"So what is that you want to start with?"
She blinks for a couple of seconds to make sure she isn't asleep. She was sure she was sleeping just a moment ago before she heard the doorbell ringing. She had seen his face through the door hole and the only reason she opened the door was the cat in his hand which was now snuggling and purring in her arms.
"You are here to build my furniture?"
"I did say I will do it for you".
"I know. That doesn't explain that you would be here on your one day off in weeks this early to work on this".
They had complaints flowing in about a disease that is spreading all over the world. It is contagious and spreads rapidly between people. To some it is life threatening to others it damages some of their essential organs. Though, they haven't seen someone with it yet, they started the prevention already. The hospital is preparing quarantine rooms for people. These are generally wards that are close off to other people. Mostly people look inside a metallic cage and she hates that. She doesn't even want to work in that ward for personal reasons.
She shivers when she thinks about it. It looks scary and terrifying. Even when she has experience of war zones, she will choose panicking over being locked somewhere all alone.
"We know that hospitals will be too busy in the coming days. There is no way we will even be able to come back home. Kabir and others already asked us to pack a large bag with our essentials that means the shit that is coming will not stop".
She frowns, "We will stay inside the hospital?"
"Unfortunately. What do you want to do today?"
She looks at the different packages that hold different furniture for the living room. For now, the living room is without any furniture.
"The table? We can start with small accessories and then start with the couch?"
He nodded, "That one is the table?" He said pointing to the one she labelled 'table', "Is there a guide in it?"
"There should be or we are doomed".
It takes about half an hour for him to start building the big square table. The only thing about this table was the small screws that he had to try on and then remove because they weren't the right ones.
It took him an hour more to assemble the table and place it in the middle of the living room while she dragged the carpet underneath it. She had a vision when she was buying all of these and somehow it all added up.
She worked on decorating the wall with the small decoration she bought over the period of time while he works on the furniture without a single complaint. She offered a cup of coffee and a sandwich which he ate in seconds while she munches on hers for an hour.
The living room finally came to life around the afternoon. They both lay exhausted on the couch looking at the television that was playing some romantic movies. She had to cringe at certain parts and would avoid looking at other parts altogether. Her stomach must have made a loud sound when he announced he would order pizza for them.
She continues laying on the new couch feeling the softness of it. She had a dream of making her own space. While she was pretty bad at it, she loves that he was good at it. He had made it look exactly how she had plan. While she instructed him about where to put the table and other furniture, he just obliged.
She smiles as she closes her eyes while the exhaustion starts to cloud her mind and drag her into the darkness.
This strangely looks domestic.
He went back to his apartment to grab a quick shower and food for his cat when he knows for a fact that his cat will eat pizza, no matter what. He had a good diet for his cat including protein, gravy with a little treat. It's keep his cat health good.
When he had walked back into her apartment (with the key she provided) thinking that she might be showering too he was taken back to find her sleeping with a small smile. He wonders what she was thinking about or dreaming about to smile like that.
He is sure he had seen her smile at his cousin and then right now and it seems to be becoming his favourite thing very fast. He hates whenever she would frown or come close to tear which he is the main reason of.
His cat went ahead to lay on her chest and cuddling into her not even caring about the food he had in his hand. His cat usually loses her mind over food. She will scream and shout at him until he places the food in front of her.
He has seen his cat being affectionate towards her throughout working through her living room. While he asked the front desk to take his order and leave it at her food without a knock, he went to her food and sigh.
The room was void of any furniture beside the bed. As much as he wants to build her this home, he can't deny that he kept thinking about the time she spent here without so much a couch in the living room. He decided he will get started on the room now since thankfully she didn't order kitchen or bathroom appliances that they had to build.
He takes the blanket and a pillow from her bed. After an initial struggle with his cat scratching his hand, he manages to put the blanket over her. He pauses for a moment sliding down in front of her as he looks at her peaceful expression. There was something about her that drew him to her. A urge to be close to her. He moves some of her hair away as he leans forward placing a kiss on her forehead with a wide beating heart. The warmth spread through his body calming his every thought. His body relaxing and surrendering to her.
He shakes his head before he went to start with her bedroom. He was thankful that the room had soundproofing door. He tried to stay as quiet as possible as he assemble a small couch, table, side drawers and a dressing table. Those were easy parts and he was about to start on the big closet when he heard something.
He was sure because the door were soundproofing he was imagining it until he open the door to find her hysteric crying. He didn't waste a second before marching in the living room to kill someone when he found no one, he pauses for a second before her screams drew his attention to her.
She was sleeping and dreaming. No, this was a nightmare and he had seen enough of those to last a lifetime. That's why he prefers work over sleep. Sleep always brings his past back.
He looks at his options of waking her up. He could shake her which can result in a full panic attack when she wakes up disoriented to a man twice her size. So, he choose to drop a bucket of cold water on her.
It did two things for him. One, she was awake and two, the cold water stops her from panicking. There was something that happens after this moment. The moment she looks in his eyes and he saw the fear lying in her beautiful eyes he had felt his heart flip. The anger brimmed in his vein and all he needs is name or names. He imagine pumping his fist that usually saves lives into whoever is responsible for this bones chilling terror in her eyes. Somehow, her eyes reflect his own.
A coin. They were two sides of the same coin.
"Hey, baby". He whispers softly, "It's just me. Your Ehaan. Can you recognise me?"
Sometimes after terror it is hard for people to escape the tight grip it has on them. He can only imagine how much she must be terrified right now. Some don't recognise their people. Some scream. Some hurts themselves. He would hate to see any of those scenarios as much as he hates her suffering all alone. He wants to wrap her in his arms so she can get a good night sleep. He wants to take away this pain from her.
"My Ehaan?" She seems to recognise him and that made him breathe a little better
"Yours". He assured her as he stands absolutely still, "Would you mind if I take a step towards you? Just one".
If it was on him, he would run to her, but he knows taking many steps and towering over her will make her scream murder.
She nodded hesitantly. He tries to send a reassuring smile which was impossible because of the circumstances and because he never smiles.
He takes a small step forward with his hands behind his back and his shoulder hunched forward so he didn't appear threatening.
She nodded again. And he took another step similarly until he was almost near her when he kneel in front of her and found that her body was shaking and she was trying to conceal herself.
He placed his hands on her shaking hands placing a quick kiss on them.
"You're ok now". He said gently, "You are ok".
She was freezing which was good because it was helping her calm down. It took her a few more minutes before she was back to herself.
She release a breathe when she found his eyes taking in every little movement to make sure she was ok. It is rather strange how one minute he is nice and the next he acts like a devil. She wasn't going to take this few moments of compassion as anything. She didn't care about his hot and cold behaviour and she was sure not responsible for his actions. Even when she knows she doesn't deserve the best this situation was certainly not it.
She takes her hands out of his hold as hee teeth chatters. She needs to change out of her clothes.
"I will change out my clothes now". She mumble as she stands only to feel dizzy and his hands quickly grab onto her elbow
"Let me take you to your room". He said and didn't even wait for her confirmation before he started to move towards her room
Once she enter inside she held back a gasp at the furniture that was there.
"You did this?" She asked as most of her room was already done
"Yes".
"This is amazing. But you have work tomorrow and you spent all your time doing this. You will be tired".
"I will deal with it when it comes to it".
He sends her to the washroom after she grabs her clothes. She takes her time adjusting the water to high temperature and allowing her body to relax. Now that she was thinking a little more clearly she can't help the feeling of his hands on hers. His eyes actually had concern for her. The way he approached her like she was a wild bear shows he knows exactly how to deal with panic attacks and nightmares.
She exits the room to find no one in her room. She moves to the living room where she found a note indicating that he was leaving and that he left his cat with her for the night. He also said that he heated the pizza and it was in oven along with warm milk.
How was she supposed to disregard this man's actions?
The next day, thankfully, they hired new interns and a doctor - Steven. She have two intern with Steven to take on her rounds and show around the hospital while explaining the duties. Somehow, showing off their knowledge the interns manage to make mistakes and get angry faces in her face.
She hates confrontation and more so when there is an argument. Her battery drained pretty quick in the first twelve hours with these three people.
For her hour break, she decided to sleep in the hospital designated rooms. Before she even hit the bed, she was asleep.
He hates training people. Then he found out that he hates it more when he couldn't find his wife in his hospital. He had to go for about 12+ hours without looking at her because he was training two new women for the hospital. It was painful. They chatter and ask questions even if they are personal.
He sighs.
He asked the nurse at the station because all the previous nurses left for the day. He found out finally that his wife was taking a nap in one of the rooms assigned for residents. He would have given her any other room if he knew she was tired.
The door was open so he stepped in and his eyes narrowed at a figure standing there. He knows it was Steven since he and his wife had the introduction together.
What didn't make sense was why Steven was looking at his wife.
"Why are you looking at my wife, Steven?"