Stars of the sky|| JENSHAD one shots

3. In Sickness And In Health

~ Thank you, Ms. Jennifer Winget, for Everytime the world around me was shaking, and I wanted to go and hide myself , you walked me through!
-Harshad Chopda~

Harsha had always known that her brother was one of the laziest people alive on earth, except for when he had to work out but right now, she wanted to bang his head on the wall so that he would get up and move around. He had been lying on the sofa the entire day, half the time sleeping and half the time sneezing, irrespective of her advice to go take some rest in his bedroom. He fussed saying the TV gave him company while he tried to sleep.

Over the past month, he had grown his hairs and hadn't trimmed his beard either, and coupled with the sick look on his face, he looked more of a begger than one of the most handsome actor of the television industry. Of course it was her opinion though, his fangirls would still find him dashing and drool worthy, and so would another person, who loved his long hair look too.

"Bhaiii", Harsha shreaked again, and Harshad opened his eyes to glare at his little sister but found himself too weak for that. Over a week of viral fever had drained all his energy and he didn't feel like shouting back at Harsha either. With their dad out of station and him falling sick, Harsha was the only one sane enough and managing the household.

Touching his forehead again, Harsha sighed, the fever was back. This time she requested him to move to his room, and for a change Harshad obliged. Covering him with a duvet, she served him some hot porridge that he ate without tantrums and his medicine, before asking him to sleep. Harshad nodded, before lying down on his back and closed his eyes.

Harsha sighed again as she walked out of the room. Sometimes, despite a hundred efforts, we can't replace a void created in our lives due to the demise of our utmost special person. Similarly, despite her efforts, Harsha couldn't fulfill her mother's place in her brother's life. Harshad had always been Mumma's boy and she, daddy's little girl. She distinctively remembered her brother acting super childish and goofy around their mother, especially if he was sick. He won't let her go away, would sleep in her lap, whin and cry because fever always made him cranky. Even though she hated all his attention seeking strategies then, she desperately missed them now, especially watching this matured version of her brother who was so busy being her mother that he had completely looked over the fact that he needed one too.

Despite all their bickering, Harsha was very fond of her brother, and loved him to death, and vice versa. And hence she knew that when sick, he craved for warmth, he wanted to be pampered and he loved attention. But he wouldn't do that with her because in all these years being his mother, he had somewhere stopped acting like her brother who irritated the living shit out of her. Right now, all Harshad did was his best to keep her happy and comfortable.

Walking out to the drawing room, Harsha called Jennifer. She didn't want to disturb her shoot all this time, but now she considered if she had called her earlier.

Hearing the ring tone, 'Mere dil ko tere dil ki jarurat hai', Jennifer smiled as she walked towards the table in her vanity, expecting someone from her close knit family. She had two different ringtones, one for the entire world and one, this special one, for her family, that included her parents, Naihal-Anniruddha, Sehban, Karan, Amita, Pratz, Pooja and Aishwarya too alongside Harsha and Harshad now.

Jodhpur had been a tiring trip for her, she had been shooting constantly in open places right under the sun. Also, Captain Monica needed to be perfect, it was one of her most challenging roles uptil now, after Maya and Zoya. Hence watching Harsha's name on the screen, she was perplexed. Sliding the screen, she happily greeted the girl she had grown to be fond of lately.

"Hey Harshaaa!", Jennifer greeted, and Harsha chuckled, she always loved the child like glee Jennifer had with people she adored.

"Hi Jen! Are you in shoot? Am I disturbing?", Harsha asked immediately, she had strict instructions to not bother Jennifer at work from her brother.

"Hahaha, Is your brother around? Asking you to drop the phone because I might be busy?", Jennifer knew Harshad well, and she knew Harsha too. The girl didn't know formalities and Harshad always cribbed about the same.

"No, I actually called you-", Harsha stopped midway, taking a deep breath, "When will you be back?".

------

Harshad moaned in sleep as he felt nimble fingers caressing his scalp and his hairs, just the way he liked. His head had been aching either way from all the fever and this, felt like sheer heaven. It was when he felt the bed dip and the sheets shift that he became vaguely aware of another human body pressed against him. He opened his eyes to a beautiful surprise. Jennifer was looking at him, balancing her head on her elbow as she lay beside him and when their eyes finally met, she leaned over to kiss his forehead.

Harshad smiled and turned to face her. In his subconscious, he felt he was dreaming. He continued to stare at her like she would disappear if he dared to blink, and Jennifer smiled again before she pulled him closer, his head now resting over her chest and she ran her fingers through his hair again.

It was at that contact that Harshad shot open her eyes and inhaled her lavender fragrance, before raising his head to look at her with a frown.

"When did you came back? Didn't you have a few more days of shoot?", Jennifer noticed how weak and strained his voice sounded. He really was quite unwell, and Harsha wasn't lying when she told her that her bhai was really sick.

"I still do. But I thought an hour and fourty minutes flight was a good option this evening, especially when my baby needed me", Jenny titled her head and looked at the twinkle in Harshad's eyes. For some weird reason he loved being addressed as her baby, it gave him an odd satisfaction of belongingness.

"You should have called me Harsh!", she softly reprimanded him as he cuddled with her, nuzzling his face in her neck.

"If only it wasn't for all this cold, I would have definitely kissed you", he ignored her sentence and stated, while Jenny bit her smile at that. He was really a man child, especially if he was hungry or sick.

"Aww my baby, I would have loved that", she winked at him before giggling which eventually made Harshad laugh out loud too. She then cuddled him for the rest of the night, letting him hold her close as he completely hovered over her, locking his broad arms around her and sleeping like a baby.

Harshad didn't question her more because he knew that if he was in her place he would have done the same. For the last few months since they had finally given a name to their unsaid relationship, he had always gone out of his limits for her, to ensure she is happy and comfortable. If she wanted to do the same for him, he really didn't have a right to complain.

Jennifer slept her best in his hold too, getting refreshed enough to take the morning flight scheduled. She had taken the night off but she couldn't keep the crew waiting either. Their work needed commitment and she couldn't break that.

Harsha found Harshad sound asleep the next morning, even after Jennifer had left. She checked to find his temperature absolutely normal, and chuckled to herself.

She had only heard true love had healing powers, she was witnessing it first hand today. But as long as her brother and her Jenny were happy, she content too, hoping to find her own Mr. Right soon!