Holding Ritvik in arms, and embracing him with both the hands, was kind of assurance to Aniket that he is now within his reach. He rested his head on Ritvik’s chest, close to his shoulder. Aniket also felt his nerves soothing and relaxed with the luscious aroma of Ritvik’s body. He was familiar with this divine aroma that made him calm, and happy all the time.

Aniket woke up, when he felt a little movement in Ritvik’s head resting on his arm.  He raised his head to see if Ritvik was awake. Ritvik’s eyes were still closed and he appeared to be under influence of sleep. But clearly, there was some uneasiness that he was trying to settle down.

“Hey ! Ritvik !! Do you need something? Tell me… “, Aniket tried to get Ritvik’s attention to understand what exactly did he need.

“W..aa…t..er”, Ritvik murmured slowly, which could hardly be heard or understood by anyone. But this was Aniket and his love, who had mastered the art of understanding Ritvik and his needs more than Ritvik knew it himself. His eyes were still closed.

“Wait ! haa…n…  let me bring the water for you”, replied Aniket, and slowly pulled his arm off which was under Rtivik’s head.

He quickly moved and was back in a couple of moments with some water in a small glass and a tablespoon. Aniket knelled down to come to the level of Ritvik’s mouth comfortably and started caressing his hair with his right hand to wake him up again, and said, “Here ….! wake up !…   I’ve brought some water for you. Open your mouth, I will pour with spoon”.

Ritvik hardly gulped two spoons of water, before he went back to sleep. He tried to open his eyes, and could hardly get a glimpse of Aniket pouring water in his mouth with a spoon but could not keep it open for long. Aniket tried to wake him up again but did not try hard as he did not want to interrupt his sleep. He checked his forehead, which was now filled with droplets of sweat. He checked the body temperature from his neck, and his tummy, which all gave an indication of normal temperature and “fever gone”. He felt more relaxed now seeing Ritvik recovering. He picked up a handkerchief and tap-dried Ritvik’s forehead.

After putting it aside, he looked back at Ritvik’s face. It was a little dull, but still was glowing with its divine shine. All his emotions, filled with love, got intensified. He had never seen such a sweet and innocent baby earlier in his life. He leaned forward, held his face in both hands, and kissed gently on his forehead. He kept his lips on his forehead for a few moments and his eyes got closed. A little later, he moved his head a little above Ritvik’s forehead and then inhaled deeply bringing his nose close to Ritvik’s head as if he was smelling aroma of flower. He had seen his mother, and grand mother do it same way to him when he was a kid, which was meant to bless their kids with a long and healthy life.

Aniket’s love for Ritvik was now getting stronger and intensified with each moment passed. He was feeling a deeper eternal connection with Ritvik without any kind of doubts in his mind. There was only a feeling, an intensified feeling for Ritvik and no other thoughts. Absolutely no other thoughts. No future, no past. He didn’t have to make efforts for doing anything for Ritvik now. It was all happening spontaneously, and his body was only a medium to complete those tasks. “Love“… could it be more powerful?

He felt the clarity in his thoughts. It was love, and pure love, without any confusions or mixed feelings. It might just be a temporary phase but currently it was “love” which was dominating and governing everything. He did not have any desires to get anything in return, or any expectations for receiving any kind of favor for what he was doing. It was not a favor at all what he was doing for Ritvik, it was his duty, and only motive of his life. “The Love” itself was rewarding him. He was feeling very happy, and satisfied in doing, whatever would make his love of the life, Ritvik, happy.

Aniket looked at the Saline water bottle hanging with stand. It was nearing its end. He had to be alert now. He should not sleep now as he needed to take it off as advised by the Doctor. He lied adjacent to Ritvik on the bed, and pushed his one arm slowly once again under Ritvik’s head. He started caressing his hair with his second hand. His eyes were busy enjoying the marvelous beauty in front of his eyes. God knows if it was the magical divine beauty of Ritvik, or Aniket’s strong love for him, that every time he looked at him, he always found it refreshing and appealing, as if it was first time he saw him.

He remembered once he felt compelled to kiss him and pushed him on the bed, when Ritvik had just returned from his office. When he leaned forward to kiss him, he instead kept playing with his hair for a long time. Even Ritvik was wondering what all this was and what did he intend to do. Aniket could not stop looking at his beautiful face. Each and every inch of his glorious face was equally deserving a gentle but passionate kiss. His eyes, his baby soft and smooth pink lips, his nose, his soft cheeks, his chin, every point on his face appeared equally appealing and juicy and deserved a passionate kiss. Ritvik’s divine beauty was a powerful magnet that controlled all his thoughts and actions.

It was a fact that everyone’s eyes  would get glued to the point where it fell first on any part of Ritvik’s body and one would not easily feel satisfied ever, while drinking that nectar of beauty in front of one’s eyes. It happened every time, and almost with everyone. People found it really hard to move their eyes off of him but the social norms and presence of others around or sometimes Ritvik’s stare back to them, alerted them after some time and they had to move away their eyes reluctantly. Obviously, it was not just the physical charm, but Ritvik’s powerful aura that had the mesmerizing attraction to spell bound and pull everyone’s attention.

Just like those old memories, he scanned through each point of his face one by one. He started with his forehead, his sharp black eyebrows and kissed gently on it. Then he looked at his eyes. Those eyes were full of magic when open, nonetheless these were still sweet when he was asleep. He planted a gentle kiss on his closed eyes.

Ankiet kept looking at his face from close proximity, and remembering those golden moments they had spent together. After taking off the dip of medicated saline water from Ritivk’s hand when it was finished, he came back to Ritvik, and laid back in same pose covering Ritvik in his arms. He kissed on his cheek gently and wished the speedy recovery for his love, his life embraced in his arms, and closed his eyes.