I wake up and the first thing my eyes see is whiteness. My body extremely soar and warm and something wrapped around my waist. As drowsiness feigns, I realize I'm naked, covered in blanket head to toe, and Nischay's arm is wrapped around my waist.
I stared at the ceiling, and Nischay, and myself, and realized how damned we were last night.
Holy hell.
We were fucking and cuddling and sleeping all day while everyone was busy in the celebrations. God, we really didn't step out of our room for a freaking day.
What would mom be thinking?
What would Ahana be thinking?
What would everyone be thinking while we were not seen for a day? How am I going to answer them?
Oh god, I'm so fucked up. I'm so embarrassed I want to bury myself six feet under the earth.
"Mhmm." Nischay groans in sleep pulling me closer and nuzzles his face against mine. Our legs tangle together and his fingers brush against my bare stomach. The way he snores, and the way they're muffled against the pillows. He's so adorable I sometimes want to keep him in my pocket. But then I remember he's too big. Everything about him, is too big.
And oh, the red and blue marks over him. They start at his neck and continue till his chest, his abs and his back. It was me who painted him, wasn't it? Anyway, he looks good covered in love, red and purple. He looks mine.
"Yeah, yeah." Nischay is mumbling in sleep, smiling as if he's so relaxed. He's seeing a dream. God, Am I in his dream?
Slowly, his brows squint. Someone's annoying him in his dream. "Yes, yes, god, stop pulling my cheeks, Zoya. I love you too." He complains adorably, his arms around me as if I were his pillow. I couldn't help but laugh.
He loves me.
And he's not angry from me anymore.
I am so happy, so happy and I'm laughing. And suddenly, I remember something.
"The one who kisses the other first loses."
"Be ready to lose, wife."
Fuck. I lost the bet, didn't I?
Nischay will humiliate me and tease me and embarrass me so much once he wakes up. It's very better if I disappear before he's awake.
You need to run, Zoya.
I kiss him first. It was important before every other thing.
And then shove him away from me very slowly. I wrapped the sheet around me and sat straight on the bed to look around for a piece of cloth, and I see absolutely nothing but Nischay's kurta, the one he was wearing yesterday.
I reach my hand out and grab it from the floor and put it on me. It's so very big and large just like the human who it belongs to. I get up from the bed and tied my hair, only to be grabbed by a hand on my wrist. I turn around to witness Nischay grabbing me, but his eyes are still closed.
"You said you'll play with me and now you're leaving."
Oh god, fuck that little Zoya in his dream.
I sigh deeply and roll my eyes, "Asshole, we'll play another time." I pull my hand from his hold tenderly and escaped to the bathroom to get ready for work.
"Oh, did you sleep good yesterday, Bhabhi?" I hadn't stepped down the stairs entirely when Abhishek bombed me with a tease. He was joining the table for breakfast while everyone, I repeat everyone was present there.
"Yeah." I forced a smile, trying to hide the timidness on my face. "I guess—
"Behave, Abhishek." Ahana cuts me off, putting a toast in Abhi's plate. "You don't invade a couple's privacy." She glares at him, which seemed more a tease to me. She looks at me and tries to hide her smile. "You must be tired, Bhabhi. Have breakfast."
God, this husband-wife duo is so evil.
"Why would she be tired, Mumma?" Avi looks up from his tab only to ask this irrelevant question from his mother. "Shh." Ahana gestured him to be silent, but then Abhishek said, "You'd know once you grow up, bachha."
"Shut up you all." Maa interrupted, "I can't believe you're all so shameless. Leave my daughter alone to breathe."
Even maa was trying to control her smile.
"I am actually getting late." I run off to the door to escape, but Ahana mentions, "Breakfast?"
"I'm not hungry."
"And your steth?" I stop on my tracks. I forgot it in our bedroom.
"Avi, can you go to my room and bring it?" I plead the young boy.
"But chachi, I don't know what it looks like."
"Arey, it's that necklace you wear while playing doctor-doctor with your chachu."
"Achaa voh?" Avi smiles widely. "Voh toh main abhi leke aaya." He says and runs upstairs to my bedroom.
I really hope Nischay isn't awake yet, or I'm done.
I spread my arms wide, yawning as I rubbed my eyes and straightened my posture. Zoya is not here in our room. She's gone already.
She really left without giving me a morning kiss.
I snap my head from side to side and laid back against the headrest of the bed, groaning from the soreness. The start of a fresh morning has just begun when suddenly the door of my room open, my eyes squinting in surprise when Avi swings inside clutching upon the doorknob. His height didn't meet his expectations and he's made my door a swing.
"God, how many times do I've to tell you that is not a freaking swing, Avi. You'll pull off the handle one day."
He does nothing but laughs shamelessly. Abhishek has seriously taught no manners to his kid.
"What are you here for at this time?" I roll my eyes, sitting up straight. "Have your parents abandoned you again?"
"No." Avi says, wandering here and there in my room. "I'm doing what Chachi said to me."
"What? Did she tell you to go and be a pain in my ass?"
"Nahi, buddhu." He clicks his tongue, pausing on his steps. "But Chachu aap nangu pangu kyun ho?"
Oh, yes. I'm seriously naked from head to toe and this little troublemaker had to come here just now? Just now? For real?
"I was—
Abhishek's child was not only a troublemaker, but also a smart pain in the ass.
"Arey buddhu it was too hot yesterday, so I took off my clothes before sleeping."
"But you could've rather used the AC."
No one could win from this kid, I learned a lesson today.
"Shut up and tell me why you're here." I wrapped the bedsheet around me and grabbed my pants from the floor.
"Chachi asked for the necklace we use in the doctor game."
"Necklace?" I frowned, but then understood what this little shit was taking about. "Arey toh aise bol na pagle. Vahan drawer mein hoga dekh."
Avi looks as I told him and found Zoya's steth.
"Teri chachi yahin hai abhi?" I ask him as he started walking out, and he nods his head. "She said to not wake you, but you were already awake."
"Tell her to wait then." I told him, "And don't you dare tell anyone about this."
"About what?"
"That I was sleeping without clothes."
He nods his head slowly and wears the steth around his neck. "But you've to convince dad to give me a day off from school, deal?"
I sigh but nod my head. "Deal."
I hurriedly wear my shirt and things and made my way downstairs. Too bad, Zoya was gone already.
"Good morning." Ahana greets while I was busy watching at the door, hoping that perhaps she was still here and not gone yet. "Good morning." I hummed back in a bored way and ruffled my hair as I joined the table.
"Did mom and dad leave for Lonavala?" I ask Abhishek, to which he hums. "Someone else left too, if you notice."
"That mouth doesn't look good on you." I shoot him a stare as I grabbed an apple to munch on from the table. "When are they returning?"
"I don't know, a month maybe?"
I nod in understanding.
"Breakfast?" Ahana proposes, but I shake my head. "What's with you two, huh? Zoya wasn't hungry and you don't wanna eat too."
"Yeah, appetite you know. Not everyone's a starving bull like your husband."
"Bhai." Abhishek whines.
But I ignore him, "Avi is having a stomachache, he won't go to school today." I remembered when I saw the little kid gesturing a brow at me.
"Stomachache all of a sudden?" Ahana squints her brows, suspicion flickering in her eyes. She looks at Avi, glares at him, and I knew if I didn't shut him up, he'll spill the tea. "Don't be so harsh on your kid, Ahana. He's a child."
She smiles and crosses her arms at her chest. "Says the one who calls him a pain in the ass."
Abhishek starts coughing.
"Whatever." I roll my eyes and get up from my seat. "Avi, come on. I'll take you to the doctor. Your parents don't care about you."
"Okay, chachu!" The little kid brightens up and jumps off the chair in excitement and runs to me. He grabs my hand from his little hand, and smiles at me brightly. I released a sigh.
Kids were annoying. That absolutely doesn't mean I don't want a football team of them from my wife.
"Let's go." I grabbed the keys and smiled at Avi before turning my heels to walk toward the door. But a interruption halts me, "Nischay."
I turn around to notice Ahana suppressing her smile, surprise flickering in her eyes, "Your neck." She smiles, covers her mouth as she mumbled. "Oh my god, I didn't know Zoya was this saucy and romantic."
Surprise crawled through me as I touched my neck, and then remembered how it went last night. Faded images of Zoya kissing me wildly, and how she's painted all over my body with her colors. She was something else yesterday, absolutely insane and I was loving it.
God, I didn't even see the mirror before leaving the room.
"Don't worry, I'll cover it with makeup. Come here." Ahana suggests, but I wonder why would I like to hide these kisses when they're something to remember. It's a goddamn proof that Zoya wants me, loves me, and she knows that I'm hers exclusively.
"You don't have to." I tell Ahana, and she looks at me, amazed probably. "Why would I even want to hide them? I'd rather tattoo them up on my skin forever."
They look at each other, and then Ahana chuckles. "Better that way."
"No, are you for real?" Abhishek scoffs, "Everyone would mock you, man."
"As If I give a fuck." I shrug my shoulders, ignoring him completely and walked out with Avi.
"Where are we actually going, Chachu?" I looked at Avi through the rereview mirror. He was licking the ice-cream I bought him just two minutes ago.
A literal pain in the ass.
I shake my head looking at the road as I waited for the light to turn green. "I'm going to drop you at your best friend's house and then I'm going to see mine."
"Your best friend?"
"Yes."
"Ohhh, who's she?"
"Not your concern." I give him a stern stare, "You only shut your mouth and sit back silently until your destination comes."
"Hmm." Avi licks his ice-cream another time, swinging his legs back and forth. "Zoya Chachi wouldn't like if she got to know you're meeting some other woman in her absence."
I clutch upon the steering in annoyance and turned my head to shut him up. "When you're married, Avi. You'll realize how impossibly hard it is to look at another woman when you're blessed with a beautiful wife. The woman you're married to is everything you need in life."
"But Chachu," Avi pouts in worry. "My best friend says she'll kill me if I married another girl than her."
"Does she now?" I pretended.
"Yes."
"Haw, that's very concerning." I said, "Don't worry, I'm concerned you'll be in her place soon."
I dropped Avi at his best friend's house and reached Zoya's hospital: Zindagi.
Madam would be in her cabin I assumed, so I used the elevator right away. Unfortunately, I was stopped by one of the receptionists, or whatever the desk in the hospitals was called.
Jesus, now these guys will stop me from meeting my wife too.
"I'm terribly sorry but I need your info, sir." The lady says to me, very politely.
"Since when do hospitals start checking patients, huh?" I scoff, "And I'm not even a patient, don't you see these flowers in my hands? I'm here to meet my wife."
"Yes, sir. I see you're a visitor." the girl says, "But we have to check the visitors before allowing them in the hospital campus for safety purposes."
"Safety purposes in a hospital?" I said, "Since when? This isn't a bank—
"Please, sir. It'd be easier if you cooperate. There are other visitors too." I looked at the crowd of people behind me waiting. I sighed. "God, I'm your wise doctor's husband. Let me meet my wife please."
The girl's eyes went a little wide. "Oh, sir I'm sorry. Are you—
"Yes, I'm honorably Mr. Nischay Zoya Kapoor." I said, "Let me meet my wife please."
"I'm so genuinely sorry, sir. I'd missed her wedding, actually you know." She chuckles, "But she's in the OT right now. You might wait or—
I walk away with the flowers in my hand. Obviously, I could wait for my wife my whole life.
Only to run into another troublesome creature, Reya.
"Done flirting, Jiju?" She cocks a brow at me, her arms crossed at her chest.
"Did you see that as flirting?"
"Absolutely yes."
"Welcome then." I ignore her and walk past her.
"Where do you think you're going?" Reya stands before me like a wall, with her arms and legs spread wide. "You don't deserve my girl."
"Oh, are we playing that now?" I scoff, rolling my eyes in boredom. "I have to say I'm disappointed in Zoya. She's put so many useless and worthless people in her hospital. One is right here before me."
"Shut up." Reya says, and I sigh. "Look, little kid. If you got in a fight with your boyfriend, sort that out yourself. Because ain't no way I'm helping you out with that otter."
Her face drains and she contends her posture. "You're seriously no help." she sighed deeply.
"Don't care." I stay unbothered. "What's that security check about anyway."
"Oh that." Reya suddenly wears the somber look and presses her lips together looking down. "An intruder once broke in disguised as a surgeon and tried to doctorate a newborn. The mother was drugged so she couldn't sense he had locked the door from inside. But fortunately, a nurse witnessed before something could happen. Right after that incident, Zoya issued this new decorum in the hospital. Also, increased the security and cameras."
"When did this happen?" I ask immediately. How did I not know about this.
"Three four years ago. You were in Australia that time, and Zoya knew you'd leave everything and come here if she told you about this, so she didn't." Reya says, and then smiles. "Don't worry. The man's is in prison right now. And the mother and her baby are safe."
"That's a relief." I said, "But I'm still not fine with the fact that you guys kept this hidden from me till yet. Tell me where's her cabin. I wanna talk to my wife." I push past Reya and stroll my own way. I already knew where Zoya's cabin was, it just came out in flow.
"That's not a cabin, Nischay. It's an OPD!" Reya shouts behind me.
As if I didn't know. It meant the same thing either way.
I reached Zoya's cabin but there was a crowd of patients awaiting their appointments. There was no window through which I could see inside the room I remember she once told me it was soundproof and without any windows, which is very noticeable.
I should not invade a doctor's time with her patients, right?
But I'll die if I didn't meet her.
Anyway, I closed my eyes, heaved a sigh and opened them again. And reached my hand out to open the door of her—
"Excuse me, sir. You're?" a young lady says, grabbing my arm firm but polite.
Of course, now the nurse had to block me for good.
"I am?"
Absolutely, her suspicion was valid. Why would I need to enter a gynecologist's cabin?
Hell, I'm tired of justifying myself to people I'm no harm to them. How do they don't know their doctor's husband? My wife literally owns the hospital and not a single person knows who I am? Such a shame you are, Nischay.
I sighed, clenched my jaw and snapped my head to her. "You see this?" I point at my neck, and the girl's cheeks flushed as she looked at my skin covered in red and blue. "Your miss doctor isn't too innocent. Let me go for a second and give these flowers to my wife, please. Now, would you?"
The girl was frozen for seconds, then blinked in surprise. "Yes, absolutely, why not sir. Go ahead, she's yours."
She's mine. Yes. No doubt.
How polite. The nurse opened the door for me, so I could gesture her a thank you.
I step inside the OPD. And I die.
The view kills me.
Zoya is wearing scrubs.
She is talking to her patient, and she is looking so sexy while talking as her hair is falling upon her eyes, and the steth in her neck and her glasses and fucking everything about my wife is so goddamn perfect. I'm so proud of her.
"Nischay?" Zoya notices me, surprise and something resembling a smile crawling up her face. The attention was on me now.
"What are you doing here?" Zoya starts getting up from her seat, but I gestured her not to. "Don't leave your patient." I smile back at the lady sitting before Zoya, when she smiled at me. There was a girl with her too. "Is this your husband?" The lady asks Zoya while smiling.
"Yes." Either I was hallucinating or Zoya seemed way too proud to tell her that. "This is my husband."
I couldn't feel anything but happiness.
"I bought you flowers." I said placing the bouquet of Zoya's favorite yellow tulips on the glass table.
"Aw, how sweet." The lady softly touched the tulips, "Look Zoya it's exactly like the one he sent you that day." An emotional smile touched her lips, smudging the wrinkles around her eyes. "You've both come a long way." She says and looks at Zoya. "Remember what I told you?"
I stayed clueless while Zoya was able to understand everything without words. How come every person on this planet is known to her while I don't have an idea about anything?
"You both really suit each other." the lady compliments looking at us and then smiles. "I'll come two weeks later then." she gets up from her chair, and the little girl bids goodbye to Zoya.
It was now only me and her in the cabin.
"So are you gonna tell me who—
Words haven't spilled out properly when I turn around and Zoya is working on her desk again.
"I'm talking to you, madam." I said but she ignores. "Zoya?" I say again, but no answer. "Listen to me, baby." Complete silence.
"Are you sure you don't wanna hear me out?"
Ignore.
"Fine." I heaved a deep sigh and dropped to my knees before her only to mutter in her ear softly. "Avoid me one more time and I'll make you scream louder than ever right here." A shiver rolled through her as I feel her body setting ablaze, and my lips heal up into a low smirk. "And don't you dare forget your cabin is soundproof."
Zoya loses it.
She groans, drops the pen on the table and snaps her head to me, eyes stern. "How evil can you be, Nischay?"
I smile and plant a soft kiss to her jaw. "For you, no limits." I whisper against her lips, unashamedly.
"God, why are you kneeling down now? get up." She chuckles in an annoyed way and runs a hand through my hair. I ignore her words completely.
She gets engaged in her so-called doctor work again while I'm at the floor admiring how can someone humane be so perfect?
"Now why do you keep staring at me?" Zoya says, hiding her face with her hands.
"I don't know. You're too pretty to exist."
"God." She facepalms herself, shaking her head.
She's so shy. She's tired of me.
Zoya opens her eyes to look at me, kisses my forehead softly and cups my face, brushes her hand down my neck. Her face is so flushed she can't hide her smile. "You didn't even cover these, Nischay. You're embarrassing me. Are you flaunting this too?"
I nod my head like an obedient puppy.
Zoya squishes my cheeks together, "Tell me what do I do with you, Nischay?"
"Stay with me." I say softly. "Forever."
"I have patients to deal with, Nischay."
"I'm a patient too."
Zoya presses her lips together to suppress her laugh, "Are you now?" I nod my head. "What's your problem then? Where does it hurt?" She asks me, pulling out her stethoscope.
I take her hand and place it at my heart softly. "Here." I say looking into her eyes. "I'm suffering from the lack of Vitamin-Love."
"Really?" Zoya tries to stop smiling as I nod to her. "Well, I'm sorry but I'm not a cardio, Nischay."
"Bad." I shake my head, "That's so very bad." I dropped my head low till my head was touching hers and wrapped my arms around her pulling her close. "Well, for your information, wife, you have lost the bet. So that means—you're stuck with me forever."
"I know. I promise I'll pay my price once I come home." Zoya wraps her hands around my neck and leans in smiling a tight-lipped smile.
"You don't understand, baby. That's the price you've to pay." I tell her and tug the falling hair behind her ear, "You're stuck with me forever."
She smiles pressing her lips together emotionally and nods brushing her nose against mine. "I am, gladly and forever stuck with you. In every life."
"Good." I whisper. "Now, if you mind, I'm getting late. So give me my morning—
Zoya presses her lips upon mine and kisses me, cutting my useless words between. Her lips are soft, warm and delicate, almost silken against my own. I taste her lipstick, maybe smudged now, but its strawberries and cherries and every sweet smell we'd inhaled as kids while running through the fields hand in hand. This is so sweet, so warm, and so loving. I don't want it to ever end.
This is the happy ending I want.
But anyway, Zoya ends up breaking the kiss as she bites on my lip one last time. "Go now." She still can't stop smiling while looking at me. "And please cover them with makeup."
"No way. This is my property now. Has nothing to do with you." I stand up on my legs and tug my hands into my pockets, but couldn't stop staring at her now.
"What?" Zoya asks, suppressing her smile.
She was perhaps thinking of me as an Idiot, maybe I was one. I didn't know what was stopping me from leaving. Something still felt empty.
My gaze then slowly lingered into her eyes and I leaned to plant one last kiss to Zoya's forehead. "I love you."
This felt undone. Indeed.
I was just out of the OT and was removing my gloves when Reya slammed her hand on the desk. "Woah, calm down, baby. The patient's asleep." I tell her washing my hands in the basin, but she does nothing but pant heavily.
"You won't believe me." She says, breathing barely. "You won't believe whom I just saw."
"Let me guess. Um, Shahrukh Khan?" I laughed it off. "Grow up, Reya. You're having patients in a row."
"No, you don't understand, Zoya. Listen to me." She grabs my arm firmly and makes me look into her eyes. "Shefali is here."
"In the hospital?" I ask and she nods her head.
"Come on, Reya. She left for London three weeks ago. And even if she was in India, why would she be here?"
Reya shakes her head, wandering her eyes her and there. "I don't know, Zoya. But I'm not joking. I just saw her outside the—
"Hey, Zoya." I snap my head to see Shefali standing just at a distance of five steps away from us. "Long time no see."
Something shuddered into me just by hearing the rasp in her tone, but I let it fade.
"I actually wanted an ultrasound. Would you mind?" she asks me, and I wondered why would she want an ultrasound out of sudden.
"Don't worry, it's nothing. It's seriously just a medical issue. I could only trust you in this case the most so yeah. Would you, please?"
"Of course." I didn't hesitate. "It's my job."
"Zoya." Reya grabs my hand, gesturing me to take my words back. But instead, I muttered to her, "Relax, it's only an ultrasound."
I escort Shefali to the certain room and prepared the test while she wears the hospital gown and laid down on the table with her abdomen exposed.
"I really hope you haven't eaten anything in the last twelve hours, have you?" I ask her as I applied the gel to her skin.
"I've been on a fast for twenty-four hours, doctor. Now, show me it, please." She was so happy it made me wonder why.
I move the transducer over her belly but see nothing on the screen. "Nothing is—
"Don't stop." Shefali immediately interrupts. "Do it properly."
I nod, not quite getting her unusual fear and surprise.
After multiple attempts, a picture is seen on the screen and my hands suddenly turn stiff, as if they went numb. Ashes of past flashed before my eyes.
"Look, it's there." Shefali mumbles, her voice sounding so happy. "It's beautiful, isn't it, Zoya?" And I don't know when a tear has already rolled down my cheek. "It is."
I chuckle, moving the transducer more perfectly, the image turning vivid. "It looks just like his father. Doesn't it, Zoya?"
I tried to suppress my laugh. "It's still a fetus, Shefali. You can't even decipher the limbs yet."
She laughs. "That's another point."
I clean the gel off her skin when the procedure is done, and she changes back into her clothes. "I'll review the images and call you if I found any abnormalities."
"Thank you." She says,
"You welcome." I bit my lip, resisting the urge to ask her, and ultimately, I let it win. "If you don't mind asking, who's the father?"
Shefali stops as she was fixing her dress. "Trust me, Zoya." She looks at me and smiles faintly. "You don't want to know."
I stared at her cluelessly all the while trying to sort a meaning out of her words. But failed vulnerably. She wore her clothes, thanked me and left.
Why did I care so much though? she was going to be a mother after going through everything good and bad. Maybe she didn't want to disclose her relationship yet. Who was I to invade her privacy anyway? I'm just happy for her.
And Reya was being suspicious of nothing.