The next few days were silent. Saanvi didn’t know how to talk to him again. His words, his confession, everything was ringing in her mind. She had thought about it a lot. 

Was he only a friend to her? What she felt around him, for him, was it only friendship?

Arjun texted her daily. To ask if she was alright or did he overstep? She did reply to him saying that everything was fine and she just needed some time to process everything.

He understood and never pressurized her into anything. It was almost a week later that she realised that she should now talk to him directly. About what she felt. About her confusion and fear.

She picked up her phone and dialled his number.

Arjun picked up on the second ring.

“Saanvi? Sab thik hai?”

(Is everything alright?)

“Arjun…aap kahi jaa rhe ho?”

(Arjun…are you going somewhere?)

She asked with a frown when she heard honking from the background.

“Airport jaa raha tha. Meeting thi ek Switzerland mai.”

(I was going to the airport. I have a meeting in Switzerland.)

“Ohh. Umm…kab tak wapas aayenge aap?”

(Umm…when will you be back?)

“Three days max. Kya baat hai?”

(What happened?)

“Kuch nhi. Aap jab wapas aayenge tab baat krenge. Aap aaram se jaaiye aur-”

(Nothing. We will talk when you come back. You go carefully and-)

Before she could complete, she heard a loud crash and the line went dead. She stared at the wall in front of her and asked.

“Arjun?”

But of course, there was no reply. She looked at the phone and the call was disconnected. She tried calling him again while moving out of the NGO.

She hailed a cab and rushed towards the airport. She prayed the whole way. Prayed for her safety and health.

She was about 10 minutes away from the airport when she saw a huge crowd gathered at one corner. She asked the cab driver to stop and wait and rushed there to see what was happening.

“Kya hua hai yaha?”

(What happened here?)

“Bhut bada accident hua hai. Truck mai kuchal di hai puri gaadi. Car ke driver ki toh on the spot death ho gyi. Andar baithe passenger ko hospital le kar gye hai.”

(A big accident took place. Truck crushed the whole car. Car driver died on the spot. The passenger inside was taken to the hospital.)

Saanvi felt like someone had suddenly snatched oxygen from her. No! No no no! Nothing could happen to her Arjun. She rushed back to the cab and instructed the driver to drive to the hospital she heard the people mention.

“Yaha…yaha koi accident patient aaya hai? Abhi thodi der pehle? Arjun…arjun naam hai unka. Please check kriye.”

(Is…is there an accident patient? Some time ago? Arjun…his name is Arjun. Please check.)

She stuttered in panic. Her body was shaking due to fear and eyes wide in panic. She wanted, needed to see him safe and breathing.

“Naam ka nhi pata mam, but ek accident case aaya hai. The person is in Room 202.”

(We don’t know the name mam, but one accident case has come.)

Saanvi didn’t wait any longer and ran to the room. She entered the room in a haste and her breath hitched.

He laid there in the hospital bed, his leg, arm and head covered in bandages. He looked at her in surprise but gave her a weak smile.

Saanvi choked back a sob and rushed to his side. She carefully engulfed him into a hug. 

“Saanvi? I’m fine. Stop crying. See! Mai thik hu, hmm?”

(I am fine, hmm?)

She looked at him while crying and scolded.

“Kuch thik nhi hai aap. Pata hai…sab log keh rhe the ki driver…he died on the spot and you were taken to the hospital…kitne ajeeb ajeeb khayal aa rhe the mann mai…mujhe laga…ki maine…maine aapko kho dia.”

(You are not fine. You know…people were saying that driver…he died on spot and you were taken to the hospital…I was getting weird thoughts…I thought…that I…I lost you.)

She sobbed and his heart clenched. The heartbeat monitor beeped and Saanvi looked at it shocked. Arjun smiled and said.

“That’s what happens to me when I see you cry. Stop crying, Saanvi. The doctors said that I am fine. Kuch major nhi hai. And most importantly there’s no internal injury. Major impact front side pr tha and that’s why the driver died immediately. Mujhe chot aayi pr utni nhi.”

(Nothing major….The major impact was on the front side and that’s why the driver died immediately. I got hurt but not that much.)

She hugged him again. Letting herself believe that he was alive and breathing and had not left her.

“Mai… mai nhi jee paaungi Arjun. Agar aapko kuch ho gaya toh. I…”

(I…I will not be able to live, Arjun. If something happens to you. I…)

She stopped. Say it, Saanvi. Say it now or you’ll regret it all your life. She told herself and took a deep breath.

“I am falling in love with you, Arjun.”

She whispered. But his heart screamed. The heartbeat monitor beeped crazily, making the nurse come rushing in. She paused mid-run seeing Arjun lost in Saanvi, who sat with tears in her eyes.

“Is everything ok here?”

The nurse asked just to confirm and Arjun whispered without breaking eye contact with Saanvi.

“She just said she is falling in love with me.”

That one sentence held so many emotions. Each one of them, Saanvi, now understood. There was relief, longing, love, devotion, disbelief and content.

The nurse understood why the monitor beeped and went away after asking them to call her if they needed anything.

Saanvi smiled softly at him and the heartbeat monitor continued to show an arrhythmic heartbeat. Saanvi giggled when the monitor indicated a beat skip as she leaned in and placed a soft kiss over his cheek.

Arjun’s eyes widened and he gripped the bedside tightly. He was dreaming. He had to be. There was no way this was real. He might have hit his head hard and got a concussion. That explained this.

She didn’t pull back completely and looked into his wide eyes with mischief. She bit her lip and slowly leaned towards his lips.

She gave a soft peck on his lips and his eyes almost came out of his socket and the monitor went crazy again. He clutched his heart and looked at her without breathing.

“Are you planning on giving me a heart attack?”

Saanvi giggled and rested her head against his chest. His heartbeat slowly came back to normal and she looked at him. 

“Discharge kab bata rhe hai?”

(When are they telling about the discharge?)

“In a few days.”

“Aapko caretaker rakhna padega.”

(You will have to keep a caretaker.)

He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Dekhte hai.”

(We’ll see.)

“What dekhte hai? Akele kaise krenge aap sab kuch? Koi toh chahiye na dhyan rakhne ke liye.”

(What see? How will you manage alone? You need someone to take care.)

She countered and he just looked into her eyes. Silently asking her to stay. Not pressurizing, not verbalizing, just conveying what he wanted through his eyes. She seemed to understand because her gaze softened.

“Waise…aap chahte hai toh mai bhi aa skti hu. If you don’t mind my presence.”

(By the way…if you want then I can also come.)

She teased and he smiled. He caressed her cheek with his uninjured hand and whispered.