Chapter 3
Ishita was the first to pull away from their warm embrace. A light blush adorned her face as she lowered her gaze, still feeling the heat of their first kiss.
Raman ran his fingers through his hair, smiling at her reddened cheeks. He liked being the cause of her blush.
His eyes drifted to her still wet hair. He bent down to pick her towel off the floor and headed out of the room to put it in the laundry basket. He returned shortly and opened the cupboard to get his own towel.
Ishita followed his every move with curious eyes. When she saw him taking his towel out of the cupboard she assumed he was going to take a shower; a wave of disappointment rushed through her, but it was quickly replaced by serendipity.
Raman stood before her, gently resting his hand on her shoulder to push her down on the bed. Ishita sat down at the foot of the bed and Raman positioned himself to kneel behind her.
He then used the towel to rub the moisture from her hair. Once he was satisfied that most of the dampness was gone, he took the towel to the bathroom and placed it on the rack.
Raman made his way back to the room to find Ishita still seated at the foot of the bed, her eyes closed and head slightly tilted back. The sight made him pause in his steps as he watched silently, enamored by her beauty and grace. The fluttering of her eyes brought him out of the trance and he quickly made his way to the dressing table to collect her hairbrush.
He then climbed back onto the bed, resting his legs on either side of her so she sat in between them. Raman began brushing out the tangles strand by strand until her hair lay dry against her back. He pulled the brush away and leaned forward.
Ishita shivered in delight as she felt his hot breath in her ear.
"You can sleep on the bed tonight."
At those words, Ishita turned her head to look at him. The proximity of their faces caused her breath to hitch as their noses brushed slightly.
"And you?"
Raman assumed she was asking whether he'll sleep in the same room with her. Since they had the whole house to themselves there were many free beds that he could use for the night and there was no one to question why they weren't sleeping in one room. The thought of leaving their room and being away from Ishita disturbed him, which is why he was quick to answer her.
"I'll be right here."
Ishita tried to hide her joy at his words, but Raman didn't miss the sparkle in her eyes. She assumed he would be sleeping on the bed with her, so she stood and swiftly made her way to the left side of the bed, ignoring her injuries. She slowly pulled the duvet back and got in. Ishita looked up at Raman, who was still seated on the bed, his legs apart where she was sitting between them.
Raman watched her in amusement, thinking she was happy at finally being able to sleep on a bed after so many nights of sleeping uncomfortably on the couch. A pang of guilt hit him as he recalled his ill treatment of her in the first few months of their marriage. He decided she would be sleeping on the bed from now on, while he took her position on the couch.
"I'm going to change my clothes; I'll be back in a bit."
He rushed to the cupboard to grab his clothes and left the room.
_________________________________________
When he returned, he was greeted with the sight of his sleeping beauty. The day's events had finally caught up with her body and Ishita had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Recalling the doctor's advice, Raman walked to her side of the bed and leaned over her to grab a pillow. He gently lifted her injured arm and placed it on the pillow to keep it elevated. He tucked in one side of the duvet before pulling back to tuck in the other. His heart pounded loudly in his ears as his gaze travelled from the small scrapes on her cheeks to the darkening bruise on her forehead. Even scarred she was still beautiful.
His hand reached out of its own accord to gently brush her forehead, wanting to erase all the pain she'd experienced. Raman bent and pressed his mouth to her temple as he whispered his apology.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you."
Feeling Ishita stir in her sleep, Raman retreated to the couch, where he lay facing the bed to keep an eye on his wife.
_________________________________________
Sleep evaded Raman as he bolted upright at the piercing shriek that ripped through the silence of the night. His eyes immediately darted to the bed.
Raman threw the duvet off his body and ran to the bed, where a trembling Ishita lay drenched in sweat. Incoherent words spewed from her mouth, but he managed to catch his name a few times as he sat on the bed and gently shook her awake.
Ishita awoke soon after and immediately wrapped both her arms around Raman's stomach, ignoring the sting in her own stomach and the pain in her wrist as it flexed at her sudden movement. She hugged him tighter, her breath leaving her body in short gasps as fear consumed her heart.
"You said... you... you'd be right here!"
"I am here Ishita; you're safe; no one is going to hurt you."
Raman continued whispering words of comfort as he rubbed her back in an up and down motion to soothe her.
Once Ishita's breathing had calmed down and her grip on him had loosened, Raman reached towards the table to pour her a glass of water. He helped her into a sitting position and pressed the rim of the glass to her lips, making her open them and take a sip. She pulled her head back when she was done and Raman put the glass back on the table.
Ishita looked down, embarrassed by her uncontrolled outburst. It was then that she saw her bare finger and she felt the panic slowly gripping her heart again.
"Ra... Raman, m... my ring- "
Raman looked at her in confusion, wondering why she would ask for it amidst the fear that was still evident on her face. Nevertheless, he walked to the dressing table and grabbed the packet that the police had handed over to him in the hospital and took out the ring.
Going back to her, he placed the ring in her hand. He watched as she fisted the ring and brought it closer to her heart, a look of peace gracing her face as she rested her back against the headboard.
Disbelief washed over him as he realised what she was unwilling to give up.
"You let them attack you, for this?! I would've gotten the same one made for you again, you crazy woman!"
She looked him straight in the eye as she spoke her next words,
"But then your heart would've been with someone else."
His breath caught in his throat and his chest tightened as her words took him completely off guard. He watched her lips pull up in a miniscule smile and lifted his eyes higher to meet her glittering ones. Raman reached forward to pry open her fisted hand. He took the ring off her palm and turned her hand to slide it on her ring finger. As he lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles and then the ring, he spoke with his lips still pressed against it,
"My heart will only ever belong to you, Ishita."
Before she could give him a reply, he hauled her into his arms and crushed his mouth to hers.
Ishita let out a whimper, not understanding whether it was due to the pain or from the pleasure that surged through her.
Raman ran his hands possessively up her arms to her shoulders, and then upward again to her throat, finally stopping to cradle her face. His kiss consumed her every sense as he moved a hand from her face to rest against her back, pressing her closer to him.
His breath exploded over her as he broke contact with her lips and they both gasped for air. His eyes sparkled as he stared at her.
"And no one can take you away from me, or me from you."
Raman then pulled away from her completely and made his way to the other side of the bed. He crawled into the duvet with her.
"We should sleep now, you need to rest. And don't worry; I'll be by your side, always."
Ishita slid down the headboard and placed her head on the pillow. Raman also positioned himself closer to her, resting his own head on the same pillow, the distance between them very little.
Their bodies cocooned around the pillow that cushioned their joint hands. He made sure to keep her injured hand on top of his so that it wouldn't swell.
And when her head hit the pillow that time, she fell into a coma-like sleep, because Ishita knew that although the memory of the incident would forever haunt her, she would be remembering this night for an entirely different reason.
As memories of the many events that occurred in the past few hours flashed across her closed eyelids, the ones that stood out to her the most were those of Raman - the dark fury on his face as his concern burst out in the form of anger, the anxiety in his eyes when he admitted to being scared, the blush on his cheeks when he undressed her and the possessiveness when he kissed her. The last making her smile as sleep consumed her.
Raman lay besides her, listening as her breathing deepened and her facial lines smoothened out.
The last thing he saw before he fell asleep was her face shining in the moonlight, peacefully sleeping.
- The End -
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Edited by Arooj.M - 11 years ago
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