Since im late, heres an AvNeilious update for you all-

It was midnight &avni was still in neil's hospital room
She was sitting on the chair, in front of the window while neil was in deep slumber cz of the sedatives present in his medicines

She was lost in the same pool of questions
She knew that at this point, she cant tell anything to her family but at the same time she wanted the answers to her questions about what she feels for neil
The restlessness to get the answers to her questions was driving her crazy

To fight against her inner battle between heart vs mind, she finally decided to do what aman& riya had once suggested
She still finds the idea extremely stupid yet she calmed herself down& with a cool mind, she shut her eyes& tried seeing the first face which came in front of her

She did see a face or rather a figure but it was blurry
She kept her eyes closed& waited for a moment until the figure became clear
Soon her wish was granted& the face which came in front of her eyes left her silent
She shot open her eyes& repeated the process 2more times- to get the same result cz she cudnt believe what she just saw
Yes, it was neil's face

Though avni was reluctant at first& thought that she shudnt have tried the method in the first place, but what she saw in neil's flat made her rethink about her feelings-that moment still sends shivers down her spine

A-no
I cant afford to loose neil at any cost
Yes, i have fallen for him& now im sure its not out of sympathy/ infatuation

Avni was very happy to realise that she had fallen in love with neil

A- and i know that its pure love bcz i can face everything except for seeing him in pain
The confession he made about his reasons behind his suicide attempt left me shocked& though i didnt show it yet his emotional state left me shattered as well
I will propose to him as soon as i can- not bothered about what his response will be
Though its difficult, yet i will accept his rejection happily& he will always be a close friend for me
Im determined to bring him out of the emotional breakdown he suffered

She moved towards neil who was fast asleep

A(caressing his hair)-i promise you neil- i will bring you out of your emotional breakdown

She pecked his forehead &after sitting on the chair, she soon slept off

It hadnt been long since she slept when she heard neil mumbling something in sleep

N-no plz dont...plz dont... dont take her away...
I know shes just fallen asleep &will wake up soon...
Bebe plz wake up na...
See what papa& maa are saying about you- that you left everyone
Plz open your eyes...
You love your tillu the most na?
Then plz come back for your tillu

Bebe!!!!!
Neil woke up with a jolt, breathing heavily
His eyes were watery &cheecks were tear stained

Avni immediately hugged him while rubbing his back to sooth his heavy breathe
She fetched the glass of water kept nearby

A-neil tum thoda pani pio
You will feel better

Neil took the glass& gulped the water in a single go but his breath was still heavy &abnormal

She continued to rub his back& he clutched her tightly &she started caressing his hair
She moved a little to fetch a medicine but neil clutched her waist even more tightly,not letting her move at all

N-avni plz stay with me for some time
Plz dont go anywhere rn (heavy& abnormal breathe)

A (rubbing his back)-im not going anywhere neil
I was just going to fetch your medicine so that your breathing become normal

N-i dont need any medicine avni
Plz dont leave me alone
I dont know wheather i will ever be able to recover from bebe's death or not

Avni felt damn helpless for neil-she couldnt see him so shattered

After some time, neil again slept off while avni sighed in relief

Next day-

Avni went home early in the morning, freshened up, had some breakfast & left for the hospital cz she knew that rn, neil was in a very vulnerable state& he might again make an impulsive move so she has to be around him frequently

Before leaving from home, she left a note for aman which said that he &riya should meet her in the hospital as soon as they finish off with their work

Hospital-

Neil had woken up& was constantly asking the nurse for avni's whereabouts- he was used to avni's presence around him

Though the nurse was little annoyed by his behaviour &constant questioning, but didnt say anything bcz she knew about his nervous breakdown &suicide attempt
She too, was waiting for avni's arrival so that neil doesnt get restless anymore
Soon her prayers were answered cz avni directly came to neil's room

Nurse- thank god you arrived dr Mehta

A-why?
All ok??

N-only you can find the answer to your question
Nurse left

A- good morning

N(annoyed)- yeah
Good morning

Avni could sense that he was upset but thought of it to be just a change in mood so she didnt dig into detail

While doing neil's checkup, she asked wheather he had his medicines or not to which he said a yes like an obedient student

N-i knew that if i wont take my medicines then i will have to face your lady don version

Avni smiled

A-haa wo toh definitely h

She spent some time there& then left to take a look at her other patients

Evening-

Aman& riya arrived at the hospital

Avni's cabin-

Avni told them about what all happened the previous night along with her realisation

Am-see
Humne toh pehle hi kaha tha aapse

R-but im glad that you realised your feelings babes
Now go& propose him or at least tell him about how you feel

They both hug avni

A- and i leave his response in god's hands
Although it will be difficult but i will accept his rejection with open arms &he will always remain a very special friend for me

The trio share another hug after which avni goes to neil's room

Neil's room-

He was lost in his own pool of thoughts when avni entered &her voice gained his attention

A-neil tumhe kal tak discharge mil jayega

N-oh
Great

A-i wanted to talk to you about something

N-toh bolo na
Formal kyu hori ho?

A-i have a confession to make

N-what confession?

A- actually... um...wo...

N-avni all ok?

A-haa

N-then why are you fumbling?

Avni took a deep breath &then spoke-

A-neil, i love you

Neil was taken aback by what he just heard
He somehow asked her-

N-as a friend?

A-no
I love you as a woman loves her man

Neil was too numb to react
He still couldnt believe what he just heard- he was too silent to react

A-neil you can reject me if you wish to- i will accept it happily but plz dont break our bond of friendship bcz of this

After somehow digesting what he heard, neil finally spoke up-

N-avni dont get me wrong but if ur proposing me out of sympathy then plz dont do so
My heart wont be able to handle more damage- its still not recovered from the past wounds& who else would know about it better than you

A-no neil
Its not the way you are thinking
Look i know its not easy for you to trust anyone just like that
I also know that theres a big difference between accepting someone as a friends& accepting someone as life partner

You take as much as time you need& think of it with a cool mind
But if possible then plz try to give me just 1 chance

Let me know whenever you wish to

Avni was leaving when neil held her hand from behind

N-dont think that im making this decision impulsively but i want to ask you that you wont leave me na?
You wont betray me as my parents did, right?
You wont break my trust right?
I wont be able to handle it

Neil's eyes had turned watterry by now& his hands were also shivering
Avni took his shivering hand into her warm ones& kissed them

A-i will NEVER leave you/betray you/break your trust neil- not even in my wildest nightmares
All i want from you is a chance to let me love you
To give you the love& affection you craved for since childhood
I want to remove all the darkness inside you& fill your life with brightness &colors of love
Just give me a chance &i promise to not break your trust EVER

Avni wiped his tears from her thumbs, while waiting for his response, hoping that he will say what she wants to hear

Neil could see that whatever avni said werent mere words to gain his trust- they came directly from her heart& she meant what she said

Neil didnt utter a word & simply pulled avni into his embrace& kissed her hair, to never let her go

N-i love you too

While avni was on cloud 9, neil just let those tears of happiness flow down which had again occurred in his eye lashes
He too, felt to be the happiest person on earth- just hoping for a brighter future with the person whom he fell for long ago

Avni tightened her grip around his waist while neil kissed her hair

N (still hugging)-avni?

A-hmm

N-i want to make a confession which i think i shudve made before accepting your proposal

A-which confession?

Neil broke the hug& after taking a deep breath, he continued

N- when you had started treating me, first i thought of you as a friend but even i didnt realise when my friendship turned into love
I realised that i can trust you &i still do& will always continue to do so
But my mind was dominating my heart

A-why didnt you tell me before?

N-its not that i wouldnt be able to handle a rejection but i dint want to loose such a good friend bcz of my love for you
I also felt that.....

A-felt what?

N-i felt that you deserve someone way better than me-
Who doesnt have a painful past& isnt mentally challenged like me

Avni made him look into her eyes

A- i dont deserve better bcz i already have the best
And you dont need to apologize for anything
Besides, who said that you are mentally challenged?

It takes alot of guts to do what you have done neil- you faced your demons& put those people behind the bars who destroyed your life
And you know what?
Even after trying so much, your enemies lost the battle bcz they cudnt stand the fire you had built inside yourself

Recovering from such a traumatic past that too in such short time span isnt a joke- its an achievement people fail to get even after spending so many yrs& you did it in a span of mere 11-12 months
I dont give a damn about what others think or say about you, me or our relationship- all i know is that i love you just the way you are
Theres no inferior/superior in our relation
YOU ARE EQUAL TO ME

Neil cudnt do anything except for admire the lady in front of him who accepted him just the way he is- not customizing him in any way
He loved the fact that she never treated him as a mere patient& always thought of him as someone equal to her
But among all this happiness, a huge question struck his mind

N-but what about your family avni?
Bcz more than my medical history, my family background will become a huge hurdle

A-jo hoga dekh lenge
We will convince them together

N-more than my medical illness, your family's biggest concern a would be that a person whose parents destroyed the life of their own son can do the same with anyone
Moreover they are still underground & police hasnt been able to locate them
I dont think this relationship would have a future

Avni again tried to convince neil but he kept on blabbering the same topic- not giving avni even1 chance tp speak
So she could see only 1way to shut his mouth-

She sealed his lips with hers which made neil widen his eyes in shock- this was something he had never done before in his life so he was too silent to react

Although it was avni's first time as well but she did it cz neil didnt leave any other option for her
Before neil could do anything, avni broke the kiss

N(shocked)-ye kya tha?

A-tumhe chup karane ka koi aur tareeka dikha hi nahi muje toh yahi karna pada

A-mene kaha na neil, we will face the upcoming situations TOGETHER
With that, avni took him in a bone crushing hug
Somewhere, neil was convinced by avni's words

He pulled her even closer& nuzzled his face in the nape of her neck, sending shivers down avni's spine

N-i love you

A-i love you too

Ps-dont worry cz nothing was noticed by anyone cz when avni entered the room, she latched the door& the entire scenario took place behind the green curtain present in every hospital room (i dont know what they call it)

So this was a huge update of 2348 words& i hope i met your expectations

Due to some personal reasons im depressed for the past few days but at same time im glad that i was finally able to update this story
So im sorry for the delay

Votes& comments awaited