Page 127 - Till the Last Breath . . .

on his side, peacefully for a change. Arman picked up the chart and looked

over the sheet. What bullshit, a voice screamed inside him.
‘Hi!’ a warm, fuzzy voice greeted him. He turned to see Pihu’s half-open,
sleep-battered eyes on him. Her smile made him feel enveloped in a warm

blanket with a hot coffee on a rainy Sunday, the kind of smile that shines on
an office-goer’s wife’s face after he returns from a long, harrowing day at

work.
‘Hi!’ Arman responded.

‘Did you come to see me?’ Pihu asked. Her expectant, doe-like eyes
made him lie.

‘Yes,’ he said.
‘You’re even cuter when you lie. I told Venugopal that. He said I was
crazy.’

‘Who’s Venugopal? Should I be jealous?’ Arman played along. He hung
the chart back on Dushyant’s bed.

‘You could be. He’s very good-looking, after all.’
‘Better than me? I doubt that. Did I tell you how many girls I dated back

in college? I was pretty popular, you know? I don’t think this Venugopal
guy could beat me. So, is he better than me?’ Arman grinned playfully.

‘No, I lied.’
‘You shouldn’t lie to a doctor, you know?’
‘You shouldn’t lie to a patient, you know?’

‘I didn’t,’ Arman argued.
‘You did. You’re not here for me, are you?’ She scrunched her nose in

fake anger.
‘What if I am?’ Arman asked and sat on Dushyant’s bed, facing her. It

wasn’t really a lie. Going all the way to Dushyant’s room was his
subconscious making a decision to be close to Pihu again.

‘I told you it’s hard to stay away from me,’ she said.
‘You never said that.’
‘I am saying it now and you better believe it,’ she quipped. ‘Will he be

okay?’ The worry in her eyes bothered him, made him feel responsible.