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"Such a pleasant day. Spring is quite beautiful. If I get done early, I'll spend some time in the garden with Ethan," Aru thought as she walked towards her office for a meeting with the diagnostic team.
When she reached her office, she felt her throat itch and a bit sore. Fortunately, she had a few lozenges in her bag, and she popped one in her mouth before the meeting, not thinking much of it.
The following morning, at 3:00 am, Aru woke up with a blocked nose, headache, and cough.
Ethan, a light sleeper, also woke up when he heard Aru groan while trying her best to get some rest but failing, as was evident by her constant turning.
He took a minute to realise what was happening and made a cup of tea to soothe her.
"Ethan, could you please sleep in the guest room? Or let me go there? I don't want to get you infected because of me," Aru said while sipping some warm tea.
"No, honey. I'm not going to do that. I want to look after you, okay? I know how you are and that you won't look after yourself. So, let me take care of you", he replied while rummaging in their medicine kit for a Tylenol. Aru eagerly took the pill from Ethan when he found it, hoping to get some relief.
The next day, she woke up quite later than usual and panicked that she would get late for work. Just when she started to rush to get ready, Ethan chimed in, "Aru, I have requested a holiday for both of us cause you are sick and I don't want others to get infected, especially your patients. I'll stay at home for today to take care of you, my love."
"That’s very sweet of you, Ethan, but I will be fine in a day or two, I don't want you to ignore your work."
"I'm not ignoring my work by looking after you, Aru. In fact, I'm doing both."
"Okay, love, thanks a lot for taking care of me."
A while later, Aru sat down with her blanket in front of the TV while Ethan made her favourite tomato soup and watched her comfort movies, Welcome and Om Shanti Om.
After finishing her delicious soup, she went to gargle with warm salt water and a quick bath under instructions from Ethan while he made her favourite comfort food.
When she came back, Ethan gave her a cup of kadha, whose recipe he had procured from her mom on a visit.
Ethan then checked her temperature because he found her hands and forehead cold.
He realised she had a fever, so he got her some Tylenol and asked her to rest until lunch.
She protested, saying, "It's just a little fever, I'm fine. There's no need for medicine. Let my body fight it out."
"Aru, my love, you have a fever. I want you to get better as soon as possible, which won't happen if you don't take your medicine," he said.
"Okay....if you get well soon, we'll go out to eat some chaat," Ethan continued when he got no response from Aru.
"E, are you trying to bribe me? Because this is new stuff. I have only seen you do this to little kids when they don't listen."
"Well, I have to find a way for you to ingest your meds."
"You know it's nothing major, right? I'll be fine in a few hours even without the pill."
"I know that, honey. But I can't bear to see you like this, even if it is a minor thing."
"Ethan! This is nothing to worry about, and the doctor in you knows that."
"I know that very well, my darling."
"Then why are you worrying?"
"Because I hate to see you like this, in pain! I love you, Aru, and this is too much for me to bear."
On hearing this, she could barely contain his happiness and moved to kiss him, but she suddenly moved away.
"Ethan, I don't want to infect you."
"Sorry, Aru, I understand," he said, as planted a soft and assuring kiss on her forehead, "come on, let's eat Rajma Chawal."