Until You

by cid98

I've never known what it could feel like, to care for someone so much that you physically hurt when they do, that your heart constricts when they aren't at their best. It's never been that way until you...Please Read & Review...its my first one on Rajat-Purvi...

Summary: I've never known what it could feel like, to care for someone so much that you physically hurt when they do, that your heart constricts when they aren't at their best. It's never been that way until you.

Author's Note 1: The text in Italics is Rajat's memories

---

I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life and I thought
"Hey, you know, this could be something"
'Cause everything you do and words you say
You know that it all takes my breath away
And now I'm left with nothing

So maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
And maybe two is better than one
But there's so much time
To figure out the best of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one

I remember every look upon your face
The way you roll your eyes
The way you taste
You make it hard for breathing
'Cause when I close my eyes and drift away
I think of you and everything's okay
I'm finally now believing

That maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
And maybe two is better than one
But there's so much time
To figure out the best of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking two is better than one

I remember what you wore on the first day
You came into my life and I thought, "Hey,"
Maybe it's true
That I can't live without you
Maybe two is better than one
But there's so much time
To figure out the best of my life
And you've already got me coming undone
And I'm thinking
I can't live without you
'Cause, baby, two is better than one

But there's so much time
To figure out the best of my life
But I'll figure it out
When all is said and done
Two is better than one
Two is better than one

Two is Better Than One - Boys Like Girls ft. Taylor Swift

If his mind hadn't been so full of the events of the last couple of days, he might actually have enjoyed his surroundings a bit more. It wasn't every day he got more than five minutes to himself with silence so complete he could hear the beat of his own heart in his ears. His shoes were sitting on the floorboard of his car, so the wet sand was squishy between his toes as he walked along the deserted beach. Black slacks were rolled up in an attempt to keep them from getting wet, his hands were shoved in his pockets, and the red sweater he was wearing was barely keeping away the chill. His eyes were trained on the setting sun on the horizon, but he wasn't acknowledging the beautiful plays of blue, pink, red, purple orange, or yellow in the sky. His mind was elsewhere.

She'd enjoy standing here with him, watching the sun's dying rays play a sweet, colorful symphony in the sky, sparkling off the water and dancing around the clouds. He was sure she'd enjoy it, if she wasn't currently lying in the Hospital, sedated so she didn't make her injuries worse. His hands clenched into fists in his pockets while he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block the onslaught of images from that morning, ones that made him physically ill. He'd almost lost her, almost lost the one person he cared most for in this incredibly screwed up world. Just the thought of life without his black-haired teammate made him want to die. He wasn't one to give into such emotions, but damn it, losing Purvi would have been like cutting off his right arm, or carving out a hole in his heart again, like the one that had been there since his Mother's death, only this time much bigger than before.

He swallowed the bitter taste in his throat and took several long, calming breaths. She was safe; he had to keep reminding himself of that. She was safe and sound, and resting. Sachin and Nikhil were with her, Dr. Tarika was monitoring her. She was going to be okay. The bastard who hurt her was lucky he was dead now, instead of sitting in one of the containment cells; Rajat knew he'd have devised the worst possible torture for the guy if he hadn't already been reduced to ashes. Blowing out the breath he hadn't been aware he was holding Rajat shook his head to clear it of the anger currently rising. He had killed someone without a thought to his career or the consequences, all because Purvi had been hurt. It was something he had to learn to accept – he had taken a life in revenge for what had been done and what had been almost done to her.

And to think, the whole thing had started out as an undercover mission for the two CID Officers.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

2 Days Earlier

"Purvi, would you hurry up!" Rajat shouted in frustration as he entered Purvi's house. Nikhil was in the CID Bureau with Daya sir and Sachin going over modifications to the Bureau computers, leaving Rajat & Purvi to go on an undercover mission on their own. He'd waited for her for ten minutes before finally having had enough. Now he was standing in the doorway to her room, staring in fascination as she was bent over on her knees searching for something under her bed. Even in her saree, Rajat swallowed, she looked gorgeous.

"Sorry!" she squeaked, popping out from under her bed, holding the matching earring to the one already in her left ear in her hand. "I dropped the back to my earring."

"You should have just taken the other one off and come on. We're going to be late, and I don't know about you, but it's getting cold out, I don't want to run the city in 40 degree weather because ACP Sir found out we were late."

The CID Officer sent a withering glare in his direction. "Excuse me, contrary to what you seem to believe, I actually like to look good despite these god-awful uniforms we wear & for your kind information we are going out on an undercover mission so I need to look presentable. Unlike you, I have an image I do have to try and maintain," she grumbled as she shoved the post of her earring through her earlobe, letting out a screech when it didn't go in the hole.

"Purvi" he let out in surprise, rushing over to see how much damage she'd done to herself. "Let me look," he muttered. He gently tilted her head to the side, carefully brushed her hair out of the way, all the while trying NOT to think of the soft, sweetly scented skin of her face and neck. "Doesn't look like you're bleeding," he quietly determined, his thumb gently caressing the offended ear. He swallowed hard when Purvi shivered and turned her eyes to his.

"Will you put it in for me?" she quietly asked, offering up the back and the post.

"Sure," he gulped, biting his lip as he took the jewelry. Carefully, he slid the post into the hole in her ear before gently pressing the back onto it from behind. Satisfied that it was secured, he gave her ear one last caress to make sure it would stay put, but also to touch her while he could, before stepping back. The shiver that worked its way up her spine, producing goose-bumps on her skin didn't go unnoticed. "Ready?"

"Aye-aye Captain."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Staring out at the water's horizon, his eyes latched onto one of the many freighters leaving Mumbai city's harbor, bound for the other side of the world, and the luxury cruise ship closer to shore. It was amazing how much he and Purvi were like the two ships – they were from completely different worlds but still related somehow. God did he wish he could finally just work up the courage to tell her how he felt, but every time he did, he was reminded that their lives outside of CID were so far apart, and she was so far above him, that he felt he couldn't risk his heart.

Purvi was a different person when she was at CID then she was when her father was around, and it left him wondering sometimes which side of her was really her. But of course, that was just stupid, he knew which part of her was the real her. Hadn't he made it a point this last year to get to know all 12 of his teammates better? He'd spent countless hours just talking to her. Purvi wasn't, deep down, the hardcore officer everyone made her out to be, or even that she showed everyone. She had hopes and dreams that were very down to Earth, and most of them didn't involve herself. She wanted to start her own charity to help orphaned children from war ravaged countries and cities. She wanted to adopt kids as well as have her own. She wanted to make the universe a much safer place, not just as a member of CID, but as a diplomat. Surprisingly enough, Purvi was damn good when it came to discussing peace and diplomacy.

It had surprised him greatly over the course of the last year the kind of people she actually hung out with – other than Shreya, Tarika and himself, she spent a lot of time with a select group of friends she'd had since grade school. Rarely when she went out did she go and do the starlet thing – most outings were to the park, the beach, or a friend's house where she could be just Purvi and not CID inspector Purvi, Saviour of people . Maybe that's what attracted him to her. During the course of their first year as Officers, Purvi had always been the one to try and involve him in the plans the team made, activities they were doing, anything. She was the one who had taken a deeper look at him when he'd been grouchy, cranky, and surly. Hadn't she been the one to talk to him about why ACP sir blamed him for the kidnapping of child artist Mishka She'd been the first one of the team to stand up for him and his father when they were accused of murders they haven't committed. She was the only one he'd ever been comfortable physically touching and getting close to during that first year.

It still amazed him to remember that he had been head over heels in love with her before he'd realized he was even falling. Shreya and Tarika had unknowingly pointed it out to him about three months ago. Purvi had gone out on a date with a guy that he remembered not liking for some odd reason. He hadn't been able to say what bothered him, but something about the vibes he got just didn't sit well with him. Tarika had teased him after Purvi had left, asking him why he'd suddenly cared about Purvi's choice in dates. At the time, he hadn't thought anything of it. It wasn't until later that evening when he'd been helping Shreya with the upgrades to their Computer gears that he'd realized what was going on. The conversation he and Shreya had been having had gone from business to personal rather innocuously. When he'd mentioned Tarika's teasing and his own feelings about Purvi's date, the CID Officer had just stared at him, grinning, before she shook her head. He'd all but demanded to know what was obviously amusing her, and had been shocked as hell when she's said – "What you're feeling is called love."

He was in love with Purvi. It had knocked him for a loop, and taken him most of the night to come to grips with Shreya's assessment, but at just before sunset, as Purvi had quietly walked into the CID Bureau, Rajat realized she'd been right. It had been a long, confusing three months as his common sense and his heart battled back and forth over whether or not to tell her. After what had happened that morning two days ago, though, he knew as soon as Purvi was back on her feet, he had to tell her. He couldn't risk losing her again and not having her know how he felt.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Rajat motioned with his right hand for Purvi to pull over to the curb with him when he felt the vibration of his cell phone going off at his belt. Pulling up at the corner of the road & his destination, the pair quickly got off their car to answer Shreya's call.

"Rajat sir, we're getting a massive amount of cell phone readings of the criminal. You and Purvi are the closest to the vicinity; ACP sir wants you to check it out."

"You got it," Rajat responded, moving to clip his cell phone back on his belt. "Ready?"

"After you, fearless leader," she teased, popping her white and pink sari back onto her waist before peeling out seconds behind him.

At the main gate leading to the harbor, he quickly parked his car, and then carefully began heading in the direction of the disturbance. "Rajat sir, we're not going to find anything if we stick together," Purvi suggested, cocking her head to stare at him while he turned around to face her.

"I don't like the idea of splitting up, especially since we're walking blindly into this," he retorted.

"I'm aware of that, but it's quiet here. The disturbance probably got blown out of proportion. Look, let's split up, meet back here in ten minutes. If we don't find something, we can head back."

The Senior Inspector looked lost in thought as he struggled to decide what to do. He knew she was probably right; if they hadn't found their quarry yet, it was unlikely the criminal was even still in the vicinity. "Alright, let's go. Ten minutes, and keep your cell phone on handy just in case."

"What am I, stupid? Trust me, if I run into something you'll be the first to know," she joked before turning and heading to the right, leaving Rajat to shake his head after her and head left.

Ten minutes later, the Senior Inspector found himself alone at their meeting place, having heard no word from his teammate, nor having found anything in his search. He checked his watch several times over the next couple of minutes before he grabbed his phone. "Purvi, come on...pick up..." he spoke into the phone, his voice sounding as irritated as he felt. She said ten minutes, and damn it, he expected her to be on time. "Purvi, this isn't funny, come on!" he growled a second time, but only found himself met with silence. Gritting his teeth, he changed tactics. "Shreya..."

"Go ahead Rajat sir." she answered in a few seconds...on the phone

"Purvi and I split up twenty minutes ago, she's ten minutes late meeting me back at our rendezvous point. Can you please track her?"

"I'm showing her cell phone signal coming from approximately a mile from your location."

Rajat's eyes narrowed and his expression turned grim. "A mile? How the hell did that happen, it's only been twenty minutes, she'd have to have been running full on to get that far from here."

"Rajat sir, Nikhil's tried contacting her; she's not answering us either."

It was then that worry started seeping in. "Dispatch Sachin and Nikhil to Purvi's last known location; I'm heading that way now."

"Be careful."

The CID Inspector didn't answer; his heart was already up in his throat as he jumped on his car and sped the mile to Purvi's location. He was hopping off his car before the engine had even come to a complete stop. Tossing his fear aside, he quickly pulled his gun and began searching for his partner. "PURVI?" he hollered her name, his head whipping back and forth, eyes trained to catch any movement at all that would lead him to her. "PURVI!" he called again, hoping against hope she'd answer him.

"Looking for the little girl in Pink?" a sinisterly dark voice taunted from the shadows of a nearby alley. Rajat couldn't make out the figure, except that he was HUGE.

"Where is she? What have you done to her?"

"Oh her and I have been getting acquainted. The question,Senior Inspector Rajat, is what I will do to her if you don't throw your gun on the ground."

Anger and helplessness exploded across Rajat's face as fear filled him. "Let me see her!" he demanded, calculating how he'd get Purvi to safety. The second the hulking figure stepped from the shadows, Rajat's heart stopped. Massive didn't begin to describe this guy – he was well over six feet tall, a brick wall with legs as if his body was anything to go on, he had this sickly gray, scaly skin, his face loosely resembled a hideous cross between a snake and an iguana and one look into his eyes and all Rajat saw was evil. Black, bottomless pools of evil. He held Purvi like a rag doll against him, her face bloodied with bruises already forming.

"Like I said, we was getting acquainted. Now, Rajat, if you don't want to stand there and watch me while I slit her pretty little throat, you'll throw your gun over near that bench," the criminal gestured.

It burned like no other, but as Rajat quickly realized, he had no choice but to throw his gun away. "Rajat sir! Don't!" Purvi cried out, her voice cutting off in a tortured shriek as the criminal holding her wrenched her arm back and slid his knife under her chin.

"Now now Pinkie-girl, do you really want to die?" he hissed in her ear.

"You're already going to go to jail for what you've done to me, kill me and you'll get locked in one of those nifty containment cells CID is so fond of," she argued back, biting her lip through the pain. She could see the anger rising to the surface in Rajat – his body language was always far easier to read than his face. Only now, she could see those electric black eyes of his snapping with visible sparks of energy – something she'd never seen happen before. Rajat had been angry before – over ACP initially for counting him as a criminal, over somebody else's mistake, over the kidnapping of Mishka...but now...

She watched him shake his head, looking down at the gun in his hand. He couldn't seriously be considering tossing his gun…could he? He knew better – the fate of the many versus the fate of one; his job was to protect the people of country, not her. "Senior Inspector Rajat, don't you dare!" she yelled at him, but found her voice suddenly cut off as her captor squeezed a beefy hand around her wind pipe. She made a gasping sound and watched as Rajat flinched and flung his gun away.

"I did what you demanded, now let her go!" Rajat yelled back, his hands clenched at his sides, his whole body vibrating.

"I never said I'd let her go, I said I'd let her live….maybe," the criminal grinned. Rajat's eyes widened when the perp produced a long, curved blade from inside his jacket sleeve. "Since it took you so long to follow orders, and because she's got a big mouth, I think Pinkie here deserves a lesson. What do you think Inspector?"

Rajat flinched and lurched forward even as he watched the knife slide into Purvi's side. The scream that tore from her throat shredded Rajat's heart. "Uh uh, take another step and I slit her throat."

"LET HER GO!" Rajat yelled, his face as red as the dress that signaled his status. "Take me instead!"

"Oh no, boyo, watching her suffer is going to hurt you more," the criminal laughed. "Haven't you stopped to wonder why I'm doing this? I'd think a strapping young officer like yourself would want to know why I'm so intent on hurting the cute little Pinkie Teamate."

Rajat's thoughts couldn't get clear of the fact that Purvi was on her knees, her sari soaked through with her precious, life sustaining blood. He didn't care why this crazy person was doing this; all he wanted was to make it stop so he could get Purvi help. "I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"I want Keshav released."

Black eyes lifted to the gray face of Purvi's attacker. "Are you nuts? CID isn't going to release him, not after the devastation he caused."

"Not even for the beloved Sub-Inspector Purvi?" Rajat's eyes narrowed, this guy knew way too much about them for this to be random. So why hadn't he realized that to begin with? "That's right, Inspector, I know who you are. I knew who she was the minute she revealed herself to me. Keshav will pay me handsomely when he finds out I killed the infamous CID Team."

It pained him, even as Purvi's terror filled eyes met his, her head nodding. "Not even for her. Not for me, not for any of the other officers. CID doesn't make deals with terrorists and city invaders."

"Then I guess I get to make an example out of you, until your friends arrive," he quipped, jerking Purvi to her feet. Rajat could see her gasp in pain, but because of the injury to her throat, her scream was a silent one. "You're going to be the first to go, Sub-Inspector Purvi. And Rajat there's going to watch me take your life, going to watch the lovely light in your eyes go out, and know that there was nothing he could do. He's too chicken hearted, just like his father."

Whatever color was left in Rajat's face faded as he heard the perp's words. He could only watch on helplessly as the guy slammed his fist into Purvi's chest, dropping the Sub-Inspector to her knees again. The Senior Inspector could see the tremor of pain radiating through her body as her head fell backwards, tears trailing down her face. Finally having had enough, Rajat lunged forward just as another fist slammed into his teammate, sending her sailing limply through the air, crashing into a nearby wall.

Rajat snatched the stick from the ground on the fly, praying his aim was true as he hit on Purvi's attacker. An inhuman snarl let loose from the Senior Inspector's throat, drawing his opponent's attention to him. Rajat couldn't move fast enough, his legs and arms snapping out with lethal force as he attempted to take down the man who'd hurt his best friend. The blows did more damage to his own body then it did to the Criminal's. The big guy just laughed and dodged. "Ooooh, that tickles!" he laughed when Rajat nailed him dead center of his chest with his gun.

A blast of unseen power sent Rajat tumbling backwards, his instincts and skills kicking in just in time for him to right himself and dive out of the way of a gun blast. Rolling, Rajat finally came to a stop, just feet from the bench where he'd thrown his gun. His eyes flicked to the gun, then back to where his opponent was striding forward. He watched him reach for Purvi again, and felt an anger and hatred so hot flash through him. He reached out, his fingers clutching the gun, and began a sprint forward. Luckily for him, Purvi had just enough presence of mind to reach for her belt. He watched with satisfaction as her gun slammed into the jaw of her attacker, sending him stumbling back while Purvi fell to the pavement. With one arm, Rajat flung himself, as a shield out around Purvi and with the other hand, he accessed his gun. "YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!"

"You can't hurt me!" the criminal roared, even while he wiped the blood from his face.

"Try me," Rajat's voice was low, the tone deadly.

"Mind if we join the party?" a familiar voice rang out, announcing the arrival of Sachin & Nikhil.

The criminal sneered. "Ooooh, half the gang's here," he taunted. "I'll deal with you two once Pinkie and Rajat here are out of the way."

Sachin and Nikhil raced to Rajat's side, each of them gasping when they finally got a good look at Purvi's crumpled form. "We have to get her out of here," Sachin moaned, feeling Purvi's pain across the space between them.

"Then I guess Rajat sir better put to use our Presence" Nikhil ground out, his own anger rising to a crescendo. Even from the distance he was away from his teammate, he could see Purvi had lost a lot of blood."

Rajat motioned for the others to head for Purvi, while he charged their opponent, his gun drawn and quickly powering up as he moved. The Senior Inspector said nothing – could say nothing. He'd let this monstrous criminal damn near kill his best friend, his teammate, the woman he loved – Rajat'd be damned if he gave this lackey of Keshav's the satisfaction of knowing how much he had hurt him by doing what he had to his partner.

"NO!" the criminal yelled as Rajat repeatedly slashed out with his hand, his angry grunts accompanying each strike. When he found he could no longer lift his hand, Rajat stood back, chest heaving, and pointed his gun & fired straight at the criminals heart. As the dust settled, and realization sunk in, the Senior Inspector fell to his knees, a tormented sound tearing from his throat.

She'd lost so much blood. Sachin and Nikhil hadn't let him near her when they'd loaded her into the ambulance, because both of them knew the frame of mind he'd been in afterwards. It was hard enough having seen her at the ICU after she'd been cleaned up, stitched up, and put in a private room. Every last shred of his sanity would have fled if he'd seen her close up after the battle.

Even now, he still clung to the thin line between reason and madness. She hadn't woken up, and Dr. Salunkhae wasn't sure when, or God forbid IF, she would. She was alive, but her body had suffered major trauma.

Tarika had finally forced him from her room, telling him if he didn't get sleep and something to eat, she was going to go straight to ACP Sir about it. He knew she was trying to take care of him, but Rajat's one thought was to be by Purvi's side when she woke up. But, here he was, nearly two days later, standing on the beach, trying to bide his time and clear his head before he headed back to her room.

The sudden beeping jolted him from his thoughts, instinct had him reaching for his cell phone. "Rajat here."

"You need to get back to the Hospital, she's awake and asking for you," Tarika's tired voice piped through the phone. Rajat felt his heart soar.

"On my way."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Even under the bandages, bruises, and tubes that had kept her alive the last two days, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to him. He leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, watching Tarika as she wrote down her notes in Purvi's file. The Sub-Inspector was apparently fast asleep again, her bruised eyes dark against pale skin. He found he couldn't break the quiet; she looked so peaceful and his heart was still thumping painfully against his chest, knowing she was conscious. When their doctor cum advisor looked up, she caught his eyes, smiled and nodded before walking toward him. A second later she patted his left arm and whispered, "She's been asking for you, but Dr. Salunkhae gave her some more medicene , so she may slip in and out when they kick in."

"How's she doing?"

"Better...far better..."

Rajat just nodded his head, his eyes on Purvi's sleeping form. "I won't stay long," he told her, watching her smile from the corner of his eyes.

"You're fine. Right now, Dr. Salunkhae thinks your presence will help more than hinder. But don't forget, you got banged around too and you need rest. I've already sent Sachin and Nikhil to their houses." With that, Tarika slipped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her. Rajat stayed where he was, simply watching her. He felt if he moved he'd break the peace and quiet that had settled.

The silence was broken when Purvi moaned softly, scrunching her face up. Rajat looked alarmed until he realized her eyes were open and the setting sun was streaming right into them through the blinds of the window. Quietly, he moved over and closed the blinds, before turning and moving to sit next to her bed. Pulling the chair up, he sat as close as he could. Reaching out gently so as not to scare her, Rajat took her bruised and battered hand into his. "Rajat sir…" her voice came out a tiny sigh. Even just that simple word left her looking like she was in pain.

"I'm right here," he whispered back, unconsciously stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

He watched her struggle to open swollen eyes again. "Where were you?" she asked her voice breathy and strained.

"Beach," he responded, squeezing her hand lightly. "I'm okay. How are you feeling?"

"I feel like I got…." she struggled to tell him, swallowing to sooth her sore throat. "…run over by a truck."

"I'll bet," he tried to chuckle, but it came out a strangled sound, one that had her squeezing his fingers. He bit his top lip, as he was known to do when he was upset or nervous.

"Rajat sir…"

"Shhhh, it's okay," he reassured her. "Just rest."

Purvi watched him settle back in the chair, his fingers still twined with her own. She frowned, noticing all the small details only someone who really knew Rajat would notice, and she was confused by what they were saying – the Senior Inspector was nervous and hurting. He was staring down at her hand, his thumb still absently rubbing across it. He was still biting his lips, which meant he was deep in thought about what to say. And then there was the lines between his eyebrows, which Purvi knew very well only ended up there when he was upset about something. "Talk to me, Rajat sir," she murmured, squeezing his fingers to get his attention.

He said nothing, simply staring at her hand before his eyes rose to meet hers. "You scared the hell out of me," he finally managed, pain radiating from his navy eyes, arrowing straight to Purvi's heart. "I thought I'd lost you."

The Sub-Inspector couldn't help but feel guilty. Rajat's worst fear, she knew, was losing the ones he loved most. It was something she was sure he'd carry for the rest of his life. The scar of losing his Mother would impact all of his relationships, it was unavoidable. "Oh Rajat sir," she breathed, her eyes filling with tears.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, hoping to dispel the images Purvi knew were haunting his thoughts. Rajat felt things so much deeper than he ever let on. His detachment from situations didn't always mean what it seemed. "I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner, that I didn't stop him from hurting you," he let out in a rush.

"You saved me," she reminded him.

"I let him nearly kill you!" he almost screamed, his tone telling Purvi that perhaps for the first time she was about to see Rajat's emotions closer to the surface than she ever had before. "I panicked Purvi. I did everything I knew I shouldn't because I couldn't stand there and watch him hurting you!"

Gritting her teeth to keep from snapping at him, Purvi once again squeezed his fingers, only this time as hard as she could. She watched him flinch and pull out of the nearly panic-stricken train of thought he was traveling on. "Yes," she told him, watching his face start to close off. "But you kept your head and you got him. I'm still alive, because you did everything you could to make sure I stayed that way."

Rajat wanted to argue that fact, but the simple act of looking into Purvi's face stopped him. She was doing everything in her power not to fall back asleep despite how exhausted she was from the medicines and the repairs her system was making on her body. Without thinking, he blurted out, "If I lost you…."

Understanding settled into the deep crystal black orbs that Rajat had fallen in love with. Why she'd never seen it before was beyond her, but she saw it now. If a member of the team had gotten hurt on his watch and because of his actions, he'd be upset and feel guilty; Purvi saw now that if he'd lost her, he'd simply have shattered beyond repair. She knew that he cared about her, that he respected her, enjoyed her company; she'd never known that all those feelings had deepened as they had. It was a new sensation for her, to feel the love radiating out of him in waves. "Amazing isn't it?"

"What?"

"That we don't know what we've got till we nearly lose it."

For a second, she thought maybe his mouth was going to drop open, but Rajat only cocked an eyebrow and pursed his lips as he started at her, as if he was trying to understand what she was talking about. It was the look in his eyes though that told her he knew exactly what she was saying. "What do you mean?"

"My grandmother used to tell me that life is too short to not tell the people close to you how you feel," she whispered before her body was wracked by a coughing fit. She'd have rolled her eyes at him jumping up to help her if she hadn't hurt so much. Once the water from the cup he held to her lips slid down her throat, the coughing went away. Before he could go back to his chair, she took his hands in hers, forcing him to sit on the side of her bed. "You are important to me. That you are safe, happy, and healthy means the world to me, do you understand?"

"The feelings are mutual," he whispered, holding her hands a little tighter.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" She watched him nod and stare down at their hands. "I want you to tell me. No skirting around it, just tell me."

She held her breath, wondering at the tension that built in her body as she waited to see if he'd get past his hang up and simply tell her how he felt about her. She hadn't known how much it would hurt to think he didn't feel anything beyond friendship for her. "Purvi…."

"Coward."

Rajat's eyes snapped to hers, a look of terror there as she looked up at him intently. "I…" closing his eyes, he swallowed and wet his lips. "I have feelings for you. Ones that don't have anything to do with being friends or teammates."

"How long?" For the first time since she'd met Rajat, the Sub-Inspector watched him blush heavily. She giggled softly at the flustered look on his face. "Rajat?"

"A while."

Shutting her eyes, she held the image before her to her heart before she opened them again and looked up at him. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Blowing out a breath, he brought her hands up and kissed the tops softly before setting them back in his lap. "Probably cause until a few weeks ago, I didn't even realize it myself."

"Will you do something for me?"

"Anything."

Waiting until he was looking at her, Purvi bit her bottom lip. She almost started laughing when he let out a low groan when he caught sight of what she was doing. "When I get out of the hospital, will you go out with me?"

"On a date?" he let out the words, his voice strangled by shock.

"Yes, a date. A real one."

"Why…."

With a smile on her face, Purvi gently told him. "Because I have all these new feelings fluttering around inside me too, and I want to see where they're going to go."

His smile was worth more than every rupee her father could ever spend on her. When he nodded, she felt giddiness bubble up before the medicine finally kicked in, causing her to feel exhausted. "You need to rest," he whispered, leaning down to peck a soft kiss to her forehead. "We have plenty of time to talk about where we're going later."

"Stay with me," she yawned.

"Of course." Rajat did as asked, sitting on her bed with her until she dropped off into a deep, dream-filled sleep.