(A week later)
"Finally!" Madhu sighed as she stepped into their apartment.
"Back to the place where you belong" Rk smiled as he lead her to the couch.
"I was getting sick staying at hospital for one whole week." Madhu said dreading the time she spent in the hospital looking at the white walls. Of course her husband was by her side all the time but being a silent guy he didn't talk much to her. He had a guilty look on his face every time he saw his wife in pain. She tried her best to hide her pain for his sake not wanting to make him more guilty but at times she couldn't help but cry in pain when the doctors had to dress up her wound or when the physiotherapist massage her right hand.
"I'm sorry" Rk whispered taking her face in his hands & circling his thumbs gently over her cheeks. His guilty look was back on his face again. He felt so sorry for the pain his wife was going through because of him.
"Rishab, you don't have to feel guilty. I brought this to myself. I'm responsible for your suspension." Madhu held her head down in hurt.
"Why you didn't listen to me, Madhu?" Rk said putting his head in his hands and then he rubbed his face to hide his anger.
"Rk, I thought I will lose my job if I hadn't gone there to interview Dutta" Madhu said gulping down her saliva.
"Your f**king job is more precious than your f**king life?" Rk asked in disbelief. "And what the hell is there to interview that criminal? Is he a celebrity?"
"Rishab, please don't shout at me." She looked like she will burst out crying.
Rk sighed & stood up walking to the kitchen to get a bottle of water for himself.
"Get me some water too." Madhu shouted from the living hall. Few seconds later Rk walked back with a bottle of water & passed it to her.
"I will make dinner for us. You go take rest." He said in a much softer tone.
"I will help you." Madhu offered pushing her body up from the couch with the help of her left hand. She had a sling bandage on her right hand.
"You do all the chopping & I will cook." Madhu said quickly when he started to protest.
"What you wanna eat?" Rk asked.
"Fried rice." she asked wagging her brows looking so cute with an adorable smile. Rk strolled closer to her & took her face in his hand & kissed her forehead surprising her. Her stood blushing while he went to chop the vegetables.
"Isshh" Rk winced when he cut his finger with the knife accidentally while slicing carrot.
"Hey, what happened?" Madhu asked turning to his side. He kept his bloody finger under the running water washing the blood & then he put his finger in his mouth giving pressure on the place where he cut his hand.
"Why can't you be careful, Rishab? This is not the first time you are slitting your finger. Every time you chop veggies you will shed blood. If you find that task tricky why the hell you do that? ACP sir can throw and shoot but can't even cut vegetables without cutting his fingers. It is actually my fault, I shouldn't have allowed you to do chopping..."
"Shut up!!!!" Rk shouted at her making her jump. "Look at my finger. For this small cut you are ranting at me as if I had stabbed my chest but how should I react for your recklessness?" he asked.
She didn't have any answer so she went silent looking down at her feet. Rk shook his head & again started chopping.
"Be careful, okay?" she whispered. Rk glared at her but didn't utter a word.
"How you found out where was I?" Madhu asked as she fried the vegetables.
"When you called me to tell you were going to interview Dutta I heard a ship horn sound and I realized you were somewhere near the harbor so I raced to the spot while ordering my team to track your phone & they got me the exact spot that you were in a ship moving west. I took a motor boat & reached the ship you were in"
"Oh! You are a smarty pants" Madhu smirked at him. He just shook his head.
"My boss said I should cover the news of the underworld don Dutta. I was hesitant initially because I didn't know how you would take that..."
"Very displeased"
"I know but then I liked that challenge. You know Dutta wanted to do a press release. I was curious what it was about."
"You are crazy"
"I know. Then I went to the spot... but my instinct screamed that I should inform you."
"Wise decision"
"I wasn't scared that they will do something to me." Madhu said defensively.
"If you were scared you wouldn't have taken the bold move to interview him. To get into the lion's den. So yes, you are not scared. But what you are lacking is self preparation. You care the least about your personal safety, Madhu. Why can't you understand that you are so important to me?" he said with some unnamed emotion. What was it? Care? Concern? Love?
"Rishab, I..."
"Soy sauce."
"What?" Madhu asked in confusion.
"Pass me that soy sauce bottle." he asked concentrating at his cooking. How the hell could he mask his emotions in a fraction of seconds? She wondered. A moment back she could see the intensity of his love in his eyes but now he was acting nonchalant & cooking.
"Um.. I.. well, here." she passed the bottle to him.
"Go ahead."
"They were actually expecting me."
"I know why!"
"Why?"
"They want you to get me."
"Oh!"
"They wanna hurt you so that I will reach you."
"How do they know that I'm your wife?" she asked. He gave her a You-are-so-stupid look.
"You remember the very next day to our marriage I returned home with a cut on my arm? You too got panicked & started crying?" He asked.
"Yes" she nodded. That felt like so long but it was just two months from their marriage & still nothing happened between them. She sighed sadly.
"I told you that my team & I went to encounter Dutta right?"
She nodded again.
"That time we encountered few of his men... And I actually encountered his elder son. Dutta was like a wounded pig then. He wanted to take avenge for his son's death."
"So he got me knowing if he did something to me it would hurt you?" Madhu asked working out that it was all done to take revenge on Rk for killing Dutta's son.
"They wanted to kill me?" Madhu asked.
"No! Worse than that."
"What?"
"You are so dumb." Rk said exasperated.
"They wanted to sell you in the market. Dutta was also indulged in human trafficking." he got that information from his team. one of the guy they caught alive confessed their plan.
Madhu shivered & hugged Rk tightly. "I was never felt this glad for you shooting me. Thanks, Rishab." She pulled his head down & kissed his lips. He kissed her back briefly before pulling away. He was desperate to make love to her. They were married for nearly two months but they hadn't started their life yet. The need & desire to have her was aching deep down his body but he couldn't, for two reasons. He vowed he will not touch her until she asked him to. Yeah! she wounded his male ego. Second reason, she wasn't well. She will take her time to recover.
"Rishab, you killed Dutta? Didn't you?" She asked. The moment he shot her & she fell on the ground and before darkness claim her she heard another gun shot.
"Yes! He made me shoot my wife. My wife." He said gritting his teeth. She could feel his possessiveness for her with the way he said 'My wife' twice. His eyes were blazing with rage as if he wanted to drag back Dutta from hell & kill him brutally once again.
"I shot him & by the time his men tried to attack me my backup came to the spot & they did the rest of the business. I left them to take care & took you to the hospital." He said the whole.
"So Dutta is dead so are his men. Now, nothing to worry! Mumbai will be in peace, finally."
"Nothing is over." Rk said in a whisper but she heard him.
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing"
"Tell me?"
"Dutta's son is left out."
"You said you killed his son?"
"I said I killed Dutta's elder son. He has one more son. That's what the record says. But I don't know where the hell he is." Rk sighed.
"Why your folks suspended you when you did such a remarkable job? You killed the notorious criminal Dutta & his gang right?"
"I killed only Dutta. My team killed the rest."
"Okay! But then... only because of you they got the chance to kill them right?"
"Not because of me. Because of you. Thanks to you." Rk said sarcastically. Madhu rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I know I was reckless but that doesn't mean you can keep on taunting me." Madhu said in a pissed off tone.
"Fried rice is ready. Let's eat."
"You still haven't answered my question? Why they suspended you?"
"They said the mission wasn't planned. I should have got permission to the higher authorities before I underwent with the E-game! Then public would haven't got affected. Your press people blew up the news more as you are their member."
"E-game?" Madhu asked confused.
"Encounter game!"
"Oh! Is that a code word in your department?" Madhu asked curiously.
"Nope! Doing encounter is like a game to me... So I said E-game."
"Oh! Okay. Just like shooting balloons in the beach, right?"
"Definitely not! Encountering is not an easy business." He said offended when she compared his shooting skills with the shooting balloons game in the beach.
"Sorry."
"Now, come. We will eat." He set the table for them & served the fried rice on both their plates.
"I need some tomato ketchup" Madhu said when he was about to take his seat. He went back to the kitchen and took the ketchup bottle from the fridge & came back to the dining table & handed it to her.
Rk was busy eating his fried rice & when he looked up Madhu was sitting there staring at her food plate with so much interest.
"What? You didn't like it?" Rk asked.
"I couldn't hold the spoon properly with my left hand."
"Oh shit! I am so sorry." Rk set his spoon down on his plate & took her spoon to feed her.
"You are gonna feed me?" Madhu asked raising her eye brow in surprise.
He didn't answer her but just held her chin with his hand & took the spoon full of rice nearer to her mouth asking her to open it.
"I want you to mix ketchup in my rice." She instructed. Rk sighed & put the rice back on the plate & put some ketchup on the rice & mixed it with her spoon before feeding her again.
"You have put too much of ketchup. It's too sweety." Madhu said, making a face.
"Now what should I do?"
"Add some more fried rice & mix it."
Rk did as she told & this time she ate without any complaint.
"You too eat."
"You eat first. I will eat after feeding you."
"Fried rice won't taste good when it gets cold. While I chew you can take one spoon right?"
Rk was too tired to argue with her. For the past few days he hadn't got much sleep and rest. He was always by her side in the hospital looking after her. He slept with her in her private room in the hospital for a week now. Though the room was comfortable he didn't get proper sleep due to change in atmosphere and now he was beyond tired. He just wanted to crash on the bed and get some sleep but his wife was annoying him. He actually thought of ordering food from outside instead of cooking at home but then he changed his mind realizing Madhu must eat something hygienic & homemade. He was glad at least she went with a simple meal instead of ordering him to do something complicated and while take time.
He set her spoon down on her plate, then took his spoon of food from his plate & put it in his mouth.
"Why you won't eat my food? You could share with me right?" Madhu asked feeling hurt that her husband didn't eat from her spoon.
"I like plain fried rice, Madhu. I don't like to take tomato ketchup."
"Weird! How could someone not like tomato ketchup?" she asked wondering.
"I'm weird, okay?" He growled at her.
"Well, you could still use my spoon to eat food from your plate?"
Rk got so pissed off & threw his spoon down on the floor & took her spoon from her plate & ate the food with it.
"Now, happy?" Rk asked faking a smile.
"I guess, I am!" She beamed at him. Then he ate and also fed her.
"I am full, Rishab." Madhu stopped him from feeding her. "Thanks for helping me" She smiled at him.
"There is no need to thank me." He said & walked away talking their plates to the sink.
After cleaning up the dishes, Rk walked back to the living room to find Madhu watching TV.
"Your meds?" Rk asked. Madhu pointed to the medicine bag without taking her eyes off of the TV as she was watching her favorite serial.
After checking with her prescription, he took the medicines out & passed it to Madhu with a glass of water. Once she was done, he asked her to go to bed but she said she will go only after watching the serial. Rk nodded and sat beside her on the couch. He stared at the TV but his mind was elsewhere as he slowly massaged her right hand palm. Then he looked down at their hands to find her fingers gripping his fingers back.
"You could feel?" Rk asked her.
"Huh?" Madhu asked confused, then looked down at her right hand fingers. They were holding his fingers tightly. She released his fingers & did some finger exercise to increase the flexibility.
Then she slowly tried to lift her arm up but winced in pain.
"I couldn't lift my hand. Its hurting if I try hard."
"Then don't... once the nerve wound heals your numbness will reduce & you will be able to move your hand." Rk said in a reassuring tone. Madhu smiled at him & then leaning on his shoulder she continued watching TV.
He muttered a silent prayer for her speedy recovery. It was killing him to see her in pain and so dependent on him.
By the time, the serial got over her husband was in deep sleep resting his head on her head which was on his chest.
"Rishab!" Madhu shook him up with her left hand. Rk quickly sat up, coming wide awake.
"Come, we will go to bed & sleep." Madhu said & kissed his cheek. He nodded and stood up from the couch and then he helped her up too.
"Goodnight, Madhu" Rk said sleepily as he pulled her in his arms. She rested her head on his chest and whispered back "Goodnight, husband". He kissed her head making her smile and she wrapped her left hand tightly around his stomach & they went to deep slumber.
... To be continued!!!
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