Recap: Raj was in Adhira's room trying to cheer her up. Adhira is doing well and is on her path to recovery. Rudra has been checking up on her from afar, never daring to approach.

THREE HOURS AGO

RUDRA WATCHED AHDIRA grip Raj's hand. Maybe he should have felt jealous. The warmth between Raj and Adhira was something else. It did not resemble the coldness that had settled between him and Adhira.

Rudra didn't understand the passe in his emotions. There was a raging concern but beyond what that concern lay was unclear to him. He watched Adhira close her eyes, her hands still gripping Raj's. She whispered something- as if- sensing his presence. Her words were so quiet. Only meant for Raj's ears.

Raj smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Rudra saw Raj speak softly back.

Adhira's eyes lingered to the door. His pulse quickened as Rudra hid behind the door. He could hear the disappointed sigh escape her lips. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Was Adhira really miss him right now?

"Your parents should be here by tonight." He could hear Raj speak. "Don't worry."

Oh, it wasn't him that she was missing. She was missing her family. People who didn't cause her pain like he did. Rudra pressed his back against the wall. Why was he feeling disappointed? Why was he feeling disappointed that she didn't think of him?

Why did he care?
Why did he care?

Why did he still care?

_____

Jacob Chen watched Rudra with concern as he finished another glass of beer. He shouldn't have brought the Rudra to the new pub's opening. Especially considering that his girlfriend was recovering, and his license was on the edge of being suspended. He had never seen Rudra drink like this before. He never finished more than one bottle of beer on a good day.

"Yo, wanna head back to the apartment." Dr. Chen was still wearing his scrubs. He could see few girls eyeing Rudra. He hated to admit but these past few days, Rudra had grown quite the stubble. In his black fitted shirt and trousers, he looked like a deadly bait.

Being his good friend, Jacob had an idea of the havoc running wild behind those serene eyes.

Rudra shrugged, not fazed by the drink in the slightest. "We just got here."

"Yeah..." Jacob breathed out. "I'm scared you're going to get drunk like a madman."

"Relax, I'm fine. How's Adhira doing?" Rudra leaned forward in his chair. They still sat on the stools next to the bar table. Jacob Chen was the fellow doctor responsible for monitoring Adhira's condition. Rudra had been meaning to talk to Jacob in detail about Adhira's condition. When Jacob texted Rudra if he wanted to hit the new pub in Philly, Rudra jumped to the opportunity.

"Your girlfriend is getting better-"

"Ex-girlfriend." Rudra automatically corrected him.

"Ouch." The understanding dawned on Dr. Chen. "Well, I can't say that I didn't see that one coming."

Rudra raised an eyebrow as he took another swing of the beer. "That bad of a boyfriend, am I now?"

"Well that would be an understatement. I think a girl like Adhira deserved better than someone who ignored her 90% of the time."

There were thousand things Rudra could say at this moment- that he didn't ignore, he never hurt her on purpose. But all the fight had left him. "How is she?"

Dr. Chen looked at his own untouched glass of beer. "To be honest, even though her condition is improving. I feel like we're missing some kind of link to her."

"I had feeling about that. I saw her today. She looked pale. The accident did not cause a significant amount of blood loss. She shouldn't be this weak. Her pulse rate is abnormally low and so is her body temperature."

Dr. Chen nodded in agreement. "That's why I have ordered another set of bloodwork. Maybe that will reveal something."

Rudra placed his hand on the table, leaning forward. "What do you think is causing this?"

"In some cases, I've heard that emotional distress can effect the body's ability to recover. Like the broken heart-break syndrome is purely caused by emotional distress."

"My Adhira is stronger than that." Rudra looked at his phone. It still had a picture of Adhira and him smiling at the camera. Dr. Chen didn't know what to say. None of it was adding up at the moment.

"Is that why you won't let me see her? You think I am the reason for her state." There was more pain in his voice than his face refused to show.

For a moment, Jacob let down in his guard. He looked uncomfortable. Rudra caught his discomfort. "What are you hiding from me, Dr. Chen?"

He ran a hand over his face. "Rudra, it wasn't me who is stopping you."

"Then who was it?"

"Superiors. They are the ones who don't want you to see Adhira."

"Why?"

"I have a theory." Dr. Chen's face darkened visibly. He scanned the crowd as though he expected someone to appear from the middle of nowhere. The crowd in the pub was still loud, their conversation could be easily drowned by the noise. "Adhira's body isn't trying to recover from the accident. It's trying to recover from a poison."

Rudra's widened. All at once, the haze lifted. "Are you saying that someone tried to kill her?"

"They weren't very successful at it but yes, that seems to be the case." Dr. Chen leaned towards Rudra. "It was a low dose. Possibly meant as a scare."

"They never wanted to kill her." Rudra let the information sink, his heart beating insanely fast.

"You do realize we're talking about a police case."

When the bartender approached them for another round of drinks, Rudra quickly turned him away. "I have a feeling the hospital authorities already know about this."

"I had a feeling too. The medical reports were tampered with."

"Isn't it strange?" Rudra's mind was quick. He remembered seeing strange men outside Adhira's room. They weren't part of the hospital staff or friends of Adhira. They were keeping a watchful eye on Adhira. Undercover, dressed as the general crowd. Adhira was constantly under police's watchful gaze. "Isn't it strange that I get suspended from duties at the same time? "

Dr. Chen caught the direction Rudra's mind was running in. "You're one of the suspects."

He laughed, almost losing his God damn mind. "The world thinks I would hurt the girl that is my fuc-king life."

______

Rudra snuck into the hospital late at night, his face covered with a baseball cap. Gripping Dr. Chen's Id card, he carefully tied a scarf around his face. He opened the entrance with the card. The door's easily slid open. Even though it was late into the night, the hospital was still crowded. The emergency room never slept.

He needed to create a distraction to sneak into Adhira's room. Dr. Chen said he would create a distraction somehow. Rudra stood outside Adhira's room, the men were still there. Two of them. Both were bulky and resembled body-builders rather than someone who worked for the police. Dr. Chen appeared strolling lazily through the hall. With a gaunt walk and pert smile on his face, he smiled at the guys.

He slipped all of the sudden- causing the nurse walking beside to send the tray crashing down.

Taking his cue, Rudra slipped quietly through the commotion into the Adhira's room. The two men were distracted by the ruckus caused by Dr. Chen. Once inside Adhira's room, Rudra carried his angel into arms. Adhira was quick to wake up, always the light sleeper.

For the first time since the accident, her honey brown eyes met his dark ones. He ran out the room. Her mind couldn't process what was happening. Everything happened so quick. One moment, she was sleeping and the next moment, she was being swept away in Rudra's arms.

______

Rudra's hand traced her waist, they inched slowly upwards. Adhira couldn't stop him even she wanted to. Her breaths were her heavy and so were his breaths. The world thought they were madly in love but that wasn't the case. There was no love. There had never been.

The world envied the passion between them. Oblivious to the corroding pain they were in. They, they saw a bright spark burning between their bodies. They didn't see the fire burning inside them, it was eating them alive.

Every second with Rudra was toxic.

Adhira wanted to him to disappear at the same time she didn't want to let him go. She wanted to him stay. Yet her heart couldn't take anymore. The pain was so raw, eating her consuming. Yet Seeing him made things so much better.

God knows that there hadn't been a second these past three days when she hadn't thought of him. He consumed her thoughts, her mind, her soul- burning every rational thought.

Love wasn't supposed to this painful. A tear slipped from her eyes, but words refused to leave her tongue. She refused to speak with him. Give him the satisfaction of forgiveness. The satisfaction of being guilt free. His lips kissed her tear, slowly trailing down her jaw- the trail of her tears.

"I couldn't think of any other way..." He spoke, his eyes stormy -dark and deadly. His right hand cuffed her wrists, preventing her from pushing her away. They were hidden in custodian's closet- hidden from the prying, judgmental eyes of the world.

"I couldn't think of another way of getting you alone."

She bit down on her lips to prevent them from shaking. Her arms betrayed her as they shook terribly. Outside, she could hear the security screaming her name and at the same time, she could feel his feel his hand moving beneath her shirt, pulling her flush against his body.

He buried his head into her shoulder, breathing her in- she let out a shaky breath. "I'm not letting you go. "

Adhira wanted to melt at her words. To forget the pain. To forget everything. But she refused to herself to do either. She couldn't go through that pain again. Not again. Not again. Not again.

"Adhira, no matter what they say about me" Rudra kissed her forehead. "I want you to know that I would never hurt you. Never."

Something stirred inside her chest. This was different. He wasn't asking for her forgiveness. He was asking her for something else. Trust- even after all that had transpired she still trusted him that's why she hadn't screamed yet.

He gave her one last kiss- it was so soft, almost like an illusion. Before darkness settled over her eyes again and she was left to believe that it was all a dream.

________

Adhira woke up in the same hospital room. Carefully tucked into the covers. Raj was standing beside her bed, concerned.

Had it all been a dream? Rudra's hands burning a trail down her skin.

She felt a strange weight on her right hand. There on her index finger was Rudra's ring. The emerald ring that he never took off. It was his grandfather's ring.

"Adhira, where were you?" Raj spoke carefully- in measured, calculative breaths. "I was looking for you everywhere."

For some reason, she did not feel like revealing the truth to Raj. "I went for a stroll outside. Did you need anything?"

"No, nothing at all."

Note: I was thinking of doing short one-shot contest. I know we're still in the middle of the book so its kind of early for one. But what do you guys think? One shot contest? It should be fun