03

K A Z E   H I K A R U » a warm breeze of spring that follow a cold, dark winter; comes and breathes gently upon your skin like a shining radiance.

ANUSHKA

"If you two have babies one day, he or she would have wonderful eyes, Anu." Mom spoke as she worked in the kitchen, kneading the dough for the breakfast.

I rolled my eyes at her, "For the umpteenth time in my life, I don't love Dr. Shekhar." I flipped through my the sports magazine to pretend I was busy. Hearing dad's chuckle, I knew no one would buy it. I hardly read anything, except medical textbooks of course.

I hated reading, specially those stupid, idiotic romance books. They always managed to annoy the shit out of me.

"You know you've some major trust issues, don't you?" Dad quipped, taking a bite of the apple which was in his hands.

I frowned, looking at my brother. Only he knew the reason. Why I had major trust issues with people. Because the one time I let someone in left me with bitter ending and made me bitter about everything; the more I met people, the more I felt like I didn't want to meet them anymore.

"It's not trust issues, dad. Ugh," I mumbled, looking at my brother for some help. He pretended to be busy with some papers he had been checking since morning, and my frown deepened. I decided it was better to change the subject. "My new patient, Virat..."

"Virat Kohli, you mean?"

"Yeah, I told you about him yesterday!" I reminded him, and he nodded his head embarrassed. I grumbled realizing he wasn't hearing to my blabber yesterday during our night talks. "Do you ever listen? The only reason why I prefer talking to bhai over you guys. Old people, huh."

"Now stop acting like a diva, and continue what you were saying." My dad rolled his eyes.

I gasped, offended by his remark. "I don't act like a diva, dad!"

"It was eleven when you came to my room to talk. What do you expect this old man to do at that time? And you are a diva, Anushka. Just accept it."

"Fine," I huffed in anger. "I don't want to talk. Bye!" I got up from the dining hall, and walked upstairs in disdain. I was already tolerating so much of bullshit of Virat yesterday, and now my family was also leaving no stone unturned to make me feel miserable.

In my room, I stared outside the window like I always did.

Everything took me back there, as much as I wanted to avert it. My clammy hands cover me because there was no one to anchor me even though I've always been anchoring others. "You really felt offended by that?"

It was Sahil; I knew he would follow me to the room anyway. I stayed silent because I knew if a single syllable escaped my lips, the dam would just break with all the harbored feelings inside it. I had to meet Virat in an hour, and surely I didn't want to go there with red, puffy eyes.

Sahil could read silence better than words, maybe that's why the next moment he clasped my hand in his firmly, swathing me in his protective embrace next. Why was it that brothers were excellent brothers but were a douche to their girlfriends? Sahil was in love with Amisha since so long but it was an on-off relationship.

"You don't have to hurt yourself so much for it; It wasn't your fault, Anu." Except for it was. My fault. All mine.

"I really have to go and see Virat." I gave him a smile.

His eyes widened at my expression. "Beware of the florence nightingale effect, honey."

I rolled my eyes at him, "That's never going to happen. Virat's the rudest piece of shit ever." I half-lied, knowing he wasn't exactly an asshole. He was rude only because of the circumstances, maybe our first meeting under different circumstances would've been so much better - like in a coffee shop or somewhere.

"A piece of shit who makes this piece of shit drown in thoughts. Come on now, spill everything. What am I missing?"

"You're such a behavioral reader, Sahil." I told him, my eyes crinkling at the thought. All my life I had never met a guy who would made me this vulnerable... a good kind of vulnerable that is. A kind where you can pour all your heart out without any hesitation and thoughts of being judged. At least, I was lucky in this department of my life. "I love you."

"Love you too, Anu!" He pinched the bridge of my nose. Together we heard someone clearing their throats.

"Here I told this guy to fight my case and he's getting all sappy with his sister," dad murmured softly, shaking his head as he perambulated across the room in our direction. He wrapped his arms around us, "You two, never grow up."

"Never ever!" We laughed, together slapping his ass.

°°°

Florence nightingale effect it was when a caretaker or a nurse would fall for the patient with the slightest of brush often accompanied with the trail left in your body, the void made into your chest when that someone is gone, ending with the realization that the home which you called yours was actually never yours.

I had never developed any sort of feelings for any of my patients before, and yet when I worked through Virat's bedroom, arranging things for our next session, I couldn't help but find myself drawn towards him.

When I saw him sleeping in an awkward position, his eyebrows scrunched up showing that he was feeling uncomfortable, I couldn't stop myself from leaning towards him to help him. My hands wrapped around his neck to uplift his head back to the pillow. There was a sigh in between the soft snores that left his nose, and I stifled a chuckle that was about to escape my lips.

When I was about to leave him, his fingers slip through mine, holding it there. Falling could hurt, but it was the only thing I knew when the I found the grip had no malice – it's just comfort – something which we both have been seeking for all this time. He pulled me towards him but I made sure I don't crash onto his body. Another soft sigh escaped his lips when his other arm wrapped around my waist. My cheeks flushed red at the contact, as a feeling of conflict bubbled inside me.

I should've just let him wake up with a sore neck. Ugh.

My eyes focused on his face; how the darker lines covered the lighter sketches on his cheeks, the shapes which always seemed rough with sharp angles were now contoured into softer curves. Shifting my gaze to his grip on my waist, I cleared my throat. "Virat."

He scrunched his face, pushing out his lower lip in a frown in his sleep. Biting back a smile, I tapped on his forehead. "Wake up king!"

Virat fluttered his eyes open softly, slowly taking in the gleam of sunlight before he looked at me, grueling in shock. I put my hand on his mouth, so that I didn't have to smell his morning breath. "First go and brush."

Virat nodded, and I helped him get on his wheelchair. Virat wheeled himself to the wash basin when I heard him grumble. "Why is the mirror shifted upwards? Ugh."

I smiled when I saw him trying to lean upwards to get a glimpse of a reflection of his face. I always thought I was the only one who would resort to see their ugly reflection in the mirror but clearly that wasn't the case. Virat brushed his teeth quickly, and entered the room with his intimidating gaze fixed on me.

"What were you doing on my bed?"

"You pulled me in, Virat." I replied resignedly, narrowing my eyes.

Virat chuckled sardonically, "Yeah right. Listen doc, if you can't maintain a distance from me, I might just tell you to leave. There's no way anything's gonna happen between us so just take those thoughts away from your mind."

I glared at him, annoyed with his remarks. "Okay, what? I'm not interested in you either. Why would you even think so?"

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes. I had never met such an obnoxious patient who would not leave a single chance to pelt insults at me. Treating him was like sifting through the fire, but I had no choice. A part of me did want him to see able to walk again, and the same part pushed my legs to walk towards him.

Crouching down on the floor, my hands grazed his feet, giving them a regular massage. Virat was irritated by the touch and kept on shifting and dwindling his legs like an impatient kid. I blinked my eyes close for a fleeting moment, breathing in and out to calm myself down.

Getting up from my initial position, my hands now tried to reach for his to lift them up but this time Virat resisted ferociously. He gravitated his hands back on the arms of the wheelchair. Silently, I put my entire effort in lifting his hands up but he didn't budge in easily.

"The kind of efforts you're putting in just to resist me, I swear to God, if you even put a fraction of it to get up on your feet, you could actually start walking, Virat Kohli." I told him sternly, shaking my head in disdain.

"You done? I really need to do my other chores so excuse me." Virat plastered a sarcastic smile on his face and rotated his wheel chair to move out of the room.

I strutted outside the room towards the living room, saw Virat struggling with the DVD player. "Why is it kept here? Gah." He complained, stretching his hand to switch on the device. Suppressing a smile, I saw him finally giving up.

After that small (and romantic) stint with the DVD player, Virat now wheeled himself towards the bookshelf to get the book he was reading since two days. This time he stretched his arms upward as the book was kept in the second-topmost shelf but in vain. After all his efforts go in vain, Virat turned his face towards him which had turned into a darker shade of red.

"You did all this to trouble me, didn't you?"

"No-uh. Vinay helped me in this. He kind of told me your routine schedule on the phone today morning," I grinned toothily, walking towards him. "You're done with your spine stretch, arm stretch and fingers stretch. Mind doing the rest of the exercise now?"

Virat's eyes widened in realization. Anushka one, Virat zero. "You're not going to give up, are you?" He asked with an amused grin.

I smiled, lifting his hands to resume what was left behind in the room. Leaning near his ears, I finally whisper the answer softly, "Most definitely never."