Don't Love Me √

Ye Mausam Ki Baarish....

" Don't worry Shru! Aunty will be fine. Just that, you need to convince her not to tense herself. And not to forget her medicine dosages and inhaler routines. "

Riha smiled as she tore off a prescription. 

Shruti smiled too, half heartedly. 

" It's getting too difficult dude! Dad won't be back until next month. And I have my jobs to handle. More than that, the nights are scary. You know how nervous I become when things get overboard." 

Shruti pursed her lips and looked down. 

" Why don't you get a day-night nurse? " 

" mom doesn't want that. We have talked on this. She's concerned of security issues you see..." 

Riha squeezed her brows too. 

" Your neighbours are good I believe! " , she continued. 

" Yes they are ...but you can't really often knock them at night."

" ...friends? " 

Shruti thought for a second, as if drifted to someplace else. " ...same for them. You should actually not depend on people. They may not be there for you when need be. " 

The last few words suddenly seemed out of place to Riha. 

Shruti was definitely thinking something else. 

" ...errmm...that's a real problem then. I would rather suggest you to try to be strong because, the condition is not something too serious. And moreover you can call me anytime. ", Riha ended smiling. 

Shruti hesitantly stared at her. 

" Riha... I know it's weird but, I have a request. I would never mind if you cannot keep that. But...just..." 

" Go ahead Shru!" 

" I was thinking, mom was too actually, that...could you please shift to our place for this month? I mean you can do everything of your daily routine from our place, just that you would be a tremendous support to me and mom..." 

Riha was not much ready for such a proposal. She stared at her undecided. Shruti immediately withdrew, " It's extremely fine Riha. You don't need to feel bad. I know it's quite weird a proposal. I would rather not get so nervous. " 

Shruti stood up. Riha stood up too. 

" ... I actually, need to think about it. It's never a straight no from my side. I will inform you if I can. " 

" It's alright Riha. You already do a lot when need be. Boon of having a doctor friend. " 

Both smiled. Riha noticed Shruti looked pale. " Is something else bothering you too Shruti? Work load? You look not so fine. " 

Shruti gathered her things from the table. " Nah...no work load. Just that life gets a bit harsh sometimes. You know what Riha? You may have endured pain in life, but that doesn't really give you much right to pass on the pain. " 

Riha stood dumb as Shruti left the room. What exactly did she mean to say? 

Riha gathered that something more of emotional than physical was bothering Shru. 

Life was beautiful. And she hardly knew how could people afford so much pain in the name of love!

*****

Just as she stepped out of the hospital, she knew it had been raining. Not heavily. Drizzles. And this was the kind of rain Riha liked. The day went on well because she didn't have to face Raajiv. Now that was not something great. She had no problem in remaining friends with him if he remained in limits. Because she had always done so with all of her one sided lovers. While some chose to drift apart , others were still her friends. And she was confident of Raajiv too. Yet, maybe some discomfort stayed immediately after some sort of these rejection issues. Hence no one faced each other today.