37. PANIC!

Nandini:- ( Breathing heavily ) Ra… RAIN!!! 

Manik got scared seeing her condition which is worsening with the passing second. He tries to go near her but she is running away from him which she would never do in her senses. His eyes almost came out of their sockets when she threw her dupatta, making her neck bare. 

Her bare neck was wet with water, is it not torture for him? For the first time in his life, he felt something coming into life in his lower body, seeing the view but this is not the time to ponder on it. He gulps hard and shakes his head to remove those UNHOLY thoughts. 

Manik:- ( While scolding himself ) Shy boy… Stop your corrupt thoughts. This is not the time to get seduced. 

He comes to his senses after calming his rising hormones and palms his face with the realization that he is calling himself “SHY BOY” as his Fireball does which clears one thing “HIS FIREBALL IS CORRUPTING HIS MIND, UNKNOWINGLY.” 

Otherside, Nandini is behaving abnormally. She is rubbing her hands, face, and neck everywhere to remove the rain traces. She wants to get rid of this thing as soon as possible. She hates getting wet in the rain and this fear is overpowering her senses. She gripped the corner of her upper kurta and tried to remove the piece from her body but before that Manik grabbed her hands worriedly.

Manik:- Fireball… What are you doing? 

Nandini:- I…I don’t… I hate getting wet in the rain… I… I want to get rid of these wet clothes… 

She stammered a lot but Manik understood her words clearly. He also notices how her voice shutters while saying this which is not normal for him. He never saw her like this and this behavior was so alarming for him. He cups her cheeks and rubs his thumb there to calm her while looking into her eyes with the same fear. He also noticed her tears which were mixing with the rain. He rubs her hand, kisses her head, and attempts every possible effort to calm her but right now he is feeling so strange. He is not used to this Fireball. Unknowingly, his eyes are also getting wet with tears seeing her condition. 

Nandini:- ( Sobs ) Please… please, remove it. I am not getting a good feeling about it… ( Shouts ) Remove it!…

Manik let out a loud sob because for the first time, he saw her begging and suddenly he hated her in this tone. He will never let her beg again in front of anyone, not even him. He gulps his tears and cups her cheeks again. 

Manik:- Ok… Ok… I will remove it but not here. We should go home first…

Nandini looks at him innocently and doesn’t know what happened to her; she runs towards the exit pushing Manik while murmuring.

Nandini:- Ho…Home… Bhai…

Manik stumbles but gathers himself and looks ahead to see Nandini running without seeing anything. Without a second thought he follows her and the next second his heart stops beating. 

Nandini is running down the stairs and because of the wet floor her leg slips and she lands on the floor. After that, there is no moment in her body.

Manik:- Nandini!…

His life comes into his mouth seeing the scene in front of him. His body froze and he felt like a corpse. He immediately descended the stairs and reached her, calling her name again and again. With shivering hands, he turned her face towards him and shivers ran down his spine seeing her bleeding forehead. He cries hard and pats her cheeks to wake her up.

Manik:- ( While crying hard ) Fireball… open your eyes. Fireball……. ( Angrily ) I said, open your eyes. I hate these types of pranks. Did… did you hear me? 

He pats her cheeks hard but there is not a single moment in her, making him numb. Seeing her in this condition, he lost his wisdom and anger overpowers him.

Manik:- It’s my turn to faint hearing your confession, not yours, did you hear? Did you hear me?

The crowd gathered near them and one of the sensible guys went away to call a cab or auto to take the girl to the hospital. The wound is not that serious but it is deep enough to make her unconscious. 

Manik:- ( In a panic ) I… I will not talk to you… not call you Fireball. Did you hear?… ( Pleading ) Get up, please. 

Stranger guy:- Bhaisahab, Cab aagayi hai… aap madam ko hospital le jaiye jaldi se jaldi. ( Sir, Cab is here… take madam to the hospital immediately. ) 

Manik looked at the guy with no expression and then looked back at the cab. He got what he has to do now. The guy comes ahead to help him and touches Nandini’s back neck to pick her up in his arms but Manik roars, angrily. 

Manik:- DON’T TOUCH HER!… SHE WILL GET HURT MORE. CAN’T YOU SEE SHE HAS A BRUISED ON FOREHEAD? I WILL PICK HER UP. 

Saying this he pushed the guy with full force and picked her Fireball in his arms, caging her in his embrace, possessively. The guy moves back understanding his situation and opens the car door for him to sit. In a second, the car is on the way to reach the hospital. But the situation is not right for Manik. He is rubbing her cold hands to warm her body. The good part is, her forehead is not bleeding anymore as the guy wrapped the clean scarf on her forehead to stop heavy blood loss. 

Within 15 minutes they are in the hospital and a stretcher boy runs to approach them seeing Nandini’s condition. Soon Nandini is under the surveillance of doctors and nurses who are doing her bandage while others are checking her. 

Manik is outside of the emergency ward and walking here and there in stress. The visuals of Nandini’s lifeless body are coming into his mind, making him feel dead. He can still feel their first kiss, their hug, Nandini’s confession and suddenly everything changed in a second. He is here crying for his Fireball to get fine. 

After the whole check-up, the senior doctor and the nurse came toward him, and seeing them Manik got some relief. 

Manik:- Doctor!… Is she fine? 

The Doctor:- Yes gentleman, she is stable now. 

Manik:- ( Stammers ) Woh… Forehead… Blood… Stairs… She…

The doctor pats his shoulder claiming him down and passes an assuring smile. 

The Doctor:- Calm down gentleman, YOUR GIRL IS FINE. Will you elaborate on how this happened? 

Manik:- Suddenly she starts behaving weirdly like… like…

He stops abruptly not getting the proper word to express her condition but the doctor understands and completes it for him. 

The Doctor:- Like she is having a PANIC ATTACK…

Manik:- ( Timidly ) Ya… ( After a pause ) Then, she slips from the stairs and… ( Breathing heavily ) and… her forehead got cut… a big cut… and blood… blood was everywhere…

The doctor acknowledged his condition and pats his shoulder again with an appreciating smile. 

The Doctor:- Trust us, gentlemen, she is safe. She got minor stitches on her forehead which will cure within 2 to 3 weeks if she takes proper care of herself. But if you take care of her then she will get fit within a week also.

Manik:- ( Instantly ) I WILL!!!

The Doctor:- ( With a broad smile seeing his love for the girl ) She will be up after an hour or so, till then you complete the emergency procedure and do bring her previous reports. 

Manik:- Previous reports? 

The Doctor:- Hmm, she had a panic attack, and seeing her I can tell this is not her first time. We will need her previous reports to treat her accordingly. I wrote some tests that I will need to examine her case. Take care of her, gentleman. 

Saying this he turns to go but Manik stops him. 

Manik:- Can I see her? 

The Doctor:- Yes, you can but try not to disturb her and the other patients. 

Understanding him, Manik nods and walks inside the emergency ward. He saw his Fireball lying on the hospital bed with that white bandage on her forehead. She looks so calm, composed, and deep in sleep but only he knows how she snatched his sleep in a mere second. He died every damn second seeing her lifeless in his arms. To be honest, he wished to be here at her place at this time because he can’t see her like that, and why not. HE LOVES HER… YES, HE DOES BUT HE IS INSECURE TO CONFESS. And this situation worsens his insecurities. He considers himself unlucky and this condition of Nandini proves it. Just now she confessed her love for him and now she is here in the hospital. This is what she got after loving him. 

He cups her cheeks and kisses over her bandage carefully so as not to disturb her. 

Manik:- Please forgive me, Fireball. All this happened because of me but I promise you that I will not let it repeat. I WILL NOT LET YOU PAY LIKE THIS FOR LOVING ME, I PROMISE. 

To be continued…