•| S T A Y
"Tum... ro rahe ho?" Her whisper, though barely audible, still touched the destination it intended to reach. His ears. Gazing at his lone figure settled on one of the rocks near the lake stirred something deep within her heart. Something wasn't right with him, she could sense.
His unusually quiet self had been bothering her from the previous night. She couldn't quite stand the Karan Shergill she hadn't a word from, for precisely eighteen hours. His silence was unsettling her to the extent that was amusing to her own self.
He had stood without uttering a word in the last training session. He hadn't appeared for dinner in the canteen. He had skipped today's training session. Something just wasn't right with him, she could sense.
"Tum yaha kya kar rahi ho?" Without bothering to wipe the couple of teardrops that rolled down his cheek, he tiled his wrist. "Lunch nahi karna?" His eyes traveled to her face and for a moment, the emotions that he could see in her eyes felt so strangely comforting. Monami Tsunami looked sick worried.
"What is it?" Slightly shifting in his place, he turned to her to see her not responding.
"Tumne kal dinner kiya tha?"
"Tum ye poochne aayi ho?"
"Haan."
"I would really like you to elaborate on how my dinner concerns you in any way, Miss Monami Mahajan?"
"Uh... wo... wo actually main... bas wo main to..."
Despite his brutally aching heart, Monani Tsunami's shade of innocence managed to bring a faint smile to him.
She involuntarily stomped her foot. Ugh. "Fine. It concerns me because - A. I am a doctor which naturally makes me pay attention to everyone's health. B. I am not a khadoos like you." Please don't stretch this more. She internally prayed, not sure if she could come up with another justification as to why his troubled self was affecting her.
He tapped on the rock beside. She found herself obliging without a second of delay. His will to let her stay calmed her anxious heart a little.
"Tum bata sakte ho. Main kisi se kuch nahi kahungi."
"Kya sun na chahti ho?"
"Har wo baat jo tum batana chaho."
His eyes instantly found hers. Her gaze that was already on him continued to try and decipher the language of his silence.
Har wo baat jo tum batana chaho. How long it had been since someone earnestly tried to lend an ear to him? Even attempting to recall seemed futile for he was sure nobody did. Could he blame anyone though? He was the one to shut himself off from the world.
Karan Shergill was nobody's to read. Nobody's to comfort. Nobody's to love. He hadn't let anyone have that right in his life. The only person who had that right was gone. Gone to never come back.
Had it been any other day, he would have walked out on her upon her meddling in his affairs but he couldn't bring himself to push her away that day. Her mere presence was comforting his aching heart like a soothing balm.
"Tumne mujhe dhoonda kaise?"
"Thoda dekhte dekhte, aur thoda sunte sunte! I heard Faizi mention the other day to Sanjana that there is a lake nearby that is your go-to place. Unse puchna sahi nahi laga to bas dhoondte dhoondte mil hi gaya."
"Kitna time laga?
"Erm. Around one and a half hours, I guess?"
He shook his head. The academy to the lake was not more than a seven-minute route but for a change, he wasn't tempted to taunt her on that rather he couldn't resist the alien sensations that he was left behind with.
So much for him!
One and a half hours of struggle. Just for him?
He turned his head aside to conceal the sweet smile that crept over his lips at how truly concerned she had been for him to skip her lunch and come all the way there in search of him.
"Sab thik hai na?" Shrugging aside her hesitation, she dared to ask, embracing the probability of getting snapped at. She was okay with falling prey to his anger but turning a blind eye to him when she could clearly sense that he was upset seemed a little beyond her ability. "Tum ro kyu - I mean upset kyun ho?"
"I thought everyone is allowed to break down once in a while. Isn't it healthy, Dr. Monami Mahajan?"
She had never heard that poignantly delicate shade of his voice before. What was so wrong? What was so wrong with Karan Shergill?
"Aaj mere Bhai ka janmdin hai to bas -"
"Unhe miss kar rahe ho," she murmured, as a sharp pang of helplessness numbed her for a moment. "I am sure, wo bhi tumhe bohot miss karte hai."
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips. "Mera Bhai -"
"Main jaanti hoon." Sneaking a glance at him from the corner of her eye, she forced her gaze at the lake in front of her. "I am so...rry, shayad mujhe... chalna chahiye." Swallowing the lump clogging her throat, she rose on her feet, somehow holding back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.
Just as she was about to take her first step away from him, his fingers curled around her wrist, stopping her in her place. She shut her eyes as the thin layer of tears in them began to wet her eyelashes.
"Stay, Monami!"
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