~When it's all about love, it's all about being selfless; the more untrue the statement, the more untrue the love is~

Manjeet Lifecare Hospital

"Why?" Manik question, after a brief silence. Nandini let out a sigh before beginning to speak, but Manik continued, "Why can't we be together if you love me as much as I love you?"

And her eyes widened at that question.

"What? I did hear, Nandini Murthy." Manik bobbed his head in affirmative, and she held onto her head. "I thought I was... whispering, yeah?" She looked up at him, who rolled his eyes at her.

"No. You weren't. Your mistake, your bad." He shrugged, and she rolled her eyes at it. "Alright. Yes. I made a blunder of myself by confessing that I love you, but that doesn't mean we could be together." She pointed out, and though Manik's heart filled with joy on hearing her confessing again, his face remained stoic.

"Why, again?" He questioned and she threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Because I'm saying so. Duh!" She replied to which Manik just shrugged.

"Then whatever you said doesn't count as a rejection for me. So yeah, hi girlfriend!" Manik faked a grin at Nandini, who looked ready to blast.

"Manik, shut up!" She barked out loud, and he faked another grin. "Sure, I will, girlfriend." And he stormed out of the room, leaving a raging Nandini behind.

***

"Why can't he understand a simple thing, Mruno? Like who wants to marry someone who's about to jump off a cliff?" Nandini's exasperated complaints could be heard by each and every person in the garden.

They were waiting for the discharge sheet, so that they could leave.

"Fluffy." Mrunal held Nandini's hands and pressed onto them lightly. "Pehli baath. It's a goddamn hospital jaha patients hain jinko peace, yaani no barking sound from illeterate people like you." Nandini began to open her mouth when Mrunal kept a finger on her mouth. "Aur doosri bath. The answer to all your questions could be answered by one damn person, who's busy distributing chocolates for reason unknown to God Himself."

And all Nandini did was to roll her eyes before looking for Manik, who's running around and distributing chocolates to each and every person comes in front of him.

"According to him, I haven't rejected him. Hence, the Khushi ki mithai." She ran her fingers through her hairs before resting back in her seat. "On a serious note, Mruno." She looked up at the sky, and then down at Mrunal. "I'm not even sure about the success percentage for my transplant and he wants me to be with him. Mujhe goodbyes Pasand nahi hain yaar. And I have so many people in life already who might hear a goodbye from me soon-ish."

And in answer, Mrunal smacked in her best friend's head.

"Ow! Witch, I'm a patient, fyi." Nandini barked out before rubbing at her head where it was hurting. "Oh now you realize that fact? I thought you'd forgotten about it when you decided to delay your transplant a year ago." Mrunal pressed her lips into a thin line, faking a grin and then looking away.

Nandini let out a sigh of defeat.

"It doesn't change the fact, Mruno. Maan lo sach." Mrunal turned around to look at Nandini and showed the pendant she's wearing around her neck. "You remember this? Cad's gift. He said that this pendant represents hope because I'm a person who doesn't lose hope in anything. Damn right, he is." And she turned away while Nandini just let out another sigh.

"You're not dying, and I know that." Mrunal left the place, unable to keep herself calm. "Right." Nandini let out a snort, as if she believed everything said by Mrunal.

"Nandini!" She turned around, hearing him, whose voice was filled with distress. It sounded so fearful to her. And when her eyes fell upon his appearance, she knew he's not in a good mood.

"Honey b--ahem--Aadit?" Nandini furrowed her eyebrows at the slip of tongue, before taking in the fact that Aadit doesn't seem well. "All good?" She asked again and he threw some papers on the tea-poi in front of her, which he was carrying in his hands.

"All good you ask?" He asked, and Nandini's attention moved towards the papers, before she picked them up and started to read through them.

"Ah!" She let out a sigh, looked up at his expectant eyes, which were hoping that everything's wrong. "They're all right." She stood up, to face him. "I have a heart condition going on. Transplant is the only solution,though."

And there were multiple gasps around, meaning, she failed to keep a check on her background.

"Wh-what?" Nandini's eyes widened at the person on her left. "Bhayyu?" And her eyes trailed towards others, with some new faces added like, Raj and Nyonika.

"God!" Nandini whispered to herself before gulping the lump in her throat.

***

"She's going to be fine." Mrunal tried to ease the situation.

They were all in a hall. It was Aadit's private conference room. Although he was shocked and distressed when the junior cardiologist showed Nandini's reports to him, he knew he can't act too personal now.

"Since when does she know, Dr. Singhania?" Aadit questioned Mrunal, who looked at Nandini, who was busy staring at her loved ones, expecting some sort of reaction except for the shock filled expressions on their faces.

"A year, it's been." And there was a crash.

There it is. The reaction. Nandini thought to herself.

"Bhai!" Mrunal gulped.

"A year? Really, Nanni?" Shivaay asked, but Nandini was still staring at Asad's hands which were bleeding because he just broke the glass tea-poi.

She knew he needed help, but he also looked scary.

"Hum kya ithna paraya bann gaye?" Rudr asked, while wiping his own tears. "Tr-transplant. She's saying she n..." Karan managed to utter, before turning around to hide his own tears.

Everyone else was staring at Nandini. They had tears in their eyes, which also asked for answers from her.

And finally her gaze went up to Manik, who unlike others, was staring at something outside the room,through the window.

He looked like anything, but angry. She couldn't decipher the meaning behind his stoic face.

Taking slow and steady steps, she reached Asad. Taking his hand in hers, she began to clean the blood.

"I just fell unconscious one day." Nandini started to speak. "We were doing our internship. It was a hospital, so I was taken into immediate care. Sabko laga fatigue ke wajah se hogi, but I knew different. I was feeling unwell for the past few days. Increased heart rate, sweating even in the air conditioned rooms, lost appetite, fatigue, sleeping continuously maybe an entire day. Ye sab mujhe hints de rahe the. So I was expecting something in my reports. Probably an infection. Lekin jab reports aaye tho..." Nandini smiled to herself, before looking up at Asad.

"They said I'm in stage 2. My heart has some issue. It wasn't working well. It's something since birth, Lekin kisiko patha nahi tha. The symptoms started to show up when I grew up. But haan everyone was astonished that I became a doctor with this problem though. Because they said I needed a transplant." Nandini held onto her brother's hands, making him to look up at her.

"Aur Mr. Shekhar Murthy aur unke wife ke paas ithna confidence tho nahi ki wo apni beti ko operation room mein dekh sakthe. Isiliye mein yaha hun Bhayyu. I needed my parents here, with their family as a support when I get into that room." Saying this, she hugged her brother and let out a sigh of relief. "Kyunki operation mathlab har baar success nahi hothe, Bhayyu."

And that was more than enough for Asad to hug his sister tight, to his heart and scream his agony out loud for others to hear.

Nandini shut her eyes tight, but let her brother vent out his pain.

"Why, God?" Asad screamed, and his brothers who were also crying joined their brother and sister in the hug, consoling each other.

"Shh, it's okay." Rithvik became the big brother and calmed his siblings down while wiping his own tears away.

"Isiliye...he calls her Shona. Indeed, she is." Raj murmured, with his eyes full of tears, while Nyonika smiled through her tears, nodding at him.

Being in her brothers' arms, she looked up at him, who was still busy in staring through the window.

Sensing her gaze, Manik looked at her and she stared back at him, expecting him to react.

And there it was. A smile.
Before he walked out of the room.

***

"Sab teek nahi!" Mrunal settled beside Manik, on a bench, in the garden. "But it's going to be. She's a strong one." Mrunal continued with a smile. "She fell in love before you could realize your love for her. Uss waqt usne Socha nahi tha about her...illness. Lekin jab tumhe bhi hua, she started to understand that it's not just about falling for each other, but it's about living a life together."

Mrunal turned to look at Manik who was looking ahead.

"I'm not trying to console you or anything, because yaha koi Marr nahi raha hai. And about my fluffy, she's got one thick skull, so I'll manage to get a thick heart for her." Mrunal spoke straightforward, and Manik smiled to himself.

"So why are you here?" He asked, turning to face her, who looked at Manik with something he's never seen on her face, directed towards him. A sweet smile!

"To ask you to never give up on her." Mrunal said, before smiling lightly. "A family. That's what she always liked about having a life partner. Whenever I talk about prince charming, she gets irritated. Kyunki madam ko aise feelings se allergy thi. But when I asked her if she would divorce her husband because he wanted to be mushy with her, she only said that it depends upon his family. Agar ek big fat family jaha sirf selflessness, pyar aur support hai tho she would never leave the guy."

Manik chuckled hearing Mrunal, and so did her.

"She's a bit slow in there. Lekin she gets better." Mrunal looked at Manik, smirking. "When she's with you." And Manik smiled brightly at that mere sentence.

"Just hold onto her. Haarna bohath easy hai, Malhotra ji." And Mrunal stood up to leave. "Mrunal!" Manik smiled at her lightly. "London mein best friend like sister ke husband ko jeeju bulathe hai ya Bhai?"

Mrunal's lips curved into a smirk, before she laughed out in happiness.

"Someone's better in taking decisions amongst you." And she started to leave. "Welcome to fam, Bhai "

Manik smiled at her reply, before looking around.

"Ah, Lilliput." He smiled. "I'm just so happy I found you, Lilliput. Very damn happy."

***

"He's alive, yeah?" Mrunal rolled her eyes at Nandini's question. "Not angry? Blasting out? Not talking? Yaar there muh mein Kya hai? Thick cream?" Nandini looked annoyed.

"No. It's salt, because I don't wanna get diabetic with so much of cream." Mrunal replied, and Nandini rolled her eyes at it.

"Honestly salt suits your personality way better than cream. Kyunki diabetes means sweet which you're not." Nandini replied, and Mrunal nodded.

"Yeah, I get that from my best friend." And Nandini nodded along. "Oh yeah? I thought you got it from the Prince charming who comes in your dreams. I mean din mein 15 hours Tum sothi ho where you stick like a glue to God knows what kind of guy."

Mrunal made Nandini sit on the wheel chair to push her out of the hospital.

"The hell, witch? I can walk." Nandini babbled, and Mrunal started to push the wheelchair. "Yeah, but I can't tolerate you talking. So let's get you home asap."

To which, Nandini let out another curse towards Mrunal, while the spectators just shrugged their shoulders and followed the girls.

***
Hey guys!!

How was it? Lemme know through comments.

With love,
Affu.