Chapter 5

*Palak Pov*

"Who is she?" I frowned, hearing a voice and groaned, feeling the pain to even open my eyes.

Seems like I cried too much and now I have to suffer for that. I stilled feeling a hand on my shoulder patting in a gentle rhythm as if to settle me back to sleep.

"Shh! You are disturbing my girlfriend." I opened my mouth and closed it not making a sound, hearing those words in a familiar voice.

I am disturbing his girlfriend? I thought, feeling confused by his words and at the same time not understanding his rhythmic pat.

"Girlfriend? You already have a girlfriend then what about Doctor..." whatever that person wished to say got cut off, but his rude voice asking, "Is it any of your business?"

"It is my business, Mr. David. You are the patient, but your girlfriend is the one occupying the bed and the blanket which is a discomfort for you. I need to take care of my patients as it is my job." She replied steadily not getting affected by his voice and that definitely made me smile.

"All this food is also for her?" she asked and he replied in positive.

"I will get another blanket." After those words, I heard the door close and I immediately sat up staring straight at him.

I realized we both are lying on the bed, but facing each other with my legs near his head and vice-versa. I glanced at my watch to see it is already past ten.

"I am sorry about this. You should have woke me up." I mumbled arranging my coat and shifted the blanket covering me over his body.

"You were sleeping soundly and all this didn't disturb me. There was no point to wake you up at all." He shrugged staring at my face.

"Thank you!" saying that I shifted to get down, but he suddenly held my hand and pulled me over him.

The next thing I know is a blanket covering both of us and I am lying completely over him. I immediately struggled to get up, but he placed his arm around my waist holding me down.

"If you don't want the entire hospital to know that we both shared a single bed, you better not move." He warned in a low voice.

"Here! If you need anything else, call for us." She again left the room and I finally sighed in relief.

However, he didn't let me go even after she left. I tapped his chest, but there was no response from his side and then after a few seconds, he lifted the blanket over his head letting the light pass through the space.

"I can see a few people near the door. Do you want to let them know about your presence?" he asked, frowning still using low voice.

"No! But how long can I stay like this? Isn't your shoulder hurting?" I asked, staring at his shoulder and frowned when he chuckled hearing my words.

"You can just think about the present situation and not deal this as a doctor. And I think you should be worrying about something else." He whispered when I turned to stare at his face.

He placed a finger on my lips when I opened them to give my own explanation and like he said I can hear footsteps near his door. I groaned closing my eyes because of the way they are behaving.

It's not like we never had celebrities before and there was gossip in the same way, but this time it's just worse. I am a part of the reason and I wish these few days would just pass soon.

Isn't he embarrassed because of all this? Of course! Today's incident is for my sake, but whatever happened before is by his own plans.

I glanced up sighing only to stare straight at his face. At that moment I finally realized what he was saying earlier. I was lying like this completely over him and worried about his shoulder but didn't think that I am practically pressed to his body in all this.

"Finally feeling awkward?" he asked smirking.

"Because of the silence and also as I let go of all the thoughts." I replied honestly and he gave a surprised look before nodding.

"So, to have an effect on you, I need to make you think only about me and not let you think about anything else." He mumbled and I couldn't just give any response to all that.

He didn't continue when I didn't reply to his words and we stayed in silence for a few more minutes. And to my horror, I couldn't look away from his face.

Is he really this handsome? Handsome? Oh god! I panicked with the way my thoughts started and pushed the blanket away before sitting straight as his hold is not that strong when I took him by surprise with my movement.

"You can sit like that too. Just don't make any sound." He offered and I glanced at him in shock.

"Then why were you holding me down all this time?" I asked him, frowning and stood up from the bed while arranging my coat.

"I could say as a precaution, but the truth is I just wanted to hold you." I closed my eyes hearing his reply.

I can't say anything to him right now as it is my fault to let his words have an effect on me and have a good cry. To top of that just sleeping off on his bed without any care has been my biggest blunder. All I need to do is leave this room and get my stuff before going to home.

"Have your dinner." I opened my eyes, hearing his words and glanced at the table to see a lot of packages opened.

I am really hungry right now and I think I can even finish all that stuff. But... but I can't do any of that and have to leave.

"Thank you, Mr. David! I really need to go to my home." I politely replied and started walking towards the door.

"I can't allow you to leave at this hour alone. I even sent my manager to the hotel as you were staying here. Just have your dinner and stay for tonight." He advised and all the while I stared at the food even though I was walking towards the door.

"I will have the food." I finally mumbled, not feeling the energy to actually leave and walk all the way before cooking something and taking a bite of it.

"We will talk about the second matter after that." I ignored his words and just dived into the food not caring about his presence.

"Did you have your lunch?" he asked and I just shook my head.

"Don't you know that you should care for your health?" this time he is definitely scolding me.

"I had a sandwich in the morning and because of yesterday's absence, I had some extra work regarding the schedules." I explained and immediately paused realizing that I am doing something completely unnecessary right now.

It's okay! He sounds concerned right now and it is a good thing to explain such stuff when someone shows such concern.

"Thank you! I will just clean all this before leaving." I smiled at him before removing the packages and arranged them in the bin near to the door.

After washing my hands in the washroom, I walked out to see him standing near the door instead of lying on the bed. I stared at him in confusion and tentatively took steps towards the door.

"If you go out right now, then I will follow you and let everyone know that the girlfriend I was talking about being you." He warned frowning at me.

"What? Why are you using such tactic?" I asked him frowning.

"It is better than the way you want to go home alone at this time." He replied, not letting go of his serious expression.

Actually, even I, am worried right now to go alone, but I can't stay here. I can stay in the hospital after searching for any empty dorm room, but if someone catches me up, then I have to give lots of explanation and the way the gossip is centered around me right now would cause more trouble.

"Fine! I will take the couch." I mumbled stepping back and walked towards it while he followed behind me.

"And don't talk about how men should be taking the couch and all. You are still a patient and I am the doctor here." I added feeling his presence behind me.

"I am not going to say anything like that. I just want to inform you that there is extra blanket on the bed. Take it!" I smiled hearing his words and this time followed him to the bed before taking the one he is holding.

"Thank you!" I mumbled giving him a polite smile, but he frowned at me.

"Aren't you upset that I made you stay back like this by blackmailing?" he asked in a confused tone.

"But like you said, it was for my benefit. I should be thankful to you that you are allowing me to stay here." I replied before walking towards the couch and removed my coat feeling a little suffocating.

"I am really curious to know what will make you angry." He mumbled after we both lay down on our respective beds.

"I don't know you to show any anger towards you. You are still a stranger to me, Mr. David." I explained closing my eyes.

"Who were lucky enough to know your anger?" he continued and I sighed staring at him.

"No one I think. I don't dwell much into all those and I really surprised myself by my earlier behavior I displayed in the evening. I really hope I didn't inconvenience you much." He stared at me hearing my words and finally gave a nod.

"I don't think I am a stranger to you anymore, Palak. And you will be able to show all kinds of emotions near me, to which I am looking forward very eagerly." Saying that he closed his eyes while I continued to stare at him.

I shook my head clearing my thoughts which are kind of running in a different direction because of all the incidents that happened recently. Maybe I am feeling too sensitive and just getting affected by his actions because of that.

I woke up, rubbing my neck to see him still sleeping peacefully and it's nearly six which can be the perfect time for me to leave this room.

Without making a sound, I got up and arranged the bed sheet near his feet before taking my coat from the chair and walked out all the while trying to close the door slowly.

When I found no one near the room, I rushed from the place and took the stairs this time to reach the ground floor and walked into the equipment room.

Within a few minutes, I walked out of the hospital with my bag and rushed to my home to be able to take some rest for a few hours before returning back to work.

****

"Dr. Palak!" I frowned with the way Tina rushed to my side the moment I stepped into the room and found even the interns standing there.

Oh god! Did they find out about yesterday? I can't believe all the work I did to not let anyone know gone into waste.

"Er... what is it?" I asked hesitatingly while thinking about all the excuses I can make right now.

"It is a good thing that you didn't accept his attention, Dr. Palak. He is like the magazines made him and I was stupid to think they are just lies." I can hear the disappointment in her tone but I am quite confused right now.

"What happened?" I asked, clearing my throat.

"Mr. David Mattew already has a girlfriend. And I can't believe he tried to date you." She explained and I couldn't help but cough hearing her words.

"It's not true!" I whispered and realized what I am doing right now.

"You actually started to like him?" she asked in a shocked tone.

"No! And what are you guys doing? How can you gossip about a patient in this hospital?" I asked in a stern tone.

"It's because you are involved." She mumbled looking down.

"As you can see he already has a girlfriend and he was just making fun of me all this time. So, I want everyone to stop all this gossip right now." I warned everyone around me and they all nodded without a moment of hesitation.

After that everyone got involved in their own works and the day passed normally unlike the days before. And it was time for his check up with my senior which made others nervous rather than me.

They all are still thinking that he couldn't even come downstairs for his treatment and got it in his own room which makes his progress very bad.

"Dr. Rohit will understand whatever happens." Tina assured me when I walked out of the room to reach his cabin as Mr. David is already there.

"Okay!" I mumbled giving her a nod and stepped into the cabin.

"You are here! We were waiting for you." Senior smiled at me and I smiled back before glancing at David who is staring straight at me.

"I will make the report, Senior." I said, taking the notepad from him and stood back while the check up started first with his leg.

After some time, he took the report from my hands and checked the details before giving me a smile. I smiled back understanding him and walked to the table along with him.

"That's a very nice progress, Palak. Involve the exercises he needs to do by himself from tomorrow so that he will be able to do them without any trouble later." He suggested and I gave him a nod.

"Seems like you followed our instructions properly, Mr. David. You will be completely fine by the end of your treatment and there is no need for you to take ay extra treatment unless you wish for it." He informed the one who is actually looking at me instead of my senior.

"I need to go to check up another patient. I will take my leave then." Saying that my senior started gathering the file.

"Do you need any help to walk to your room, Mr. David?" I asked, walking towards him.

"You are still using those prefixes, Palak. After all, we both even shared a single..." I placed my hand over his mouth before he can utter another word.

"What?" Senior asked, looking at us.

"Uhmm... the thing is... I... I kind of gave him a piece of cake as a bargain if he listen to me and do all the exercises properly. But we ended up sharing it." I explained after stuttering for a few seconds.

"Okay! That's a good method." Saying that he finally left the cabin and I sighed in relief before taking my palm away from his mouth.

"What was that?" I asked him frowning.

"The truth!" he replied with a shrug.

"You went to all those measures to not let others know about my presence. Why are you doing this now?" I asked him in a confused tone.

"You left without letting me know and didn't come into the room, even when I called for you." He accused me and I took a step back hearing his words.

"You were sleeping at that time. And I didn't get any call." I mumbled frowning.

"I called for you like three times." He said, frowning and I sighed, not understanding what to do now.

"I will get you a piece of cake if you can keep your mouth close about this matter." I offered and while he scoffed getting down from the bed to stand before me.

"Why? You don't want your senior to get any wrong impression or what?" he asked raising his eyebrow.

"Of course! Why would I want him to know about all of that?" I asked him, frowning, and took a step back when he took one towards me.

"Do you have a crush on him or something?" I can't believe he is even asking all these personal questions, but because of yesterday's incident, I can't just shut his mouth with a few words and leave him.

"Dr. Palak! We are here to help the patient if he needs any help to reach his room." I turned to see one of our interns and a nurse standing near the door.

"I can walk by myself." Saying that he walked off while I gestured them to follow him.

"Why didn't you inform me that there were calls from a patient?" I asked the nurse near the phone and saw Tina walking towards us.

"I made sure the issue was nothing serious which needs your attention and kept it from you, Dr. Palak." She replied glancing at Tina.

"We all know he doesn't need any help from you except to disturb you, Dr. Palak. We will not let him make a fool of you." Tina assured me and I finally realized what is going on.

It's been a long time since I started working in this hospital and never tried to get close to any one of them but seems like they took me in completely.

All this time they were supporting him in his antics for my sake and now blocking him for the same reason. I smiled at their nervous looks and walked away towards the locker room feeling happy finally letting go of the news that got stuck in my head pulling me down.

I guess in this situation, one person will not be that satisfied for sure. I thought, chuckling, and walked out of the hospital with my duties finished for the day.