Chapter 4 Stay
The question hung quietly in the dim hospital room.
"Are you leaving?"
For a moment, Aarohi Mehra simply looked at him.
Not because the question was strange.
But because of the way he asked it.
Not commanding.
Not cold.
Not like the feared mafia lord everyone whispered about.
It sounded almost... careful.
Like he already expected the answer to hurt.
Rain tapped softly against the giant glass windows behind them.
The city lights blurred in the storm.
Aarohi noticed the tension in his shoulders again.
Waiting.
Prepared for abandonment before it even happened.
That told her more about him than any file ever could.
"I'll stay until you sleep," she answered quietly.
Something unreadable crossed Ekansh Rathore's face.
Relief.
Quick.
Almost invisible.
But there.
Aarohi stood and dimmed the brighter hospital lights, leaving only the warm corner lamp on.
Immediately his breathing eased slightly.
No harsh white lights.
Interesting.
Trauma-linked sensory trigger.
She mentally noted it.
When she turned back toward him, she caught him staring.
Not at her body.
Not lustfully.
Just... staring.
Intensely.
Like he was trying to understand something impossible.
"You analyze everyone this much?" he asked suddenly.
"Occupational hazard."
"And what's your diagnosis, doctor?"
Aarohi crossed her arms lightly.
"You want the honest answer?"
"Yes."
"You're exhausted."
His expression remained blank.
"You hide panic with aggression."
Silence.
"You don't trust easily."
Another silence.
"And you haven't slept peacefully in years."
That one hit.
She saw it instantly in his eyes.
A direct strike.
Ekansh looked away first.
His jaw tightened faintly.
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Look at me like you understand me."
The words were sharper this time.
Defensive.
Aarohi stayed calm.
"I understand trauma."
"You don't understand mine."
No.
Probably not fully.
But she understood enough to recognize pain when she saw it.
Before she could answer, the door opened carefully.
Vivaan Khanna entered carrying a laptop and phone.
The moment he saw Ekansh awake, relief flashed across his face.
"Boss."
Ekansh nodded once.
Vivaan's gaze shifted toward Aarohi briefly.
Still shocked.
Still unable to process the fact that this woman was alive after calming Ekansh during an episode.
"Our men secured the perimeter," Vivaan informed carefully.
"The attackers were from the Malhotra side."
Ekansh's expression turned lethal instantly.
The room temperature itself seemed to drop.
"Alive?"
"One survived."
A dangerous silence followed.
Even injured, even exhausted, Ekansh suddenly looked terrifying again.
Not broken.
Not vulnerable.
The devil returned in seconds.
"Bring him to the warehouse."
Aarohi's brows furrowed slightly.
Warehouse.
Not police.
Of course not.
Vivaan hesitated.
"Boss, maybe later. Your condition"
"Did I ask for your opinion?"
The softness disappeared completely.
Vivaan immediately lowered his gaze.
"Sorry."
Aarohi watched the interaction carefully.
Interesting.
Ekansh trusted him.
But still maintained dominance constantly.
Control mattered to him too much.
Probably because it had once been taken away.
Then Ekansh suddenly winced slightly.
Pain.
His stitches had strained.
Aarohi noticed immediately.
"So scary," she said dryly, "and still reopening stitches."
Vivaan nearly choked.
Did she just...
Ekansh slowly looked toward her.
Any normal person would've apologized immediately under that stare.
Aarohi didn't.
And somehow...
The corner of his mouth twitched again.
Tiny.
But real.
Vivaan looked genuinely horrified.
"Oh my God," he muttered.
"You smiled."
Ekansh's expression flattened instantly.
"I didn't."
"You literally did."
"Get out."
Vivaan grinned shamelessly.
"Twenty-three years. First time seeing this. Historic moment."
"Vivaan."
"Leaving now."
He walked toward the door quickly before death arrived.
But before exiting, he paused beside Aarohi quietly.
His expression turned serious.
"Doctor..."
She looked at him.
"When he gets nightmares," Vivaan said softly, "don't wake him suddenly."
Then he left.
The room became quiet again.
Aarohi looked toward Ekansh thoughtfully.
"You scream in your sleep?"
"No."
Lie.
A terrible one.
She decided not to push.
Instead she walked toward the couch nearby.
"You should rest."
"You're sleeping there?"
"Yes."
"No."
Aarohi blinked.
"No?"
"You said you'd stay."
"I am staying."
"Not across the room."
The blunt possessiveness in his tone nearly made her laugh.
Nearly.
"You realize this is inappropriate doctor-patient behavior?"
"I don't care."
Clearly.
Aarohi studied him carefully.
Most men like him weaponized charm.
Power.
Manipulation.
But Ekansh?
He barely even tried.
Everything about him was instinctive.
Raw.
Honest in the most dangerous way possible.
If he wanted someone near him, he simply said it.
Like a wolf deciding what belonged within reach.
"You're impossible," she murmured.
"And yet you're still here."
That answer lingered strangely between them.
Aarohi eventually dragged the chair beside his bed instead.
"Happy?"
"Yes."
Immediate.
Again, honest.
The silence afterward wasn't uncomfortable.
Just heavy.
Tired.
The storm outside slowly softened into light rain.
Minutes passed.
Then Aarohi noticed something unexpected.
Ekansh wasn't sleeping.
His eyes remained open.
Watching her quietly in the dim light.
"Why are you awake?" she asked softly.
A long pause followed.
Then finally-
"Because if I sleep,"
he said quietly, "you might disappear."