It was dawn until Batuk had supervised the raided shipments, along with everyone's comfort, all with equal readiness. Both his mentors were wounded, and somehow he took it upon himself to tend to everyone's needs.
Anirudh and Bondita were still sleeping, and so was Satya, and it was when Batuk heard the sound of continued coughing coming from the room where Raimoti had laid.

Desparate times calls for desparate measures. And, exhaling sharply, Batakrishna Roy Chowdhury gathered the much needed courage and knocked on the half shut door, gently. His intension was to check on her needs.

"It's not my bedroom, you won't have to knock."
Raimoti was panting, as the bouts of cough made her sound restless.

Batuk entered with a glass of water in his hand.
"You are coughing a lot." He neared her and held the glass infront.

"Oh you?" Raimoti looked up, trying to sit, and Batuk leaned at once helping her to sit upright.
"Sorry if I've woken you up."
She breathed unsteadily as Batuk made her drink some water.

"Don't worry. I wasn't sleeping." He tried to smile.
Batuk's hand was on Raimoti's bare waist, and her skin felt flushed.

"You have fever." He narrowed his eyes, examining the patched up wound on her shoulder and forehead.
"It should have gone by now, unless..."

"Unless...?" Raimoti huffed. "Unless I'm dying?"

Batuk pressed his lips and smiled.
"Death isn't that easy Rai... I mean Raimoti." He paused. "There must have been some open would, some infection... Are you hurt anywhere else?"

His eyes were roaming around her body in search of a visible affliction.
"My back hurts." She groaned. "I don't know wound or not, but... Yeah... It really hurts."

Batuk kept the glass on the small wooden table beside the bed and turned up the yellow flame of the gas lantern.
"Would you please turn around." He asked her, and Raimoti nodded, trying to turn slowly, facing her back towards him. She still wore the black deep cut blouse along with the black saree that had taken Satya's senses away.
The diamond jewelleries were still glittering on her body and for a moment Batuk felt like cursing himself for not being able to appreciate the beauty sitting infront of him.

"It is bad?" Raimoti asked softly, bringing Batuk back to the pressing reality.

"I don't know actually, nothing is visible."
Batuk took out the small pocket torch and started to check her perfectly unblemished skin that was visible, her upper back, and then her slender waist, barring the finger-length stretch of black cloth dividing the two.

"I don't see... Oh wait..."
Raimoti's head was held in her hands, her breathing rugged, and Batuk let out a sharp gasp at the sight of driey blood spots on the blouse.

"Holy hell, Raimoti, your hurt!" He almost shrieked, as with a clean white handkerchief he held the blouse strip to check the source of the blood.

"What? What happened?"
Her voice was faint, and Batuk left her side and stood up at once.

"Raimoti, are you for real? There are iron splinters on your back, from the blast I think, and you have bore the pain all night!!"

Raimoti sighed, unbothered about the news.
"Oh...it that so?" She coughed again, "that explains the pain."

"Just pain?" Batuk gasped. "How are you even in your senses?"

"The morphine worked I guess. The British are very particular about not diluting their bearings." She let out a soft chuckle, murmuring to herself, and Batuk quickly reached out for the medicine tray that he had used the night before.
"My arms hurt as well."

Batuk prepared a syringe and took a pair of scissors in hand, but treating her would mean cutting her blouse and seeing her naked, and the thought swept an uneasy shiver in his stomach.

Raimoti was extremely beautiful, and now that he was looking at her up close, he felt her to be probably one of the prettiest woman that he had ever seen in his life. He was a to be medical practitioner, but looking at Raimoti without clothes would be a different thing altogether.

"Where is he?"

Batuk's self battle was put to halt by Raimoti's abrupt question.

"Who? Dada?"
He gulped.

"May be to you... " She turned her face and rolled her droopy eyes at him..
"I meant Satyakirth."

"Oh Satya Da... Sleeping."
Batuk felt a sharp sting in his heart as she asked for Satya. But, probably it was how it's meant to be, it was what was right, and he sighed deep to make his heart understand.
He had misbehaved with her, he wasn't there when she needed him, but Satya was! And, now it was only right that she would look for him.

"Do you want me to call him?"

Raimoti just sighed.

Batuk had prepared a bowl of hot water and had sterilized the scalpel, with cotton swabs in hand he sat on the bed with Rai sitting with her back towards him, as he held the scissors and proceeded to cut the cloth.
But suddenly his hands trembled, as his eyes fell on the mole on her perfectly sculpted spine.
Batuk gulped, but before he could touch her again, he heard his name.

"Batuk... Stop."

And he stopped, exhaling the stagnant tension, and stood up at once.
Satya was standing at the door, as he slowly walked inside and came infront of him.

"Splinters, Satya Da... On her back, I didn't realise last night... Umm... Will have to... Have to cut the... " Batuk gulped nervously, and Satya stretched his hand forward demanding the scissors from him.

"I'll do it."
His voice was calm and poised as always.

Raimoti was in pain, but still she managed to chortle softly as Batuk hurried out of the room.

"Close the door behind you." Satya had raised his voice a bit as Batuk pulled the door from outside, shutting it completely.

"Batakrishna Babu isn't a bad person." Raimoti was still sitting in the same position, back towards him, and a pillow in her lap, on which she supported her body.
"Why did you chase him away like that?"
Her words were a tease and Satya chose not to reply. Instead, he sat down behind her, and held Rai by her waist. Raimoti trembled under his touch, feeling the grip of his firm fingers on her bare waist. Satya pulled her closer, positioning her properly so that he could rip the back strip of her black blouse with the scissors. Her saree covering her bosom was already kept on her lap, bunched up.

Satya sighed at the sight, and Raimoti gasped, as in no time she felt the cold air inside the room caressing the wound on her now naked back.

"How bad is it?" She almost groaned the question.

"A little bad." Satya had now held Batuk's small pocket torch, examining the small splinters pierced on her skin, with blood clots all around.

How did the woman sleep with these!
How did she survive the pain!

"You are a very strong woman Raimoti. You remind me of someone."

"Who? Your long lost love?" Raimoti tried to smile, and Satya picked up a clean cotton swab dipped in antiseptic liquid.

"Kind of." He smiled too. "My Thakur Didi."

Rai's grip tightened on the pillow as she felt the sharp sting of the antiseptic burning through her skin.

"Godd!!... That hurts more." She clenched her teeth and pressed her eyes shut.
"And, now you owe me two blouses."

Satya couldn't help but smile in amusement at her words.

"Don't wear them then." He smirked, trying to distract her from the eminent pain.

"Really? Would you really like me to not wear them? Her words were a agonizing stagger, yet playful, as Satya with his skillful hands cleaned the wound on her back.

"On a second thought. No." He spoke slowly, his voice a little huskier than before as he picked a small sterilized tweezers and grazed at the wound gauging the depth of the splinters.
"I won't be able to tolerate anyone looking at you."

"Is that why you send Batuk away?"
Raimoti murmured, her back arched in pain, showing off the perfectly sculpted lean muscles and the straight spine.

Satya ran his fingers gently along her spine once, making her shiver, but not in pain this time.

"This is a good distraction actually." She murmured again, making Satya smile.

Raimoti had turned around a little, and Satya saw her reddened corner of her fevered eyes and her dry yet red lips. Her long black traces were pulled infront in two parts, cascading over her body, covering her bare breasts in perfect concealment.

"Rai, this is going to hurt a little." Satya's warning made Rai tremble, expecting the sharp prick of the cold metal on her body, but instead she felt Satya's left arm, snaking around her waist from behind, pulling her even closer. She could now feel the caressing of his warm breath on her shoulder, his hands grabbing her soft stomach in a tight grip, as if kneading her body, as the ministrations slowly escalated north of her body.

"Satyakirth Babu!" Raimoti groaned. "What are you doing!"
Her words were a hush, a medley of a mild resistance mixed with the urge of wanting it more.

"I'm touching you." Satya's hand was now at the base of her soft round mounds, as if weighing her, and her breasts heaved with the brewing tension between them.
"Do you like it Miss Mukherjee?" His words were now a seductive whisper, inflicting her entire being with a sense of desirable numbness.
"Why are you trembling? I'm not touching you for the first time, am I?" His words made an electric jolt course through her spine, and then she felt Satya's mouth near the nape of her neck, his warm breath scorching her neck in the scar of desire.

"It... It pains..." She gulped, and licked her dry lips, the muscles on her shoulder flexing at the touch of his breath, and now it made Satya gasp.

"I know it does." He whispered again. "We don't have any anesthesia Rai, I'm so sorry."
The words weren't meant to be sensuous, but she felt them to be like an enchanting chant, some long lost folklore, and it made every cell in her body ache for more.

"Then?" She swallowed hard, her head tried to lean back against his body, but Satya resisted. Instead he gently pushed her forward, leaning forward with her, until her face touched the stack of two pillows kept on her lap. Satya's hand was on her breasts now, her erect nipples held in between his fingers, and Raimoti trembled in an agonising ecstasy.
Every part of her body ached, but it felt bewitchingly delicious!

"Rai", Satya's lips were on her ears now, "Rai at times, you need to do a little wrong to get a lot right."
His hand was caressing her soft globes, and before Rai could fathom the meaning of his words, she felt a sharp squeeze on her left breast, and then a feeling of his lips sucking on her neck.

"Ahh..." Rai moaned out loud, it felt wild, it felt painful, it felt delirious, and if Rai could speak at that moment, she would have described the moment as a perfect poetic anapaest: two weak feelings followed by a strong one, all three bringing out the untamed essence of the moment. It was so passionate, so artistic, yet it had the beauty of torment in it.

Satya had lifted his face from her neck, and Raimoti suddenly felt the cold of the room making her feel empty.

"It's done Miss Mukherjee... Almost."

His hands weren't on her body anymore, and Raimoti turned around a bit to see his face, so elegant, poised, smiling at her naughtily, and in his hand he held the forceps, it's tip was dark scarlet, and in it was the sharp metal splinter that had pierced her body.

Raimoti's heart twitched a little, an unknown affliction clouded her heart, and it perfectly synced with the burning pain that she felt on her back.
Satya was dressing her wound now.

"Sorry for touching you like that, without your permission." He spoke tenderly, his eyes focused on the work he was doing.

"As if you haven't done this before!" Raimoti sighed, and lifted her head, looking away, her eyes suddenly had tears in them, for the first time since the night.

"I have? Really? Without your permission?"
Satya frowned.

"Why did you not let Batuk Babu do it, if you have to apologise later?"

Satya felt the crack in her voice, but was unsure about the origin of it.

"Is it paining a lot?" He asked.

"Yes." Raimoti almost snapped back, clutching the pillow closer to her bosom, suddenly feeling exposed infront of the man sitting close to her.

Satya sighed and held her shoulders gently, trying to turn her to face him, but instead, he felt Raimoti's non compliance, as she sat tight gripping the pillow to her body.

"Don't touch me," she murmured, "please!"

Satya narrowed his eyes, but withdrew his hands at once.
"Why?"

"Because I'm not yours to touch."
Rai blurted out.
"And I'm sorry that you had to do all these to ease my pain... But trust me Satyakirth Babu, it was infact paining less before, you could have just let the metal stay and..."

Satya hadn't let Rai complete, as he got down from the bed in a swift movement, and changed places, now sitting infront of her, with the pillow acting as the only barrier between them, and it was in between words that he had grabbed Raimoti's hair, and pressed his lips against hers hungrily.

Raimoti struggled, but then his tongue had made her calmed down, his free hand slid down her spine in soft feather-touches.

"I can't..." Satya had broken the kiss, making her gasp for air.
"I can't let anyone else see you Miss Mukherjee..." His eyes were on hers.
"I... I can't let anyone else touch you... And, I can't see you in pain."
His words were a firm whisper and Rai felt a knot inside her stomach.

"Why?" Her lips quivered.

"Because... Because, I care for you..." Satya suddenly was at a loss of words.
"And, I know you are a good woman, and... and a great warrior, and, " he gulped, the heat rising in his body, making beads of sweat appear on his forehead even on this chilly February dawn.
"And, I don't want to lose you."

Raimoti sighed loudly and leaned back on the pillow, careful not to let the freshly patched wound touch the surface.

"You should go." She murmured, her eyes looking down.

Satya sat quietly infront, his head hung low as well, as suddenly a heavy weight had pressed on his chest, of which he was unable to decipher the reason.

"Raimoti... I... " He gulped again, "I'm sorry if I've hurt you."

He let out a sharp exhale and tried to get up, and Rai had held his hand, intertwining her artistic fingers with his.

"Satyakirth Babu," she looked up, her eyes were glistening, and the pinkish hue on the corners of her white orb made her look irresistible to him.
"A lot has changed since last night, Satyakirth Babu. You are not that simple doctor I had thought you to be, you are Satyakirth Sen, the Sacrosanct... And, I respect you a lot..." She paused, choosing her next words carefully.
"If you come closer to me like this, like today, I'll not be able to resist myself... And, I won't lie, my resistance isn't my strong suit." She tried to chuckle but all that came out was a dry painful laugh.
Satya felt a piercing in his heart.

"I know this can never be, you and I, and I respect that... I don't expect you to bind yourself with me, in anyway, but for that we have to keep our distance." Her voice was a quiver, and her words were a sob now.
"But together we can work, work towards our greatest goal, beyond all personal emotions." She wiped her tears with the back of her palm.
"And, in between I'll continue to wait for the man who, for a night, had made me feel the magic of love, and meanwhile you can continue doing whatever gives you peace."

Satya's eyes were looking down, as he sat in silence, but her last words had made him look up, and in that yellow light of the lantern, along with the faint morning glow, Raimoti gasped at the sight of moisture in his emerald green orbs.

Satyakirth Sen was crying!! For her??

"Satyakirth Babu.. I'm... I'm so sorry if I've..."

Raimoti had folded her hands together, begging his forgiveness, and Satya held her joined hands at once, touching his forehead with their interwoven hands.

"Miss Mukherjee... Rai..." He murmured, his voice a little heavy with emotion, "Rai don't turn me away from you Rai, please...!"
She felt his tears on her hand.

"I've... I've never felt anything the way I feel with you... As if... as if I'm alive, and I've a reason to live," he looked up at her, releasing her hands as he folded his hands infront of her in a plea.
"Don't take that away from me, please..."

"Satya??"
Raimoti gasped at his words, as she reached out to wipe his tears. It was so odd, so unsettling to see the man crying so helplessly.

"Rai, I don't know what I feel for you, but I know how I feel... And, it's like breathing..." He sniffed back a tear, and cleared his throat, trying to calm himself down.
"I promise I won't impose anything on you... ever... And, I won't invade your life in anyway, and I won't... " He gulped.
"Just let me be that way I am now... Close to you... I won't touch you ever again, if you don't..."

Raimoti couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes were flowing too, as she almost jumped on Satya's chest and captured his lips forcefully with hers.

"Stop... Stop... Just stop..." She hushed in his mouth.
"I'm good with being the reason of your happiness..." She kissed him gently.
"I don't need another reason to be close to you."

"Raimoti!!" Satya sighed deeply, closing his eyes, and before he could recover, she pressed her lips on his once again, sucking away all his tears, first tenderly and then with a wild passion.

"Just one thing..." Raimoti had broken the kiss, panting, her eyes looking at him mischievously.
"What if my mystery lover comes back?"

Satya smiled too.
"Then marry him."

"You sure?"
Raimoti frowned at him.

"Absolutely!!"
Satya's lips had now found their way back to their refuge, tasting every bit of life that Rai's lips had offered. His hands too, had roamed around her body, without restrictions, on her arms, trailing up her neck, kneading her breasts... and she too had reciprocated with all her being.

Don't you dare leave me Satyakirth Sen!
Rai had thought.

Please don't leave me Rai, never!
Satya had deepened their kiss.

...............

Batuk felt a soft touch on his shoulder, as he immediately turned around, sniffing back his emotions in desparate attempts of hiding his tears.

"Oh.. Dada! How are you feeling now?" His voice was a little heavy and Anirudh looked lovingly at his baby brother.

The door infront of them wasn't closed entirely, and there was a narrow creak through which the silhouette of two humans enveloped in each other's arms were clearly visible, even in the scanty light. And, Batuk hadn't missed the sight of their lips devouring each other with the wilderness of love.
He hadn't intended to pry, but it was perhaps destiny as he held a tray of fresh clothes for her along with a new pillow.

Anirudh had held his shoulders gently, his eyes looking tenderly at him, and Batuk couldn't help but bury his face in his brother's chest.

"Dada, I was wrong, wasn't I? I shouldn't have let go of what I had."

Anirudh was caressing his head lovingly.
"No Batuk, you did the right thing." He sighed. "She wasn't meant to be yours. And, you weren't meant to be hers."

Batuk looked up at him.
"Then why it hurts?"

"Because it's beautiful, what they share... and it's human nature to crave for everything that is beautiful." He paused.
"But, Batuk it's not yours, and hence it's useless to even think about it."

Batuk sighed at his brother's words.

"Trust me Batuk, this beautiful feeling would come to you too, would knock your door, and then you need to let it in, nurture it, and treasure it for a lifetime."

"You think so?" Batuk exhaled sharply.

"No... I know so."

Anirudh had pulled his baby brother into another tight embrace, and at that moment it was all Batuk needed, a warm assurance, a motherly touch, a brotherly word of advice, and it made him smile, reaffirming his belief in the bond of his family... his beautiful family!!

"I'm there for you Batuk... Always and forever." Anirudh kissed his hair.

"Always and forever." Batuk smiled.

.............................................

It's a long post! My second update for the day.
If you want me to continue the spree, do vote and comment.
😀