CHAPTER-46
GRIP
Naomi’s POV
I shrank my eyes open only to feel as if a rock rested on my forehead. I raised my eyebrows, as I rolled my eyeballs hither and thither, to find myself locked within the four corners of a hospital ward. I hurt my neck and hissed to overcome the pain, as I followed a group of wires connected to the middle of my right hand and turned at the beeping dark display drawing lines across it.
“Naomi! I won’t spare you!”
Tears accumulated in my eyes as Pooja’s voice echoed in my mind. I breathed hard as her pinkish chubby face wherein she gnashed her teeth and bulged her eyes, lifting the log up above her head and aiming to hit me, flashed in front of my eyes.
“Help! Help!”, I roared, weeping along, as the awful scenes played without a pause in my mind.
“Kiku!”
“Akshat sir!”, I trembled, recognizing his voice, from the door. Akshat, in a white T-shirt with thick black stripes running in a diagonal fashion, upon grey bermudas, rushed towards my bed.
“She will kill me, sir….She…She…Pooja….she will kill me…Help! Help! Kiku, please!”, trembled I, sitting up and extending my fractured left hand tied with a white bandage.
“Ouch! Aaah!”, I ailed in pain, as tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Naomi! Careful! What are you doing? You are here in the hospital”, said he, raising his meek and hesitant voice, as he wrapped me in his cozy arms. He massaged my head as I closed my eyes and sobbed to drench his night top to the fullest.
“Kiku, don’t worry. Pooja is gone. Why do you panic when I’m around? Let me see who can torture you when I, your Akshat is here”, he highlighted, tightening me in his gentlemanly arms. I released myself. I looked into his meek and hesitant brownish eyes, closed my mouth with my right fist, and continued weeping hard.
“Akshat sir, she is very dangerous…She…Pooja…she whipped me. She came by…by…a…a scooty…helmet…logs…Vyomi…Pooja…Pooja..she slapped me…I…I was returning to PG…Kiku! Suresh tore my clothes, Kiku….”, I trembled, as I began narrating my bitter experience to him. I clung to him and breathed hard as a few strands of my hair fell on the front.
“Pooja will be punished”, shouted Akshat. I looked up and swallowed my fear as he tightened his fist and frowned at the opposite wall. He rested my cheeks in his cozy arms and continued, “I guarantee you, Naomi. May it be anyone who pesters you, I too won’t spare them. What happened tonight was inhuman. Do you trust me?”
I nodded as I continued sobbing.
“Kiku, I, belonging to the family of the Malhotras, have a few useful contacts of IAS officers. One of them is my best friend. This case will help us seek justice. Pooja, Suresh, and Prisha will be behind bars very soon”, he concluded. He checked me out, right from the bandage on my forehead to the fractured leg. “The three can’t even imagine what they must pay for damaging my soul.”
Aww, Akshat sir, you’re very sweet. None have ever fought for me. I always had to fight for myself. I have never been this close to a man ever before. I love you, Akshat! I love you! I love you! I looked away from his face and stared at the tiled floor. What did I just think? No, Naomi, you cannot love him. He is your lecturer.
Scenes of Vyomi striving to escape the demonly Prisha interrupted my thoughts. I turned at Kiku.
“Kiku, where is Vyomi? How is she now?”
“Yes, she is alright. She rang me up as soon as she admitted you here. She just suffered from a small cut near her elbow. Vyomi!”
Vyomi pushed the door and barged in, towards my bed.
“Dude, I’m sorry I was helpless”, said she, hugging me. I wiped her tears as she continued, in her usual hurried tone, “Thanks to Akshat sir who helped me with the police case formalities while admitting you…I went numb when you lost consciousness, dude. I’m glad you’re alright now.” I smiled and patted her cheek as she continued sobbing.
Drops of sweat accumulated on my forehead as soon as I heard a motor’s screeching sound.
“Pooja! She is here…She…”, trembled I, turning back at Akshat. He shook his head. His meek and hesitant eyes felt sorry for me as I yelled, “Akshat sir, she is right here…somewhere outside…she…she will kill me…save me, Kiku! Please!... I heard her scooty…she will again torture me…Kiku! Please don’t leave me alone! Kiku, please trust me!”
I hugged him and drenched his chest with a brook of tears.
“Hey, no. Naomi, she won’t come here. I’ll stay here overnight. Why do you think I will leave you alone? How can I sleep at home when you’re bruised heavily and here on the hospital bed?...”
“She is here…she..Pooja…she will kill me…she will whip me again…she wants to stop my heartbeat…Kiku!Kiku!..”
“Naomi! Stop!”, he raised his voice. He tightened my cheeks in his cozy palms, and hugged my eyes, emphasizing, “I won’t let a pin prick you. How can the evil Pooja escape from my eyes?” He wiped my tears. He looked away and swallowed his tears.
“You’re a brave girl, Kiku. Don’t let that bad omen snatch your freedom of life”, said he, leaning forward and smooching my forehead. He laid my back slowly on the bed and pulled the blanket to reach my waist. As I rolled my eyeballs restlessly at him, he smiled, letting his fingers on my eyes only to shut them. I opened them at once.
“Sleep peacefully, Kiku. I’m right beside you”, he smiled, whispering, and massaging my hair. “Won’t you wish me a good night?”
I nodded. “Good night, Kiku!” I tightened his palm in mine and shook my head. “Please don’t leave me, Kiku. Sorry…I badly need you by me. Please…”, cried I, with tears crowded enough to block my vision.
“Aye! Kiku! No more tears”, he reassured me. He kissed my right palm, completing, “I love you. What’s the point of loving someone when you won’t be by their side during tough times?” I nodded, closing my eyes, wondering why I couldn’t imagine the night without Akshat. Why didn’t I urge Vyomi to stay by my side, for support, instead? Why do I only want you, Kiku?
“Vyomi!”
“Sir”
“Don’t stay alone tonight. Move to Tanvi or Diya’s hostel room. Ask Karan to drop you guys….” I heard their faint voices as I was on the verge of dozing away.
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A diverged beam emerging from the giant morning star turned the spotlight on my closed eyes. I woke up, yawning a bit, and looking around to spot none else in my room. I happened to turn left to gaze at the floor. I swallowed my tears at Akshat resting his head upon his folded right hand, with his face towards my cot. His chest moved a bit up and down as he breathed in deep sleep.
Aww, why should you sacrifice your sleep for me? Do you indeed love me so much despite my controversial response to your proposals? How can I stop myself from loving you, Kiku? I have never been this close to a guy ever before.
“Naomi!”, called he, waking and looking up, at once. I shrugged while he asked me, “Do you need something?”
“How do you know?... I mean…”
“I can feel you, Naomi.” We blushed at each other as our eyes interlocked for the entire next minute. “Don’t you?” I turned away and shrank my eyes, as I recollected rushing downstairs, the other night when I felt his arrival to pick me up for dinner. I turned back at him and shrugged.
“Must have just been a coincidence, Kiku. You seem to be too much into fantasies…”
He chuckled. “Sexy! Let's save this topic for another day.”
“What!”
“Sexy! I had to ask you the very question. Yes yes, tell me what do you want from me?” He stood up and stretched his hands in either direction like the exercisers at a park.
“Unfortunately, you can’t help me. Can you please call the nurse?”
“Kiku, it's fine…I can do anything for you…”
“Sir, please call the nurse. It's urgent!”, said I, grabbing my stomach hard. I smiled at his red eyes, a vivid sign of last night’s disturbed sleep, as he nodded and headed towards the door. I blew air and squeezed my stomach for the next couple of moments.
Love is so blind that it just happens unexpectedly.
You may fall for anyone!
Would you let go of your policy if you fell for someone you shouldn't? What would you choose-your policy or your beloved?
Who has ever been with me, to such an extreme? Not even my mother! It's not just this one time but you’ve always been here, Akshat…I love you! Urgh! What? I shook my head and sighed.
“Naomi!”
“Akshat sir!”
“Nurses are occupied in the OTs it seems.”
“Oh no! But, it's very urgent...Ouch!”
“Tell me, Naomi. I can help you out…Why are you overthinking at this hour?”
“Nature call, Kiku…How can you? Is Vyomi here?”
“Oooo…No, she hasn’t come yet…”
“Ouch! I must use the washroom immediately…Aah!”, ailed I, closing my eyes and squeezing my stomach harder.
“Kiku!”, exclaimed I, as he carried me in his arms.
“Don’t worry, I’ll lead you to the washroom…”
“Kiku, but how can you?.. Sir, you shouldn’t be helping me here..”
“Do you trust me?”
“This is wrong. How can I treat you?...”
“Yes or no?”, asked he, shaking me along, as I caught his shoulder harder to get a grip. I nodded. His meek and hesitant eyes smiled as he headed, with me, in his arms, towards the attached loo.
A while later, we left the loo. He rested me softly on the bed and adjusted the spongy white pillow for my head to plunge through it. I tilted my head and blushed at his lovely care. Aww, Akshat sir, how could you do that without feeling even a bit of disgust, just like that of a mother to her baby? Now do I realize that winning your love is no less than the greatest boon I could have ever been blessed with. Who are you, Kiku? Above all, who am I, a random student, to you?
“What!”, his meek and hesitant eyes froze at the ECG beeping restlessly. The door squeaked as a female doctor, with a long milky white coat upon her pink sari, walked in. Her thin beaded chain oscillated along as she greeted us, on her way to my bed.
“Doctor, is she fine? What’s the buzzer indicating?”, Akshat alarmed her. She adjusted the few wires running from near my elbow point to the machine’s nodes.
“Perhaps, it wasn’t connected properly. Phew! Somehow, I happened to be on rounds otherwise your husband would have started weeping like a little boy, I guess. Hahaha!”, she commented, leaving my eyes locked with Akshat’s dilating pupils.
“How are you feeling now, Naomi?”, she enquired.
“Beautiful!”
“Wow! What?”, she chuckled, continuing to check me with her stethoscope. I turned at her and shook my head, blushing along.
“Forehead is a bit painful. My left hand and right leg are severely aching, doctor…Unable to move them even a little…It's hurting heavily.”
She nodded. “Sir, please ensure that your wife takes the prescribed tablets on time. Those painkillers and the syrup. She needs to be on complete bed rest until all her bandages are removed for the next two months or so…” Akshat nodded while the doctor’s words echoed within my heart.
Your wife! Your husband! I chuckled, blushing to myself.
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“Kiku! Kiku!”
I heard Akshat’s gentlemanly yet soft male voice as he patted my shoulders. Urgh! His pat feels like a volt of electric shock flowing through my body. As I woke up, he helped me sit, placing the pillow behind, to serve as a backrest for me.
“Sexy! Why is your hair like this, Kiku?”, he exclaimed, letting his hands through my loosely left black hair, all on my back. While I chuckled and shrugged, he displayed his palm and gestured for me to wait. He opened the drawer and grabbed a comb.
“Seriously, Kiku!?!”, chuckled I, as he placed the finger on his lips and played a YouTube tutorial explaining how to plait, step-by-step. He pulled my hair hard, twice or thrice, as he strived to tie a plait. Aww! I’m lucky to have you love me, Kikuuuuuu!
“Oooo, this is such a pain”, murmured he, tangling the wrong sub-parts together. I burst into a round of laughter. My goodness! I didn’t even feel like a patient when my Kiku was around, that afternoon.
“Sexy! I finally did it! Woohoo!”, he cheered, putting my single plait on the front. I blushed and thanked him. He bowed and patted his own shoulders. I chuckled again.
“Sexy! I forgot this!”, said he, slamming his forehead.
“What now, sir?”, asked I, shrugging and blushing along. He blushed, shrinking his eyes and pointing out his index finger, gesturing for me to wait a bit.
“Kiku, where are you going? Kiku!”, I called, as he left my room. He returned before the second hand completed its fifth revolution. He had a short and fat bottle of moisturizer lotion in his hands. He sat beside me on the bed.
“What are you planning to do, Kiku?”
“Sexy! How many questions will you ask? I just wanna dress you up. Shall I, my lady?”
My lady! My lady! My lady! The very words couldn’t stop echoing within the four corners of my heart, weakening in love. I blushed and remained silent as he smiled, leaving tiny dots hither and thither on my cheeks. I closed my eyes and breathed hard as his fingers neared my forehead.
“Sexy! Perfect now!”, he complimented. I opened my eyes and blushed, touching my bindi. Our eyes dived into each other’s for the next couple of seconds.
“Wow! So, did you wake me up, just to dress me, Kiku? Seriously?”, asked I, faking a frown at him.
“Aye! No! It just struck my mind!” He grabbed the Tupperware box from the adjacent desk. “dinner time! That's why I had to interrupt your resting hour”, said he, holding his ears and shrinking his eyes at me.
Our eyes smiled at each other every time he pushed a bite of chapati dipped in dhal. After he began feeding me, I bit his finger, at the last bite, on purpose.
“Sexy! What are you doing, Naomi?!”, he exclaimed, licking his poor finger. I closed my eyes and chuckled at the cute toddler in him.
“No! Kiku! Aaah! No!”, I exclaimed, as he set out to tickle me. I chuckled as he tickled over and over.
“Ouch!”, exclaimed I, falling with my back on the bed. His hands pressed either side of the bed as he had fallen, leaning forward; his face stood at just a few feet above mine. We blushed at each other. He stood up and helped me lay straight on the bed.
“Did you eat anything?”, asked I.
“Yes yes, I had my dinner in the hospital canteen”, said he, blushing and nodding. “Get well soon!”, said he, kissing my forehead. “My kiss wishing for you to get well soon. The kiss last night was the kiss of comfort. Happy?” I chuckled and nodded. I gestured for him to come closer. I lifted my head a little up and kissed both his cheeks followed by his forehead. I smooched his lips and forced my tongue inside, to hug his ready tongue. We continued the French kiss for around two minutes after which I released him.
“These are all my kisses of gratitude. You really mean a lot to me, Kiku. You matter to me, more than anything else”, said I, sobbing and resting my head on his chest.
“Aye, Kiku! No, getting emotional!”, said he, massaging my back. Aww, I mean it, Akshat! I doubt even my parents would have looked after me, to such a great extreme, as my Kiku. Wait, what, no, he can’t be mine.
“Here! Naomi!”, called he, pulling my chin open and forcing my mouth open to push some water into my mouth.
“Good night, Kiku!”, he wished, holding my palm and resting his head on my stomach. I threw my mouth open while he smiled, looking at me and closing his eyes. I blushed at the half portion of his face, exposed towards me. I massaged his head with my right palm until my eyes shut asleep.
The next morning, as soon as I happened to wake up, I felt goosebumps on both hands, at him, who had been sitting in the same position and sleeping that entire night. I smiled, massaging his head. He yawned, waking up, at once.
“Sorry, sir. Did I disturb you?...”
“Sexy! Naomi, don’t you know that you’ve already disturbed me enough?” He blushed while I shrank my eyes and bit my lips to refrain myself from returning a wide romantic smile, like him.
“Good Morning, Kiku. Aren’t you going to the university today?”, asked I, as he rubbed his palms and relaxed his eyes.
“Oooo, Kiku! What do you think? How can I leave you alone and go?”, he questioned, pulling my cheeks. I looked down and blushed as he continued staring at me.
“But, sir, won’t it be a problem?”
“I took an exemption from lecturing the supplementary classes this year. I applied and got it approved yesterday itself. I just had to mail them. Aye! Forget about these formalities, Kiku! Nothing is a problem when a problem pops into your life. You have always been my first priority”, said he, gulping a mouth of water from the bottle.
I blushed wondering if there would ever exist a soul that can overtake Akshat to love me. Urgh! How can you even view him as a suitor, Naomi? He is your lecturer…Urgh! Why are you my lecturer, Akshat? You could’ve been anything else but my lecturer…Urgh!
Aww, are Akshat’s sacrifices touching Noami’s delicate heart?
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