SHRIHARI

`B +VE`

The stomach ache wasn't as painful as boredom was. Krissh was admitted in the hospital due to an infection in his stomach and there was no one around to cheer him up. He was living in a hostel away from his home and had not informed his family as he didn`t want them to worry about him.

Krissh was staring at the fan from his bed on that boring evening when a girl was carried and laid on a bed just next to him. An old lady was also with her. He could tell from her panicked expression that she was her mother.

He spent the next half an hour observing the doctors and nurses repeat the same preliminary examinations as they did to him the previous day.

"Radhika had fainted and was lying on the floor when I entered her room. I took her to the hospital immediately." Her mother was talking to someone on the phone. He knew her name but had not been able to get a look at her face yet. A deep sleep came over him because of the allopathic medicines he had been given.

When Krissh opened his eyes the next morning, the first thing he saw was Radhika's beautiful face. She was sleeping and her face was right in front of Krissh. He couldn't take his eyes of her. She had long black hair and a mole just below her lips. Beautiful. That was all Krissh could think about.

Krissh couldn`t help but stare at her face for the next ten minutes until a nurse shouted on him for leaning in too much and bending the tube attached to his wrists.

Radhika`s mother noticed that there was no one to take care of Krissh, so she offered him some of the food that she had prepared for herdaughter, after formal introductions. Though Krissh was talking to the mother he kept on looking at Radhika from the corner of his eye. Perhaps he had never seen a beautiful girl so long and so close to him.

"What are you suffering from? There is no one from your home?" Radhika asked Krissh when her mother was outside.

"Did you know that you are very beautiful" Krissh answered her with a smile before her mother could enter the room.

Radhika`s mother noticed a smile on her face and asked,"Has someone cracked a joke? Krissh, was it you?"

"No. No aunty. I was just telling her how I gobbled five Parathas that evening and thus came here." Krissh answered and he was about to laugh loudly but couldn`t due to his stomach ache.

Radhika stared at him cutely and pretended to sleep. Krissh kept on staring at her till late night.

Next morning a man came to see Radhika. He seemed to be very busy as he didn`t stay there even for five minutes and ran back away. Radhika kept on praying him to be with her but he didn`t give any attention to her.

Krissh understood that man would be her brother or some relative who didn`t think Radhika was a priority. She was feeling very low. Krissh consoled her somehow by saying some beautiful lines and praising her beauty.

Krissh had forgotten all about his sickness as he spent time with her. He was getting careless, even forgot to take his medicines in time. And as a result he was coughing up blood later that night. The doctor was called immediately.

A huge amount of blood loss made him very weak till morning. And doctor announced that he needed a blood transfusion to save his life. His blood group was B+.

Radhika`s mother told him that the man whocame to see Radhika yesterday had the same blood group.

"But why he will donate his blood for a stranger? " Krissh asked.

"Why not? After all, he is Radhika`s husband and you are not a stranger to us," Radhika`s mother answered.

"What! Radhika`s husband?" Krissh murmured and fainted.

The blood loss had not proved as dangerous to him as this news was. Radhika was a married woman.

Krissh opened his eyes the next morning and heard the doctor saying in front of him, "You are now out of danger. You can be discharged this evening."

"Thank you, doctor." Krissh replied.

"Don`t thank me. Thank Radhika who donated you her blood even in her sick condition when her husband refused to give you his blood." Krissh was shocked.

"What! You gave me your blood? Even though you are suffering yourself. What do I mean to you?" a surprised Krissh asked Radhika.

Radhika gave only a cute smile in answer.

Krissh asked her again, "He called him your husband and he doesn`t have even five minutes for you. He loves his blood more than your life. Are you happy with such a loser partner?"

Radhika didn`t reply and turned her face away.

It was afternoon. Krissh was having lunch with Radhika. Both of them were staring into each other`s eyes. Radhika`s blood was running in veins of Krissh now in the form of love. They wanted to talk and their eyes did all the talking.

Radhika was going to finish her lunch when her husband entered the room and started to shout "Look! I am dying and working hard to earn some money. And someone is enjoying her lunch with strangers. Why are you pretending of being ill? Why don`t you join some club or something if you have to enjoy with other males and have to make a fool out of me?"

Radhika didn`tanswer and fainted again after crying for a few minutes.

Krissh was discharged in the evening and was ready to leave. He was waiting for Radhika to wake up.

When Radhika woke up and didn`t find her husband, she gave a fake smile to Krissh.

"I have started liking you. Your killer smile drives me crazy. I wish to see this smile on your face forever. I wish to bring every happiness in our life. I am in love with you. Will you live your life and die with me?" Krissh asked Radhika with tears in his eyes.

"I am an Indian wife. We have to search for happiness in our husband`s happiness. We smile with our husband. We live and die with our husband and we only love our husband." 

Radhika answered Krissh with the same smile that had made Krissh fall in love with her and wished him goodbye tears fell down her cheeks.

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