Second Chance

Chapter 6 His Past or His Confused Feelings

Dev carries unconscious Mahi to her room and asks Karim to call the physician and ask him to be here as soon as possible. As Dev waits for him to arrive, he sits next to Mahi on the bed. 

Mahi opens her eyes wide, followed by a strong gasp as if she woke up from a scary nightmare. Her hands tightly clenched in a fist. She sits up quickly, looking dazed, trying to gather herself while panting frantically. Dev calms her down by saying,' It's alright. It's okay. Hey! Hey, look here! It's me. Dev.'

She looks at Dev and around, realising she is in her room. In exhaustion, she leans her head down on Dev's shoulder. She loses her consciousness again in that relaxed manner on his shoulder. Dev slowly cradles her head in his hand and lays her down on the bed. Dev gets worried seeing Mahi in such a state. 

He couldn't help but remembers the incident that happened earlier back at the club. It raises questions about whether the sequence of events is somehow related. The Manager lady said 'something tragic', Dev thinks. 

Dev just sits there thoughtfully, looking at Mahi. He runs his hand through her hair. He caresses her face softly. His fingers move slowly from her forehead, through her temple and drawing softer strokes on her right cheek with his thumb. 

The physician arrives and puts her on an IV drip to treat her dehydration and supposed food poising. He assures Dev that she will be fine in a few hours. He leaves Dev with some specific instructions on what Mahi should be fed once she wakes up. 

For the next two days, Dev made sure that Mahi follows up on what the Doctor instructed. He made her work from home for those two days as he remained home to check on Mahi personally.

After a few days, Mahi and Dev are hosting dinner with Dev's friends. As both were welcoming the guests, Dev sees Kabir getting down from his car on the gates. 

'Did you invite him?' says Dev to Mahi, questioning Kabir's presence in his house.

'You only approved the guest list before sending out the invites,' replies Mahi keeping the smile for arriving guests. She continues,' Didn't you go through the list?'

Dev closes his eyes on his mistake of not going through it. He says,' Still, why did you put him on the list?'

'I didn't. I sent you the same list Ekta forwarded me,' says Mahi. Dev rolls his eyes on that. Mahi further says,' She was helping me to organise this. Sorry.'

'Don't be. Someone else should be,' says Dev while eying Ekta. 

Mahi sees Dev being pissed off, holds his arm softly and says,' We are the hosts. Please remember that,' smiling making an innocent face.

Dev loses the grimace and smiles instantly, looking at her adorable insisting. He says,' Have I mentioned today how nice you look in this saree,' teasingly.

Mahi pushes him lightly with a smile in response as she says,' The joke loses its touch if repeated 5 times.'

'I doubt that,' replies grinning teasingly at Mahi. 

Mahi smiles, feeling a little shy at his teasing. 

Some time into the party, Dev looks around for Mahi. It has been more than a few minutes since Dev lost sight of Mahi. He walks towards the Verandah and stops as he sees Mahi standing with Kabir. She was laughing as Kabir was speaking. Dev didn't like what he was seeing. Mahi feels Dev's eyes on her as she turns her head in that direction. She sees Dev standing quietly on the door. He meets her eyes and turns to leave. Mahi immediately excuses herself from Kabir and walks quickly to Dev.