Page 39 of Substitute Bride

FEW CHANGES

Jhankar slowly opens her eyes and sees Vikrant in front of her, feeling a tremendous sense of relief that he is sleeping on this side alone.

She slept on the same side because she doesn't understand why she didn’t wake up at night.

Observing her hand closely, still entwined with Vikrant’s, she comes to the realization that perhaps he didn’t turn in his sleep, which explains her lack of awakening.

Anyway, she was very upset after seeing all this, and she felt that she was not going to sleep at all the whole night, but she felt very strange thinking about how she fell asleep.

Looking at Vikrant cautiously, she wants to check by touching his head whether he has a fever or not, because usually, a person gets a fever after getting hurt.

But she is a little scared of touching him and is unable to stop herself, so she checks him by putting the tips of her fingers on his head very lightly, and immediately a smile appears on her face because Vikrant does not have a high temperature at all.

She sits quietly and begins to remove her scarf from her hands, but her eyes are constantly drawn to Vikrant due to the bandages on his back, which are bothering and frightening her.

Seeing him in this state constantly reminds her of yesterday’s accident.

Jhankar rises from the bed and directs her gaze towards Vikrant. However, as she abruptly places her foot on the ground, she screams loudly and falls, causing Vikrant to wake up instantly.

“Ahhhh….”

“Jhankar….”

Jhankar is lying on the ground and crying while holding her foot.

Vikrant, who had woken up as soon as she touched him but was only feeling her touch with his eyes closed, suddenly hears her scream and opens his eyes to see her lying on the ground.

He quickly runs towards her after getting down from the bed, takes her in his arms, and makes her sit on the bed, but Jhankar is crying, still holding her foot. So he holds her face and says to her,

“What happened? Did you fall suddenly, or was it something else?”

“I don’t know what happened; I felt a severe pain in my foot, and I fell down with force, and it seems that there is a lot of pain in my body.”

After seeing her, Vikrant becomes worried.

He immediately picks up his phone, calls the doctor, orders him to come to his room as soon as possible, and begins checking her leg.

Seeing the slight needle mark on her leg, he understands what is causing the pain.

The doctor also arrives by then, and a female doctor is with him, so Vikrant looks at her with a smile.

The doctor starts checking Jhankar thoroughly, and the head doctor had already informed that new doctor about everything, so she tells Jhankar,

“Madam, you had an accident yesterday. Even if you didn’t have any visible injuries, it doesn’t mean you are not hurt.

It is internal but not serious. The accident was very big, so falling with force and being stuck in one place for a long time also causes pain.

Do not panic too much; take a rest for two days.

I will give you medicine, due to which you will also get relief, and everything will be fine in two days. ”

Jhankar is not at all satisfied, but Vikrant is very satisfied with the doctor’s words. When he comes out with the doctor, the doctor says to him,

“Sir, as previously informed, this needle is slightly thicker than the standard one, which may be the reason she is experiencing pain. Given that everyone’s body experiences pain differently, it’s plausible that she is experiencing more than usual.

The medicines will reduce her pain a little and will also help in positioning the transmitter at the right place. ”

Vikrant curtly nods and goes inside. Jhankar is pressing her shoulder and sometimes massaging her arm. Looking at her, he says,

“I will order breakfast for you here. Then you take the medicine and rest. The doctor has said that there is nothing to worry about.”

When Jhankar’s full attention is focused on him, she speaks as soon as she sees him.

“How is your health? Are you not in much pain? Why are you roaming around like a hero? When you are hurt, why don’t you lie down in one place and feel the pain?”

Vikrant looks at her and says, while casually putting his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants,

“I have to brush my teeth and take a bath.”

“What do you mean by taking a bath? Do you aspire to embody the character of Ganga from the famous Bollywood movie who enjoyed donning a white saree and bathing under a waterfall? That saree used to stick to her body; you also have to stick all the bandages on your body.”

Upon hearing her words, Vikrant smiles softly, approaches her, bends over her face, brings his face close to hers, and speaks to her.

“Many people were excited because of Ganga’s performance. Now only you are here alone with me; I don’t want to do anything like this with you right now.”

Upon hearing his words, Jhankar’s eyes widen, prompting Vikrant to laugh loudly while she mumbles softly,

“Looks like he has suffered a severe brain injury.”

But he keeps laughing while looking at her, due to which she suddenly feels a strange tingling sensation when she looks into his eyes. Jhankar wants to run away from there shyly with a slight smile, but again she feels a severe pain in her leg, due to which Vikrant holds her before she falls.

“What the hell are you doing, Jhankar? When you know very well that your legs are hurting, then you should not have run away like this.”

He helps Jhankar to sit again, and Jhankar sits on the bed with her eyes closed tightly, placing her legs on the bed. When Vikrant sees her in this state, he correctly positions her legs on the bed and tells her,

“You just sit here and rest until your pain subsides. There’s no need to get up before then; I’ll be here in a while.”

Vikrant leaves from there, and Jhankar also starts getting a little disturbed by sometimes touching her arm and sometimes her thigh, but at this time, there is no other option than enduring the pain.

After some time, she sees that Vikrant has actually come after taking a bath, water dripping from his wet hair, and he has nothing on his upper body, due to which her eyes become very big and she shouts loudly,

“You’re completely insane; you’re unaware that water shouldn’t come in contact with a wound.”

“Whatever it is, I cannot stay without bathing; I cannot help in this matter. I should have taken a bath as soon as I came yesterday, but I could not do so, so I did it now.”

“And what about the water on the wound? Call the doctor quickly. There is no need to show your body. Get your wound cleaned and ask the doctor to bandage it for you.”

Vikrant picks up his phone and starts calling the doctor, but suddenly he smirks lightly, and instead of calling the doctor, he himself talks on the phone like he is talking to the doctor and says,

“Send the doctor to my room because I need to get my dressing done... The doctor is currently attending to an emergency. It’s okay. No problem. It’s okay... Send him when he comes.”

Jhankar has heard his words, so she immediately tells him,

“The doctor is not there... what should we do next?”

“Nothing... The doctor will come in two hours, and he will do the dressing.”

“I strongly believe that you also sustained a head injury in the accident yesterday. You did not get yourself checked up properly. You are also aware that leaving a wound unbandaged can lead to bleeding. You do this; tell one of your men, and he will do it.”

“The accident that occurred yesterday has also caused great distress to all my men. They did not sleep the whole night and are sleeping now. I will not disturb them early in the morning.”

Jhankar begins to carefully observe Vikrant before gently speaking to him.

“I will do it.”

Vikrant looks at Jhankar carefully and then tells her,

“There is no problem; the doctor will arrive after two hours and treat it... I don’t want to bother you…”

"But by then the problem will worsen; the doctor has given you some medicine, so give it to me. I will treat it as best I can, and if there is a bandage too, give that to me—I’ll apply it as well."

Vikrant looks at Jhankar carefully, then brings the ointment and hands it to her.

Jhankar starts examining everything, and then he turns his back toward her.

For the first time, Jhankar sees his back properly—covered in numerous wounds and severe cuts.

Seeing this, her soul trembles, and she feels as if she has been pierced with iron rods.

Tears begin flowing from her eyes instantly because she knows that if Vikrant hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t be alive today. She is certain of it.

Jhankar diligently begins cleaning his wounds with the solution, taking great care not to cause him pain.

She has bitten her lips so tightly that blood could potentially spill out at any moment.

She is crying, but she does not want Vikrant to notice.

Seeing his wounds, she is unable to stop the tears from falling, yet she tries desperately to prevent any sound from escaping and reaching his ears—a task that becomes harder by the minute.