chapter xlvi. Hope?

You cannot really blame Shivaay for hoping against hope that Anika would be standing outside the hospital and scream, "Haha, gotcha!" at him when he reached. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

With the pit in his stomach, he sure could think of all the worst-case scenarios. Should he have called Gauri instead of coming by himself? He knew Gauri must be asleep, Om did say the summit was exhausting.

He didn't want to worry her unnecessarily but what if Anika was in a serious condition? Shivaay, think positively. She is Anika. Nothing could possibly happen to her. Not now.

Shivaay wasn't sure he had ever rushed so much in his life but the idea of Anika's life being in danger had his heart in his mouth. When he reached the receptionist, she looked at him in worry.

"You are here for?"

"Anika Trivedi. Someone called me and said she was in an accident."

The nurse looked around and spotted a sheet, nodding. "Neha will take you to her." She rang the bell and a timid looking nurse walked to the station, looking at the two of them curiously.

"He is here for Anika, room 508."

The nurse smiled a little. "You must be here Mr. Shivaay. Come with me."

Neha looked oddly calm which bugged Shivaay.

"Is Anika-"

"She'll need lots of rest for at least a month or two but -"

Neha paused, knocking on the door with a 508 plate. Shivaay took a deep breath, preparing himself for the worst.

Neha only slightly opened the door, peeping in. Shivaay heard her say, "Your husband is here."

He could've corrected her but he was too busy hoping Anika was okay. Maybe being addressed like that didn't really bother him anyway.

From the other side of the door, he heard a loud, "I am not even fucking married Neha. Do you see anything that would suggest otherwise?"

Shivaay had never thought hearing those words in that order would bring him such a relief. Anika was okay enough to reply, right?

Neha pushed the door open and Shivaay came across Anika sitting on the bed with a frown on her face.

"Who did you end up calling?"

When she finally saw Shivaay, her eyes widened. "Why do you think I am married to him?"

Neha looked at the two of them curiously. "Well... Your phone contact says Shivaay'ji'. As far as I know, some women address their husbands like that. Plus, he was in your recents a lot."

Anika rolled her eyes. "Neha, Neha, Neha." She then turned to Shivaay. "You didn't have to come."

Shivaay folded his hands across his chest, pressing his lips together. "How did you get hurt?"

Anika smiled awkwardly. "Well, you know, I talked to you on the phone, right?"

Shivaay nodded.

"I was going down the staircases and two workers were coming upstairs. Mrs. Goyal started her house renovations last week."

Shivaay furrowed his brows. "What?"

"Oh well, so they were carrying this huge sofa. I was thinking about..." Anika trailed off. "Well, you, because you were upset with me. I was scrolling to the top because you sent quite some messages." Anika smiled a little.

"I saw the workers too late, so just to make sure I don't crash into them, I turned sideways," Anika tried turning a little in the bed, "but my foot missed the step."

Shivaay gave no reaction.

"So, I lost my balance and woosh," Anika made a swift motion of falling with her hands, "I was unconscious."

"She has a nondisplaced fractured ankle and a mild concussion." Neha provided, looking at Anika, thoroughly amused.

Shivaay, was not amused. At all.

"Who called me?"

Neha looked at him oddly. "Well, probably Nurse Jayanti. She's sitting at the desk."

"Why would she tell me Anika was in an accident?" Shivaay almost shouted.

Neha looked awkwardly at Anika.

"Shivaay, that is partly my fault." Anika mumbled, making Shivaay look at her in confusion.

"I filled my form. I was conscious by the time they brought me here. I filled the form and just wrote accident in the what to say. Plus, I was in a lot of pain.” Anika added, hoping he wouldn't kill her. He definitely looked like he was going to kill her.

Shivaay walked towards the bed, staring at her. Maybe this is how she died. Hey, should she just tell him she likes him before he kills her? At least her Mom would know she tried.

"Do you have any idea how much I died with tension in the twenty minutes it took me to drive here?"

Anika couldn't help but smile.

"Why are smiling you fucking moron?" Shivaay mumbled. Before Anika knew it, he wrapped his arms around her and took her in a hug, he face pressing against his chest.

Anika was surprised, yes. She hugged him back, hands around his waist. She could feel his thundering heart beat calm down, her oen picking up pace.

"This feels nice." Anika pulled away and smiled a little.

Shivaay rolled his eyes. "Move over."

"What?"

"I said move over."

Anika obliged, looking at him in confusion. Shivaay climbed into the bed with her and wrapped his arms around her again. Anika knew she was blushing, the smile wouldn't leave her face. Did he even know what he was doing to her?

Anika looked at Neha who raised an eyebrow in amusement. Anika only rolled her eyes.

"I am sorry." Anika looked at him with what she hoped was her cutest look.

"Oh, I am not forgiving you anytime soon. This weekend has been the most stressful weekend of my entire life." Shivaay smiled at her with an almost-evil glint.

"Not even if I say sorry a couple more times?"

"No."

"Come on, I didn't even get to read all the messages. First I broke my leg and now they won't let me use the phone because of the concussion."

She looked at Neha again. "Please give me my phone."

Neha shook her head.

Anika turned to Shivaay. "See, my phone's there," she pointed to the table in the far corner of the room, "please get it for me? I'll have to know why you are upset before I can apologize."

Shivaay shook his head. He then seemed to think something. "I didn't even tell Gauri about this. You think I should call her?"

"Of course!" Anika grinned. "I was sort of hoping they'd call Gauri. Whenever I am sick or something, emotional blackmail works best on her."

Shivaay pulled away, rather reluctantly.

"I'll go call her."

Once he was out, Neha came to Anika. "Hey, as far as I can tell he's pretty whipped. Husband was pretty accurate."

Anika scrunched her nose. "Welcome to the club of people giving me hopes. It has you, Saumya, my Mom and of course, him. If I get embarassed I am coming for you Neha."

Neha laughed a little. "Take care. My shift is over, another nurse will probably come to discharge you. See you whenever you decide to grace us with your presence next."

Anika raised a hand for a high-five and Neha gladly obliged.

Shivaay came back to the room. "Can you scan her brain maybe?"

Anika narrowed her eyes.

"I am pretty sure you'll find something abnormal."

---

Anika whined about having to sit in a wheelchair, until a rather good-looking man wheeled her out. No, it was not Shivaay and when she told Shivaay she found the other guy hot, he shrugged. "He's not that good-looking. You can do better."

As Shivaay listened carefully to whatever the doctor had to say, Anika grinned, finally having managed to sneak her phone into her backpocket.

The other nurse helped her sit in Shivaay's car, smiling and asking her to take care.

Shivaay came in a few seconds later to find Anika grinning.

"Are you sure you are okay? The last time I saw you, you looked..."

"I was... Going through something." Anika smiled.

"You know you can talk to me about it?" Shivaay started the car.

"I am all good now."

"I can see that."

"Wait, why are we taking this turn. My home's that side."

"I called Gauri but she was at my house so Mom heard you broke your foot and she ordered me to bring you there."

"But Shivaay, I'll be good at my own place."

"Trust me, you don't want to argue with my Mom when she's worried about you." Shivaay grinned. "And you can go back to your place later. Just let her first be sure that you are okay."

Anika fished out her phone from her pocket. Shivaay turned to look at her for a second before he frowned.

"Where did you get that from?"

Anika stuck her tongue out. "I am smarter than you are."

Before she could protest, Shivaay had already grabbed it. He threw it on the backseat making Anika scowl.

"That is so rude."

"The last thing we need is you aggravating the concussion. The symptoms could turn bad."

Anika looked around. She smiled to herself when she saw Shivaay's phone lying between them, in the bottle holder.

Very sneakily, she grabbed it, frowning to see it ask for a password.

"Shivaay, tell me your birthdate again?"

Shivaay shrugged. "I don't know. You shoul- wait why?"

He turned to find her grinning. Anika made sure the phone was as far from his reach.

"Anika, give it back to me."

"Nope." Anika filled in 0801. Incorrect.

Shivaay frowned.

"I promise I only want to see what messages you sent me. I could have done it on my phone but you so ruthlessly threw it." Anika pursed her lips together.

"Okay, get yours. I am not opening my phone to you."

"Oh come on, I have this plaster on my foot. How do you expect me to do that? Also, just so you know, you did trust me with your phone the other day."

"Oh trust me, a lot changed between then and now."

"You don't trust me anymore?" Anika pouted.

Shivaay looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Of course I do. I mean, my phone's different now."

"But I am telling you I'll only read your texts with me."

Shivaay sighed. "Give it to me. I'll enter the password."

"No, you'll throw even that behind."

Shivaay pressed his lips together.

"Face the screen towards me, I'll put in my fingerprint."

"Promise you'll not snatch it?"

"God, what has gotten into you? I think I liked you better on Friday. Pune changed you. Wait, are you on some painkillers?"

Anika ignored his stupid questions and carefully brought the phone close to him, her hold on it strong. Shivaay put his index finger on it, shaking his head.

When the phone opened, Anika suddenly felt deflated. The last text he had was from Mallika.

"So, you and Mallika are still talking?"

Shivaay turned to her with a smile. "Yeah, I mean, we are planning to meet on Sunday."

"Right."

Anika bit her lip. Well, okay. She wasn't giving up so easily.

She opened his chat with her. As she went through them, she grinned.

"You are so adorable."

Shivaay's eyebrow quirked at that, even though he was smiling. "That is all you want to say?"

"I thought complimenting might work." Anika replied cheekily.

"Keep trying. You can do better."

He drove into the Oberoi's driveway. He stepped out of the car, opening the backseat and grabbing Anika's new piece of equipment. The crutch.

He opened the door to her side, smiling as he put out his hand. "My phone?"

Anika smiled as put it in her pocket. "Give me mine."

"Anika, come on. You need to rest."

"Phone."

"Fine, take mine. It's not like you can actually use it."

He handed her the crutch. Anika tried balancing herself, Shivaay looking on cautiously.

Before she knew it, it fell on the ground and she grabbed the car door instead.

Shivaay shook his head before he walked close to her. Anika sighed. "Please pick it up for me."

Shivaay, instead of picking up the crutch, put his arms around Anika, picking her up, bridal style.

Anika gasped as he grabbed onto his shoulders, looking at him in confusion.

"As much as I would love to see you get humiliated trying to learn walking with a crutch, I think you should do it after your head is okay."

"Shivaay, come on. This is..." Anika trailed off.

Shivaay raised an eyebrow. "It's okay. Almost everyone in there thinks we are dating. Moreover, they are concerned about you. I don't have any problem carrying you. I think we have moved way past the point where this level of teasing should affect us."

Anika's cheeks turned pink. Of course. Shivaay adjusted her a little, before asking Khanna to park the car and bring Anika's crutch in later.

Turns out, he was correct. When they saw them come inside, nobody seemed to even notice that Shivaay was carrying Anika. They rushed to them, asking too many questions.

"Okay please, can we make sure Anika's sitting before I drop her?"

Pinky nodded. "Take her to your room."

"What?" Anika and Shivaay asked simultaneously.

Pinky rolled her eyes. "I don't want any questions. Anika needs someone around her all the time."

"So isn't this hall a better option?" Anika asked.

"But you need bed rest."

"You don't have to take it literally, Mom." Shivaay said.

"Chup kar badtameez. You girlfriend broke her leg and you are arguing about useless things. It is your responsibility to make sure she's okay."

"Fine!" Shivaay gave up.

He started walking towards his room. Pinky seemingly said something about fruits and left for the kitchen. Rudra and Dadi seemed to be discussing something in the living room itself and Gauri was missing.

"You know, just take me to the other room." Anika meekly spoke.

"To do what?" Shivaay asked before he knew, smiling cheekily. Anika looked at him with wide eyes, biting the inside of her cheek. What was up with him?

"I told you, you do not want to mess with Mom when she's so worried. Use my room, it's okay." Shivaay smiled, laying her on his bed. He fluffed her pillow, looking around.

“You need anything else, ma'am? I am pretty sure my Mom's turning me into your personal butler next.”

Anika laughed. “I'd like that.”

“Of course you would.”

Shivaay stood there smiling awkwardly before Gauri and Rudra rushed in, asking Anika everything about how she hurt herself.

When she turned to look at Shivaay he waved at her and walked out of the room, his phone pressed against his ear.

---

I said nobody should ask me for an update in the next three days. I never said I won't update😌

Also, I felt guilty about the first kiss prank :P

Dumber: Shivaay or Anika?

I am not entirely happy with how this chapter turned out but okay...

Blackmaniacx