Chapter 5
Tumhe koi aur dekhe toh jalta hai dil
Badi mushkilo se fir sambhalta hai dil
"I see."
Abhimanyu regarded the scene in front of him with a storm coiling in his chest. I kinda feel bad for keeping you up all night.

"Doctor Akshara," he said after a minute, "you were leaving. Don't let us keep you." Everything inside of him was screaming to either break the kid's neck or clasp her in his arms like a caveman. But the rational, cool part of him reminded him of just how utterly exhausted his girl was. His anger could take a backseat. Her wellbeing couldn't.
Akshara opened her mouth to say something then thought better of it. Ducking her head she headed out, sending a silent prayer up to Kanhaji, How could so many things go wrong in a span of 24 hours?
"Akshu" she heard from behind her, causing her to look back. He was still standing with his back to her, and poor Akshay was trying to make himself as small as possible.

This time she did notice his use of her nick name. Has he ever called her that before?
"Haan?"
He turned his head just enough for her to see his clenched jaw. "Ghar pohochke message karna mat bolna"
Nodding her head, she power walked out of the hallway. Safely seated in her car, she took a moment to exhale slowly. Her skin was still buzzing with electricity, as if a line of shock had run through her veins. She could still feel the ghost of his fingers on her neck. The gentleness with which he had handled her had left her mind in a daze. 
God she hoped he didn't tear Akshay a new one. Poor guy wasn't even used to his anger. Honestly speaking, she wasn't either. She'd seen him angry, just never at her. Oh he scolded her all the time, sure, but he's never shouted her, not the way he sometimes did when a nurse or a junior doctor was careless or unprofessional. His anger had never, ever, been directed at her. She never gave him a reason to.
Until today.

Hey Kanhaji raksha karna.
Abhimanyu scrutinized the guy in front of him. I kinda feel bad for keeping you up all night. He was avoiding his gaze, waiting for Abhimanyu to talk to him or dismiss him or acknowledge his presence in any way. He didn't.
"Um," he finally said, after a few seconds of tensed silence. "Good evening sir."
"In my office" Abhi replied curtly, sweeping into his room, not bothering to spare the boy a glance. Taking a seat, he leaned back and observed the guy in front of him. Doctor Akshay Chauhan may not know it yet, but Abhimanyu Birla was not one to forget a face.

There are many things Akshara doesn't know. Things that even his family doesn't know. When Akshara first joined Birla Hospital, there was talk. A lot of it. She was the last of the interns to be appointed, not to mention the youngest to ever be given the honor. Add in her beautiful face and the fact that she came from a rich family, and you have the perfect fodder for petty, jealous gossip.
Mahima Taiji had confided in him that she was a little worried for one of her interns. He hadn't known for sure that it was the same girl who had fell into his arms that day, but he'd had an inkling. Medical colleges have always been infamous for their brutal ragging culture, and though most of that is written off as youthful immaturity, some of that bleeds out into their future careers as well. Medicine is an extremely competitive field, and young and upcoming doctors in particular are always looking for ways to one up another. Akshara was the number one competition for almost all of the new hires and even some of the old ones, making her a neat little target.
He'd observed himself the petty feudal acts she'd faced. Sneers and jibes about her abilities, and catty theories about how she had managed to bag her internship. Theories about how she had bought her seat, or slept with his father to score it. It was one of the reasons he had had her shifted to his team, where at least everyone else was too scared of him to indulge in gossip. He hadn't fully realized or accepted his feelings for her at that point but he did know he couldn't stand back and watch her get character assassinated.
Few weeks in and she had already proved her mettle a hundred times over, and still the bullying had raged on. She never reported or complained any of it, a fact that had frustrated him to no end. In fact, she continued to chat and interact with the same people who snickered behind her back. She wasn't oblivious to their actions, that much he knew. He had noticed the tight shoulders and shaky hands she tried to conceal. He didn't know why she put up with it, but he wouldn't. It was hindering her ability to concentrate and grow, Transferring her to work under him had meant a complete change in dynamics. Her ears were far away from their wagging tongues and she flourished under his mentorship.
The Akshay Chauhan standing in front of him, had been one of the participants, in fact prime participant even he'd say. Abhi wasn't sure of his indulgence in gossip before Akshu had joined him, but he had definitely stirred up some trouble for her after. Akshay had first applied to work under Abhi but had been rejected, and instead given to Doctor Mahima. Over time, he had tried to be shifted to work under Abhi a few times more claiming it had always been his dream to learn from his idol, handing in applications and even having some minister relative call the hospital. Abhi didn't take many interns, and he had certainly never mentored one before Akshu. Akshay had had to resign to the fact that he would have to be content with just working in Birla Hospital, and not it's star doctor, a fact he had never fully accepted. When Akshara's transfer had been made public he'd been pissed and he'd made it known. Loudly. Abhi was aware he'd already been issued a formal warning from Mahima Taiji, for some ill timed remarks and insinuations. Mahima was never one to watch a man undermine a woman's achievements, much less when she was a future Birla. He'd been warned off and had been quiet so far. Till now.
"May I ask why you kept my intern 'up all night' as you say?" he asked him, keeping his tone casual.

Akshay gave a careless shrug. "She was helping me out with something."
"Hm." Abhi smiled coldly. "And what exactly are you doing here. Doctor Mahima doesn't call in her team on Sundays, and there have been no emergency cases."
"I forgot something. Why does it matter?" Akshay defended quickly, shifting his eyes. "Is this because I kept Akshu up? Why, did she run to you and complain? She could've just said no, I didn't force her to do anything-"
"Doctor Akshara Goenka," Abhi interrupted, emphasizing her full name.
"Sir?"
"He name," Abhi said, slowly as if talking to a child "is Doctor Akshara Goenka."
"Yes sir" Akshay said through gritted teeth. Abhi watched, briefly amused, as his face turned red.
"Well, as long as you didn't deliberately keep my intern up knowing she has a shift on Sunday in the hope of wearing her out and then come here to check up on weather or not your plan worked, right? No way you'd do something like that."
Akshay's face went slack and Abhi knew he'd hit the nail right on the head. A wave of rage washed through him. He'd known people like him. Faced people like him. People who sabotaged others careers in order to boost their own. They were the lowest of the low. For the first time in his life he was tempted to use his power and position to get this ladder climbing leech fired. All it would take is one phone call......
"R-right, sir" stammered Akshay frantically.
Reeling his temper in, Abhi fixed a sarcastic smirk on his face, and glared at him. "Well, since you're here, I'm sure you wouldn't mind going down and volunteering to update the patient charts. Take a round and cover all floors. I'm sure the nursing staff will appreciate the gesture."
Akshay's face flushed but he didn't dare refuse. Covering every room would take hours, hell the whole night really. Plus it was a nurse's job. A man like Akshay who considered even the people at the same level as him as lowly would never agree to do something as mundane as update charts. But he had no choice. He'd been given a direct order from a senior doctor.

"Of course sir."
Abhi didn't spare him a glance, unlocking his phone. He heard the door of his office shut and was about to call Mahima Tiaji when his phone chimed.
Akshu : reached
Abhi typed out a "Sleep" and sent it. He usually didn't respond to her texts but he knew she'd spend the night tossing and turning, wondering if he was mad at her or not. He was, but that didn't mean she'd spend yet another night awake. He'd have to force her into one of the hospital beds soon enough if she continued like this. They'd deal with this issue tomorrow.
I finally got groupie status so I can do cool stuff like add GIFs and images and links! Love it. Disclaimer, none of these GIFs are mine, I got them all off of google images. If anybody owns these and wants me to take them off just let me know and I shall do so at once. I only added these because, well, look at them. A little visual treat is always fun when the subjects are so damn beautiful.
I know this was later than usual, but well, things have been hectic. But I couldn't let my lovelies go without any Abhira content could I, considering it's sunday. So here you go beautiful people.
Hope you guys enjoyed this. Let me know what you're expecting next, i love to read your comments <3
Edited by illiana.yale.35 - 3 years ago
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