Chapter 50: This one is a keeper !!!
50 This one is a keeper !!!
"Do you need something? or you want someone?", Katherine asked Raymond in a candid tone.
"No",
His voice was filled with disappointment not to see Akira around. More than the deep gash on his arm he was worried about her wounds, her safety. From her absence, he assumed that she would have left for home. His heart was sad but he felt a bit comforted thinking that she would be safe at her place as the security guys would have already taken care of Anthony. So he closed his eyes again.
Katherine saw the disappointed reaction of her brother and immediately understood what was wrong. So she playfully came towards his other side where Akira was sitting previously. She took out the corner of the sheet which was still wet with Akira's tears and kept softly on Raymond's palm and said,
"Just in case you are thinking that someone is not worried about you and they have deserted you".
Raymond stared blankly at his sister unable to understand anything that she said. Even before he could ask her what she meant, the door of his room opened and a doctor with an attending nurse came inside. Behind them, he saw the figure of a girl with her brows knitted with worry.
Raymond understood what her sister meant. His heart was unsettled to find out that Akira had cried so much because of him. He understood the pain Akira was undergoing probably blaming herself for everything. But right now he didn't want to think about anything anymore. His heart was at absolute peace just by seeing her.
Seeing him conscious, she felt relieved. Tears of joy rushed in and she turned back to wipe them away. She didn't want anyone to know that Raymond had become her weakness.
Katherine was watching her intently and she realized that instant why her brother was so agitated not to find her in the room. She was a pure soul and her brother definitely doted on her. She was happy to know that finally, her brother had found happiness.
After checking Raymond's vitals, the doctor said,
"You are recovering pretty well Mr. Raymond. Your girlfriend was smart enough to tie up your wound else the damage caused due to excessive blood loss could have been severe."
"Girlfriend? Oh my God. Raymond will kill me now", Akira thought and started fiddling with her dress.
Then the doctor turned towards Akira and said,
"At least now can you get your wounds dressed?".
Then he looked back at Raymond and said, "She didn't let anyone dress her wounds while you were in OT and may I tell you she is quite a stubborn soul." Then he gave out a small laugh thinking that he would lighten everyone's mood with his jokes. But little did he know that his jokes were killing Akira up. She was mortified to death after hearing it all. To escape the situation and the glances everyone was throwing in her direction, she said,
"I will go and get my dressing done". Then she left the room as fast as she could.
A brief smile lurked on Raymond's lips but the moment he looked at the mischievous grin on her sister's face, he immediately restored himself back and said,
"Don't even think about it".
---
After getting her wounds addressed, Akira came back to Raymond's room. Even though she wanted to stay with him and see if he was doing ok, she knew that it would look too odd for an intern at Day1 to stay back when her sister was already there. So she picked up her bag and turned towards Raymond and asked,
"How are you feeling now?"
"I am Ok", said Raymond. He kept his replies brief so that his sister won't irritate him afterward.
"How is the pain?", she asked again.
"Not much", Raymond said.
"Ok then take care. Take two-three days leave if you want and take plenty of rest", Akira said and threw a cursory glance again at his face. She saw a tiny laugh blossoming on his face and then realized what she had said. He was her boss. If he wanted he can take N number of day offs. She was irked with her own stupidity.
She dug her embarrassed face low and said,
"Ok, I get it you are the boss. You don't need my permission to take leaves. I was just suggesting that you take rest. That's all. I will take my leave now. Bye".
But before she could leave, she stumbled against the stool and fell down. Since the zipper of her bag was open, everything got scattered in the room. Akira's plight was insurmountable at this point. She rushed to pick her stuff up from the floor. Katherine joined her and helped her out.
Akira hurriedly gathered the items strewn across the floor and stuffed them in her bag and ran out of the room as fast as possible. But before exiting the room she turned back just to see him once. She just wanted to have one look somehow, just to assure her heart but little did she know that Raymond was still looking at her. She was all flushed and left the room as soon as possible before doing any further damage to embarrass herself even more.
Seeing her brother's eyes still looking in the direction in which she left, Katherine asked with a grin,
"What happened? Is something hurting? Like your heart?"
Raymond threw an angry look towards her and said,
"Yes, but not my heart. My head hurts because of your nonsense."
"Oh, your head deserves to get hurt. You have a girlfriend now and your head didn't think that it was important enough to inform me about it? Wao, just wao", Katherine said and mocked Raymond.
"How to tell you about something which I myself found out just now", Raymond replied and then sighed.
Katherine laughed at her brother's response and said,
"I know."
"But let me tell you something. This one is a keeper. Don't mess it up."