PART - 55
Akansha stood stunned, hearing Dev. What did he mean by Shaurya already knew?
"Dev... Are you sure?", Akansha asked him, and he nodded.
"He knew it from the day you guys met Aakriti.
I think he might have connected the dots.
Every year, he visits the victims' families and spends a whole day with them.
He might have realized Siya's birthday falls in the same week as those dreadful clashes that happened five years ago.
Shaurya also knew that Ashwini knew the truth for quite some time, but he was hiding it from him on my orders.
He sacked him", Dev said, and Akansha held her head.
If Shaurya already knew, why didn't he react?
Was he trying to avoid it? Numb himself, or was he trying to struggle with the anguish, pain, and regret alone?
Was he suffering too much? She knew Shaurya had a very bad habit of not letting things out.
Not for once did she see him expressing his pain, except for that one night when he confessed the whole truth to her, when he told about Aakriti being his sister by blood.
She very well knew the suffering she saw of his, that day was only a minute fraction of what he was going through.
She knew what he put her through was wrong, but she couldn't help but worry for him.
She loved that man, and she knew that the whole concept of 'love' is stupid.
She couldn't forgive him till now, but that didn't stop her from worrying about his well-being.
"We'll think about it later. For now, let's be normal. Shaurya clearly didn't want us to know that he knew, so let's pretend that way. We must bring his real emotions out, he might be suffering a lot from within", Akansha said, and Dev nodded.
"I thought so too. Told Ashwini not to let Shaurya know that we know. Anyways, now Shaurya won't contact him, and he is pretty upset with Ashwini, and I know he is upset with me as well", Dev said
"Didn't seem so while he was supporting you, just sometime ago", Akansha said, and Dev sighed.
"Woman, don't be so jealous. That man loves you the most, followed by Siya and Aakriti. My number is not even in the top 3", Dev whined.
"Look in the mirror, you will understand who is jealous", Akansha said, "Get out, you will not get any ice cream", Akansha added. Dev frowned but realized the next minute that Shaurya is in here.
"I gave your ice cream to Rachna. Go and eat, idiot. Why are you troubling Akansha?", Shaurya asked his friend.
"Look! Don't you dare call me an idiot, especially in front of this woman", Dev said and stormed out.
Akansha and Shaurya shook their heads at their 'mature' friend, note the sarcasm.
Akansha handed Shaurya his cup and took hers. He thanked her gently and gestured for her to walk. He followed behind her.
Akansha carefully observed Shaurya, and so did Dev, that whole evening, but he didn't give away anything. He acted completely normal, or so they thought.
Dev, Shaurya, and Aakriti sat on the floor playing with the kids.
Siya and Ishaan were on Shaurya's team while Harsha and Ivaan were on Dev's.
Shaurya tried to get at least one elder kid on his side, exchanging with Ishan.
But, Dev wanted Siya in his team if he were to give Harsha or Ivaan, and he didn't want to send his daughter to the opposite team, and neither would his daughter go, so Shaurya compromised with it.
Aakriti was on Shaurya's side so Akash went to Dev's.
"Now, since the teams are decided, let's decide what game to play?", Dev said.
Akansha and Rachna laughed at them.
"Smart and sensible people decide the game first, and then talk about the teams, but again, why am I saying this to you?", Akansha said
"Your brother, husband, sister-in-law, daughter, nephew, and your favorite students (Ishan and Ivaan) are also involved in this. So when you say this, realize you are calling even them as stupid and senseless", Dev said
"Of course, I was talking about all of you, Dev. But it's not your fault. Hearing about being stupid and senseless, you might have thought only about you", Akansha teased.
"God! Woman, you are so frustrating", Dev chided.
The kids played among themselves, ignoring their argument. To end their argument, Aakriti and Akash devised some game ideas and decided on one.
After a while, the kids slept, and around midnight, Dev, Rachna, Rajnath, Aakriti, and the kids decided to leave.
"Aakriti, beta, why don't you stay for a few more days?
", Shaurya asked. Everyone was surprised to hear him, as he had never asked his sister to stay before, because he knew the complications that were involved in it.
Akansha and Dev, even Rajnath, knew Shaurya's wish to have his sister stay with him, but Rajnath thought he had made peace with the fact that it could never be possible, at least not until he is in public life.
"But Shaurya, you knew...", Rajnath started. People keep visiting his house, and now more than ever, as elections are just around the corner.
"Yah... I know. I think I liked it too much when my sister stayed with me this whole day, in here.
I just asked without thinking much... Okay, take care all of you, ping in the group once you reach", Shaurya said, showing as if he is all cool, but the longing he was trying hard to hide was clearly visible to his wife and best friend.
Even Aakriti understood her brother missed her, though she didn't know just how much and for how long he had been carrying those emotions.
"Shaurya... I miss you too... And I so want to live with you, and your family, especially my little niece, if the situations were right. You know, right? I love you more than Dev", Aakriti said, side hugging Shaurya.
"Yes, I know. Now take care of yourself. Do not go alone, take Arun uncle with you wherever you go, and yes keep me posted. You know I love to read about your day right?", Shaurya asked, and Aakriti nodded with a wide smile.
"This is why I love you so much. You are the best, Shaurya", Aakriti said, and Shaurya smiled, kissing her forehead, and Dev joined the hug, irritating his sister and best friend.
No matter how busy he is, he never fails to take daily updates in chat from his sister about her day.
She loved to rant about the happenings of the day to him, and he used to respond to all her texts at night.
Aakriti always loved how Shaurya paid interest in her life and understood her.
He may not come up with solutions all the time, but after talking to him, she felt those impulsive emotions like anger or stubbornness go away, and felt calmer to think in the right direction.
There wasn't a single day when she needed him and he wasn't there.
She was lucky that way, both her brothers loved her a lot, and that's one more reason why she felt guiltier for Shaurya's pain.
If she hadn't asked Shaurya to betray Akansha, she wouldn't have left him.
Though Shaurya never blamed her, he instead felt guilty about making her feel she was any less important than Akansha in his life, but she knew the truth, she knew her demand was wrong and immature.
After realizing everything, she never blamed Shaurya, she instead admitted her immaturity as she called it now, and started working on that, and with her brothers and father by her side, she grew so much.
Aakriti hugged Akansha, and they exchanged a few goodbye talks, promising to stay in touch.
Now that she had started spending time with her, Akansha realized her admiration, and it might have hurt her to hear those rude words from her.
But again, that doesn't mean she supports Aakriti's childish demand for revenge.
She blamed Shaurya for it. He wronged her, and she would direct her complaints against him.
Now that she is a parent herself, she would want everyone to treat her daughter gently; she couldn't imagine someone being rude to Siya, even though they were only talking in her best interests.
In the same way, she should have made Aakriti understand things calmly.
By seeing her personality from so near now, she is confident she would have listened to her and understood her.
Then, Dilip wouldn't have succeeded in manipulating Aakriti against her.
In all this, she didn't understand one thing: why didn't Shaurya or Dev go after Dilip, who wronged Aakriti, played with her feelings, and made her so vulnerable by provoking her?
She knew Shaurya and Dev as well, they wouldn't have left the person who had hurt their sister dearest, so why did they leave Dilip? Akansha wondered.
Rajnath and Aakriti didn't want to leave Siya; they wanted more time with her, but unfortunately couldn't stay back.
Akansha promised to bring her to them to stay for a few days during the holidays.
They left after bidding adieu. Dev looked at Akansha for a microsecond before leaving, and she understood he wanted her to take care of his friend.
It's not like he needed to tell her that, but she knew he was worried for Shaurya, even she is.
Shaurya's calmness is all too surprising, and being a psychologist and the person who knew Shaurya well, she knew he was suppressing all his emotions and is dealing with everything alone, which might be harmful to him in the long run.
She thought of waiting for a few days and seeing if he would let it out.
"We'll take your leave then", Vasant said to Shaurya, indicating they would be going to Akash's for the night.
"Please stay. You have your train in the morning, and Akash's residence is far from here, you'll be tired and won't have proper rest. So stay for the night, I'll have someone drop you at the railway station in the morning, after having breakfast", Shaurya requested his father-in-law politely.
Akash and Vasant looked at Akansha. Before Akansha could say anything, Shaurya pleaded again, and Vasant nodded,d considering his health. He didn't have the energy to handle the tiredness, and he didn't want to stress his children with his ailing health.
"Thank you", Shaurya told his father-in-law with a smile. "When is your train in the morning? I'll ask the team to be ready by then", he added
"That's okay, sir. I'll drop them... No worries", Akash said politely, and Shaurya didn't want to insist and make them uncomfortable. They are staying the night, and he is happy with that for now.
Since it's late, everyone has retired to their rooms. Shaurya carried Siya and put her to sleep.
Akansha went to change while Shaurya got his daughter changed into comfortable pajamas, and by then, Akansha returned from the closet, and he walked in.
They lay on either side of Siya, Akansha waited for him to speak, say anything about 'it', but he didn't.
"What do you think? How did it go?", Shaurya asked after a while. He wanted feedback from his wife, who is a wonderful critic. Akansha has an eye for detail, and he wanted to analyse things on what they could do better the next time.
"Everything went well, Shaurya. Siya was so happy, and I am happy to know that she got the love of her whole family this birthday. I always had plans to celebrate her 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th 25th birthdays grandly, and I'm glad we could do it", Akansha said
"Yeah... Everything went well, but there might be some shortcomings, I want to note them and make sure they are taken care of, from the coming year.", he said
"Hm... There was less time for the kids' events, since we had the family dinner and also the grand lunch for our colleagues in the afternoon.
Siya and the kids enjoyed the evening party the most, so maybe next time we should avoid the grand feast for our guests and just have the family lunch in the morning session, and start with the kids' party early in the evening and extend it till dinner.
There were so many games and events planned for the kids, but time was limited, which disappointed them a bit", Akansha said, and Shaurya nodded.
"Yeah! I thought about it too. But since it's the first birthday of Siya with me, I thought to invite them, anyway, we won't be having many people from next year. Just the family and Siya's friends, that's all", Shaurya said, looking at the ceiling, thinking something deeply.
"Why? What about your MLAs, party people, and all?", she asked
"Yeah, we won't be inviting them. Just the family and themed party with kids' events for Siya's friends in the evening", he said, and she frowned.
Something is wrong with him, she knew the reason, but didn't know what was running through his head.
Was he again pushing those emotions and pain to the side until it became necessary for him to deal with them?
'No Shaurya, please don't do it' she screamed in her head, as she knew how much it affects an individual if they do it, her daughter has this problem, and she knew she got it from her father.
"Hm... How did you feel? Celebrating your daughter's birthday for the first time?", Akansha asked him
"Hm... Great", he said, his eyes expressing so many emotions, there's happiness, bliss, at the same time, regret, guilt were evident.
"I need a more elaborate answer than your stupid one-word, Shaurya", Akansha replied, and he chuckled at her irritation.
"I felt as if I were the luckiest, for experiencing this bliss, for getting a chance despite my unforgivable sins.
Along with that bliss came the realization of what I missed for 4 years.
And the thought that I could never be able to experience my daughter's first 4 years is too much to digest. More than my feelings, our daughter's unfortunate fate pains me.
She deserved a father who would have taught her to walk on his palms, not let her mother walk on a path of thorns.
I can't digest the fact that Siya lived her 4 years of life without a father.
Her little heart might have hurt so much to see all her friends loved by their fathers, while she hadn't had one.
How am I ever going to digest all her sufferings?
", Shaurya asked, his voice croaking at the end.
"Yes, Siya deserved to be with her father right from the day she was born or even before that, but to tell you she wasn't in pain because of your absence until she turned 3.
She knew there's a person called 'Dad' existing in every family, but she wasn't bothered about the fact that she hadn't had one until she started going to school and saw her friends' fathers loving them.
She grew up with me, Richa, her parents, and Akash around her.
She is happy with what she has. When she started going to school, she saw her classmates' fathers coming to pick them up, showering them with kisses, gifts, and hugs, and she asked me when would you come for her.
I told her your boss wouldn't let you go to meet her, when he allows you would come to her.
I told her bits and pieces about you, and she is happy with that.
By the time she faced the ache of not having a father, you came in", she said, and he sighed but didn't say anything.
No matter what she said, she is sure he would decide to suffer with all this.
"Look Shaurya! You weren't with Siya in the early years of her life because you didn't know about her existence.
This is a fact. I didn't tell you about it, and it used to trouble me a lot.
But I reasoned with whatever I did. I was protecting my daughter, I didn't know why you did that, I believed in what I was shown, and I acted on my instincts.
I went away because I wanted to protect myself and my baby.
When I got to know how you were planning to safeguard me, for a second, I thought I should have told you about the pregnancy.
But I realized I would have done the same if given a chance again, because that was my situation and the thought process then.
I didn't believe you to protect my child and me.
So I threw all my guilt away, I stopped beating myself with the fact that I was the reason Siya didn't have you with her.
I reasoned my act and the same way you have your reasons for what you did.
You wanted to protect us. I don't say reason with everything you did, and stop regretting.
But you know which one to forget and which one to regret.
All I say is push your guilt away and embrace your daughter and the next 20 years with her", Akansha said.
Shaurya heard her carefully, but his head is stuck at '20 years' ?
"What do you mean by 20 years?", he asked with a frown.
"Well, that's a rough estimate; it may be less than that. Right now, you are the only man your daughter loves so much or looks up to, or maybe let's take care of her. But after some years, there will come a man who...", Akansha started but Shaurya cut her off.
"A man? Akansha, I know it's inevitable, but can we not talk about it now? I don't like any man in my daughter's life except for me... Please...", he said
"But...", she started...
"It's late, you need to leave for work early in the morning, let's sleep", he said, shutting his eyes.
Akansha bit her cheeks to stop her laughter.
He looked like he would kill anyone who tried to woo his daughter.
Huh! These thoughts would keep him away from his guilt at least for now, thought she.
Shaurya took his daughter's palm in his, started rubbing it gently.
"Dadda...", Siya muttered in sleep, putting her little leg on him. Her little gesture made him smile at her and kiss her forehead.
"Yes, it's Dadda mumma, and Siyabear only. We won't let anyone else come into our family", he said, and Akansha shook her head at his protectiveness. She would remind him of this statement when he will be doing his daughter's 'Kanyadaan', she smirked.
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"I'll be late today, don't wait for me, I mean get Siya to sleep early", Shaurya said while having breakfast, while Akansha is packing Siya's tiffin. "I don't know how you pack it, she didn't like it when I did the other day", he asked, making her chuckle.
"You might have mixed up the boxes. Siya doesn't like anything other than fruits in this box", Akansha said, showing a strawberry-shaped box.
"Oh yes! I was in a hurry that day, and I think I might have put snacks in it", Shaurya said, and she shook her head.
"If you are busy, you could have told me or taken help from Mrs. Sudha, stop being so obsessed with everything related to your daughter", Akansha chided.
"And by late, by when will you be back? Siya hardly goes to bed without seeing you these days.
Where are you going?", she asked him as she knew if he was working in the secretariat or his camp office, he would come back, meet his daughter for at least 5 minutes before going back if he was busy, knowing Siya wouldn't sleep without at least seeing him.
"Going somewhere far from the city, couldn't be back before early hours", he said softly, and got up.
"I packed Siya's bag", he added. "I'll leave now.
.. Jasmeet will take you and Siya to the school, and I already told him, after your last class today, he will pick you and Siya from there and drop you at the secretariat", Shaurya detailed.
"Okay, I'll tell him about my schedule, you don't have to take all the burden on your head, Shaurya.
Relax", Akansha said. She knew Shaurya hardly rested, along with his responsibilities and work, he also made sure to go through her schedule and instruct his staff to reach her workplace on time, as he knew she hated to be late.
He nodded and, after bidding goodbye to his daughter, left with Suraj and the team.
"Today, Shaurya is going to meet the Victims' families", Dev texted Akansha.
Reading it, she understood why he didn't tell her anything; he didn't want her to re-live those dreadful moments, hence didn't mention the riots.
Usually, even before she asked, he would brief her about his plans, though she never showed interest in his day-to-day life, he made sure she was aware of his plans so that she wouldn't worry if he was late or she had an idea what was getting him late.
She only cared about his whereabouts for Siya, or at least that's what she portrayed; rest all other times, she was nonchalant to his plans.
But, not for once did he get his ego in between; despite her careless attitude, he was all soft and polite to her.
He wasn't bearing it because he was wrong and regretting his deeds towards her, but was doing so because he believed only she had the right to treat him so.
That's what melted her the first time, and it's what is melting her now.
His love for her. But his betrayal still stings.
She now knew he had feelings for her right from the first time he saw her, that's way before she was rude to Aakriti.
The reason he stopped Dev from pursuing her was his feelings for her.
Yes, he wanted to teach her a lesson for hurting his sister, and she would have wanted the same if someone did that to her sister or brother.
Though she loved him, she would want to hurt him if he hurt his siblings or family.
She didn't question Shaurya's need to hurt her, she questioned his way.
He shouldn't have played with her emotions; that's what is stopping her from trusting him even now.
After getting to know about it, the way Shaurya rushed to her told about his true feelings for her, but how was he going to justify his betrayal?
When was he going to reveal what his initial intentions were?
After knowing the truth, she deserted him, then Dilip Gandhi played his dirty game once again, but this time Aakriti didn't come into his words, instead, she informed Shaurya, and he approached Akash to tell him how Dilip wasn't the right person for Suman, but she didn't hear him.
She instead blamed Aakriti that she wanted Dilip for her, so she wanted to break Suman's marriage.
She was afraid of her sister's pregnancy and her family reputation, which didn't let her think rationally.
She remembered how she told Shaurya that she would destroy his sister and wished she had died.
She didn't mean any of it; she was very upset and hurt and wanted to hurt him too by saying things she didn't mean.
But, then Akash told him how their mother was pressurizing her to marry a man 10 years older than her, and he decided to marry her.
He, driven by the mad fury of witnessing his sister on her deathbed, wanted to give her pain, hence acted as if their marriage was out of revenge, not love.
She wasn't ready to marry him, but he convinced her whole family and forced her to marry him.
Everything till then was thrust upon him.
He didn't have a choice but here, he had a choice.
He could have told her that the base of their marriage was their love, not revenge.
He could have told her that he was mad at her for ruining his sister, for hurting her so much that she chose to die.
He could have told her that he hated her at that point, and it would take some time, or a lot of time, maybe years to forgive her, but no, he chose to keep her in the dark.
What's supposed to be one of the best moments in any girl's life was turned into one of the worst. He might have thought of telling her everything the next day, but the cruelty of his parents and the situation stopped him from telling her.
After their marriage, she never found him comforting her through words, but his gestures always showed he cared.
She thought he was still mad about what happened to Aakriti, and his nonchalant behavior was because of the same.
She felt guilty looking at Aakriti's condition and wanted to apologize to Shaurya and Aakriti for judging her and saying all those things without knowing the actual truth, but Shaurya never wanted to hear from her.
She got to know the reason behind his behavior all that time, when he revealed to her everything that had happened then.
She now realized everything he did was to protect her.
For once, she thought he should have communicated in any way possible, but then realized it's good that he didn't. Acting wasn't her forte, and if she had gotten to know the truth then, it would have been very difficult for her to behave like she did when she started giving up on their marriage.
And knowing Shoba Shekhawat, she would have killed her much before she got to know she was pregnant.
That woman is too dangerous, and the kind of methods she used to try to kill her unborn child still caused shivers down her spine.
That woman is ruthless, and she understood Shaurya's fear.
In their years of despair, struggles, and pain, it's situations and others that are the reason more than both of them.
But when it came to her pain and how she dealt with her pregnancy alone, she couldn't forgive Shaurya that easily, maybe because she hated him for all her sufferings and cursed him during that time.
Maybe she could forgive him for everything that's been done to her, knowing he was also a victim like her.
She wouldn't be alive to give birth to their daughter if Shaurya hadn't saved her that day.
He got stabbed instead, he got hurt badly and suffered, bedridden in the hospital for months, but didn't let her know about it, instead, he bore her hatred.
Only a man with unconditional love and passion could do something like that.
But, can she forgive him for that one night where he had the chance to tell her why he married her, but didn't? Maybe telling her would have led to more problems, but still, she would have known that her marriage or love isn't a joke.
She wouldn't have spent these 5 years hating herself for trying to make her marriage work despite knowing he married her for revenge.
"Ma'am, we reached", Jasmeet's voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"Hm... Thank you, Jasmeet. We'll be done by 1:00 in the noon. We can go to the secretariat from here directly", Akansha said politely.
"Okay, ma'am", Jasmeet nodded, helping Siya sling the bag over her shoulder.
"Thank you Jasmeet uncle. Bye...", Siya said, waving at Jasmeet, her favorite one among her Dadda's men.
Well, she plays more with Suraj, but he is stricter; he would follow her mother's instructions, wouldn't let her have ice cream or play beyond time, but unlike Suraj, Jasmeet lets Siya bend the rules sometimes; he overlooks her mischiefs.
Dev looked upset with how Shaurya avoided media coverage.
What was he planning? With media covering this, Shaurya could have gained more popularity, it could have boosted his image even more, and would have helped his party in the elections so why did he refuse to have the reporters there?
It's good that the post became viral and the media took the news out of it.
Shaurya's personal team's message made the people love Shaurya more.
It all acted in Shaurya's favor by luck, but Shaurya didn't want it; it was clear.
Why? is the bigger question that's eating Dev's head.
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Shaurya summoned his PR team, and they all knew he called them to appreciate their work or so they thought.
"Who asked you to give my statement to the press?", Shaurya asked as soon as his PR head and Mr. Sharma, his PS, made their way in.
"Sir, we wanted to control the damage", the PR head replied while Mr. Sharma stood there, observing Shaurya.
"From next time, get my approval before releasing any of my statements", Shaurya said and dismissed him.
It was one of the statements he gave and asked his team to reveal when the time is right. He thought his genuine words and how he asked people to be the judge of his work showed confidence and genuineness. But when he gave that statement, he wanted to be re-elected, but now, did he want the same?
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Shaurya reached home in the wee hours and lay beside his daughter, after freshening up only to wake up to a severe headache he was experiencing these days, but kept ignoring, but he knew he couldn't ignore it anymore.
He decided to visit his doctor's home after a week to get his checkup done.
Earlier, he would have called him to his place, but that's not possible now.
He didn't want Akansha to know about his health. He didn't want to worry her.
Days passed with Shaurya getting busy with work.
He called Akash and talked about the secret project that they were dealing with, the project for which some people wanted to get Shaurya killed.
He wanted to loop in Dev for the same. It was like a dream project for Shaurya, and he didn't want it to be halted at any cost, and that's likely to happen if he loses power.
So, he wants to loop in Dev, but Akash has outright rejected that idea as of now due to several security concerns.
According to Akash, Dev wouldn't be so daring as to take that risk of continuing the project.
Since they have now shut the operations temporarily, the next government wouldn't know of it, and it's better to keep it that way.
Akash didn't understand why Shaurya thought of looping in Dev when all these days he kept his best friend away from it, fearing for his life.
Also, Shaurya's win is guaranteed, the why is he doubting himself, which he didn't till now?
"Shaurya... Dev wants to talk to you.", Akansha stepped inside their room. Shaurya was making Siya sleep.
"Tell him, I'll call him later", he said, patting Siya to sleep.
"He said you have been ignoring him for 5 days now, and he needed to talk to you urgently", Akansha said, and Shaurya sighed before taking her phone and walking away.
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Dev and Shaurya had a verbal argument, Dev questioned Shaurya's actions in the past few days, where he avoided the media like the plague; he wasn't even letting them cover the good things he was doing for the people.
Dev suspected something big was running through his head, but Shaurya refused to speak, which irritated Dev to the core.
"Is it related to what happened to Akansha that day? Shaurya! share it with me, I'm your best friend", Dev finally said it.
"Shaurya... What's going on in your head?", Dev asked softly, this time.
"Nothing Dev", Shaurya shut his friend off.
"Would you say the same thing if Akansha asks you?
", Dev said, and Shaurya's eyes widened.
His wife knew he knew? No! he dreaded facing that truth.
He couldn't meet her eyes from the day he found out about it.
How would he talk to Akansha about it? What if she tries to comfort him? He would feel even more terrible.
"I'll tal..talk to you later", Shaurya said and hung up.
He sat on his chair, unable to bear the pain.
He emptied the whole glass of water on his head thinking it would lessen the throbbing pain.
Akansha, who came to get her phone as she needed to set the alarm before going to sleep, got perturbed seeing his condition.
"What happened to you?", Akansha said, rushing to him.
"It's nothing, Dev irritated me and I just... Um... I'm fine", he told her calmly, though his head was throbbing in pain, he tried to be normal.
"Shaurya! You don't look fine to me, let's go, see a doctor", she urged, he tried to act normal, but he was nowhere near normal; she could sense it.
"I said I'M FINE, Akansha. I just had a burst out at Dev, give me some time, I'll be okay", he said, and she was taken aback by the tone he used.
Well, it's not harsh, but she could sense irritation, which she never did.
She understood his need for privacy if he used that tone on her, but it was the unbearable pain that made him use it.
"Okay, take care. Call me if anything", she said and left, taking her phone.
Shaurya sighed in anguish, holding his head to contain his throbbing pain.
"I'm sorry, Akansha... I really am", he said, not just for the tone he used now, but for everything she suffered because of him.
He called his doctor, who analysed his condition and asked him to take the pill he prescribed.
He first asked Shaurya to immediately visit him, but Shaurya told him he would do it the next day.
He downplayed the symptoms, and Dr. Rajeev Chauhan gave him the painkiller for now but advised him to get a scan immediately, to which Shaurya agreed.
After a couple of hours, the pain subsided a bit, and he walked back to his room, deciding to apologize to Akansha for the tone he used.