"Chup karja.. Subha se mera sar kha rahi hai!" Shehnaaz almost shouted when her roommate ate her mind, teasing non stop about how Sidharth brought them breakfast.

"Fine! Nahi bolungi kuch! Tu reh andhi!" Arohi replied.

"Kya? Andhi kaise?" she asked.

"Tu uske sath jog pe jati hai.. You two hangout together.. Yaha terrace pe ghanto baate karte ho.. Tujhe itna time deta hai vo doctor.. Can't you see?" Arohi lists out things she has been noticing about the two.

"I can see that.. Toh?" She asks to see the girl roll her eyes, but she knows Arohi was implying that a man and a woman cannot be just friends. Why not? When the two just love each other's company, they hangout! Is there a license required for that ?

Two hours ago...

Sidharth entered her room with a small casserole in his hands, "Yeh.. Poha for you two.." he said.

"Haaye! Thank you.. Sach me mujhe bhook lag gayi thi.." she beams, taking it like a kid. That was indeed very sweet of him.

He nodded looking at her, "Nice room.." and mocked, looking around the sprawled clothes on a chair, a side table had empty beer bottles with a laptop and she was sitting on the bed under the blanket lazily.
She felt embarrassed, this was not how she usually kept her room, it was mostly tidy but weekends were exceptions.

"Vo..um.. Saturday-Sunday kapde press karti hu mai.. Kal vapas aane ke baad kuch kaam nahi kiya.. saaf bhi nahi kiya isliye aisa dikha raha hai.. Tu chal bahar mai aati hu.." she said, slowly putting her feet down.

"It's okay.. I was leaving anyway.." he stopped her.

"Oh-okay.. Acha sunn ek kaam tha.." she requested.

"Aj toh Sunday hai.. But Arohi ko office jana hota.. Uske paas khana banane ka time nahi hota.. Plus she'll be doing my dishes and clothes too.. Tu apni cook ko bhej dena.. I want to talk to her..'' she said, not wanting to overload her roommate.

"Ha.. Of course.. Unka number lele tu.. I'll also talk to her..'' he replied, sending the number on whatsapp.

"Toh ghar ja raha hai?" she asked about his obvious plan.

"Ha'' he smiled.

They were then distubed by Arohi, "Kya khayegi breakfast me?" she asked.

"Mat bana kuch.. Sidharth pohe laya hai.. Bas plate me nikal ke le aa.." Shehnaaz gave her the casserole.

"How caring!" she smiled, keeping her hand over her chest before making her way out. Embarrassing much?

He raised his brows at her, she shrugged, "Yeh pagal kuch bhi bolti hai.. Ignore kar!"

He didn't get it, neither asked. ''Acha teri pao me swelling kam huyi?" he enquired.

"Pata nahi.. Dekhne se pata nahi lag raha.." she said, revealing her swollen foot, still the same.

"Iske neeche na pillows rakh.. Vo de!" pointed at the extra pillow she had. She obliged, passing them and saw him elevating the level of her leg. "Aise..okay?" he explained.

"Han.. Ice pack lagaya tha maine raat ko.." she told him.

"Good!" he nodded.

"Chal bye.." he came forward and patted her head and dropped a kiss over her hair. Her brows collided when he did that, she was about to raise her hands for a chaste hug though. Never mind.

"Bye!" she replied to him, smiling stupidly, it felt good.

She dropped a sick leave mail application to Babylon Public School in the morning. Then the girls binged Amazon Prime for a while and hired the cook from Sidharth's place for a week, Arohi didn't leave her alone even for once in the entire day and kept her engaged in some or other conversation to make her feel good.

"Kal se tu kaise manage karegi Sana? Washroom?" Arohi asked.

"Karna padega.. Zyada problem nahi hogi I think.. Mai deewar ke support se washroom tak chali jaungi.." she answered, her foot hurt a lot but she had to paddle her own canoe.

"Khana bahut tasty banati hai Tai.. Tu kitna lucky hai teri cook itni achi hai!!" Shehnaaz was on a phone call with Sidharth at night.

"Kya banaya tha?" he asked.

"Aloo curry, bhindi fry, roti, daal aur chawal.." she counted.

"Well.. I get more lucky on weekends.. Mom chicken biryani banati hain.." he chuckled.

"Haaye.. Mazey hai tere.." she felt her mouth watering just at the mention of the dish.

"Ha.. You know, grilled chicken with basmati.. And extra lemon squeezed on top of it!" he added, just to tease.

"Uff! Bas kar.. Aur mat bol please.." she stopped him, already swallowing the water in her mouth, craving for chicken suddenly. That was one of the benefits of staying with mother, she takes care of you and your appetite in the best way possible.

Shehnaaz smiled recalling days with her mother, she was an amazing cook too and she ended up telling him one of their kitchen stories.

Days rolled on, people got back to work except for her. She stayed in her bed missing her work, her dance, her friends, jogging and walking on the terrace. She called Gaurav sir, her senior in the academy to tell him about her foot. He said that he got to know about her from others and they had begun preparing with another girl in her place. Her senior wished her a quick recovery before hanging up. It was her 3rd day at home, Arohi was out of the town because of work for the day so she was texting Sidharth, to pass her time. For the two days he wished her morning himself, was available to her along with his busy schedule. It was commendable. But not today.

'Finished Fleabag S2.. Nice.. Better than S1..' (11am)

'Family Man is too good yaar! Tune dekhi? I've seen it twice!' (3pm)

'Dunno Y Arohi is always into romcoms! Action is so much fun!' (3pm)

'Sidhaaaarth!' (3.10pm)

'Academy se call aaya.. Everybody's
sympathizing wid me.. I hate this feeling u kno.. This fomo..' (3.45pm)

'Why r so busy??!' (3.50pm)

'Shayad mai hi velli hu.. Lol' (4pm)

'BC! Tu abhi b busy hai?' (4.20pm)

'Busy hai ya koi hot patient mil gayi?(wink)' (4.25pm)

'Kabhi koi aisi patient mili kya..? LMAO..imagine u & a hot girl getting caught in d operation theatre!' (4.30pm)

'Aisa hua kabhi hospital me? With any other doc.. If not with u..??!' (4.31pm)

'I'm taking ur silence as a yes! Lol' (4.35pm)

'Kaha hai tu? Kis operation me itna time lagta hai!! Mai bore ho gayi shows dobara dekh ke!' (5pm)

'Abhi mai tere se kabhi baat nhi karungi! Just FO'(5.05pm)

Sidharth was in the hospital management office for a meeting between the administration, authorities and doctors. Some advanced equipment had been ordered by the Grafting unit, the plastic surgeries they did required more high tech machinery for better results. Along with that, they discussed the hospitality status and hygiene, if the patients were given the right attention in the prime hours. They discussed if they needed more nursing staff, beds and stuff. The meeting lasted longer than expected. He had just returned to his cabin, when a nurse peeped through the door,
"Doctor.. Aapko OT me bulaya hai.." and here we go again.

He nodded, got up and marched out. A minor surgery, a young boy met with an accident when his bike slipped on the road. It was raining so heavily that it took time to reach the
hospital leading to blood loss. Blood transfusion followed by a couple of stitches on his head were performed within an hour. He signed away some papers and took a break, slumped his back against the plush revolving chair and relaxed.

He pulled out his phone from the drawer, it had been almost 10 hours since he last checked it. There were 20 texts and 5 missed calls from Shehnaaz, she knew he wasn't a texting person so why was so interested in spamming his chatbox?

He scrolled through to find if there was anything important and called her back, "The number you have dialed is currently busy. Please never call her again!" she answered, as expected.

"Meeting me busy tha.." he said.

"Toh maine kuch kaha?" she asked, her tone laced with taunt.

"Nahi.. Maine khud bataya..Aa raha hu.." he hang up, to get going.

"Ae Sid ruk!" Akbar met him at the parking lot.

"Aj ghar jaldi?" he asks.

"Ha!" Sidharth replied.

"Acha, wait for me.. Sath me niklenge..Shehnaaz ko dekhna hai.." Akbar said.

"Dekhna hai?" his brows cocked up, he wanted to see her!

"I..I mean milna hai..wanted to check on her foot.. Koi problem?" Akbar asked, trying to read his expressions.

"Nahi.. Thik hai chal" he shrugged while getting inside his car. His friend pulled out his car after him and followed the path.

"Abe! Tum dono ke ghar bilkul amne-samne hai.." Akbar noticed, getting into the elevator with him, they've had conversation over texts once. Shehnaaz had stepped out of the washroom when she heard the doorbell,
"Coming!" she shouted, slowly making her way to the living room, still limping.

"Hii!" her face lit up seeing the two boys and stepped aside to let them in.

"How are you now?" Akbar entered, greeting her with a short hug.

"Better now.. Look pe mat jana.. I'm poorly dressed at home.." she said, all alone at home meant the most comfortable attire. There she was in a pair of pale green cotton T-shirt and shorts, on the other hand the two had directly returned from the hospital. Sidharth sat there getting ignored.

"Come on! I think you look beautiful as always.." Akbar complimented, typical of him. She slightly blushed, taking it from him and looking over to the other guy.

"Pani loge?" she asked.

"Tu layegi?" Sidharth mocked.

"Ha!" she retorted.

"Pani rehne do..tum baitho na.. We just came to check on your foot.." Akbar spoke when the two were shooting daggers at each other. She sat opposite to them on the couch and unwrapped her right foot. The swelling was almost gone and the fact that she could walk without wincing in pain meant she had recovered a lot in these 3 days.

"Dard hoga to batana.." Akbar asked her, crouching down and pressing the slightly swollen part with his finger tips.

"Thoda sa hai dard.." she said.

"Hm.. Bahut jaldi thik ho jayega.." he nodded.

"Chai ya coffee? I can walk around a lil bit now.. Itna toh bana sakti hu.." she said.

"Ha thodi si chai.." Akbar agreed while Sidharth was about to deny,

"Nahi.. We're leaving.." he eyed his friend. Is he mad at me? She thought because he had not spoken to her, she had seen the blue tick on her whatsapp but that was it, he had not replied either. Was she disturbing him too much?

"Please.." she requested. He didn't want to trouble her, good that she was recovering but it didn't mean she could start walking around. He could not deny her request though.

"Do minute ruko bas.." she gushed inside then.

"What was that?" Sidharth asked.

"What?" Akbar looked at him.

"She's limping! Aur tujhe chai peeni hai! Idiot!" he stressed at his words.

"Arey..usne itne pyar se offer kiya toh.." Akbar nervously smiled.

"Yeah.. Right.. Bhukkad sala.." he muttered. Shehnaaz came back with 3 brewing cups of tea and a small plate with biscuits. Sidharth got up, taking it from her hands and served themselves.

"So.. How's staying all day at home like?" Akbar jokes.

"Itna boring hai! Feel like I'm quarantined again!" she answered, he joined her laughing.

"Tai nahi aayi abhi tak?" Sidharth asked, glancing at his watch, it was 7.30 pm, the usual time the cook would arrive.

"Khana bana kar chali bhi gayi.. Mai dopahar ko hi zyada banane bolti hu.. Arohi bahar gayi hui hai toh zyada kaam bhi nahi hai.." she said, dipping a piece of biscuit in her cup.

''Kaha?" he asked, she didn't tell him that?

"Pune.. Kaam se.." she answered.

"So you have a roommate?" Akbar asked.

"Han.." she nodded.

"Is she cute?" he asks again, "I bet aapse zyada nahi ho sakti.." he added before she could reply.

She could help but chortle in amusement, "Aur aapko aisa kyu lagta hai?" she asked.

"Kyuki meri ankhon ko kuch ho gaya hai.. Apse hat hi nahi rahi hai.." he said but stopped abruptly when Sidharth coughed.

Shehnaaz looked at him, both couldn't hold it anymore and burst into howling fits of laughter, high-fiving each other. "Ahahahaha.." she laughed again holding her stomach.

"Amma.. Meri hasi.." she took deep breaths to calm down.

"Zyada ho gaya?" Akbar scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Bohot!" Sidharth answered.

"Haha.. I just wanted you to make you guys laugh.. I know it was silly.." Akbar chuckled.

"So silly!" Sidharth pulled his cheeks, a little too harsh, making him rub it himself. The boys exited her place after the tea and enough of the leg pulling. Back home, he took a shower and had dinner while going through his whatsapp again.

'Academy se call aaya.. Everybody's sympathizing wid me.. I hate this feeling u kno.. This fomo..'

He read it again, he got what she meant but what was fomo? He didn't wait for her call because she wasn't going to. He had seen her firm face a couple of hours ago, she had not even looked at him properly until he had said that they'd leave. Settling on his balcony comfortably, he dialed her number.

Shehnaaz was scrolling aimlessly, but when her phone chimed with Padosi's name, she took some good time before answering the call to make him wait, "Ha.." her tone was clipped.

"Phone uthane me itna time kyu laga?" he asked politely.

"Washroom me thi.." she answered.

"Itni der?" he repeated, biting his tongue sideways, imagining her red angry bird face already.

"Potty kar rahi thi.. Tujhse matlab?" she snapped.

He could not help laughing now, "Kya hua be? Tera mood kyu sada hua hai!" he asked.

"Teri wajah se! Poora din ignore karne ke baad bolta hai 'mood kyu sada hua hai'... Tune kharab kiya mera mood!" she blamed him.

"Maine bataya toh mai busy tha.. Meeting arrange ki thi management valo ne.. Uske baad OT me tha.. Mai kyu karunga tujhe ignore?" he
defends himself.

"Aur OT se yaad aaya.. Tu kya bakwas kar rahi thi.. Hot patient vali..?" he asked, diverting the topic. She laughed so loudly throwing her head back in the pillow.

"Haaye.. Maine toh aise hi pucha tha.. Bura mat manna!" she added, if it might have hurt him anyway.

"Ha.. Pata hai mujhe tu bakwas karti hai.." he replied and their conversation went on.

"Mai itni bore hoti hu.. I mean staying all day in bed sucks!" she let out a frustrated groan.

A thought came across his mind, ''Tujhe neend aa rahi hai?" he asked suddenly.

"Nahi na.. I might Doxepin today too.." she whined.

"No, don't! Bahar aaja 2 minute me.." he ordered, closing the door after him, picking up his car keys and walking out of his locked apartment.

"Kyu?" she asked, having no clue what he was planning and he hung up before she could ask. She peeped through the door of her balcony slowly, the weather was slightly cold and moist and the door of his balcony was closed so she called him again.

"Oye? Kaha hai tu?" she asked.

"Bahar.. Abe neeche dekh gadhi!" he said, she looked down at the compound to see him standing beside his black Honda City.

"Long drive pe chalte hai..Mai aa raha upar.. Ruk!" he said and her face had the widest grin at the moment. 

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