सजदे किये हैं लाखों, लाखों दुआएँ माँगी
पाया है मैंने फिर तुझे
चाहत की तेरी मैंने, हक में हवाएँ माँगी
पाया है मैंने फिर तुझे

Author's POV

How would the sun's rays disturb a soul who never caught a wink of sleep the whole night? For Shivangi, day and night seemed the same as she had chosen this darkness for herself. It's better than pushing the light out of his sparkling life. She thought, smiling sadly to herself as she demeaned herself a little more. The first thing she did after getting up was call Avika, a friend from the office whom she sent to check on him and tell her if he was fine. Yes, she wanted to leave him, but her heart would never be at peace until she knew he was perfectly fine. She'd find a way to seek his well-being from afar, never letting her cursed shadow touch him.

"Is he fine?" she typed into the accessible text-to-speech system nervously.

"Shiv.. Shivangi...He is fine," Avika said, making her frown. Something was wrong! She is hiding something. Shivangi concluded, listening to Avika's trembling voice.

"What are you trying to hide? Tell me, Avika. You are worrying me," Shivangi demanded.

"Shivangi, he is fine. He's just being a little too much. Seriously, it's nothing to worry about," she assured.

"Don't talk in circles. What do you mean by being too much?" How dare she say that?

"Fine! He refuses to have medicines until you spoon-feed him. He was attacked last night in the hospital. Someone injected a drug into his system that was pretty much harmful to him. He was saved in time, but he refuses to get treated properly until you come and feed him the medicines," she elaborated, making Shivangi fume. He had no right to play with his life this way. What sort of hospital management is it where a patient gets attacked and they do nothing about it? If my Rudra is injured, that does not mean no one will fight with them in his place. How dare they show such carelessness towards his safety? People have started to take my man for granted as danger murks around the walls of the premises of his presence, but his security turns invisible towards it. She kept going on and on as she got up throwing away the quilt from her body and storming towards the washroom to get ready to fight a battle with the inconsiderate hospital authorities. There was no way she was going in front of Rudra, but she was going to berate the nurses for succumbing to his zidd and not giving him medicines by hook or crook. She very well knew that if he wanted to be stubborn, then even the entire hospital crew wouldn't be able to make him chew a morsel without his will but when his health was concerned she was all ready to be a hungry lioness and pounce on the first prey she got.

Getting ready in one of her pastel-colored sarees, she entered the extravagant hospital building trying to keep her distracted mind at bay. Every instance, every little detail, and every flash of yesterday's happening came crashing back as she stepped inside. Her tears insisted on being unleashed, but she kept them tightly hooked in a corner of her mind where no tenderness could reach. Walking straight towards the CEO's cabin situated on the top floor she dashed into the cubicle as if she owned the world. Surprisingly none of the officials standing nearby stopped her. Huh! What can I expect from a hospital with this shitty level of security? She mocked them.

A man sat on the black leather chair with his back facing towards her. She banged her hands angrily on the table, scaring the hell out of the guards standing outside the room at a distance. It had taken a lot from her to not go straight towards the chair and pull the owner by the collar for being this careless about her man's life. What if something happened to him due to their negligence? She'd burn the entire hospital in the blink of an eye.

The man sitting in the chair simply sighed in response, not turning around. He spread his veiny arms on the armrests leisurely, as if she were entertaining him. Fuming, she crossed the distance and pulled the man up by his collar, only to find Rudra Pratap Suryavanshi looking down at her with a relaxed smirk. He raised a brow, looking at her hand which was holding his shirt, making her pull back immediately. She closed her raging red eyes and gulped her anger as she started to walk backward towards the door. He suddenly winced, trying to sit, making her rush to his aid. She made him sit properly on the chair while he could clearly sense her worry seeping through her expressions. Her gaze remained fixed on his chest, not meeting his eyes while he was intensely adoring her face. Her troubled stance made his insides clench, as he hated to see traces of despair roaming through her eyes.

As she was about to step away, he held her wrist and pulled her down, making her land on his lap. She immediately tried to get up, knowing her weight could hurt him. He was already injured for god's sake. He tightened his hold on her waist, making her finally look into his yearning eyes. As his one arm secured her in her place, he used his free hand to caress her cheeks. Her strong restraint came crashing down as his warm hands made her forget every memory of the pain she held inside. Basking in his tenderness seemed to be a very tempting idea as she looked into his eyes. The eyes that held the power to uproot her traumas to convert them into showers of happiness. He looked at her, satiating his yearning since last night as he finally felt like breathing again. Who said she can't speak? Her anger could even make the deaf hear her complaints. She was yet to see herself from his eyes as he found her every damn antic enchanting. If people couldn't hear her they were dumb, his velvet was perfect. 

"Velvet" As soon as the word escaped his throat she quickly got up remembering her reasons for staying away. Wiping the little tears that had graced her vision due to his overwhelming embrace, she started walking back towards the door, not wanting to see him anymore. Instead of stopping her, he relaxed and said, "You barged into the cabin of the CEO without an appointment, ma'am. What is the reason behind your anger, Mrs. Rudra Pratap Suryavanshi?"

Shivangi simply looked at him nonchalantly as she turned to leave once again. His next sentence made her steps halt as he asked, "You are angry for a man who has no relation with you? His life or death shouldn't concern you anymore"

Fuming at his audacity to even take the name of death from his mouth, she turned around and marched towards him once again. Pointing her index finger at him, she signed, "Don't you dare say that word again, Mr. Suryavanshi. You have no right to talk about leaving me"

"I don't even have the right to say about it, and you have the audacity to plan to go far away from me. Anyway, you are a person of your own. You can do as you please. However, don't come barging in like this again if someone kills me in my sleep" he said ignorantly as he pushed the wrong buttons time and again.

"RUDRA! Just fucking shut up! Don't forget these breaths are no longer yours. You have promised them to me," she yelled. He held her wrist as her index finger dug into his chest before saying, "Agar hamari har saans par aapka haq hai toh kyu jaa rahi hai hamare jeene ki vajah lekar aap. Kyu majboor kar rahi hai iss dhadkan ko jo aapke naam se dhadkti hai ki vo ruk jaaye? Aap seedhe seedhe jaan maang lijiye par yu khud se door karke saza-e-maut baar baar mat sunaiye"

(If my every breath belongs to you, then why are you leaving, carrying away the reason for my existence with you? Why are you compelling this heartbeat, which beats in your name, to stop? If you want my life directly, ask for it, but don't repeatedly impose the punishment of death by distancing yourself in this way)

This time her feet gave up as she fell to the floor like a broken mess making him sigh. Getting up with great difficulty he sat by her as she shed uncontrollable tears. He pulled her into his chest letting her weep her pain out. He closed his own eyes while caressing her hair hiding his tears as they both went through the torment of reliving the night again. She looked into his eyes and the vulnerability shining in them killed him more than the bullet that seeped through his skin last night. She signed, "I am not the right woman for you Rudra. This time you were just lucky, but next time I'd be the reason for your doom. Even if I beg for your life, nobody would understand because I am dumb. My disability would take your life, and I can't afford this loss, Rudra. I can spend my whole life pretending to be normal like the rest of the world, but I cannot let god snatch you from me permanently under this pretense. You deserve a complete woman who is at least capable of making people understand the meaning behind her tears. Don't waste your life on loving someone who isn't even worth it"

"I might be better off wasting my life loving you in miserable happiness than spending it on someone who is not you in undying pain. If you are not worthy of my love, I might not even be worthy of looking at you after what I have made you go through. Every time you save me, you lose something precious. If someone is the reason behind your doom, it's me. If someone doesn't deserve you at all, then it's me," he completed and looked down to see an extremely angry Shivangi looking at him. She slapped him hard on his cheek as she said, "How dare you say this? Whenever I save you I get a reason to stay alive. You don't get to demean my love this way"

"And you are allowed to insult my love by degrading yourself in your own eyes? Who the hell gave you the right to think worst about yourself knowing I have more right on every inch of you than you? Jab Mohabbat do tarfa thi toh aapne Rishta todne ke faisle akele kaise le liye? You wish to go right? Leave....Why stay with a man who doesn't know when he will recover anyway? You deserve a complete man," he said, making her head drop to his chest as she wailed. Now she knew how much it hurt when your soulmate talks about things you don't dare to think about. Things that hurt you more than them. Things that demean them, but you feel humiliated. Hiccupping, she looked at him with her innocent eyes full of tears as she said, "I thought someone else would keep you protected"

"Give me written on a stamped paper that she would be as crazy as you to kill for me and your every decision is justified," he said and she looked away, knowing he was right. Looking at him, she signed again, "What if I endanger your life due to my disability?"

"There's no guarantee of life velvet, but you are my guarantee of a loved lifetime," he responded, making her lean forward and take his lips in hers. He didn't speak much, but when he did, he knew how to soothe the derailed rhythms of her heart. Pulling her closer by her neck, he deepened the movement of their lips as they synced together like a melody sung by angels. He bit her lower lip punishing her for torturing her with her absence for hours as her little head dared to think about going away from him. Lost in a passion that was born to abolish pricks of pain from their life, they gave in to whatever their hearts demanded. Leaning back, he looked at him panting as he said, "This time punishment ended just by marking your lips next time you'd be having difficulty getting down from the bed."

She blushed, looking down, and promised herself to always stay by his side. He was right there was no guarantee that the other woman would always keep him above herself. Rudra held her chin, making her look into his eyes as he said, "Any woman can have a silver tongue but nobody can have a heart of gold like my Shivangi"

His words returned to her the belief she lost last night. He made her believe that she was someone beyond her inability to express emotions in verbal format. He loved her not for what she was but also for what she wasn't.

He pulled her in his arms as he leaned back to the wall, attaching her back to his chest as he played with her hair. Sensually moving his palm across her back, he asked, "What was your plan after going to Delhi, by the way?"

Intending to tease him, she bit her lip, signing, "To find a blind, deaf, or dumb man who loves me with whatever he has"

She suddenly hissed as he bit her neck and moaned as he roamed his tongue intimately over the area. His lips skimmed her bare back, making her shiver. He whispered against his neck with utmost possessiveness, "I am already all of those in your love, velvet. You better not look at any other man velvet because you hate the smell of blood" Her eyes widened as she heard his words. They slowly got up as she called the hospital staff to take her stubborn man back to his room. He only smiled in response as he kissed her forehead and said, "I am blessed with the strongest woman in the world who loves like no other. Stay the way you are velvet because I can't help falling in love with every bit and piece of you"

A tear slipped down her eyes as she finally smiled, unleashing a rainbow of happiness inside his heart. He loved the way she bloomed amidst frost like winter jasmine, unlike every other beauty of nature being overshadowed by gloominess. He loved the way she brightened his life with her love. Instead of answering, she wrote on his palm "I LOVE YOU" A fact he was already aware of. He didn't answer knowing she could read his silence.

Rudra smirked in his head as he knew the person who tried to harm his woman was now waiting eagerly for death to save herself from the kind of life Rudra was making her live. After all no one eyes my girl and lives. Not even my grandmother. He thought. His attention went back to her as he enjoyed every little chirpy expression of his velvet. She was the reason he smiled. Wordlessly, meaninglessly, and genuinely. Just like right now he was. 

She sat by his bedside and fed him warm soup and medicines, chiding him for being careless, as he smiled like a fool, enjoying her care. He smiled as he said, "I couldn't afford to hurt your Amaanat, my velvet. I already had my medicines and food on time. Avika did a poor job at acting, but it worked"

He winked at her, making her gape at him. She punched his stomach, making him laugh. He kept the soup bowl away as he pulled her closer to him. She landed on his muscular chest while he teased, "Want me to book your tickets for Delhi?"

Instead of being angry, she joined her forehead to his she answered, "Only if that's where we plan on going for our honeymoon"

They both smiled heartily as they finally found the worth of their existence in each other's eyes. Love does bloom inside silent hearts as well, curing bruises given by the world. Their families looked at them with warm smiles as they found them foolish enough to waste time in silent confessions while screaming to the world that they were meant to be whether hell broke loose or heaven started producing devils instead of angels. Shivangi was Rudra's only happiness and Rudra was her only cure. The cure to her urge to be loved the way she was because love is an invention of god that has only one purpose. To unconditionally embrace the one your heart beats for and pave the path for timeless happiness.

✨ Unko dekh kar toh beshkeemti heere bhi khaas se aam ho jaate hai

Ishq ke shararti vaade toh chup chap bhi shareaam ho jaate hai ✨

The End!

♤♤♤♤♤♤♤

Yes I am never thinking straight while writing them and now when I have written the last chapter I am sure I was thinking too straight to make sense *If I make sense at all hehe* Go ahead and tell me that this story has affected your thinking as well *sigh*

So here we go! I know you weren't expecting this from me but I don't really know what I did. I just hope I did justice with their tale *fingers crossed*

Did you enjoy the tale of Rudra and Shivangi?

Did I make you emotional once again?

Something that made you smile?

The best part of this update?

The best dialogue of this story?

The cutest part?

Was it worth the wait? 

Was Rudra's way of making her realize the truth right?

Ain't they crazy?

Did you fall in love with Rudra like me?

Anyone who wanted more of them?

They are actually meant to be. So with this their story ends here and the epilogue would be posted soon. 

A message conveyed by this tale or in general sense what do they make you see in through their world of love?

Something you wanna tell me about this couple?

So till now if you have to choose which couple is your favorite: Abhijay and Shivanshi OR RUDRA AND SHIVANGI *wink*

Thanks a ton for all the love you have showered upon Rudra and Shivangi. Your support means the world to me. The epilogue would be published sooner if you grace me with tons of inline comments and votes. I hope I didn't bore you with this chapter. Did I?

Love you guys with all my heart. What are you expecting in the epilogue?

Do connect me through Instagram to get spoilers and more interesting stuff. ID: ms._bhatia_

Rate the update for me please:

1. Worth it

2. Satisfied, elated and sighing happily after reading this story

3. Loved their kind of love'

4. All of these

Will be eagerly waiting for your response. For you the update ends here while mine starts the moment your comments start dropping in. For updates kindly give me heartwarming comments and the response would be automatic. You guys are what keeps me going. Your support is my biggest motivation. Have a blessed day ahead!

Random question: Whom do you love more: Rudra or shivangi?

OR

Shivangi's viewpoint was more valid or Rudra's viewpoint? Did they get what they deserved at the end?

With love 

Ms. Bhatia