Its 7:00hrs and she barges in his room as usual...
"Cadet singh reporting sir"her words like a damn alarm clock....
Nowadays  hovering around him uncertainly has become a sole purpose of her life.

He sighs..
And passes an angry glare...

Fixing his uniform...set to leave for introductory round of the appraisals...
Not caring to greet her .maintaining that cold poker face ..

"Sir wo"she interrupts as he aproaches the door...

"Kya hai cadet singh...kyun bar bar rok rahi ho"he is frustrated at her constant need to make him face her ....see in those big eyes full of remorse ....that makes him difficult to maintain a mask of coldness...

"Wo..
Aapka collar"she points out...

And comes closer to correct it in a daze...

He is startled at her sudden approach .and fixes it himself...before she could cross that safe distance that he is bound to maintain  with her to keep his heartbeats in check...

Still she comes closer like a moth that approaches the flame.....mesmerized ..and brushes off that little smudge from his sleeve making him widen his eyes..
"All the best ."she softly wishes him..and he nods...not letting his treacherous eyes get trapped in the web hers are spinning round him ...

He is utterly confused by her demeanour...her gaze. That longing in her eyes.....and his mind weaving forbidden stories getting completely ahead of itself....when she looks at him like that .....

*****

He is resting on his bed with head on the headboard......
While she quietly applies bandage on his wound. ..
Her eyes downcast...but he can notice a tear drop down .every now and then..and that sniff of hers.  Trying to supress a cry ..
Till yesterday it was her sole desire to kill him...and now she is getting emotional tending to a scrape on his leg ..
She is indeed most confusing women he has met....
He is trying to meet her gaze but she barely looks up ..

Another sniff...

"Ouch .."he groans as the antiseptic stings ..and she gets startled..
"I am extremely sorry sir ..i didn't mean to hurt you ."she is now in obvious unsupressed tears....while blowing his wound carefully ..

He can't help but keep his annoyance aside for a while...seeing her cry doesn't feel good. It never had...

"Cadet singh its okay...ab dard nahi ho raha..."he places a hand on hers ..and replies softly ...making her break in a puddle .....as this softness was what she had missed since so long...

He doesn't say anything ....just lets her weep and hiccup to her content.....as she needs to liberate what' she's  been hiding Inside .....
Idea that his pain is affecting her so much ..make him feel warm...
Just that grip over her hand tightens ...he wants to pull her close ....to rub her back.  Soothe her ...but he chooses not  to build sand castles which would wither anyway...only a matter of few waves to come....

****
Its third time she knocked that door in last hour...

To find her again..with those kitten like eyes on his doorstep.he almost regrets asking her...or more specifically yelling at her to knock before she comes in.....

"Ab kya he"he asks sternly..
"Aap ki medicines...Jo aap lena bhool gaye the ."she gives him the packet...

"Thanks i ll have them later"he tries to send her off...

"Sir wo...Dr shalini ne kaha tha ke i need to supervise you while you have them........last dose was given on 15:00hrs..aur next was to be given 6 hrs later as the time of action of the earleir dosage finishes in 5 .5hrs.....its exactly 21:00hrs now...you have them right infront of me else you might get a headache ..."she said in one go ..not letting herself stammer becuase of his cold gaze ..determined not to let him sneak his meds....

He shakes his head in disbelief at the amount of research she's done for the sake of convincing him....his heart flutters at her flamboyant ways of keeping closer to him....yet he has to be rude ...

"Fine get in ..."

He gulped those medicines snatching the packet from her...
"Happy now.."mockingly looking at her contently watching him..

"That milk ...u need to finish too"she points ..

He sighs and finishes it in one go...

"Tablets given .milk given ..your work here is done ...isn't it"

She nods  affirmtively but in a dismay .
"Leave then.."he orders ...while she is busy gawking at him....

"Hmm"she dreamily nods.....

"Cadet singh...dismiss.."he raises his voice irritated at her absence of mind ...she comes out of her trance .and softly replies "goodnight sir"

And leaves..

And he is left behind with that slight smile on his face .....despite of all his rudeness...his anger....she still follows him like a lost puppy .everywhere...making him jittery and elated ..and embarassed ..all at same time....

Dil e naadan tujhe hua Kya he
Aakhir is dard ki dawa kya he
Hum hai mushtakh(eager) aur wo bezaar(disinterested)
Ya ilahi ye majra kya he....