Bigg Boss 19: Daily Discussion Thread - 21st Oct 25
Deepika and Ranveer wish diwali with Dua
DIWALI AT PH 22.10
🏏India tour of Australia, 2025: Australia vs India, 2nd ODI🏏
RAMAYAN AT PH 23.10
🎉🌟Happy Birthday to the Man Behind the Magic—Vijay Bhatter🎂💐
Bill Gates To Appear on Kyunki?!
The Parth Bombshell
Rashmika's Thamma opening day at 25 cr - True blue superstar
I need to know
Raat Bhar Song - De De Pyaar De 2
Will Smith To Also Appear In Kyunki?!
~ CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT ~
Manik moved in with caution. He feared that she was going to suffer from another seizure. What's taking that confounded nurse so long? Is she playing with herself out there? With each passing second, he kept throwing desperate glances at the door, hoping that the nurse would turn up sooner. He grew more helpless, worried, angry and frustrated. Not to mention clueless.
Nandini was still hunched up and swooning. And then... she gagged with one mighty fruitless heave that startled Manik out of his wits. When she heaved and gagged throatily again, Manik, who was as stiff and rigid as a pole was sure that she would throw up everything inside, including her intestines, but still... nothing came out.
A normal person could manage to stagger out of bed, stumble to the washroom and throw up to his or her heart's desire. But he could clearly see that she wasn't in a position to do so. It was obvious that she wasn't in her senses and was visibly disconnected. Before she could lurch for the third time, quick thinking got Manik to pick up the empty waste basket from the corner of the room and shove it right before her. And this time, she coughed up the remnants of the previous day's breakfast into the bin.
Manik flinched as Nandini threw up again. It seemed that there would be no end to her discomfort. There was a painful clench in his guts that urged him to just put a stop to her misery. He found his hand reluctantly reaching out for her back and stroking it gently as she uncontrollably barfed up over and over into the bin. She breathlessly held onto the basket with wobbly hands and closed her blurry eyes. It was tiring and she wanted it to stop but her insides churned violently and forced her to throw up again.
"It's okay..." said Manik uncomfortably as he stroked her back. He found his own attempts at trying to hush and comfort her... surprising. Unexpected. Awkward. He wasn't used to this. Probably because he had never stuck around long enough to explore himself and had always found a way to get out of such sticky situations. He was surprised that her pain and discomfort was causing him to feel distressed. The tears that had clogged itself in his throat kept telling him so. He too wanted it to stop. Not just because he was afraid... but also because her suffering was a bit too harsh for him to handle. This feeling was new.
The nurse walked in briskly through the door with loud tsk-tsks and checked on Nandini. "Oh ho-ho-ho! What happened?"
"She... threw up again," replied Manik quietly.
"It's okay," she told him whilst she had a quick look at Nandini, "it's just the after effects of the seizure. Pretty normal to feel sick and confused."
"Can't you stop it? I mean... she can't keep throwing up all day, right?" there was panic in his voice. To him, it seemed that she would never stop puking and this worried him.
"Don't worry," said the nurse with a smile, "she'll be given something to sleep through it. I'll get the attendant to bring some fruit paste. Just try and get her to eat it."
"Fruit paste? What's that?"
"Fresh fruits mashed to a fine paste in the blender," replied the nurse. "It'll be easy for her to have it. Plus she'll feel better."
"But I've got some oats here," he said.
"Yes, you can give that too. But later," said the nurse. "Since she's nauseous the oats might do more harm than good. Let her have some fruits for now. I'll be right back."
Saying this, the nurse hurried out of the room like her ass was on fire whilst Manik kept on rubbing Nandini's back with gentle strokes. "Are you... done?" he asked quietly as he held onto the bin. But she never replied. It seemed that she never even heard or comprehended anything of what he said. To his luck, she didn't even seem to realize that he was around. For all the reasons, he was at much ease now. "Shall I take it off? Hmm?" he asked her to which she just let go off the bin and crumbled down to the bed.
Just as he kept the bin aside, there was a knock on the door. It was one of the attendants. In his hand was a plastic bowl covered up with an aluminium foil. "Sir, madam asked to give this to the patient immediately. Fruit paste."
"Oh okay, thanks." Manik took the chilled bowl from him and hesitated for a moment before pulling out the foil and proceeding towards Nandini. He dropped the metal spoon into the bowl and just stirred it up gently. However, Nandini seemed to be half asleep already.
Manik Malhotra... was a guy who could easily become the Prime Minister of the country if he wanted to. Such was his flair at handling situations and creating solutions. Everything seemed like a piece of cake when it came into his hands, except for now. Now... he stopped in his tracks. Hesitated. Played the same question in his mind over and over again.
How am I going to get her to eat this? How am I going to call her? What if she doesn't get up when I call her? What if she doesn't eat? What if she starts screaming at the top of her lungs for all what had happened so far? He took a frantic glance at his watch. This Cabir and Mukti... what's taking them so long!
Manik stood beside her bed and shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Nandini..." he called her in a hushed voice. But there was no response. She flickered her eyes open on his second attempt, this time, only because of a gentle pat to her shoulder. In a way, he felt relieved that she never even turned to have a look at him. Her eyes were so distant and bloodshot that it seemed like she didn't have a clue about anything at all.
"Hey," he began in an uneasy tone, "see listen. You need to have this. So... just try and sit up."
But his words seemed to have no effect at all. Manik was starting to worry over her irresponsiveness. Something is definitely not right. She's behaving like a zombie. "Are you listening?" he asked quietly.
Her breathing was slow and her eyes threatened to give into her weariness once again when Manik thrust a gentle hand under her the base of her head and carefully helped her to sit up. "Come on, don't fall asleep again. Just have this." He placed the bowl in her hands which were resting on her lap and stood back as she slowly reached out for the spoon and fumbled with it. The way she tried to get hold of the spoon gave him the impression of a drunk who was completely zapped out and unfocused.
Nandini felt like her hands had a mind of its own. Her blurred vision and confused thoughts hampered her attempts at getting hold of the real spoon before her.
Manik, who had been watching her all this while felt his insides writhe uncomfortably. He had so wished that she would be able to take care of this by herself. But from the looks of it, she definitely needed help. Not that he didn't want to, but the awkwardness of appearing as a concerned and caring individual was daunting. It took some work but he finally managed to push himself out of his comfort zone and reach out to her.
He gently held her baffled hands and kept them aside as he threw fleeting glances at Nandini. From the way her eyes shifted from the bowl to the wall before her, it seemed that his touch was being registered in her senses... in her memory.
The bowl was in his hand now. He scooped up a fair amount of the mashed fruits and held the spoon before her mouth. In her state of confusion, Nandini didn't seem to realize that the spoon was before her.
"Hey..." Manik felt really uncomfortable that his voice was barely audible. "Just... erm... open your mouth... eat this..."
The spoon was brushing against her lips now. To his relief, her lips slowly parted and gave way for the spoon's entry. As she closed her eyes and savoured on the heavenly taste and aroma of the fresh fruits, her entire being seemed to relax. She felt her brains gets instantly recharged of its drained state.
"Have some more..." she heard Manik tell her quietly.
The spoon was in again. She relished on the exotic flavour of the fruits over her bruised tongue. Though it stung a bit, the overwhelming taste compensated on a very good note.
Manik felt very relieved. It wasn't as fussy as he thought it'd be. He was indeed afraid that she would react to the previous day's events. But thankfully, she didn't even look at him. Not even once! Before anything else happened, he wanted to devise something to tell her. Something that would justify all his actions so far. But how will I? What will I say? She won't accept it, I'm sure. No girl will.
Manik had his eyes on the bowl whilst he scooped up another dose of fruits. But when he looked up... he got the shock of his life. Nandini's eyes were wide open and were boring at him. Unlike before, it didn't seem distant or confused anymore.
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Note: Next update will be up at night. Do leave your valuable likes and comments and let me know how you find this chapter. I was pretty much like Nandini when I wrote this. Swooning and damn sleepy! LOL.
Anupamaa
