Soulmate (AR FF) (Part 9 in pg 70) - Page 25

And a man came out from behind the ruffian, still holding the latter's arm in a strong grip.

The first thing that caught Riddhima's attention was a pair of oceanic blue eyes with formidable flashes of anger.

She felt as if she was losing herself in those intense blue eyes and was drowning in the depths of those ocean blue eyes and for some weird reason it felt so ecstatic when she actually felt that even those eyes stared at her intense black, almond shaped eyes  with a lost look. It felt as if both just couln't withdraw their gaze from each other's eyes. They both were under a trance which, however, soon broke with the harsh voice of the ruffian.

The ruffian: "Hey who the hell are you to utter a threat to me? How dare you? You don't know who I am."

The cold voice spoke in a very calm and, apparently, bored voice: "neither do I want to know who the fr***k  you are nor do you need to know who I am. We can carry out the introduction session later sometime when I will feel like it. As for now what you have to do is to leave the lady. Do it on your own or else you will leave me no option but to use my own way to get the thing done and make you do as I desire."

The ruffian laughed out loud and hissed in a mocking tone: "Ooo! Please please someone save me from this monster. I'm so so scared! Plz someone! (And then in harsh tone he continued) What will you do if I wont leave her? Its between her and me. So you just stay away from all this mess. Only if you want all the bones intact in your body then clear the coast as soon as possible. Got it?"

The cold voice now spoke with a formidable calm: "Hmmm…I see. Does that by any chance means that you are not gonna leave her on your own?"

The ruffian hissed with rage: "Are you so nave as not to understand a thing as simple as this? Fine then let me clarify things to you, kid. Get this straight that I'm surely not gonna leave her. Show me what you can do."

The cold voice hissed: "Alas! I warned you. The choice was yours. But you have sealed your fate and that too with the wrong choice. Now what can I do? It is your choice after all. And I cant help but agreeing to it."

As soon as the words left his lips, a powerful blow came the ruffian's way and sent him flying down some two or three feets away and he landed with a deafening thud on the solid cement floor. For a moment or two the man felt as if everything in front of him went blurred and he felt dizzy. He could still feel the punch on his cheek and as he touched his cheek, he felt something wet around the corner of his mouth. He brought his hand back in front of his eyes and found his fingers covered with blood. Blood was still oozing from the corner of his lips.

This made his blood boiled and he shrieked to his followers: "Get that ba*****d!"

As soon as he instructed, all the other three ruffians advanced towards the incredibly handsome man with those piercing blue eyes - the saviour of Riddhima.

The man immediately grabbed Riddhima's wrist and pulled her behind him and himself stepped forward with a oh-this- is-so boring kind of expression written clearly on his handsome feature.

One of the three ruffians stepped forward and aimed a punch towards the man but the man tilted to his right with almost no effort on his part and easily escaped the punch and before the ruffian could even withdraw his stretched arm, the man punched him hard right on the face, causing blood to ooze down his nose and mouth. Another blow on his stomach sent him crashing down on the floor. Another ruffian came forward with a hockey stick clutched tightly in his hand. But as he raised the stick to hit the man, the latter hold it in mid air in a strong iron grip and with the other free hand he grabbed the ruffian by the neck and lifted him off his feet and threw him away so that he hit the nearby wall, causing blood runnind down his head. Now the third ruffian aimed a kick but again the man deftly  dodged it only by moving to his right side which again showed not much painstaking effort as if it was his day to day activity. While standing in that position he, with amazing expertice, moved his elbow and the next moment that ruffian screamed and clutched his nose in his palms. Another powerful punch on his stomach and it absolutely knocked the breadth out of the ruffian and he fall down on the floor clutching his nose on one hand and his stomach on the other.

Riddhima, on the other hand, was gaping openmouthed and with eyes widened with shock at the scene going on in front of her. It felt as if she was in a theatre and an action movie was going on. Only this time it was all real. She was gaping more at the man, her saviour, her hero than the others. She was utterly astonished at his moves and his expertise in fighting with three men with bare hands and even then he knocked the breadth out of them. However, her chain of thought was interrupted at a slight noise and as she turned to the left, she froze at once on witnessing the scene in front of her.

Her saviour was now turning his back to the leader of the ruffians and hence he had failed to notice when the man, the leader ruffian, got up and taking out a sharp knife was stalking him. Riddhima felt a fresh gush of fear flow down her spine. She did not know why but she felt so desperate to save her saviour even at the cost of getting herself into danger. For some weird reason that she herself failed to understand the absolute stranger seemed to be dearer to her than her own life.

As the leader ruffian raised the knife and had attacked, Riddhima pushes his target aside and the attack instead of falling on the man, fall on Riddhima, leaving a deep slash on her left arm. Her saviour was baffled at being pushed roughly all of a sudden but he wheeled around as soon as he heard her scream and seeing blood running down her hand and her groaning in pain, his jaws tightened. Fire flashed in those ocean blue eyes and his handsome face reddened with anger.

The man(through gritted teeth): "oh you are gone now!"

And then, without any further warning, he kicked hard at the ruffian's hand in which the latter was holding the knife, sending it flying away to a distance. Then he grabbed the hand of the ruffian in an iron grip and placing it on his other hand, he twisted it. A loud sound of crack confirmed the breaking of the bone in the ruffian's hand accompanied with a loud shriek. The ruffian fall down on the floor clutching his hand with the other hand and groaning in excruciating pain.

The man looked at the other three ruffians with fire in his eyes and hissed with rage and hatred: " Take this filth away from my view right at this moment. Or make sure none of you will leave the place alive."

The other three ruffian nodded in terrified consent and helped their leader to get up. Within moments they scurried away holding their leader with them.

As soon as they went out of sight, the man wheeled around as he heard Riddhima whining in pain. He turned around to find her clutching her injured arm while blood was oozing from the wound and was flowing down through the gaps in her fingers.

She was about to collapse when two strong arms hold her securely. She clutched the man's shirt with her free, injured arm. She looked up and her eyes rested on an incredibly handsome face, flooded with worry. Her eyes were getting blurry and she was feeling dizzy and just before everything went dark she could hear a name being called out from what seemed to be miles away:

"Armaaan"

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(Sanjeevani hospital)

(A clean and tidy hospital room)

Riddhima was lying unconscious on the hospital bed while a doctor was checking her pulse beat by holding her wrist and was giving some instructions to the nurse standing beside him. Just at the moment he felt her moving. The doctor focussed his attention to his patient. Riddhima stirred and slowly she opened her eyes and blinked once and than once again. She looked at the doctor with a blank expression and then around her. She was astonished to find herself in a hospital bed. How come she landed there was all that was going on in her mind while she was frantically trying to recall what exactly had happened.

However, she was broke out of her trance by the voice of the doctor: "Are you feeling better now Miss…"

Riddhima: "Riddhima. Riddhima Gupta. I'm fine doctor. But how come I landed here in the hospital. Who brought me here? What happened to me?"

Doctor smiled at her anxiety: "Oh don't worry Miss. Gupta. Actually you got a deep cut on your right forearm and you fainted due to the blood loss it caused. Two young men brought you here."

Riddhima (confused): "I….how I got the cut…(And it was then that the events of the day clicked on her mind and she remembered everything ) Oh…Oh yeah…Hey but where is the man who saved me from those goons?"

The doctor asked in a confused tone: "Goons!! What goons? Who saved you from whom?"

Riddhima: "That man with those hand…. Umm…..I mean piercing blue eyes."

"That man with those hand…umm…piercing blue eyes is off to take medicines prescribed for the pretty lady."

Riddhima was startled by the sudden voice and turned to the door to see a complete stranger beaming at her.

Riddhima: "Sorry I don't think I know you. And you are…"

The man: "Rahul. Rahul Oberoy."

The doctor smiled at the young and handsome man and then turning towards Riddhima he spoke out: "He is one of those two men who brought you here."

Riddhima turned to Rahul and smiled gratefully: "thank you so much Mr. Oberoy."

Rahul smiled back: "First of all I'll really be glad if you call me Rahul only. Mr.oberoy sounds like I'm too old. And secondly not me you should thank Armaan as it was he who saved you and brought you here. I just accompanied him."

Riddhima: "Armaan? Now who's Armaan?"

Rahul grinned: "Well the one with the hand…umm…piercing blue eyes."

Riddhima blushed slightly and lowered her eyes  as she knew that he understood that she intended to say handsome blue eyes.

Rahul smiled as he saw her blushing slightly and said to relax her: :its okay you know. Actually if you hadn't found them handsome then I would have doubted the working ability of your eyes." (And he started laughing)

Riddhima was surprised at first but then she too joined with him and began to giggle.

Rahul entered the room and walked upto Riddhima's bed: "Hey its not fair yaar. (He grinned as he saw her questioning look) Arey you know my name and even my best buddy's name but I don't know yours."

Riddhima smiled sweetly: "Oh that! I'm Riddhima."

Rahul grinned: "Wow such a sweet name. You know what it goes perfectly with your angelic beauty."

Riddhima giggled at this open flirting: " Thanx so much and you know what you are a confirmed flirt."

Rahul put a hand in his chest and the back of the fisted palm of his other hand on his forehead and dramatically said: "Oh you have shattered my heart into million pieces."

Riddhima giggled at this dramatic gesture while a voice spoke from behind:

"Then gather those pieces and throw the trash out of the window. At least you will get rid of your good-for-nothing burden that starts leaping at the sight of every other girl."

Rahul giggled while Riddhima was surprised to hear such an extraordinary rude comment.

Rahul turned to his left and as he turned Riddhima's gaze fall on the same incredibly handsome face with those handsome blue eyes, her saviour.

Armaan entered the room. For some weird and unknown reason even he couldn't get his eyes off those black, almond shaped eyes. They both again got lost in each other's eyes and just couldn't tear their gaze from each other. Once again the surrounding immersed into oblivion.

"ehem ehem"

Both Armaan and Riddhima came back to reality with a jerk with Rahul's fake cough and immediately looked away.

Rahul grinned at the awkward look at the faces of both: "buddies I have no probs at all. If you want I can just leave you two alone and come in only when you will call me. Ouch! Ammy!!"

He started rubbing the spot on his head where he just received a hard smack from Armaan.

Armaan: "just shut your filthy mouth up okay! (now turning to Riddhima) And you! Are you a mental case? Do you think yourself to be the Bandit queen? Why the hell did you jumped in between the ruffian and me? You could have screamed or just warned me. I would have handled it. What the hell were you thinking when you jumped right in front of that idiot?"

Riddhima was shocked at first at his sudden outburst but she was no other girl who would fumble for words in front of Armaan Mallik. She was different and a real hard nut to crack and that she showed aptly when she stepped down from the bed and stood up in front of Armaan, looking straight into his face.

Riddhima (in a calm and determined tone): "No I am not. And I did that to save your life, the one who saved me and that old man. And well you don't have to be a bandit queen to try and save people's life. The only thing you should have is the zeal to save others even at the cost of your life. And if you can put your life in danger for a complete stranger than so can I. got it? And anyways stop bursting at me and tell me why did you not get your wound dressed up? (pointing towards the cut on his forehead) Blood is still oozing from it."

Armaan was shocked like hell to hear her. No one had ever spoke to him like that before, with so much authority, at least not in the past ten years since his mom's death. It was his mom who used to speak to him with such authority. After her death even his dad did never speak to him in that manner, knowing fully well his mood swings.

Even Rahul couldn't believe his own eyes and his own ears as to what he had just witnessed. He fully expected Riddhima to cower under his friend's deadly glare and rudeness and to fumble for words. But there she was, instead of giving in to Armaan's rudeness she ordered him. Rahul couldn't help admiring her courage.

Rahul (in his mind): "This girl really is different."

However, his chain of thought broke with the voice of a shocked Armaan.

Armaan: "Huh! What?"

Riddhima: "What what? I said you should get your wound dressed up as its not good to leave it open for so long. (now turning to the doctor) doctor plz dress up his wound too."

Rahul couldn't help smiling at his friend's baffled condition. He expected Armaan to retort back but Armaan was too shocked to react. However, his trance broke as the clock in the room stroke 10.

Riddhima glanced at the clock and gasped: " oh no! oh no! I'm late! Dammit I'll b late for my interview. Okay guys bye. I'll have to rush now."

She ran up to the door and then stopped and turned back again. Looking up to Armaan: "BTW thanx so much for saving me. But that doesn't mean you can get off with that wound. Get it dressed. Right now."

Now it was Armaan's turn: "Hey watch it woman! Who are you to tell me what to do?"

Riddhima: "Your wellwisher and it is needed because you don't seem to know what is good for you."

She giggled at his frowning face and waving a bye, went out of the room.

Rahul shook his head with admiration: "Cool man! Finally we found someone who can stand up to YOU and  moreover tell YOU what to do."

Armaan was irritated: "Stop overreacting you moron!"

Rahul giggled: "Overreacting? What are you saying Armaan? This is such a news. A girl has snapped back to The Armaan Mallik – rudeness and arrogance personified. Every single person has the right to know this."

Armaan was now really annoyed: "Rahul I swear one word about this to anyone even Dad and you are so gone. Moreover Dad will be paranoid once he hear of this incident. So better keep your mouth shut."

To this even Rahul agreed as he knew how much Armaan meant to Siddharth Mallik.

Rahul: "Aye aye sir. But only for unkle."

Armaan gave one of his rare smiles, flashing his dimples, that genuinely reach to his eyes.

Rahul however had no intention to stop teasing Armaan: "Well well she was extremely beautiful wasn't she?"

Armaan: "As if I care!"

Armaan turned to the other side and a sweet smile crept onto his lips as he himself couldn't stop pondering over those beautiful almond eyes.

Armaan (in his mind): "Not only beautiful Rahul, she is a very nice person who is full of humanity and kindness, a quality very rare these days. And those eyes they are enchanting. What? Enchanting? (He was surprised at his own flow of thoughts) What the hell are you thinking man? Now you yourself are going insane. You are losing it. Really now! You'll probably never meet her again. So stop dreaming about her. You have seen lots of girls before and never ever gave them a second thought. Then what's wrong now? Just forget it."

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(The corridor of Sanjeevani which led to the main exit)

Riddhima was walking through the corridor. She was not in his usual cheerful mood but appeared to be a little lost in her thoughts about something or rather 'someone'. Slowly a small smile crept onto her lips.

Riddhima (in her mind): "dunnow what happened to me! How could I talk to some one who is a complete stranger to me with so much authority? Was I wrong? But then why did it feel so right? Why he didn't seem to be stranger at all? But I must say he is a gem of a person. He didn't even thought twice before risking his own life for a stranger. He is incredibly handsome (She blushed slightly) and those intense blue eyes, I felt like drowning in them. (However realising with an abruptness what she was thinking, she smacked herself mentally) Get a grip on yourself girl! What are you thinking? He is just a stranger whom you will probabaly never meet again. And here you are dreaming about him. Come out of your reverie girl and be practical. You hear me be practical. And stop being so stupid."

She shook her head violently as if trying to shake off all thoughts and especially two incredibly handsome blue eyes from her mind and strode out of the hospital in a haste.

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