The Beautiful Memories...

Peter felt it unbelievable that a girl who had appeared so low to him before, turned out to be so talented at writing.. Maybe she was even better than him, he felt.. He looked at her as she tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear involuntarily immersed into the paper that he had given to her a moment before.. And this hair seemed to be out of order, of a darker colour and quite longer.. He noticed her round black eyes quickly moving over the paper, and her plastered foot tapping on the ground in a rhythmic manner and hitting his legs in each round.. She was so deeply devoted to the work that she did not even care to budge even a little when the nurse pricked her. She handed him the next sheet of edited work surprising him yet again. Peter found a lot relieved now as his work were getting a lot easier.. The girl was a workaholic, she neither minded the time, nor was she hungry but she seemed to be plunged into a task which she was greatly fond of.. He himself lost track of time as they joined together to finish editing the story in a beautiful manner in a surprisingly short time. The work which would have taken days for him to finish was completed within a few hours.. Completely worn out, they felt the entire cells on their body aching.. They both let out a deep sigh as they fell on the bed, extremely worn out. They had been working for five hours straight now.. Peter looked at Bella who was lying beside him, her eyes transfixed on the wings of the dusted fan... His gaze fell on her neck which appeared swollen and red, 'I might have made her work too much, she was still recovering and I should have let her to take rest.' Peter started blaming himself silently.. He brought his fingers closer to her neck and touched it gently. He saw Bella wince with pain and looked at him startled.. He took the ointment that the doctor had given the previous day for relieving pain.. He squeezed it into his hand and applied it with a slight pressure onto Bella's neck, who looked surprised but did not object. He stroked her neck gently allowing the gel to spread uniformly.

He felt her eyelids paving way for sleep as it began to shut her view of this beautiful night.. She did not seem to be restless this night and felt peaceful without any nightmare. After ensuring that Bella was deeply asleep, he set off to his apartment carrying the papers with him.

Peter reached the hospital next morning very early even before Bella woke. He was not sure why he was so eager to meet her, maybe because she was weak and needed care,. or maybe to get her help in his paper work today too.. he was not sure of the reason, but he couldn't control his urge to drive to the hospital early in the morning.

Seeing her cuddled up in bed, he felt greatly relieved.. She appeared very thin and the striped hospital dress she wore seemed loose fitting projecting her collar bone.. He had to force her to eat more.. He enjoyed this moments, caring for someone, even though he knew she was a stranger and that this company was transient and would disappear after she gets cured. Then they will part their ways becoming complete strangers again…

Bella on the other hand feared whether she would get used to this company. She had always been lonely in her own personal world and this man had managed to enter into her forbidden land of life, She knew he was just doing all this out of guilt, but she feared of getting addicted to this care and boundness..

As soon as Bella woke and freshened up, Peter arranged a wheelchair for her.. Today evening she could go home, that's what the Doctor had told him.. Even though she will have to wear the plasters for two more weeks, she can take rest at home and return back to remove them after that. Peter wanted to make some memorable moments before they parted into their separate old path. Since she was greatly talented, he had thought of offering her a job in his company, but he decided to inform only after her total recovery. Even though the doctor allowed her to walk with tiny steps, he made her sit in the wheelchair and took her out into the beautiful other half of the hospital. It was a royal hospital and there was a huge garden maintained outside it for the patients to have a walk.. Bella saw people holding the hands of their loved ones and walking over the grass in glee, but this time she did not feel alone or scared, neither did she felt suffocated as before.. It maybe because she had someone rolling the wheelchair for her from behind.. She enjoyed the sight of the butterflies kissing the flowers and the little birds chirping their throat off demanding more attention from their mother.. She did not feel jealous of them at all this time, since she too had a company, though a transient volatile one, she completely absorbed the essence of it.. Peter and Bella talked silently exchanging beautiful memories with each other as they rounded the garden until their stomachs growled of hunger. Peter too usually never felt hunger or any urge for a particular food.. It maybe because he too never had anyone to make anything of his favourite or pamper him to eat.. But today he was hungry and they both ate like a hungry animal that had been starved for months.. They were unaware of the people or things around them and strolled, ate, wrote and read happily until it became the time for them to part.

" Take care Bella, and come to visit me after two weeks so that we can free you of this plaster. And eat well and take more rest. I should get going.. We had a great time having you here.." Handing over her the discharge summary, the doctor left the room.

Peter had left the room a while before asking Bella to wait.. After a few minutes, he returned panting, handing over her a cover. " It's a small token to remember the memories we exchanged here," told Peter as he handed over a cover to Bella. He asked her to open it after she returns home.

Bella had nothing much to pack except this gift that he had given, so she was all set to leave the hospital.

She had not even asked the name of this stranger but she did not wish to ask it either. She knew he was an extremely rich person and she should be just grateful for these few moments with him. She should never ever dream of meeting him again…

With careful steps she walked out of the hospital. Peter followed her behind..

" Let me drop you to your house." She was so used to getting his help now that she did not object this time..

On the silent journey off to home, Bella secretly glanced at the handsome man beside her. She felt she had changed completely in the past few days with him.. She had started to smile more, had a good appetite eating with him, writing more passionately with a peaceful mind.. and caring for each other she felt this change dangerous.. and this departure painful.