52. CARE
AAROHI
I woke up slowly that morning, my mind still trapped somewhere between sleep and reality.
For a few seconds, I could not remember where I was.
The ceiling above me looked unfamiliar beneath the pale morning light, and the curtains near the balcony doors swayed softly with the cool desert breeze drifting through Rajasthan.
Then warmth beside me pulled me back completely. I turned my head slightly and found Veeransh already awake, lying quietly on his side with one arm folded beneath his head while watching me silently. Not intensely. Not coldly. Just watching in a way that made my chest feel strangely aware of him.
"You're awake," I murmured softly. "I've been awake," he replied calmly, though something thoughtful lingered behind his eyes this morning.
I pushed myself upright slowly, but the moment I moved, a strange heaviness passed through my body.
Not exactly pain. Not exhaustion either.
Just something off that I could not explain properly.
I ignored it immediately because after everything from the wedding, the travelling, and the emotional chaos of the past few days, it made sense to feel tired.
I convinced myself not to overthink it. Downstairs at breakfast, Maa was already seated while Suhana spoke nonstop about random wedding gossip, making the servants laugh quietly while placing dishes across the dining table one after another.
Normally I would have stood beside them helping automatically.
Today, I simply sat there silently trying not to focus on the discomfort building slowly inside my stomach.
The smell of food reached me, and unexpectedly nausea tightened inside me instead of hunger. I picked up a small piece of toast and broke it apart slowly between my fingers while pretending everything felt normal. Maa noticed immediately.
"You're not eating?" she asked gently. "I will," I answered quickly, forcing a faint smile onto my face even though the thought of food suddenly made me uneasy.
After barely two bites, I felt full enough to stop completely.
Almost sick. Veeransh noticed too because somehow he always noticed more than he showed openly.
"You barely ate," he said calmly while watching me. "I'm not hungry," I replied quietly without lifting my eyes from the plate. He studied me for one long second before looking away again, thankfully choosing not to push further.
By afternoon, the uneasiness worsened. I stood inside the kitchen trying to help despite Maa repeatedly telling me to rest. I poured water into a glass absentmindedly when suddenly the room tilted faintly around me.
At first the dizziness came softly, almost manageable, but then another stronger wave followed immediately.
I gripped the counter tightly and whispered under my breath that it was probably nothing serious.
Maybe low sugar. Maybe exhaustion. I lifted the glass again, but my fingers loosened unexpectedly and the glass slipped from my hand before crashing against the floor.
The sound echoed painfully loud inside my ears.
Before I could bend down to clean the broken pieces, another sharp wave of dizziness struck and suddenly strong hands grabbed my shoulders firmly.
"What happened?" His voice sounded close. Sharp. Controlled. "I'm fine," I replied instantly, far too quickly for it to sound believable. He turned me slightly toward him, his expression darkening the moment he saw my face properly.
"You dropped the glass." "My hand slipped." "You're pale." "I'm fine," I repeated stubbornly even though the room still spun faintly around me. He clearly did not believe me, but before he could stop me, I knelt carefully to pick up the broken pieces because I did not want attention.
I did not want concern. Mostly because I still did not understand what was happening to my own body. Evening arrived slowly afterward, and hoping fresh air would help, I stepped outside into the garden where the cool scent of jasmine and wet soil usually calmed me.
I stood beside the small fountain pressing my fingers lightly against my temple while trying to steady my breathing. My skin felt strangely warm. My heartbeat slightly too fast. Then suddenly another wave hit me, stronger this time.
My vision blurred around the edges and sweat formed across my forehead instantly despite the cool evening breeze.
I wiped it away shakily while trying to understand why my body suddenly felt so wrong.
Footsteps sounded behind me and I recognized him immediately before he even spoke.
"You've been avoiding me since morning."
"I wasn't," I replied quickly while attempting to walk past him. But another dizzy spell struck before I could take two steps and my knees weakened beneath me immediately. He caught my wrist instantly before I fell.
"Stop," he said firmly. "Tell me now." "I told you.
I'm fine." "Aarohi." The way he said my name made my heartbeat jump sharply because beneath the control in his voice there was warning now.
Real fear. I swallowed hard while the world spun around me again.
My voice came out smaller than I intended.
"I'm feeling dizzy." His grip tightened slightly around my wrist. "And?
" he demanded quietly. I tried to answer, but suddenly the ground disappeared beneath me completely.
My balance slipped and the last thing I felt before everything tilted sideways was his arm wrapping around me protectively.
When I opened my eyes again, I was inside our room and Veeransh was carrying me in his arms with his jaw clenched tightly enough to hurt.
He laid me carefully onto the bed, though fear made his movements rougher than he intended.
"I've been noticing since morning," he said tensely.
"Did you think I wouldn't see?" "I didn't want to.
.." I started weakly, but my sentence broke apart because suddenly burning heat spread through my entire body.
My skin felt like it was on fire. Sweat gathered instantly across my forehead while shivers ran through me at the same time. "I don't feel right," I whispered, panic finally rising properly inside me. The moment his hand touched my forehead, his expression changed immediately.
"You're burning." I could barely focus on his face now because everything around me felt heavy and distant. Tears filled my eyes uncontrollably while fear tightened inside my chest. "Something's happening to me," I whispered brokenly.
He stood abruptly and shouted toward the door loudly enough for the entire haveli to hear him. "Suhana! Call the doctor right now!" Footsteps echoed through the corridor almost immediately while he turned back toward me without wasting another second.
I was trembling now, not from cold but from panic and fever. He lifted me carefully and supported me toward the bathroom before turning on the shower to cool water. Not freezing. Just enough to calm the heat burning beneath my skin.
"Aarohi, stay with me," he said firmly though panic hid beneath his control. He helped me sit beneath the water while it ran softly across my shoulders and hair. The coolness made me gasp sharply. "Shhh. It's okay. Breathe," he murmured quietly while kneeling in front of me.
Tears slipped down my face silently because I genuinely did not understand what was happening to me. My body felt completely out of control. "What's happening to me?" I whispered weakly. He pushed wet strands of hair away from my face carefully, one hand steady against my shoulder.
"I don't know," he admitted honestly and somehow that frightened me even more because Veeransh always seemed like a man who knew everything. His thumb brushed gently across my cheek, wiping away tears mixed with water.
"Nothing will happen to you," he said firmly.
"I'm here." Those words steadied me slightly even though the dizziness still lingered heavily inside my head.
After a minute he turned off the shower, wrapped a towel carefully around my shoulders, and carried me back to bed while his hands trembled faintly despite all his effort to stay calm.
"I told you I noticed," he muttered quietly while settling me against the pillows. "You hide everything." "I didn't want anyone worrying," I whispered weakly. "You think I wouldn't worry?" he asked sharply and that silenced me instantly because his voice carried too much truth inside it.
He sat beside me afterward with one hand against my forehead, checking my temperature repeatedly like he no longer trusted his own senses.
I saw it clearly now. Fear. Real fear inside his eyes.
Not anger. Not authority. Fear of losing control over something he could not command.
Suhana rushed into the room moments later announcing that the doctor was coming, but he barely looked away from me even for a second.
Eventually voices reached me before full clarity returned.
Movement. Murmurs. The smell of medicine lingering inside the room.
My eyelids felt heavy but the burning sensation had faded slightly.
When I finally opened my eyes properly, the doctor stood near the bed checking my pulse while Veeransh sat right beside me leaning forward with exhausted eyes fixed entirely on my face.
"You're awake," he said immediately, tension still clear in his voice.
I tried sitting up but he gently pressed my shoulder down.
"Don't." The doctor explained calmly that I had an allergic reaction that worsened because it was not treated immediately.
She pointed toward the faint red rashes across my skin while instructing me to rest, avoid heavy clothes, and wear only soft cotton while keeping my body cool.
The moment the doctor mentioned outside food, silence settled strangely across the room. Veeransh immediately stood up and declared firmly, "From now on, outside food is completely stopped." His tone sounded less like concern and more like law.
Maa frowned slightly and reminded him gently that allergies were not always caused by outside food alone, but he insisted stubbornly that he knew exactly what caused it. Then suddenly he mentioned that I had barely eaten at home but ate snacks in Mumbai during the wedding functions.
His controlled voice carried accusation beneath the fear. "I didn't eat anything wrong," I said softly. "It was just snacks with everyone else." "Everyone else got allergies too?" he shot back instantly and silence filled the room painfully afterward.
For a moment I felt smaller beneath his words, not because he sounded angry but because underneath the anger I could hear fear so clearly now. Maa intervened gently, telling him this was not the time to argue, but he remained tense insisting that no outside food would be allowed from now on.
Suhana cautiously tried calming him down too, but his authority returned sharply, filling the room with silence again.
Something inside me finally resisted. "I didn't hide anything," I said quietly but steadily.
"And I'm not a child." The room fell still.
He looked at me properly then and for one brief moment I saw guilt replace anger inside his expression.
He exhaled slowly and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
"I saw you struggling since morning," he said quieter now. "And you kept saying you were fine."
"I thought it was nothing." "And if I hadn't insisted?
" he asked softly. That question did not need an answer because both of us already understood it.
Maa touched his arm gently and pointed out what everyone in the room already knew.
He had been terrified. He did not deny it. Slowly the tension eased afterward.
Suhana sat beside me on the bed while joking weakly that I scared everyone badly.
I apologized automatically and Veeransh reacted immediately.
"Don't say sorry." His voice sounded sharp again but protective now instead of angry.
Eventually Maa and Suhana left quietly, giving us space while the room settled into silence again.
I felt emotionally exhausted more than physically weak at that point. Veeransh sat beside me staring down at the floor for a long moment before finally speaking quietly. "I panicked." I looked at him carefully. "I know." He swallowed once before continuing.
"I thought something serious was happening.
" His hand moved unconsciously toward mine but stopped halfway like he was unsure.
I shifted my fingers slightly and he took that as permission.
His hand wrapped around mine warmly. Steadily.
"I don't like losing control," he admitted quietly.
I smiled faintly despite everything. "I know.
" "But this wasn't about control," he said finally and I realized he was right. It had been fear all along.
The realization softened something inside me slowly. "I won't hide it next time," I promised gently. His eyes lifted toward mine instantly. "There won't be a next time." The certainty in his voice almost made me believe him completely.
When another faint itch spread along my arm, he noticed immediately and stood up to adjust the fan and open the curtains wider for cooler air. Then he returned quietly and moved the blanket away from my shoulders carefully.
"The doctor said only cotton clothes," he murmured calmly now.
His anger had faded completely, leaving only careful concern behind.
I watched him silently because for the first time, I understood something clearly.
Beneath the authority, the control, the harshness, there had been genuine fear. Fear for me.
Exhaustion slowly pulled at my eyes again. He adjusted the pillow behind my head gently before telling me softly to sleep. This time I did not resist. As my eyes closed slowly, I heard him drag a chair closer to the bed instead of leaving the room.
He stayed beside me. And somewhere between the fading sting of the allergy and the quiet sound of his breathing nearby, one truth settled quietly inside my chest. His anger had never really been about the food.
It had been about almost losing something he had only just realized he could not live without.