Chapter-9

Please forgive me for the previous chapter..but it was necessary..❤

Zoya walked inside the hospital room where 'he' was. With slow and small steps, she made her way towards him. Her heart pained to look at him in this condition and she didn't knew the reason behind it. It was difficult to locate his body between those medical equipment. With much difficulty, she saw his face. He finally had a peaceful expression on his face and that made her a little happy that he is not experiencing pain anymore. There were tubes attached to his hand and, his head was bandaged. Zoya sat on the stool kept near the hospital bed and looked at him. She brushed out some hair from his face and took her time to look at him for the last time.

"I'm really sorry...I shouldn't have send you there..it's all my fault..I shouldn't remain with you..whoever comes close to me suffers..that's why I've decided that....I will leave...you will not suffer anymore because of me...please forgive your friend..." She spoke in a low voice. Her voice was breaking as she saw him more. 'Why did I came into his life..' She saw him flutter his eyelids and got up from her place to leave.

"Khuda hafiz, Aditya..." She said in a low voice and got up from her seat. Gathering up all the courage, whichever was left in her, she finally turned to leave. But, stopped when she felt something restricting her movement or rather someone.

She looked back to see him holding her hand. A lone tear escaped her eye and traced its path down her face.

"Please don't leave, Zoya...it's not your fault..please.." He said in a pleading yet a confirmatory voice.

"Everything is my fault, Aditya...I saw that vendor..I sent you there..it's all my fault..please don't cover up for me.." She said in a broken voice.

"I'm not covering up for anything...I'm not a kid Zoya...I went there because I felt it right...don't blame yourself for my mistake..I was just careless..nothing else..and see I'm completely fine..."

"Yeah...completely..!" She said and looked at his head and hand. They both burst out into laughter and the earlier tensed atmosphere was melted down.

"Are you hungry..? I will bring something for you.." She said after some time and started moving towards the exit.

"Zoya, you will not leave, right?" She struggled to answer him.

"I-I"

"Ah..!"

"Aditya..what happened..are you alright..." She asked moving towards him.

"I'm fine..it's just that my head is paining a lot.."

"I will call the doctor.."

After some time, the doctor came and examined him.

"You need to give your brain a little rest..Aditya..otherwise it may be dangerous.." The doctor said in an authoritative voice.

"Please take care of him..don't let him take any stress or tension and don't leave him alone..." He said turning towards Zoya to which she nodded looking at 'him'. She can't leave when he needs her the most at this time. He made her smile, he made her laugh and he soothed her from her pain. Can she not do just this much for him?

After the doctor left, Zoya asked, "Should I inform your family?" His expressions changed for a while and he got lost in thinking something.

"Aditya..?" She called him when there was no response.

"Should I inform them? They'll be worried for you.."

"No! No..no ne-need to inform them.."

"But they have the right to know about your wellbeing.."

"I said no..!" She flinched at his voice. "I-I mean there's nothing serious for which we should trouble them and you know Indian parents…they overreact and get worried so easily..you can go home and rest..I'm totally fine..Dr. Khanna is my friend..he can check on me at regular intervals.."

"I wasn't saying that I want to go home..it's just that I thought that they will be worried about you so-"

"Why to unnecessarily trouble them, Zoya..I said na it's fine.."

"Ok..as you say.." She said finally losing the battle.

"I will bring something for you to eat.." She said and exited the room leaving him to himself. He told her the truth 'Why to trouble them, right?'..He shouldn't trouble them ever..The knock on the door brought him out of his trance and he looked up to see Zoya with a tray full of food. She kept the tray on the side table and offered him the food.

"I'm not eating this.." She widened her eyes and that worked.

"Ok.." He said taking the banana from her hand and making a face. He hasn't witnessed this side of her and it was scary.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Eat it otherwise you will be forever admitted here..come on eat.." She said taking a bite from her sandwich.

"This is not right Zoya, you yourself are eating a cheese sandwich and giving me a banana..this is not done..!"

"You are yourself a doctor and you are behaving like a five year old..eat it fast you have to take your medicines also.."

After he finished the fruits, she forwarded him a bowl full of soup.

He tried to hold the spoon but was unable to make a firm grip on it and it fell from his hand again and again. When the next time it was about to fall, Zoya held it. He looked at her in surprise and she just passed him a smile. She filled the spoon with soup and kept it near his mouth while he was just looking at her in surprise.

"Chaliye..khaiye.." (Come on..eat..) She started feeding him and he took it because he had no other choice.

"You know what I did once in my childhood.." She  began. He was surprised to listen her talk about her childhood to him that too herself. Their first session came into his mind where he had to convince her so much to tell him about her childhood but today, she is talking about it on its own and that is what made him happy. There was surely a lot of progress but he was still not sure whether she is perfectly fine or was just pretending to be.

She told him about her mischievous act from her childhood and he laughed his heart out knowing how much naughty she was as a child. They were laughing, giggling and yeah, enjoying their present. Maybe Zoya was pretending to be happy but she can't pretend all the time and he can very well recognize the difference between a fake laugh and a hearty laugh and he...witnessed a hearty laugh.

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Hope, you liked this chapter..I hope it was nice than the previous one..😅thank you for wishing me luck..I don't know if I made it worthy enough..do tell me your reviews about it..

Let the past don't trouble your present..😊

Take care and love y'all..❤