HITCHED

Chapter 25 - Awkwardness

Rudransh pov

The sound of the shower running woke me up, and I sleepily ran a hand over the bed next to me only for my search to come up empty. I propped myself on one elbow, trying to wake up more, only to realise that I was alone in my bed when Raagavi had definitely been sleeping with me the night before. (I know what you're thinking, not that way, get your minds off the gutter!) I could tell by the floral smell (Is that… lavender? Smells heavenly) from the pillow wall dividing the bed into our respective halves. I leaned down to sniff the pillows just as the bathroom door clicked. I scrambled off the bed to leave the room and give Raagavi some space to get dressed, trying to keep my wandering eyes on the floor even though I caught a flash of smooth skin and silky hair in my peripherals. Just as I was about to open the door, she cleared her throat. I resisted the urge to turn around. "Good morning, Rudransh, I hope you slept well."

Her velvety voice and the vision I caught earlier had me gulping before I could answer. "Uh, yeah, yes I did, good morning and, uh, yeah I'll leave you to get ready." I almost sprinted out of the room, and sat down on the sofa with a cushion on my lap, next to my father who was reading the newspaper.

Appa looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. "Vadaa, is this the time you wake up? You know what they say about the early bird?"

"That he lost precious snooze hours?" I joked. He rolled up the paper and whacked me in the head with it. "Were you and Amma comfortable in the guest room for the night? It only has a small bed. Raagavi and I would've gladly taken that room to give you my- our, room instead." I hope he didn't catch that slip back there.

"Guest room? It was a mini palace inside there, you know Amma prefers sleeping on the floor anyway."

Raagavi then enters the living room dressed in her scrubs, greets Amma and Appa and sat down at the dining table next to Amma. My father gets up to join them after neatly folding the newspaper. Raagavi stops me before I sit down to join them. "You should shower before you eat." I turned to go back to my room.

"Since when do you behave like you have been told?" my dad teased and mom joined in his laughter.

"After all I learned from the best," I said pointing to my dad. "At least my wife had to say it out loud to make me do something. All you need is a look from Amma." Everyone broke out in laughs except dad, who was sulking.

I walked to my room and closed the door behind me. Even before I could move away from the door, it opened, and I turned around. I slipped on the wooden floor, making me lose my balance and fall, and as I try to regain my balance by grabbing onto something, I accidentally catch hold of Raagavi's arm, making her fall over me. Realizing the fact that we were falling, I held on to Raagavi's waist and twisted my body around to cushion her fall. I find her eyes tightly closed and lying on my chest. I pushed her hair falling over our faces gently behind her ears. She flutters her eyes open. She moves away from me at once and sits up on the floor.

"Oh, I’m so sorry, Rudransh. Are you hurt?" I shake my head. I sit up as my parents rush to our room. "Are you both fine?" my mom asks, concerned. We both nod in answer, not breaking our eye contact. 

Raagavi got up from the floor and held out her hand to help me up. I took her hand and got up, making sure not to pull her down again with all my weight. The moment I put weight on my right foot, I wince in pain. Raagavi slung my arm over her shoulder and held on to my waist supporting me as I limped to the bed. "Don't put weight on the right leg." Even through the pain, it felt nice to hold her and be held close by her.

With a practiced hand, she probes and prods my ankle, diagnosing it as a Grade 1 muscle sprain. "Is there pain anywhere else?" she asks, her face concerned. "No, doc. I’m fine." I say smiling, nothing unbearable, I'm glad she didn't get hurt instead.

"Well, then I'll bandage you up, I recommend resting your leg and icing your ankle. Keep it in a raised position and stay in bed. Please call the office and inform them that you won't be coming in today." Raagavi said, handing my phone to me.

"But I have a business meeting today. We are finalizing a deal today and my presence is required."

"Can it be postponed?" Raagavi questions me with visible worry.

I shook my head. "The client is not from here. He has traveled a long way for this meeting. I need to be there. I’m gonna go shower" I say trying to get up.

"Let me help you." Raagavi helps bear my weight. What?? I turned to look at her in shock.

She blushed, "I meant 'let me help you get in the shower'," she said in a rush and helped me into the bathroom. She leaves me to lean onto the counter and comes back with a stool for me to sit on and a pink towel. I raised my eyebrow at her.

"What? Your fragile masculinity can't handle being injured and the color pink at the same time?" She sassed. I just chuckled and pulled my tank over my head

"Are you gonna watch me shower, Raagavi?" I ask, seeing Raagavi still standing in the bathroom. Shaking her head vigorously, she says, "Call me if you need me for anything." Flustered, Raagavi walks out of the bathroom. I smile at her cuteness. After showering, I walk out with a towel around my hip limping to find Raagavi laying my clothes for today. She immediately came to my side and held me.

"Since you said you have a meeting, I laid out a suit. I went with the most safest color, blue." After a moment of hesitation,  she continued, "but I couldn't find your underwear. Where are they?"

This is getting awkward, I thought. "I can get it myself," I said, trying to limp over to the cupboard. "Just tell me already, it is equally awkward for me too. Especially when I'm holding you when you are almost naked except for a towel."

I sighed. "The second last drawer on the left cupboard."

"Nice collection, I see you prefer boxers over briefs" she said teasingly, opening the drawer to reveal identical pairs of black boxers. Hey, they're easier to clean this way, don't judge me. Also, briefs are so damn uncomfortable, I'd much rather have my, er, jewels breathe, thank you. We both laughed awkwardly.

After getting everything I needed with a great amount of embarrassment and awkwardness, I started getting dressed. "Once you're done, let me check your compression bandage and get you something to eat. After that, I'll drive you to your office while you rest  and ice your ankle in the car."

"Won't it make you late for work?"

"I can afford to go late for one day, I'll have Shivika and Vrunda cover for me for a bit." Raagavi said as she walked out the door, without even looking me in the eye.

"Shit, I'd rather bear the pain compared to this awkwardness." I muttered under my breath.

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