"You were bluffing !!!"

"What was all that heart line stuff then you told me about?" Asked Akira, unable to believe that Jaby had tricked her.

Lowering his tone this time, Dr. Nelson answered,

"I did it because I know deep down there was something that you want to ask, but you dare not. Something that even I want to know, but I dare not."

Akira looked into his eyes for a second and then said, "I have already asked whatever I wanted to ask. I don't need to know anything more."

"Then maybe just listen to what I have to say," Jaby requested, still holding her hand in his palm. Then taking a deep breath he continued,

"When I held your hand, did you feel anything, I mean even remotely did you feel anything?"

"Erm.. no. Was I supposed to?"

Asked Akira, looking at Dr. Nelson.

"Great then, because even I didn't feel a thing," saying that he retracted his palm back and continued,

"I hope this answered all your questions."

Dr. Nelson said and leaned back.

Akira stood there for a while and then understood that this man had so simply explained her and had cleared the whole thing. Feeling much lighter she then looked at Dr. Nelson and said,

"So what should we do about your breakfast?"

Momentarily Dr. Nelson had forgotten about everything else when she had entered the room. His breakfast had run cold. The bread in his sandwich was completely soggy now, but he didn't want to crib about it in front of her. So picking up his sandwich back he said,

"I am a neurosurgeon Akira. Do you even know what is a surgeon's best friend apart from a scalpel and movie?"

"No." she replied quizzically.

"It' either a cold turkey or ham sandwich. That's all that you get from the vending machine and yeah, the awful coffee."

Akira giggled and seeing her bright smile sort of eased away all his pain.

Then taking a deep breath, Akira looked at him and said,

"I will leave now and will come to see you in the evening. Ok?"

"Ah great, then bring in some nice food with you. Hospital food sucks !!!" he said and smiled.

Akira looked at him one more time and a smile etched on her face. When she had entered the room, she had thought that she was going to lose a friend, but right now she was going back from that room with everything cleared up.

"Life is good," she thought and walked out to go to the main entrance to hail a cab. But to her surprise, Raymond was waiting for her outside. Relieved to see the face of her man, she ran towards him and gave him a hug before saying anything.

Raymond hugged her back tightly for a few seconds and then opened the car door for her.

"Can't hug you anymore, else I am gonna have to pay the fine."

Akira smiled and sat in the car. She saw that Raymond had picked up coffee and a sandwich for her. She was hungry but before that, she wanted to clear everything up with him.

She wanted to explain to him, why she came alone, but before she could even utter a vowel, he said,

"Eat !!! There is long day ahead of us."

"I will, but I need to explain something to you. I really do. I mean for what I did today morning and why I did that. There are things that..."

"It's ok Akira. I really don't care. I mean he is your friend and you wanted to deal with him in your own way. That's totally fine by me," he said and lifted his hand from the stick for a moment and brushed her cheeks with the back of his hands.

Akira paused for a while before speaking and then she quipped,

"Wait a minute. You sound extra cheeky. David has told you everything right?"

"Erm... " said Raymond and laughed.

"Aaahhh... that man heard everything, didn't he? Gosh, David, you are setting new standards of loyalty."

She then slurped on the coffee as it was indeed going to be a busy day for them

------

After David left the room, Dr. Nelson picked up his mobile phone and opened an old folder in his gallery. He had been dreading to open this folder for long as it had all the happy memories that he had with Alita. He was scared to switch from those happy memories to the appalling reality in front of him.

But today he felt broken, so broken that he wasn't even scared to look back at those pages again.

He scrolled through every image recollecting the memories associated and once he was done he took a deep breath and clicked on the Recent images folder. There was a picture of Akira from that party that he had taken secretly.

A smile etched on his face as he looked at her picture and then he mumbled.

"I am sorry for lying to you Akira."

Closing his eyes he remembered the happy memories of their dance. Then he remembered how he felt when he touched her hands. He had lied when he said he felt nothing because he had always felt something with her, not just today but whenever he was there with her.

But his love for her was not the overbearing kind. It was the most genuine form of love where he wanted nothing more than her happiness. He was lost in his thoughts when suddenly his phone rang.

"Hello Bishop", said Dr. Nelson after picking up the call.

"Hi there Jaby," replied Dr. Bishop in a very cheerful tone.

"Where are you Jaby? At the hospital?" Dr. Bishop asked.

"Well, technically yes," replied Jaby and then asked, "I hope you have called me to give me some good news."

"Oh yes, Jaby!!! You guessed it right. Start packing your bags. You have not only got in, but you will be the Head of the Department of Neurology and Cranial Sciences here. How about that for a news?" asked Dr. Bishop cheerfully.

"Well this is the best thing that has happened to me in the last couple of weeks," Dr. Nelson said and took a breath of relief.

"Well then pack well. London weather isn't as forgiving as NewYork."

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[Author here - I have a new surprise for you guys. A new book - The rise of the saviour

Please give this book some love with your reviews and comments. I sincerely hope you will love this new book as well.]