525 Just before the wedding - 1
"Are you hurt anywhere? Is your hand hurt?"
"No, I am not hurt. I am totally fine," replied Dr. Nelson, albeit his voice sounded a bit irked.
"Then... Then why..." said Akira and pointed her finger towards his waist and it was then that he realized that while taking bath the wound on his hand had opened again had stained the towel.
"Ermm... I am sorry... I will make sure your towel is washed up." replied Dr. Nelson as he looked around trying to see how much damage his hand had done to the towel.
"You really think that my concern now is the towel?" asked Akira and got up in the search for some first aid. Since this was Raymond's bedroom, she was pretty sure that would definitely find a first aid box in some drawer. So lifting her dress, she started straddling in the room in search of the kit.
"It's just a tear Akira. It will just go!" stressed Dr. Nelson, trying his level best to assure her and also to get rid of her. But she was not the one who would listen.
"Found it!" she said and turned towards him with a kit in her hand. She had already pulled the veil up above her head in the backyard but assuming that it might fall down, she removed it and kept on the bed before applying the first aid.
Seeing her removing the veil and walking with the first aid towards him, Dr. Nelson could sense her intentions and in no way, he was going to let her do that.
"Can you please keep the first aid on the bed and excuse me? I need to change quickly. There isn't much time left until sunset."
Somehow his words pinched her.
Till now, she was somehow composing herself, but he gave her the last push.
She dropped the kit on the bed and taking a deep breath she looked at him and asked,
"Do we have a problem Jaby?"
Taken aback by her sudden question, Dr. Nelson took stupefied for a moment. All that he could do was to look at her. The uneasiness was clearly reflected on her face. His silence was bothering her, eating her up in bits and pieces.
"Jaby?"
"Erm... What problem are you talking about Akira?" asked Dr. Nelson feigning ignorance.
"This... This is the problem, Can't you see, you have been avoiding me since..."
"It's all in your head," said Dr. Nelson, trying to act natural. He picked up the first aid box and took out three band aids to cover up the wound.
"Do you need a hand with that?" asked Akira.
"I have a degree to do this Akira!" said Dr. Nelson with a smile on his face as he deftly placed the band aid in place with his one hand.
After covering it up, he turned his hand towards Akira and said,
"All done. Happy now?"
Akira looked at his hand and then nodded.
And when he came out after a couple of minutes, he saw her standing close to the bathroom with the jacket in her hand. Her eyes were a bit moist, and he could say nothing even though he wanted to ask her what she was doing.
Without saying a word Dr. Nelson turned back and inserted in hands into the jacket arms and after he did so, Akira pushed the jacket up onto his shoulders.
He turned back towards her, but she stood there with her head hung low. She knew that he had turned and was facing her, so she said,
"I don't know what is going on inside your head Jaby, but I just want to tell you how I am feeling," she said and then dared to look up into his eyes and continued,
"I feel like I am losing my friend. I feel like I am losing my family. Before Raymond, there was one person upon whom I could rely on after losing my parents but I lost him long back, and then I met you. You came in like a miracle into our lives but right now I can feel a strange distance between us."
"It's all because I went to the seminar Akira," Dr. Nelson replied, wanting to calm her down. He didn't have the heart to see her cry and that too because of him. Her tears were too precious for him.
"Then why my messages were unread? Why were you hiding during the ceremony?" she asked. Her voice piercing through his heart for he didn't know that she knew that he had been hiding.
"I was... I was just..."
He had no words to explain his situation. How could he explain to her that he didn't want to be just friends with her?
Sensing his hesitation, Akira inched a bit close to him and said, "You have already done so much for me, for Raymond and I know that it would be really selfish of us to ask for anything more. But I would like you to do something for me."
"Anything for you Akira..." whispered Dr. Nelson.
"Then promise me that you will always be there next to me not because I need you, but because you need me too. Promise me that you wouldn't be that friend who would just call me once on Christmas or New year.
"Promise me that we would go back to the days when I could comfortably cry on your shoulders without worrying about the tear stain. Promise me that Jaby. Promise me that we will be good friends forever."
And tears stung his eyes for he had no idea how to explain that woman in front of him that he could never be just friends with her any more.
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