat smiled and tightened his embrace " I know it is a little hard for you to break away from me, par Manvi'."
"Par kya...??"
"Mere shaadi nahi huvi hai ab thak, meri hone wali biwi ko patha chalega toh, use accha nahi lagega" he made a scared face.
"Ohh shut up Virat! dramebaaz!" she started hitting him softly on his arms.
"Aaah" he was over-reacting "yaar apne patients ko kitna marthi ho? bahut hi gatiya doctor ho tum" "Waise maar kyu rahi ho, kya boli tum?? you don't care if I am with her, you don't care if i am on her ?? Huh??? Chiii Manvi. What were you thinking? and what else did you say?? Let me remember" Virat started walking away as Manvi was coming after him.
"Virat?" she warned him, pointing her finger. He kept walking backwards towards his room and she went after him.
"haaan, made for each other'hain na..me and maya make a great couple???.do we now??"
Manvi pulled him towards her, holding his collar "You will die a very horrible death if even look at anybody else. You are only mine, Virat."
Virat looked at her mesmerized; they were looking into each others eyes passionately, lost, unaware of their surroundings.
"Marry me." he said breaking the silence.
Manvi taken back, let go off his collar. "Virat?" did you just cough??
He smiled, came down on his one knee "Manvi Chaudary, the thought of losing you these last few days almost killed me. I never want to lose you again. I promise to love you till my last breath. Will you marry me and be mine forever?"
A drop of tear rolled off her eyes. Virat got up holding her hand, " Manvi, why you crying again??
Kya hogaya tume? Yeh tv serial ki heroine kab se ban gayi??" he wiped off her tears.
"Yeh khushi ke aasu hai buddhu" "Where is my ring?" she asked
"Huuh???"
"My ring? You proposed to marry me, where is my ring??"
"Oops, sorry baby, I didn't plan on doing this. I will get you the most amazing ring tomorrow" he said kissing her hand.
"Fine, then, I will tell you my answer tomorrow" she said looking down.
"Okaaay. Can I still kiss you now?" he asked.
"hawww..tumhare hone wali biwi ko kaisa lagega??" Manvi asked covering her mouth with her hand.
Virat: "tum bhi kam nahi ho, dekh dekh ke, stump karti ho"
Manvi: "waise? Permission kab se maang ne lage ho?"
He smiled. He gently removed the shawl she wrapped around her. He kissed her hands, arms, shoulders everywhere he saw the slightest scratch mark, tearing up at every touch. He traced his hand down to her neck line, moved her hair to the other side and kissed her where he saw a big bruise in the morning. He was taking her top off as she hesitantly stopped him.
He moved her hands away, looking into her eyes "I need to see" he said. She could not stop him, she was gazing at him, wishing to blot his guilt away. He gently peeled off her shirt and his eyes filled up looking at it; her beautiful soft skin had so many bruises. "Ohh baby!" he gasped. He touched them tenderly and planted soft kisses on them as she shivered at his touch. His hands were shaking and lips were quivering. "Stop torturing yourself Virat" Manvi brought him up, cupping his face. "These don't hurt as much as your expressions hurt me right now."
He stroked her hair lovingly and kissed her forehead, they were lost in each others eyes again.
"How can you forgive me Manvi?"
"Because, you are I are human, we make mistakes, the important thing is to fix them and learn from them. aaand because I am crazy about you and I looove you" she gave him a warm smile and a tight hug.
"God! you are an angel" "I am sorry.." he started
"shhh!!! no more" she ordered. Manvi slept peacefully in his arms that night; Virat looked at her for as long as he could, before exhaustion took over. They slept together that way, cuddling in each others arms, like two lost puppies, in love, on that unusually long snowy day.
---
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