Part 8 - Falling Sick
Later that Night
"Angad, you can change", she replied as she closed the door behind her.
Angad got up and stared at her, then as he scratched his head, he questioned "Why are you wearing three layers of clothing?"
At these words Kripa immediately folded her arms uncomfortably, "How do you know how many layers I have on?"
"Now, you expect me be blind?"
Kripa did not reveal the reason, but instead just rolled her eyes, and went to the bed.
Five minutes later, she felt someone's weight on the bed; she opened her eyes to notice Angad was straightening his pillow, and looked like he was about to lie down.
"What are you doing?" she asked foolishly
"Going to sleep what else" he answered
"You are not supposed to sleep here, but on the couch" she replied innocently pointing at the couch.
She noticed a devilish smile on his face, and that's when she realized her blunder. Right, he was supposed to sleep here.
In order to get a stupid towel she had agreed to all his conditions. But, next time she would make sure she had towel with her before entering the washroom. She just could not afford to make mistakes often.
Kripa just closed her eyes, and turned her back towards him. Angad just stared at her face for a while from the table lamp beside her which showed her reflection, before rolling over and turning to the other side.
That night both fell asleep remembering each other's faces, and hoping for the best in their future.
*************
Next morning
Angad opened his eyes to notice that Kripa was still in bed beside him. For some reason in the night both had turned around, and now they were facing each other. Again, the strong face came back within him tempting him to go and kiss her. Since she was asleep it would be easier, before he could debate about it he saw Kripa open her eyes.
"Good Morning Sleeping Beauty" he said and that's when he noticed a strand of hair was coming on her face
She looked at him with a lost look, while he put in his hand in front, and pushed the strand away.
He noticed she had held her breath as he had done that, and had given him an alarmed look.
"What's up? You are waking up after me today?" he said trying to initiate a conversation
She put her hand on her head immediately, and made a face as she replied, "I am feeling tired today. Don't feel like waking up"
As she looked at him, she changed her words and said, "Its nothing. I will be fine. I am just freezing a bit" as she pulled the covers more closer to her.
"you okay?" he asked
She saw something like worry cross his features. But, why would he be worried? He did not care for her right? Or did he?
"No, he just cared about the child, not her" screamed her mind, but her heart refused to listen to it, and instead stubbornly replied, "He cares for you, Kripa. Just look in his eyes they clearly reflect love for you". "Nonsense", replied her mind.
And, before her heart could reply, she felt someone touching her forehead, and that's when she noticed Angad was very close to her, and was touching her forehead.
"You have a fever," he replied, "I will get the thermometer" as he got from bed, and then added, "Stay in Bed"
She covered herself with another blanket trying her best not to leave any side open. A minute later, it still did not make any difference with two blankets on, she was still freezing. And, then she noticed Angad was back already, and was staring at the thermometer.
"What does it say?" she asked
"103 C" he replied
"That's not so bad. I will be alright" she replied
"I am calling Nisha," he said as he picked up his cell
"Angad, its" she glanced at the clock "5-00 AM don't disturb Nisha. I will eat some medicines" she replied
But, he did not listen to hear, instead a second later she heard him say, "Nisha, Kripa has 103 C fever...." and then she heard some voice from the other end except she could not quite make out what Nisha was saying. She heard Angad speak again a second later, "Yeah, I will get that. Thanks a lot Nish".
He put his cell down, and picked up his jacket as he wore it he said, "Kripa, I will be back with the medicines within five minutes. Don't sleep until I am back".
"But, Angad its 5-00 PM I will just eat the medicines I normally eat, and I will be fine. You don't need to go. Its still dark outside" she replied as she glanced at the window.
However, he didn't even listen to her, and was gone out of the door before she could even say anything further.
But, the main reason she was glad was that he had not once mentioned that she was sick since she had been walking in the rain. He had not called her irresponsible, immature, stupid or whatever. He was being nice. But why?
*************
She opened her eyes still feeling a bit weak, when she noticed the television was on. How could it be on? After breakfast, Angad had asked her to sleep, and she had fallen asleep only to wake up now. Had Angad returned back home? Was it 9-00 PM already?
She looked at her watch to notice it was only 7-00 PM, and then she pushed herself to sit up only to notice Angad still in the same clothes, as he was this morning watching TV.
"Angad" she said weakly "You didn't go to office today?"
He turned around immediately, and got up.
"Yeah"
"Why? You should have gone"
"Kripa, I had nothing today"
"Angad, since we have been married I have noticed you go on Sundays too, then how can there be no work? You must have something. Plus, what about that project you were working on?"
"You ask too many questions, Kripa" he said, as he checked her temperature
"What is it?" she asked hoping that it was less
"104 C" he replied
She smiled as she pulled the covers off her, and said, "Good, then I can get up"
"Noo... You stay in bed. I will get something to eat" he replied as he got up
"Angad, I am fine! Let me up" she said
But, Angad refused to listen to her "Don't" he replied as he put the covers back on her, and left the room.
Ten minutes later, she was flipping through the channels when Angad walked in the room with a plate.
"Didn't I make myself clear?" he asked
"Angad, I swear you left the remote on the bed"
He had laid the plate on the side, then he pushed some button, and some kind of stool came up. He placed the food in front of her.
"You can't eat can you?" he said as he noticed her hands were in the blanket
"Unless you don't mind if I drop food on your blanket" she replied
He just shrugged his shoulders, then a second later he had picked up the spoon, and brought it near her mouth.
"Angad, what is this? Soup? We are NOT in some hospital" she complained
"Kripa, you will feel much better," he replied
She just made a face, and ate the food silently with him feeding her.
*************
"Say Good Night to the TV" he said, as he was about to pull the plug
"ANGAD NO!" she replied
"Kripa, you need to sleep"
"Angad, Prison Break is on. I will miss it"
"I will buy you a DVD of this season's Prison Break. How about that?"
"NO! As it is I wait a week for the show. There is no way I am missing it today. Now move"
"Kripa, you need to rest. Plus, I will record it for you"
"Sorry not good enough! Move man"
He came and sat beside her, while she increased the volume. She heard him mumble something beside her, but she was too engrossed into the show to even listen to him, only when the commercial came up she heard him say, "Its a 'bakwaas' show"
"What? You are stupid! I LOVE it"
"The show or the ugly guy"
"Wentworth Miller is so NOT ugly! Mister" she replied pushing the pillow from beside her
He chuckled, and replied, "What you find him cute?"
"Yah... and not only that but he is a brilliant actor! Plus, the concept is fascinating"
"Oh puhleez" he replied making a face
"What? You want me to watch all those silly girly girly shows?"
"No, but I expected your choice to be much better"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you see in Michael anyway?"
"Everything that you don't have..."
And, then the show started, she didn't hear Angad reply anything, and on the next commercial break he remained silent just staring at the television.
Slowly, guilt started to seep within her, and she felt like hell for saying those words to Michael.... nuh... What was she saying? Angad... She did not intend to say that, in anger she had simply retaliated, but her words weren't so bad. Why was he mad? She hadn't quite said anything to offend him.
She stared back at the television trying to focus on Michael, but failed miserably as all she could think about were her words to Angad. Did his statement "What do you see in Michael, anyway?" mean that he was interested in her. Was he? First, she was complaining that he was a nutcase, but he had done so much for her... he had even stayed home for her... But, that was not for her... it was for the baby... Right? But, what do you see in Michael? Was for her. It wasn't for the baby. That question was specifically meant for her.
And, she had ruined it all by saying something so stupid that had probably hurt his pride, if only she could open her mouth and confess that he looked more cute than Michael... She glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and noticed him stare at the television... he looked mad... She looked back at the television to notice Michael was blabbering something... And, then on she looked back on forth from Angad to Michael... She also noticed that when Lincoln came on screen Angad would not look so mad. Was he jealous of Wentworth Miller?
*************
She felt something wet on her forehead, and that's when she opened one eye, and then the other. Kripa put her hand up to touch her forehead, when she felt someone lower it. She looked in the direction from where her hand was put down to notice Angad sitting beside her on the bed.
"Don't", he said
She looked around to notice the room was dark except for the dim light coming from the night lamp. It was late in the night. She had fallen asleep, while watching Prison Break apparently maybe it was due to those medicines.
"Angad, why are you here? Go sleep on the couch" she replied
He raised his eyebrow
"You will fall sick, if you sleep beside me" she answered
"No, I won't. Besides, I don't care I am sleeping here" he stubbornly replied
"Why are you awake?" she asked
"Nothing" he replied "I just put a wet cloth on your forehead"
She noticed he had no blanket, "Angad, where is your blanket?"
"I am feeling too hot"
"No, you are not" she replied pulling his blanket off her
"I am fine, Kripa.." he answered with his hand on hers.
The guy was awake in the middle of the night, to reduce her temperature. This reminded her of her mother, who would stay awake till late taking care of her when she had a fever. Plus, he had given her his blanket.. Too goood!
What did she do to deserve an amazing husband?
She realized she had been nothing, but bad with him. It was time to rectify her mistake.
"Angad" she cried, "I am sorry"
He frowned, "For what?"
"Umm... for what I said tonight"
He still did not get it, but a second later he realized what she referring to, "Oh that don't worry... You don't need to be sorry"
"You are not mad?" she asked
"No! Why would I be?" he asked
She pulled him down and said, "Go to sleep! You have to rest! Enough of this you have been up and running the whole day" and then to her & his surprise she got up & kissed his cheek as she replied, "Your too sweet & cute Angad". With a smile on her face she closed her eyes dreamily.
*************
Kripa had resumed work, and also changed her behavior towards Angad. She was trying her best to be very nice to him, and not loose her temper over anything, even it meant hearing bad about Dr. Kovac & Michael she would endure it. Since she had returned to her normal state, Kripa would go to work around 7-00 AM, and return home by 5-00 PM or 6-00 PM, her work definitely demanded more hours, but since she was pregnant she was working less, in order to reduce the stress for Angad. He would unnecessarily get worried, if she kept working till late, and she definitely didn't want him worried. Her goal was to keep him happy. And, she would do anything in her power to achieve that goal.
Besides, she was starting to miss Angad now, since she had started to work they had barely gotten the chance to even talk. She would only see him sleeping, as she would fall asleep at 9-00 PM, the time he normally returned, and when she woke up, he was asleep.
Nothing happened between them, until a week later.
A week later
Kripa had decided to go to work late today, as she wanted to talk to Angad, since it had been a while she had spoken to him. Holding the cup of coffee in her hand she made her way up the stairs only the notice a giant huge rat in front of her.
She could swear it was the same rat she had seen when she had come upstairs for the first time (*First encounter with Angad*). The rat stared back at her, and then it started to come in front. She jumped dropping the cup from her hand, the boiling hot coffee spilled on her hand, but the pain was nothing compared to the fear of the creature in front of her. Without a thought, she ran across the hallway, pushed up the door of their bedroom and ran inside without bothering to even close to the door. She ran all the way to the bathroom, and without a thought she pushed open the door screaming loudly, "ANGAD! RATTTTTTTTTTTT".
The scene that met her eyes forced her to blush.
There was Angad standing in front of her with only a towel wrapped around his waist. And, to put in plain words he looked, "HOT!" as she admitted this to herself she just smiled. Was it any surprise that she just could not keep her eyes off him?
She stared at his perfectly fit and strong body. She noticed his muscles, and all she could think was that his shirt did no justice what so ever to show his muscles, and she had never ever seen such muscles on any guy before. And, then she noticed hair on his chest a---
"Kripa" Angad's voice brought her out of her thoughts, and instantly she lowered her eyes feeling a bit ashamed for staring at his body.
He muttered, "What happened? Why did you come here?"
No words came out of her mouth, as all she could see was his body in front of her eyes, even though she was staring at the floor his body kept coming in front of her eyes. She was definitely taking this picture to her deathbed.
"Why were you screaming, Kripa?" he asked sounding irritated
Yeah, why was she screaming?
Nothing helped her to recollect why she was screaming as her heart was thoroughly focused on his body. It seemed incredible that even her brain had stopped functioning.
It was only when Angad pushed her out of the way, she looked at him, and the direction he was looking at that she noticed this black thing in front of her.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" screaming she ran out of the bathroom, and stood on the bed.
A second later the rat ran out, with Angad behind it. He had a stick/ danda in his hand, and was now chasing it, while she just stood on the bed looking at the floor.
"Kripa, get down and help me" he said as he ran from one corner to the other
"NO! What's wrong with you?" she replied as she noticed the rat hide behind the closet
Angad was pushing the closet now, and the rat instantly got out of its hiding spot, and ran under the bed. While, Kripa just stood on top of her bed looking at all sides holding her breath. She noticed Angad bend down.
"Angad, what are you doing? What if it comes out and bites you? GET UP!" she yelled throwing the pillow at him
"Stop screaming," he replied, as he got up and was trying to push the stick underneath the bed trying to remove the rat out of its hiding spot.
After a bit of pushing around the rat ran out only to hide behind the dressing table. Angad ran behind it with the stick, this time again he was poking the stick to pull the stupid ran out.
A second later Kripa's fear instantly vanished, as she now noticed Angad running around with only a towel wrapped around the waist chasing the rat everywhere trying her best to control her laughter she covered her mouth.
The scene continued with Angad chasing the rat, but the rat did not want to leave the room, and it simply hid from one place to the other in the room. Then, Angad was forced to call Rosy, who came up with a RatTrap, she placed it on the ground, and incredibly the rat was caught into it.
Once this whole drama was over, Angad turned around only to notice Kripa smiling.
"Why are you smiling?" he questioned
"Nothing" she replied still smiling
Angad pulled some clothes from his closet, and entered the washroom closing the door.
Kripa grinned, and thought, "If only Angad knew the real reason for her smile!"
*************
Afternoon Time
Angad entered home a bit exhausted and tired. He called for Kripa, but got no response. And, then he heard loud voices from upstairs, so he rushed up the stairs taking three steps at a time.. By the time he was at the mouth of the room... someone yelled, "GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW. I DON'T WANT TO SEE BOTH OF YOUR FACE". He entered the room to notice a very angry Kripa sitting on the couch, and in front of him stood Prithvi & some girl.
When Kripa threw the pillow at Prithvi, he yelled, "Prithvi leave".
Prithvi turned around and gave a helpless look, but Angad just motioned him to leave. The girl and Prithvi left the room, while Angad went near Kripa, who was now staring at the floor, and to his surprise she broke down & started to cry.
He immediately bent down and stood in front of her "Shhhh..." he said as he wiped her tears.
But, she continued to cry even more, and instantly she hugged him crying in his arms.
He was surprised to see her cry... It was like the strong Kripa had broken down.
"Kripa, what happened?" he said patting her, but all she did was keep crying
He got a glass of water, and asked her again "Kripa, why are you crying?"
She said, some thing like "Betrayal.... Friendship.... Prithvi..." in between the crying, and hiccups " more important... selfish.... Girls"
"Kripa, it's not like the end of the world... stop crying!"
She moved away, and looked at him. Then, she started to cry again.
This time he hugged her, and lifted her chin up to make her look at him. It did the trick, she stopped crying and looked at him confused.
"Kripa, I want to know everything! And, no more crying otherwise -----" he smiled
"Otherwise, what Khanna?" she yelled as punched him
"Tell me everything"
She took a deep breath, and then she began "Angad, I knew Prithvi since he was Mishty's brother, and we were both close friends. On our graduation night a few years ago, I introduced him to a close friend of mine named Ananya, since Anu had a huge crush on him. They started to go out for awhile, and we all thought that they would get married! They looked so good together & completely in love" she paused before she added, "Eight months later, I spotted Prithvi with some other girl, so I assumed he had broken up with Anu, but to my horror they were still going out, and Anu was completely in love with him. I asked Prithvi to stop seeing the other girl and he agreed. I gave Anu a hint that he had cheated on her, but she didn't take me too seriously. Two months later, Anu caught him red handed with some other girl. She was completely heartbroken, Angad. She confronted Prithvi, who just broke up with her... After that day she slipped into depression... she had grown so weak that we could barely even recognize her... she had no desire to live... her life was entirely dependent on Prithvi - the JERK... she lost her job... everything... it took us one year to bring her out of that stage. She didn't move on, Angad... she always thought every guy was like Prithvi, and to be honest she was still in love with him, though she told him us she hated him and all that... I hated Prithvi for all he did to my friend! I couldn't even stand his face, but all due to Mishty I tolerated him, and never said a word in front of her.... She is not aware of this Angad, and I don't want her to... because she loves her brother a lot, and it will hurt her if she hears all this, so its better if she is out of this... Besides, I don't want them to stay away from each other; after all they have no one except each other. I blamed Prithvi for Anu's condition! But, I was wrong, Angad... And, I learnt it today... Prithvi was not entirely responsible for her condition, and some fault was of Anu too..." she sobbed a bit before continuing "I came today to see Anu at the doorstep, so we came in and started to chat for a few minutes. Before the bell rang again, I opened to see Prithvi...I shut the door on his face, and in the process he got a bit hurt on his hand... Anu witnessed all this, and she immediately started to yell at me calling me heartless and what not... she opened the door and let Prithvi in.... Can you believe it Angad? I mean here was this girl, who the guy cheated on, she was depressed because of him, and she claimed to hate him... What happened to the hating now? Besides, she didn't care about me... I mean I had spent a good two years dodging Prithvi around, until a two months back when I told him to stay away from me as I hated him for spoiling my friend's life... And, here Anu was calling me names...I was extremely upset, the girl who spent most of her time helping her out, and staying away from her close friend... It was so hard for me, but Anu apparently had failed to understand that... So, she helped Prithvi clean his wound and everything.... Then, Prithvi tried to justify his actions to me, but I yelled at him, and blamed him for my friends my condition... I think I called him a jerk... I only called him a jerk, Angad, but you won't believe what Anu did... she screamed at me for calling him a jerk, and she said the matter between her and Prithvi was their business, and I shouldn't poke my nose into it... After that don't even ask me what happened because I was too upset to even believe anything around me... I don't care about Prithvi, nor about Anu... I am just too tired to deal with all this" and then she began to cry again.
"Kripa, its okay... it's not your fault" he replied patting her head
"Then, whose fault it is? Huh? I shouldn't have gotten involved in this, Angad" she replied
"You know Kripa, in most girls this is the case... once they fall in love with a guy... they ditch their friends" he stated
"Noooo!! That's not true..." she replied
"Believe me it is"
"Oh ya? And, where did you learn this from your EX GIRL FRIENDS"
He chuckled, and replied, "Kripa, we are not talking about my ex get it?"
"Why?"
"Because, you will simply get jealous"
"Me & Jealous... NO WAY!"
"Oh ya? Why is your nose red?"
"Its due to all the crying"
"You look like 'Rudolph-the red nosed reindeer" he replied as he got up
"Angad" she screamed "YOUUUU" as she threw the pillow at him
*************
"Mama, why did you call?" asked Kripa as she looked through the pages in front of her
"Beta, I haven't spoken to you in so long" her mother replied sounding a bit sad
"Mama, I am fine just a little busy now... Everything alright there?" she questioned
"Yeah... Your papa has gone out for a walk" she paused before she added, "Beta, me, your papa & the Khanna's were thinking that it was about time that you and Angad went to Honeymoon"
"WHAT?" screamed Kripa as she got up from the chair... she was still unsure if she heard it right.
"Honeymoon, Beta" replied her mom
"But, mama its only been two weeks since our marriage, and me and Angad are extremely busy" she replied hurriedly
"Kripa, but we booked the tickets" her mom replied
"WHEN?" screamed Kripa
"Tomorrow"
"What? Mama, why did you book the tickets so early?"
"Kripa, what's wrong? Why don't you want to go to your honeymoon?"
"Its nothing like that Mama... its just now is a very bad time... please cancel the tickets, Mama"
"I will speak to the Khannas and then we will decide... okay... Bye"
"No, mama cancel them now!"
But, it was too late as Gayatri Sharma had already hung up...
Kripa just heard the dial tone for a while...
*************
Angad turned the key, and pushed upon the door. Then, he switched on the lights, with Kripa following him closely.
"Not bad" he said as he put the key on the stool beside
"Hey! That's exactly the same place where I drop the key" replied Kripa
"You have a nice view" replied Angad walking up to the balcony
Her living room had a huge balcony attached, so the entire view of the city could be seen from there.
She entered the kitchen, and opened the fridge "Tea, Coffee or Juice" she asked
"Hmmm.... Juice" he replied standing in the balcony
"Good choice as it is I am running out of tea..." she answered
"How many books do you have?" he questioned
She noticed he was back in the living room going through her bookshelf..
"About a 100 only"
"And, you plan on taking all of them?"
"Yes, you have a problem?"
"Haven't you read all of this? I can buy you more books you know?"
"No, thanks... I want to read them again"
He raised his eyebrow; then he started playing with this clock.... It had a pendulum, a few ropes, and when one set the alarm at a specific time the bird would come out and yell out "Cuckooo". Apparently Angad found it fascinating as he kept playing with it forcing the bird out every minute.
"Angad, stop it! It will get spoiled" she replied pulling out her clothes from the closet in the bedroom
"Hey! You know I had one of these in my childhood" he replied
She didn't bother to reply, and kept throwing all her clothes in the bag laid out on the bed.
Then, she heard Angad enter. He went up to the bag, and picked up a top "Your going to wear this?" he asked with his eyebrows raised
"Yeah... why you have a problem?"
"Ofcourse you won't wear this outside... will you?"
"Angad, I don't wear a tank top outside... I am just taking it since after a few days I won't be able to fit in any of this, so I might as well wear all of them now... Besides, do you think I will wear it in front of you?"
"I don't see a problem with that" he replied with a teasing tone
She just rolled her eyes, and continued to pull out her clothes...
Angad walked out of the room leaving her alone... Once, she was done filling the bag she remembered Angad, and wondered why he was so silent...
"Angad" she called out as she walked out of the room
She noticed him in front of her with his back to her...
"What are you doing?" she questioned as she went near him...
He had found all her photos, and was going through them...
"Angad, bad boy" she yelled closing the photo album
He opened it again, and replied, "I saw all of them"
"So what? I am not letting you see them"
"Why?"
"Because I hate my pictures"
"Hey! I LIKE them...You look really CUTE... Now, let me see them"
"No" she replied holding the album in her hands
He moved closer to her dangerously, and said, "Don't make me do this, Kripa"
"Do what?" she asked daringly
He moved closer to her, and she realized she had no where to go...
He pinned her to the wall, and bent closer to the point she could smell his cologne, and feel his breath on her face.
"What are you doing?" she asked holding her breath
But, he didn't answer. All she could think of was... this is it... this is it....
They were going to kiss...
She closed her eyes, and then opened them when she heard him laughing...
Disappointment was clearly written on her face... he was just testing her.
Damn! And, here she was dying for it...
God! Kripa you are a fool, she thought
She walked away only to realize she did not have the album, and she noticed he had tricked her...
"I hate you, Angad" she yelled as she entered the kitchen
"Tell me something I don't know" he replied chuckling
*************
Thanks a lot for the encouraging comments!
Next Part - New Year's Party & First Kiss --- Promise
I didn't intend to torture you all, but it sort of just came out... Hope you all like this part. Its too long... And, I hope I haven't repeated any scenes. Their honeymoon will come much later on unless I plan to bring it earlier.
Please do leave comments! Thank You!
P.S - Did anyone beside me have trouble trying to login?
Edited by Andekhi - 18 years ago
Fan Fictions
Anupamaa
