Sorry due to personal reasons, I was inactive for a while. Hope y'all forgive me

•

Vikram clenched his fist in reflex, as his eyes landed on an evil, cunning sly fox that was planning to prey on an innocent rabbit. 

A beautiful rabbit indeed, the tiniest atom in his heart silently agreed. 

His mind was wandering elsewhere, calculating a million things that were confusing him, though it was right in front of him, crystal clear.

The cunning, sly fox had a calm smile on its face, though it had no good intentions for the rabbit under it's mask.

Vikram let out a long sigh of despair, as he took a step forward to snatch away the rabbit from those prying eyes.

"Suhana, you are undoubtedly the stupidest person ever! Like ever!!" Suhana rambled to herself, as she was furiously rubbing her palms together.

The climate was freezing and she could literally feel the sudden drop in the temperature with every second passing by since yesterday. And she couldn't stop cursing herself for forgetting to bring a jacket.

"Huh! What is he doing here?" Suhana mumbled to herself as she saw Vikram approaching him.

"Huh? Good mor--- " Suhana gasped as Vikram quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her a bit away from her camping tent area.

"Are you crazy? Why did you drag me here?" Suhana pulled her hand back from his, as she was gaping at him confused. 

"Are you on a hunger strike? Planning to starve for all 10 days?" Vikram asked in a cold tone.

"Huh? Vikram--I think you dropped it there" Suhana pointed her finger behind his shoulder.

"Dropped what?" Vikram turned back gazing at the pathway they had walked through, trying to find out what she was referring to.

"Your brain! It must be lying somewhere over there." Suhana replied coolly, as she rubbed her palm furiously, as Vikram turned back and gaped at her, cluelessly.

"Stop staring at me like that!" Suhana quickly detached her eyes away from his.

"Everyone had their breakfast! What were you doing there---huh--either you should have your breakfast or stay inside your tent. Why were you standing outside--"

"Can you please come straight to the point?" Suhana sighed away, as she remembered that he never apologized for his not-so-sweet behavior. 

Vikram's mouth stood hanging halfway, confused, as she abruptly stopped him in between. 

"Huh! Go have your breakfast now, or else eat sand later! Who cares!" Vikram sighed and turned away to leave.

"Thanks for your concern Mr.Narcissist, I appreciate it" Suhana raised her voice from behind, as she hastened forward to reach Vikram's pace.

"Ugh" Vikram mumbled to himself as they both almost reached Suhana's tent.

Vikram gazed around the place slowly, not implanting doubts in Suhana's mind, as he made sure if Harshad was seen anywhere nearby. 

"Who are you searching for?" Suhana asked, confused, as she was rubbing her hands again.

"Huh, no one." Vikram gave a long pause as he turned back to look at Suhana, and found her furiously rubbing her palms. 

"Where's your jacket?"

"Huh--?" Suhana remained still, not wanting to utter anything and embarrass herself, as she pulled her t-shirt sleeve up to her fingers to cover them.

"What are you thinking? Wear your trench coat or jacket or something! Can't you see it's freezing?" Vikram rolled his eyes back as he slid his hand inside his trench coat pockets, to ease his freezing palms.

"Fr--Freezing? Huh! N-Not at all. In Fact it's actual--actually hot!" Suhana pulled her hands out as she waved her hands in front of her face, pretending it to be hot, as Vikram's eyes widened as he grimaced. 

"Are you here to treat patients or to get treated?" Vikram asked, confused, as he took a step back and glanced at her from top to bottom.

"Shut up!" Suhana breathed out cold air, as she wrapped her arms against her chest, as she still found Vikram to be staring at her.

"Fine! I forgot to bring them! Happy?" Suhana turned her face away from him, embarrassed.

"Non compos mentis"

"What did you say? Did you just--" Suhana turned back as she gazed at him furiously. He didn't say anything good, that was for sure, she assumed. 

Suhana froze like a statue, as Vikram removed his trench coat and slowly took a step forward as he covered her shoulders with his trench coat, adjusted it from front, as Suhana lost herself staring at him from a few centimeters away.

"At Least you remembered to bring a scarf" Vikram murmured as he removed the scarf that was hanging around her neck.

"What are you--" Suhana stopped midway as he neatly folded the scarf back and brought it around her neck and then carefully removed the small clip holding the bun, as her hair fell down covering her neck.

"Leave your hair down, it will make you feel warm and-- less bearable for others, to look at" He said in a low tone and Suhana raised her eyes, as it met his'.

"Suhana! Come have your breakfast " Megha yelled from far away, as they both landed back to reality.

"Ahem- go have your breakfast " Vikram cleared his throat.

"What about you? Won't you feel cold?" Suhana asked in a low tone, that it almost came out as a whisper.

"I am not cold, that's the only reason why I gave you mine. So dream about all the racy stuff in your head!" Vikram mocked as he dipped his hands on his pant pockets, as Suhana tch-ed and slowly ran towards Megha, who was standing across.

••••

"I checked her blood samples, she just has low hemoglobin level, that must be the reason why she's tired most of the time. Let me prescribe some tablets to boost her hemoglobin level, so that it doesn't affect her daily activities. '' Suhana smiled and gently patted the small girl's head as she scribbled some medicine names in the prescription paper.

"But we don't have any pharmacies near our village. We go to the townside only once a month..." The little girl's mother said hesitatingly. 

"Ah don't worry, we temporarily provide some medicines, you can get them from the last counter over there" Suhana smiled as she handed over the prescription to the mother and waved them goodbye.

Suhana leaned back comfortably on her chair as serotonin gushed inside her body, and put a wide smile on her face.

"Great job crew! We successfully treated 48 patients today! Kudos to our team! And let's wrap it up for today!" Harshad announced proudly as everyone clapped and hooted in joy.

Smiling to herself, Suhana started packing her things back and removed her white coat as she wore the same beige oversized trench coat.

"So how was today?" Suhana turned back and saw Harshad approaching her.

"Honestly...I have never felt more alive" Suhana started tapping her feet in joy, like a penguin.

"That's good to hear! Moreover if we get to look after more villagers like today, we won't need 10 days, the medical checkup would be completed in 5 days itself" Harshad sighed in relief as they both started walking away from the medical camp.

"Ohh" Suhana said slowly as she busily dipped her hands inside the coat pocket while gazing at the red and orange hues in the sky.

"What's wrong with your coat--hmm-I don't think it's the right size" Harshad gazed at her coat mysteriously, which was too long as it was covering her palms as well.

"Hmm- Is it? But--I think it's the perfect size" Suhana silently smiled to herself as she pulled in the coat tightly against her body.

"Finally you are here!" Zaara sighed in disgust and stomped on the ground. 

"What's wrong with you?" Harshad eyed Zaara.

"There's freaking no WIFI here and I can't find any signal for my network also" Zaara whined like a pig.

"Tch" Suhana sighed as she turned her face away from Zaara.

"Zaara, we are not in a 5 star hotel. So be happy if you are lucky enough to get dinner tonight rather than starving to death" Zaara groaned in disgust as Suhana was trying hard to keep her chuckles to herself.

"Hey you better-" Zaara grit her teeth as realization struck, "Is--is that--Vikram's coat?" She asked doubtfully, hoping for the answer to be a big NO.

"Tch, why would she be wearing Vikram's?" Harshad rolled his eyes at Zaara as Suhana turned away, not wanting to answer.

"No no, I am sure that I saw Vikram wearing this exact same coat today morning but she--" Zaara stopped midway confused, as Harshad slowly turned towards Suhana.

"Is this--Vikram's?" Harshad asked hesitatingly. 

"Yes! This is Vikram's coat! So what? I felt cold--so he lent me his! Is something wrong with that?" Suhana exchanged her glances between two gaping goats.

"No--Not at all" Harshad shook his head silently as Zaara's mouth was already on the ground.

"Dii" Megha quickly approached towards Suhana and pulled her away from them hurriedly, "Come here, I have something important to tell you" 

"What's wrong?" Suhana gaped at Megha after moving a bit away from them.

"Ah nothing!" Megha said coolly, intertwining her palms with Suhana's. 

"Huh?"

"I saw those 2 donkeys gaping at you like for the past 10 minutes so I thought maybe you needed my help" Megha smiled, proud of herself.

"Ahh that's true--Thank you my sweet little chimpanzee" Suhana pulled her cheeks as they both burst into laughter as they reached their tent.

The lighting was exactly the same as how Vikram had decorated the previous day with those fairy lights and lanterns.

"Hey Suha!" Anika walked towards them as she fed Suha a cookie.

"How was your first day huh?" Anika questioned as she fed Suhana another piece.

"Ahhh, I could literally feel serotonin gushing in through my veins for every second, it was euphoric!" Suhana, side hugged her.

"Good for you Suhana! Now, I am bored, so y'all better find me a solution" Everyone turned back and saw Rohit sulking, as he grabbed the cookie from Anika's hands.

"What do you want us to do?" Suhana chuckled while her mind gave her 108 ways to make fun of his inability to console Megha.

"Shall we play some games? "Rohit grinned as everyone cringed confused, if a kid's soul was trapped inside this young man.

"Chi! I am leaving, you guys continue" Megha grimaced.

"Did you even try to console her?" Suhana asked in a low voice as she turned back to make sure if Megha had a left.

"Console? Please-she was wandering this entire place since morning with a butcher knife in her hand" Rohit flumped on the ground with a pout, as both of them burst into fits of laughter. 

"By the way--Have you seen Vikram?" Suhana questioned as she gazed around the place if she could find him.

"Ahem ahem *cough* *cough*!" Anika started an exaggerating fit of fake coughs.

"Huh, come on, I was just--- simply---" Suhana dragged her words searching for the right excuse.

"Wait wait wait!" Rohit gasped dramatically,as everyone turned to him.

"Isn't that Vikram's trench coat? He was wearing this today mor--"

"Did he walk in a fashion show today morning or what? Why does everyone remember what he wore today morning " Suhana asked defensively, trying to avoid the upcoming mock session.

"Wait--Woahh, Vikram lent his coat? To you? Ahh that's so not like him! He would rather let us die in the cold than give us his'. Lucky you huh " Anika chuckled.

"Oh come on Anika, Love changes people!" Rohit mocked as Suhana sighed, unable to bear their cringe session.

"Now will you tell me where he is?" Suhana asked in a polite way, while her cells were ready to shoot up, making her lose her cool.

"Why? Aren't you satisfied that he was with you all day?" Anika and Rohit hi-fied and started laughing again.

"With me? Wait--Are you both drunk?" Suhana took a step back.

"What yes! He was in the medical camp today right?" Anika turned towards Suhana.

"What? No! Why would he be in the medical camp?" Suhana raised her eyebrows in confusion. 

"What? He hasn't been here since morning! After breakfast he asked us where you were and we said you were in medical camp and then he left so we thought--" Rohit paused, utterly confused with what was happening. 

"What? No! He never came to the medical camp!" Suhana denied as everyone dipped in confusion. 

The sky had already darkened and without making further delay Suhana hastened towards his tent to check if he was inside.

But no, she couldn't locate him other than his luggage.

"He--he is not--there" Suhana spoke out between heavy breaths as she ran back to Anika and Rohit.

After searching for a while in the neighborhood, Rohit came back with no clues about Vikram.

"Let me call him" Anika picked up her phone.

"Ugh, there is no network signal here!" Anika raised her phone up in the air trying to catch some signal.

"Well chill--He is not a kid, he will be back I guess" Rohit withdrew.

"Well that's true, but still---" Anika said hesitatingly as she turned and looked at Suhana who was hopelessly looking at them, confused.

"Where did he disappear?" Suhana nervously murmured to herself. 

••••