Her murmuring reached him again, the same word.
“…love…”
His jaw tightened. What exactly was she dreaming?
He brushed a stray lock of hair away from her forehead with surprising tenderness. Her skin was still burning hot.
Clenching his fists, Karan turned toward the door. Almost on cue, Maria entered the room.
“Check where the doctor has reached,” he said sharply.
Maria nodded at once and stepped out again, dialling Doctor Patel as she went.
Karan turned back to Mishti. His hand hovered over her for a moment before resting lightly against her forehead. He couldn’t wait for her to feel better.
****************
Late Afternoon
Mishti stirred on the bed. Her eyelids fluttered open with effort. She felt her body feeling unbearably heavy. A dull weakness settled in her limbs, and her throat felt dry, almost burning. For a moment, she lay there disoriented, trying to place herself, trying to remember why she felt like this.
When she turned her head slowly, the movement made her dizzy.
“How are you feeling now, Ma’am?” Maria smiled the moment she saw her awake.
Mishti frowned faintly. “What happened to me?”
“You had a fever since morning,” Maria explained softly. “The doctor came and checked you. She gave you medicines and something to help you sleep. You should start feeling better in a few hours.”
Mishti nodded weakly, still trying to process it. Maria helped her sit up, adjusting the pillows behind her back carefully until she was resting comfortably. She then busied herself around the bedside table, arranging her medicines.
“You have no idea how worried Karan Sir was seeing you like this.”
“Karan?” Mishti looked at her, stunned, her weakness momentarily forgotten.
Maria glanced at her and blushed, clearly aware of what she was revealing. “Sir did not leave your side even for a minute,” she said honestly. “Only just now he had to step away because of an important call. Otherwise, he was here the whole time. I have never seen Sir care for anyone like this… except Abhimanyu Sir, of course. But even that concern is different.”
Mishti listened in stunned silence.
“Karan did not go to the office today?” she asked quietly.
“No, Ma’am,” Maria replied. “He stayed back.”
Mishti did not know what to think anymore. Karan staying back for her didn’t make sense. Before she could gather her thoughts, Maria added. “You were murmuring something in your sleep.”
Mishti’s heart skipped. “What… what was I saying?”
“You were saying ‘love’. Again and again.”
Mishti froze. Her mind instantly went back to the previous night. To the questions she had been running from. To the realisation she had finally faced. Ever since she had accepted that she was probably in love with Karan, no matter how complicated and painful that truth was, her thoughts had refused to leave him. She had barely slept because of this tension and fear of being in love.
And that was a problem. Ever since childhood, whenever she was overstressed, her body reacted first. Fever had always been her weakness.
But this time, it was not just stress.
It was something else entirely.
A bitter, helpless smile touched her lips as the thought crossed her mind. This was not an ordinary fever. This was‘pyar ka bukhar’…Fever born of love.
