Fortress around the heart~ViSa and RaVya FF~Part 36 updated pg 68 - Page 44

PART 30

Jakhotia Mansion:

Raj stretched himself and found that his back was stiff, which made him wonder why he was experiencing the discomfort. That was when he chose to open his eyes only to realize where he was lying down. And just like the entire events of the previous day came flashing across his mind.

He turned his head around a little to observe his wife. She was stretched across the bed sideways and was in a deep slumber. She looked peaceful and Raj could not help but gaze at her in awe. He knew that the moment she arose, the barrier would be up again; so he wanted to enjoy these few minutes of tranquility that he was unexpectedly presented with.

He silently thanked god when she consumed the medicine last night and knew that he made some progress, even if it was very minute. He knew his Divya inside out; knew that she could be extremely stubborn when she wanted to. But this new Divya was proving to be unpredictable; given the circumstances she was under and him being the main cause of it he knew that he should expect nothing less. So when she moved to take the drug, he couldn't help but thank his lucky stars. But his joy was short lived when she turned a deaf ear to him when he spoke about the script. Though he was a little dismayed by it, he did not want to lose hope in penetrating through the invisible fence that she built around herself.

The extreme fatigue and emotional stress of the entire day finally took over and he fell asleep without his knowledge. And now here he was, staring at his wife, wondering if at all a time would come where she would grant him the wish of seeing her beautiful smile again. The next instant he noticed her smile, if at all in her sleep; and that brought an identical smile on his face. He felt like he was blessed with the most joyous sight ever, to begin this day.

He tried to get off the couch and the comforter around his legs restricted his movements, making him wonder how it got there; and knew the answer instantly. His happiness knew no bounds when he realized that his wife did care enough to envelope him with a blanket the previous night. He walked towards her gently so as to not wake her and stood there taking her appearance in. She looked radiant and the smile that grazed her lips a little earlier was slowly being replaced by a frown, which made him worry. So whatever beautiful dream she was having was being replaced by something bad, he assumed. That was when realization struck that even her dreams were probably being plagued by what happened over the past couple of days. How he wished he could erase those worry lines that creased her forehead with just a brush of his fingers, he thought.

He bent closer to her and his hand unknowingly made its way towards her face, like it had a mind of its own. All he wanted to do right now was just place a reassuring kiss to her forehead and promise her that things would be alright. That was when the alarm clock at the side table went off and the blaring sound jolted him and he pulled his hand back just as Divya awoke.

She looked around startled and found Raj standing at close quarters. Her brows puckered a little and her eyes found his to question him silently about their proximity; and Raj wondered how he could explain what he was doing, standing there. Because the moment she comes to know of the idea he had in his mind, he knew that it would be the case of one step forward and two steps back. He prayed for some sort of intervention and his prayers were answered this time by the loud knock at the door.

Raj could not stop the sigh of relief that escaped his mouth. Divya scrambled around wondering how their room looked and hissed at Raj saying, "The least you can do is throw the comforter and pillows on the bed, instead of standing here and staring at me, like I have grown two heads!"

That brought Raj out of his trance and he immediately joined her in reshuffling the pillows and comforters that were on the couch and make the other side of the bed look used.

During the process he noticed the half empty fruit bowl and the empty milk glass beside it. Today was his day, he thought. First the smile in her sleep, next the comforter, then the knock at the door and finally him figuring it out that his wife yielded to his request of consuming food the previous night. This brought an enigmatic smile to his face which Divya found puzzling. What transpired before she woke up, that her husband had a gigantic smile plastered across his face? She pondered. But before she could scrutinize any further, she was interrupted by another knock at the door.

And both husband and wife made their way towards the entrance of their room to open it when Raj observed that Divya's pallu was off its place. He paused, slowing her progress towards the door and gestured towards her messy sari, a little hesitantly, all the while avoiding gazing at her. She looked down and adjusted it and mouthed a "Thank you" before grasping the handle of the door.

Raj's hand enveloped hers accidentally and she looked up to meet his intense gaze as they opened the door together. His suspicion that the day started off on a good note for him was confirmed when she did not release her hand from under his; which led to the increase in the intensity of his gaze and smile.

His heart did a somersault when he saw her reciprocate his smile a little; which made him wonder if this was all a dream. But when he heard excited squeals coming from his sisters, he knew that it was reality; a reality which he was genuinely happy about, after what seemed like a really long time.

To be continued...