Tumbleweeds ...24th Update.. Pg 45 - Page 33

Originally posted by: piya_10

wonderful update skepi, keep going 😍 oh and yr knowledge bout the med stuff is amazing 👍🏼

Originally posted by: nikitagmc

That was wonderful Skepi! Hope Shravani does not create problems between the two of them. (You did not mention it, I presumed it was Shravani in stilletoes, am I right?)

Originally posted by: skeptical

No Niks, it was Arch. The stilettoes she was referring to were her crutches ...😊

And onwards ...

Arch was looking out of the window. It was three weeks since the operation. Life had changed. She felt like a ball in a fast spinning roulette. From her girlish dreams about love and the rude awakening to the grim aspects of life, she had experienced it all. She shuffled slowly on her feet. The operation had been a success but the recovery had been slow.

She remembered talking to her parents after Manav had briefed them about the surgery. He had told them what he would be doing and how he would be doing it. He had told them not to make hasty decisions and to even take a second opinion so that they get a clear view on what the operation would really entail.

"I don't have a magic wand," he had said honestly. "But I am going to make sure that Arch never uses those damned crutches again."

So yet another six months had passed. Manav had gone back to the US. Once he got the nod from the Deshmukh family, he started to restudy the whole case. He was conferring with Dr Fennerton about it. And the senior doctor couldn't have been more helpful. With all his intelligence garnered and his knowledge in full control, Dr Manav Deshmukh had returned to Mumbai.

In the meanwhile, he had grown friendly with Arch. They had started to chat when she had requested to speak to him about the forthcoming surgery. They would meet daily on their computers and soon became friends. Arch had started to look forward to their morning chats. It was morning for her and evening for him. Slowly she began to know him better and subsequently began to trust him too.

He had remarked once, What is that book on the table near your elbow?"

She looked down. "Oh this? It's a note-book sort of ..."

"Is it your diary?"

"No."

Then ... how come it's always near you or with you?"

"It's very private. My own world of thoughts."

"You write?"

She nodded feeling a little embarrassed. "They are verses."

"Oh wow! How about reading one out?"

She shook her head. Manav had realised he was intruding.

"Has no one ever seen what is in it?"

"No."

"Why so? If they are beautiful verses, shouldn't you be sharing them with others?"

"The verses are my essence and within them lies my soul. It's a sacred place with a huge 'No Entry" board on it." She smiled whimsically.

"Okay no more talk about the book. Does it have a name? Or is just your anthology of poems?"

"It's called Tumbleweeds."

"Tumbleweeds? You mean those rolling dry grass balls in the warm winds of the American desert?"

"Yes ... my thoughts rolling along just like those dry weeds."

"Are they your random thoughts?"

"No I wouldn't say they are my random thoughts. It's a like a conversation I have with myself in the sanctity of my being."

Manav had narrowed his eyes and looked down at the plate from which he was having his dinner. He had realised that this girl had depth. He looked at her face and read her eyes. She had sorrow reflecting in them but the pain never reached her lips. He wanted to reach out and touch her cheek, look into her eyes closely and hold her close.

When he looked up, his eyes were probing and serious. She looked back at him and was a little aghast when her heart picked up its beats. Nervously she blinked her eyes and adjusted her glasses. She felt as though he had actually touched her. What was wrong with her?

"I think I can hear Ayi call me. Shall have to log off."

Manav gave her a wolfish grin...

"Ok run away!"

She crimsoned and hoped to God he hadn't read her mind like he always did. She hastily switched off the computer.