Bound by Blood: A Tale of Mafia and Medicine

9.

ADITYA'S POV

I woke up to a phone call from one of my gang members who was currently in London. He informed me about the whereabouts of Mehra. I instructed him on some intricate things I planned for Mehra and disconnected.  After finishing my morning duties, I went straight to Raj's room. On entering, I saw Muskan, Maa and Papa Ji sitting there gossiping and a nurse beside the bed. Stepping ahead, I bent down and took the blessings of Maa and Papa.

"Mere khilaaf koi planning kar rahe ho kya?" I said enthusiastically, sitting beside Raj.

"Haan bhai, Papa Ji unki sari property mere naam kar rahe the, bas sign karni baki thi, utne me aap aagaye " Raj spoke. 

"Aaya bada property lene wala, ek thappad dungi sari masti nikal jayegi" Muskan replied playfully, showing him her hands enacting a slap. While Raj made a 'o' shape from his mouth, faking his sadness. 

"Didi-" 

"Haye rabba, savere savere tum teeno chalu hogaye, Oye Raj tussi chup karo. Our soon-to-be daughter-in-law is going to come home for the first time. Let's not fight and behave ourselves for god's sake." Maa exclaimed, trying to stop our early morning banter. Hearing the 'soon-to-be daughter-in-law', my cheeks heated up and an unplanned smile went up my lips. I tried to suppress it by pressing my lips together. 

"Someone's blushing huh !!" It was Papa Ji this time. 
"Ye pakka Bhai he haina?"
"ohoo zara hum bhi toh dekhe bhabhi ji ko aisa kya jadu kiya hai mere bhai pe" Muskan and Raj started teasing me. 

"Alright, I'm done. Meet me at the dining table y'all. Raj, I'll send breakfast to your room and will catch up later with Dr. Soyra. Till then, go to sleep" I spoke trying to escape from the teasings. 

"Ohhooo catch up later with Dr. Soyra huh-" Raj's voice fainted as I hurriedly stepped out of the room. I was pretty nervous about having her at our house for the first time. What if she doesn't like me? What if she started hating me after knowing that I'm a mafia? Our aesthetics do not even match a bit, she is a saver and I'm a fucking killer. Total opposites. 

"Sir, a doctor is waiting for you in the main hall" One of our cleaning staff spoke making me flinch out of my thoughts. She is here. I took a deep breath, adjusted my hair and paced towards the main hall. 

As I set my foot in, my eyes caught up to her figure, facing away from me. I gathered up my courage and let out a few words.

"Good morning Dr."

She turned towards me and her eyes met mine. god. She was gorgeous. Her cheeks were glowing pink. Her eyes showed a bit of uneasiness. She was fidgeting with the end of her scarf. Boy, I could see that she was nervous. Well, I'm pretty nervous too. Am I that scary? I smiled faintly at her, trying to break the wall of awkwardness. She smiled at me back. 

"Good morning Mr. Malhotra" She replied, and I sat opposite to her on the couch. 
"Water?" 
"No No, I'm good" She pressed her lips together enacting a smile and looked down at her fingers. 
A layer of silence engulfed us as I was too busy observing her, words failed to leave my mouth. Until my phone rang, I silenced it without even looking at the caller ID, wanting to have no interruptions. 

"So, let's see Raj?" She spoke in a low tone looking at me. 

"How about we have something to eat at first?" I tried to make her wait, my whole khandan was sitting there, they would start teasing me there, for sure. 

"Thank you for asking, but please, let me have a look at Raj, we can continue later." She chuckled a bit, she was sounding too formal today, and her tone was not like yesterday. 

"As you wish" I agreed with her as I had no option left. "This way" I stood up and gestured for her to move ahead of me. She hesitated at first but then started walking at the front. We silently headed up the stairs and I showed her the door to Raj's room. 

"Aik na" (Listen) She whispered looking towards me and nodding a little, asking me to come close. We were standing in front of the door. I could feel something was wrong with her. She moved closer to me and gestured for me to bow down a bit as my ears were far away from her. I ducked a little moving my ears closer to her face. A sweet fragrance of jasmine entered my nostrils as I inhaled deeply and let out an inaudible sigh. 

"Sorry to ask, par, andar kaun kaun hai?...Aapki behen bhi hai vaha par?" She asked me, whispering. I moved away and saw her face. Her eyebrows knitted closer as if she was worried. She blinked a few times looking at me. 

"Bolo na?" She interrogated again. Was she afraid of meeting my sister? Why would she? Has Muskan met her before? Thoughts started to gather up in my mind. 

"Tumhe meri behen se milne ke liye darr lag raha hai?" I replied whispering like her. 

"Nahi Nahi aisa nahi hai"

"Toh kaisa hai?"

"Are tum ha ya na me jawab do na" She sounded a bit irritated.

"Soyra tumhe ek cheez batau?" I asked her, observing her facial details, she was blinking quite often and nodded to me. 

"Sirf meri behen he nahi, Balki poora khandan baitha hai andar" I spoke calmly gazing at her.

Her eyes widened in shock and she took a deep breath as if she was panicking. She opened her mouth to say something but failed. Her eyes paced between the door frame and me. And she started fidgeting with her scarf, again. Now I understand. She was afraid of meeting my family, not me.

"Muzhe ghar jana hai" She whispered back, whining like a child and pouting a little. Fucking cute. That pink pout was making it hard to concentrate. Her puppy eyes were melting me. I tried to suppress my smile looking at her cute antics. 

"Nobody is going to eat you, relax" I explained to her trying to calm her. Well, her anxiousness was making me laugh, and I chuckled a little. Hearing me, she stopped fidgeting, making a straight face, glaring at me. Oh boy, after my mom's, these were the eyes that made me quiet with just one glare. 

"Tumhe hasi aarahi hai, yaha meri-" Suddenly the door opened, and it was Maa.