As soon as Chaitanya fell into a deep sleep, Anvitha gently slipped her hand out of his and quietly left the room.
Since it had been a long time since she'd seen the child, she thought of asking the elder about him and went into his room. She stood frozen in delighted shock at what she saw. Her grandfather and the child were running around playing together.
It was a beautiful sight to behold. The child was calling, "Grandpa, Grandpa!" while running after him, and the old man was running through the room, trying not to get caught. Anvitha was amazed—was he really able to run that fast at his age? She thought to herself that if her parents had been alive, they too would have played with Athvaith like this. A tear rolled down her cheek at the thought.
Athvaith, who had lost his mother at birth and his grandparents even before he was born, was now completely engrossed in playing with his new grandfather.
Anvitha stood there watching the scene for a while. When the elder noticed her, he stopped the game and allowed the child to catch him.
Athvaith caught hold of him and shouted, "Grandpa, I caught you! I won! I won!" while clinging to his grandfather's legs.
The elder picked him up and hugged him lovingly. "Yes, dear, you won! When someone wins, we usually give them a gift. What do you want?" he asked.
"I want a big toy car," Athvaith replied. The elder was momentarily stunned by those words. "Do you really like toy cars that much?" he asked, his voice tinged with emotion.
"Yes, Grandpa! I love toy cars," said Athvaith.
Hearing that, something clicked in Anvitha's mind. From the day he was born, no matter how much Athvaith cried, he would calm down the moment he saw or was handed a toy car. Now, she finally understood why.
The elder hugged his grandson tightly and kissed him fondly. "I'll get you a big car, dear," he promised. He then seated the child on his desk, picked up a toy car from nearby, and handed it to him. The boy started playing with it happily.
Watching him, the elder walked over to Anvitha.
"Forgive me, dear. I troubled you back then. Are you still angry with me?" he asked.
"No, Grandpa. It's just... I feel strange acting like Aadhira in front of Chaitanya. It scares me. When he calls me Aadhira, I feel torn up inside," she replied.
"I understand. Just hold on a little longer for me. I'll fix all this soon. We only have to keep it up until he's able to walk again. Once that happens, I'll tell him everything myself," the elder said.
"I don't know, Grandpa. I feel like we're doing something wrong. You said yourself—Chaitanya doesn't like being lied to or deceived. If he finds out I've been pretending to be Aadhira, I'm scared of what might happen," she said, voice trembling.
The elder understood. He, too, was afraid. He knew Chaitanya's nature better than Anvitha did. Chaitanya could endure anything, but he would never forgive someone who deceived him. But telling Anvitha that now would break her. Right now, all he wanted was for his grandson to be okay. That was his only goal.
"We'll talk about this later. I've arranged a room for you on this floor. Go take a shower and change your clothes. I need to do some hospital rounds," he said.
"Okay, Grandpa," she replied. She took Athvaith to the room the elder mentioned, gave him a bath, and also got herself cleaned up and changed.
A little while later, there was a loud knock at the door. Surprised, Anvitha opened it and saw two nurses standing there, looking anxious.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Doctor is awake! He's asking for you urgently!" one of the nurses said.
"Which doctor?" Anvitha asked in confusion.
"Dr. Chaitanya! He woke up and is causing a fuss. He wants to see you right away. Please come quickly," said one of them, already walking fast.
"Oh, here we go again…" Anvitha thought to herself. She considered taking the child with her but stopped suddenly. Chaitanya hadn't even seen the child yet. Did he even know a child existed? She didn't want to show Athvaith to him just yet.
Looking around, a nurse noticed her hesitation and came up to her. "Give me the child, ma'am. I'll take care of him," she offered, taking the boy from her arms.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Anvitha ran to Chaitanya's room.
There, a stand with an IV drip had been knocked over. Chaitanya must have pushed it. Shocked, she stood frozen at the door.
Chaitanya yelled at her angrily, "Didn't I tell you in the morning not to leave me alone? Where did you go?"
Just then, the elder walked in. "What is this, Chaitanya? As soon as you called for her, Aadhira came straight from the shower. I told her to rest a bit. She hasn't gone anywhere. Why are you making such a scene?"
Satisfied with his grandfather's answer, Chaitanya said, "Fine, I'm hungry. Bring me something to eat."
At the same time, a nurse entered with food. Anvitha took the tray and sat beside him to feed him.
Refusing to take the food, he snapped, "Don't you have hands? Just leave it. I'll eat myself."
"Oh god, this guy is going to be a lot to handle!" she thought, and started feeding him idlis anyway.
The elder watched the entire scene and was about to leave when Chaitanya stopped him.
"Grandpa, I need to talk to you for a couple of minutes."
"Yes, Chaitanya?"
"From now on, don't manage the hospital alone. Include Aadhira too. Prepare whatever documents are needed. I'll sign them. From now on, this hospital doesn't just belong to you and me—it belongs to Aadhira too. Get it all ready soon," he said.
The elder smiled, pleased. Anvitha was startled.
"That's not necessary, Grandpa. I only came here to work as a doctor. That's all I want. I don't need any stake in this," she said.
Chaitanya glared. "Oh, so if you're just here as staff, it'll be easier for you to leave me again, is that it? That's not happening. You have to do as I say," he barked, turning to his grandfather.
"Alright, Chaitanya. I'll prepare the papers just like you said. Now eat your food. I'll come back to see you later," said the elder, leaving the room.
After that, Chaitanya ate the food Anvitha gave him without further complaint. She placed the plate on a side table and reached out to wipe his lips with a napkin. But Chaitanya instead took the shawl from her salwar and wiped his lips himself.
Anvitha's face turned crimson with embarrassment.
Seeing her flushed face, Chaitanya looked at her in wonder. "Do you know how beautiful you look when your face turns red?" he whispered, pulling her onto him.
"Oh god, he's back to this again!" she thought. "Every time, he pulls me like this. When his rough body presses against mine, I feel all sorts of strange emotions. And this guy keeps calling me Aadhira and drives me crazy."
As she was about to push him away, he tightened his grip and brought his face close to hers, trying to kiss her lips.
Just then, a nurse knocked and entered the room.
Chaitanya moved away reluctantly.