nandini opened her eyes hearing the chirpy sounds of the birds. she rubbed her eyes and looked here and there lazily. instead of finding herself on her bed, she found herself lying in manik's lap. she realized that they were lost in the jungle. she sat up properly and looked at manik , his back had stopped bleeding, still it seemed to be painful. it had become swollen till then. she lightly touched his wound and manik immediately hissed in pain
n=um sorry..um sorry woh ...
m=its okay..
n=um really sorry manik, tumhe bohot dard horaha ha na..
m=nahi..its okay. sachme. woh bass achanak se. wase subhah hogayi? i guess humhe chalna chahiye
n=manik..tum chal paoge? i mean..
m=its okay.. humhe iss jungle se nikalna chahiye esi jagah jaha network coverage hoga, so that i can atleast call someone and inform ke hum competition me late se pouchenge
n=manik.. we are going back. koi competition me hum part nahi lege
m=what nandini..tum
n=manik..just ssshhh... maine kaha ha. iss halat me tumhe doctor ki zarurat ha, u need rest, aur tum guitar kaise bajaoge isiliye behes mat karo samjhe?
m=accha theek ha, but filhal... chalo yahase
n=chalo
she helped him get up and wear his shirt properly. they started to walk once again. all the time nandini was holding his hand.
m=tumhe bhook nahi lagi kya??
n=bhook toa lagi ha but kya kare abhi??
m=dekhte hain. ekbar highway par pouch jaye then shayed koi dhaba kuch milsakta hain.
they started to walk again holding each others hand. nandini was checking him every now and then, whether he was okay or not. finally after walking for about one hour they reached the high way and to their good luck, they saw a nearby dhaba and went their to have something. nandini ordered something for manik quickly along with a turmeric milk for his wounds. manik asked for a phone but their was no phone and the p.c.o was about 1 km far from the dhaba.
n=manik, lets have food first then hum phone karlenge
m=theek ha, wasebhi we cant participate in the competition now as its today
n=principal sir bohot naraz honge
m=dont worry, he wont say anything aur wasebhi mujhe ese dekkar agar dad ke samne sir ne kuch kaha, then lol..unki job toa gayi.
the food arrived and both started to enjoy the food as they were eating after many hours. some boys were sitting beside their table and staring at nandini. nandini saw their gaze on them but didnt react or tell manik anything as she knew if she says something now, manik will start fighting and she wont allow him do that in this condition. but their gazes were making her uncomfortable which manik noticed
m=nandini..kya hua?? tum kha kyu nahi rahiho?
n=nahi woh..bass mera pet bhar gaya..
m=are abhi toa tum kehrahithi ke tumhe bohot bhook lagi hain and now..
"bhook nahi ha toa humare pass ajaw, share karke khalenge" one of the boys said from that table. manik glared at them angrily and then back at nandini who was looking to the other side. he understood the reason behind her uncomfortableness. manik was about to get up but she held his hands
n=manik please for my sake, no fighting.. let them say, humhe kya? agar tum react karoge then they will say even more. im not looking at them. please tum kuch mat karo. humara khana hogaya ha lets just leave.
he could sense that she was scared. he remembered the night when he saved her from the goons , how scared she was. right now they were lost and she was already stressed because of his wounds
m=hmm
he nodded and left from there holding her hand paying the money. they began to walk forward, looking for the p.c.o
...
c=i think they are lost
dr=what?? lost??
mu=ese kaise lost..i mean manik pune kitne baar jachuka ha..
na=humhe bohot daar lagraha ha kahi nandu ko ..
c=madhubala tum.. tension mat lo. manik ha na uske sath, and im sure they are okay but may be koi problem hogayi ha..
a=guys i think we should inform this to uncle i mean woh manik keliye pareshan honge
c=i guess alya abhi nahi batate hain uncle ko i mean, pehle unke bareme pata karte hain, abhi kuch kahenge then uncle khamakha pareshan honge
na=cabir..please kuch karo. humara dil bohot ghabra raha hain. nandu ka kalse kuch pata nahi hain please guys kuch karo.
mu=navya relax..hum sab milke kuch karte hain.
...
manik and nandini were walking on the highway, waiting for any bus or vehicle to stop but there was no sign of anything. suddenly they heard sound of cars horn.
n=manik shayed koi car arahiha, we can take lift.
m=dekhte hain
a jeep was passing by and stopped infront of them. it was the same gang of boys who were at the dhaba and were teasing nandini. manik glared at them angrily and stood in front of nandini
"hi baby, need lift? hum ha na.. come on" one of the boys said. nandini clutched maniks arm tightly
m=chalo nandini
manik holded her hand and began to walk. the boys also got down from the jeep and began to follow them
"come on baby, we will have fun" saying one of them holded her hand
n=manikkk
nandini shouted and that was it for manik he punched the guy hard on his face and he fell on the ground. he moved her aside and started to beat the others who were one by one attacking manik. nandini was looking here and there trying to find help. one of the goons hit manik with a stick on his back and nandini screamed .. she was about to come for help when another one holded her hand and was trying to take her away with him. manik managed to stand up and hit the goons with their on stick. he punched the guy hard who was taking nandini away. she clinged into his chest and hugged him tightly. he rubbed her back
m=sshh.. its okay. sab theek ha. chalo yahase.
n=manik tum theek ho..
m=um fine..sshh chalo yahase.
...
m=nandini chalo, somehow managed to get one room
after a lot of walking, finally they spotted a lodge and decided to stay there for sometime. even though there was one room nandini agreed as she knew how much manik needed rest. they went to the room. both of them were stealing glances from each other as they knew what kind of lodge it was still because of their problems they needed rest. nandini made manik lie down on the bed and went inside the washroom to get some cold water. manik took out his phone and luckily he found some network in that area. he tried to call cabir and others but the signal was too weak. meanwhile nandini came out of the washroom with cold water. she saw some cloth in the cupboard and took it for dressing.
m=nandini iski koi zarurat nahi ha.im fine
n=manik please..dont be stubborn, not right now. just turn around and let me do the dressing.
manik knew there was no point of arguing as she wont pay heed to his talks. he nodded and turned around. manik looked at her through the mirror infront of his eyes. she was carefully removing his shirt. it was time for his vest.
n=manik woh..
she was stammering as she was feeling shy. manik smirked and tried to get rid of his vest and hissed in pain.
n=i'll help
Thore bheege bheegese thore num hain hum
Kalse soye woye bhi toa kam hain hum
his eyes were fixed on her. how carefully she was taking off his vest. she wast aware of his gaze on her. manik smirked and gently touched her loose strands which were covering her chubby cheeks. that is when she realized his eyes fixed on her. she lowered her gaze and put her hair behind her ear.
m=tum khule balome bohot acchi lagti ho.
Dil ne kaise harkat ki hain
Pehli baar mohabbat ki hain
Akhri baar mohabbat ki hain
she blushed and kept his vest aside. she looked at his back and it was blood red because of stick. she gently dipped the cloth into ice cold water and cleaned the place. even though manik was the one who was hurt , nandini was feeling the pain, every time she placed the cloth on his wound she would hiss in pain instead of him. on the other hand, manik was staring at her through the mirror. she was always there for him, he thought.
manik didnt realize when she finished cleaning the spot and then applied some ice on his back. when she finished her work she looked at him through the mirror and saw his intense gaze on her which made her blush.
n=woh.. main yeh rakke ati hu.
nandini took a step to move and hissed in pain. manik quickly got up and holded her by shoulders.
m=nandini kya hua?
n=pata nahi..kuch chubh gaya per me..
m=tum betho..i'll check.
he made her sit on the bed and bent down to look at her foot. he saw a little piece of thorn was stuck. he was about to touch her foot when she held his hand
n=manik please...tum mere per mat chuo.
he glared at her. she was impossible he thought
m=chupchap bethi raho, yeh nikalna parega
he touched the thorn and nandini closed her eyes in pain. she clutched his shoulder tightly and manik carefully took out the little piece of thorn.
m=hogaya, you can open ur eyes.
nandini slowly opened her eyes and saw him benting down his head . nandini was confused what he was trying to do when manik kissed the place where the thorn was stuck. nandini turned into crimson red and got up from her place. she was feeling shy but happy inside. manik thought again he had hurt her.
m=um sorry nandini.. mujhe esa nahi karna chahiye tha.
nandini immediately turned around and put her palm on his lips
n=ssh nahi manik.. ab kuch galat nahi hoga, sab accha hoga aur horaha ha.
manik smiled and took her hands in his hands. he kissed her knuckles and held her by shoulders. he was about to say something when they heard manik's phone ringing. both looked at each other and smiled, finally they found network around themselves.
m=hello..
c=hello manik !! dude.. kaha ha tu?? kaha the tum dono..kitna pareshan hogaye the hum matlab..
m=cabir meri baat dhyanse sun.
manik narrated the full story to cabir and he listenend to it carefully.
m=aur sun, dont tell dad right now anything okay?? just send the car.. aur navya se kehna nandini is fine
c=theek ha. just wait some hours, i'll be there okay
m=okay bye
n=kya kaha cabir ne?
m=dont worry.. now everything will be fine.
n=thank god.
suddenly they heard the door was being knocked very loudly. manik quickly put on his vest and opened the door and both of them were shocked to see the police.
