I hear a snort and then a laugh. Not just a chuckle. A full, melodic, belly-deep laugh that fills the sterile hospital air with something warmer.
I think I die a little inside. And also come alive.
I haven’t seen her laugh like that in months. Well,years—technically.
Fucking hell,she’s beautiful when she’s messing with me.
I groan playfully. “Stop it, Gree. You’re going to give my brother a heart attack.”
She sobers up but is still smirking teasingly at me.
“Well,” Ishika chirps but her voice is slightly shaky. “I wouldn’t put it past him taking a bullet for the woman heloves.”
Oh god.Here we go.
I groan again and drop my head back onto the pillow. Ishika is damning me without knowing. Vikram snorts. Greesha just rolls her eyes.
“You’retellingpeople this?” Greesha asks, but I can see a glint in her eyes. “Why are you still on that?”
“I’ve been on that for three years, baby,” I say with a tilt to my head, no shame whatsoever.
She narrows her eyes at me and for a moment I think that she’ll go back to being Aadya. But she just shakes her head in amusement.
“You...” Vicky finds his voice again and gestures to his cheek, indicating Greesha’s scar. “You okay?”
She quirks a brow at him. “This old thing? It was a... erm...fishing accident.”
Now,thatwas a deliberate fumble.
“What were you fishing for?” I smirk.
She deadpans. “A brown bullhead.”
My smirk deepens. “You’ve been planning to whip that out, haven’t you?”
She squints at me.
“Did you rehearse it in the mirror?” I stupidly add.
She rolls her eyes and turns to Vicky and Ishika who’ve been watching us in rapt fascination.
I hear Greesha mutter under her breath—something that sounds suspiciously like“Zero survival instincts.”
And yeah, fair. I won’t lie—I almost laughed and proved her right on the spot.
She crosses her arms, her voice shifting into that businesslike cadence that always makes people stand straighter.
“Have you told your parents about him?” she asks Vicky.
“Oh—uh—not yet. Should I?”
She shakes her head, and just like that, she’s back in command. “No. Keep it to yourself. And make sure they don’t drop by his apartment unannounced.”
Ishika nods. Vicky straightens up. His spine actually clicks. For a second, it looks like he might salute and bark out“Yes ma’am!”
I bite back a grin. I’d pay real money to see that happen.
We linger for a bit longer. Talking nonsense. Teasing me for myfrankly concerninglack of self-preservation. Greesha doesn’t join in anymore. She perches quietly in the corner, scrolling through her phone.
