Veritas - AbhiRa FF

Chapter 7 - Stolen Moments

Abhimanyu looked at Akshu as she gulped and her cheeks turned an adorable shade of red. He wanted to remove his hand but her skin and the blush were addictive, he realised. Instead of listening to his brain, his fingers trailed upwards hidden behind her long hair, burning a path on her back in their wake. Her breath hitched and she looked up at him with guileless eyes, eyes that wandered to his lips, and Abhimanyu's resolve to not kiss her in the middle of the corridor broke. The hand made its way to her neck, holding her in place and his head lowered onto hers.

"Doctor Saahab, I have to mop this area now. Thoda side dijiye."

Both of them jumped as the voice of the janitor broke them out of their bubble of lust and longing.

Abhimanyu nodded guiltily at him and begrudgingly left Akshara's back; instead holding her hand and pulling her towards his cabin. Hospital, Abhi. What the hell are you doing almost kissing her in the middle of the corridor? Naksh would string you up by your balls if he found out that you were going around kissing his innocent niece in busy corridors. The thought was petrifying.

He closed the door behind them, locking it and pulling the drapes across the glass on it, before turning to her.

Akshara let him lead her, still a little lost in the feeling that had overtaken her when his fingers had touched her. When she had looked up and seen the naked want in his eyes. Like he wanted to gobble her up whole.

"What did you want to talk about?" His words jolted her out of her sinful thoughts and she looked confusedly at him before understanding his question.

Abhi hid a smile as he saw her sit precariously on the couch, as far away from him as possible and waited for her answer.

"How did you know about my parents?"

"Naksh Sir told me."

She looked resigned as she stared at the coffee table in front of them. Abhi waited for her to come back from her reverie and when she looked up at him, he was surprised to see a sheen of tears in her eyes.

Hurriedly moving towards her, Abhi pulled her into a hug. He let out a relieved sigh when he felt her hugging him back, her hands clutching his scrubs.

A few minutes later, Akshara began to pull away and Abhimanyu's grasp on her loosened; however he kept her in his embrace. He looked down at her face, but she refused to meet his eyes, instead focussing on the little pocket on his front.

Her shaky resolve to not give into his charms crumbled a bit more under his warm embrace and affectionate gaze, and for the first time a long while, Akshu gave up resistance. Her head found its place on his chest and she breathed in his scent.

"I don't know why it happened. I loved my father and Sirat Ma. But then....then someone from the family would comment on how much my parents loved each other, how their love story was supposed to be this eternal thing, and it would hurt me so much, Abhi. How? How could their love be eternal when he couldn't even resist falling in love again after a few months of her death? I...I don't understand this love, Abhi. And I hate myself for hating him. What kind of a daughter am I that I can't forgive him for moving on? I...I feel awful."

Abhi didn't deign her questions with a reply. What could he even say to that? He didn't know her parents and he couldn't really fault her for resenting them; especially not when she was in his arms crying. He simply held for several long minutes, running his hands gently on her head as she wept. When she wouldn't stop crying, Abhi picked up her hand with a tenderness that would have made any spectator weep, and placed on his chest, right over his heart.

And as stupid, as cliched, as seventh-grade-romance-novel as it sounded, the steady rhythm of his heart under her fingers calmed her down and slowly brought her crying to a halt. Her heart gained strength from his, she realised. As long as he was steady, as long as he was just there, she would be fine.