Bhadran was taking care of Mullai in the hospital. "Sit next to Mommy, little one," he said, making Vaishu sit on the bed, and then woke Mullai up. As Mullai woke up and sat up, Bhadran extended a spoon of porridge towards her.
She opened her mouth and accepted it, and only then did she see Theeran and Vaishu. They had cried even for a minor sprain in the morning. Now she had suffered a major injury. She looked at them worriedly, thinking how much pain they must be in.
She lifted her hand, which had the IV drip attached, and called out to Theeran, "Come here, my dear." Theeran slowly came near Mullai, and the pain was evident on his face as he called out, "Mom..." He looked at Mullai's injured hand and then gave Bhadran a reproachful look.
Theeran's gaze truly made Bhadran feel guilty inside. But it lasted only a few seconds. Without looking at Theeran, he started feeding Mullai the porridge. When he saw the porridge dripping from her lips, something stirred within him.
Seeing the moistness of her lips, his own lips lost their composure and began to tremble slightly. He felt an urge to taste those lips right then. Bhadran, still looking at her lips, reached for the porridge in the bowl with the spoon, only to find it was already empty.
There was only one spoonful of porridge left, and he took only a small amount, not even a quarter of it, and fed it to her. He then reached out to wipe the porridge from the corner of her mouth.
But Theeran wiped it away before he could. Bhadran took the bowl from his hand and looked at it; there was no porridge left. Theeran stared at Bhadran with his piercing eyes, and Bhadran was at a loss for words. To escape Theeran's piercing gaze, Bhadran immediately got up from his seat, carried Vaishnu, and sat down on the sofa. "Little one, shall we eat?" he asked, and putting the food Hari had brought onto a plate, he mashed it and tried to feed her. But Vaishnu didn't take it and kept looking at Mullai.
Her little face looked like it could burst into tears at any moment. He understood that she needed her mother now. Bhadran said, "Little one, go to your mother," and she immediately got down from him, ran to the bed, and hugged Mullai.
Theeran also hugged Mullai, and tears streamed from both their eyes. They couldn't hold back their emotions any longer. After all, they were just children, weren't they? Their mother was everything to them. How could they bear it if something happened to her?
Especially Vaishnu, who looked at her injured hand and sobbed, "Mom! Mom! Does it hurt you a lot?" Tears streamed from Mullai's eyes too, seeing the children cry.
Mullai kissed the foreheads of Theeran and Vaishnu, who were hugging her, and said, "It doesn't hurt me, my darlings, don't cry. Look, seeing you cry makes me want to cry too."
Both of them looked up at Mullai, and each wiped away the tears from her eyes. "No, Mom, we won't cry. You shouldn't cry either," Theeran said, and Vaishnu added, "Yes, yes... you shouldn't cry, Mom."
Mullai smiled slightly and looked at Theeran. "Theera, you shouldn't cry like this over small things. You're the only boy in our house. Should you cry? Tell me. Whatever happens, you have to be brave. You have to think about what to do next. Instead of that, my Theera shouldn't cry like a little child," Mullai explained patiently. Theeran nodded, saying, "Okay, Mom." Watching this, Bhadran understood who was the reason for Theeran's courage. The one who roared like a cub tiger outside became as docile as a kitten in front of his mother. He thought that his mother must be his whole world, and he looked at them with admiration.
Then Mullai looked at Bhadran and said, "Sir, please feed the children." Immediately, Bhadran came to their side and first fed Vaishnavi. When he tried to feed Theeran next, he turned his face away.
Mullai then said, "Theeran, you shouldn't behave like this. I've told you how much your mother struggled for even a single mouthful of rice, haven't I? Eat without being stubborn." Only then did Theeran open his mouth and accept the food.
Watching this with surprise, he fed both of them, and after eating himself, he took the medicine given by the doctor and a glass of water and offered it to Mullai. As Mullai took the medicine from his hand, his cool fingers brushed against her palm, and that touch affected her in some way.
For some reason, Mullai's heart started beating rapidly, and after swallowing the medicine he gave her, she looked up at Bhadran. He stood there majestically, wearing a Western suit and a black overcoat. His beautiful eyes shone like the sun. He was a king who ruled a vast empire. He was a cruel monster, a man whom an entire town feared.
Yet, such a man behaved gently only with her. She felt like leaning on him...
She couldn't control her emotions. She was staring at Bhadran in a strange state. For some reason, his heart fluttered like a gentle rain shower as she gazed at him without blinking.
Bhadran also looked at her without blinking. Annoyed by the way they were looking at each other, Theeran called out, "Amma." Mullai, snapping out of her trance, averted her gaze from Bhadran and looked at Theeran.
Theeran rubbed his eyes and said, "Mom, I'm sleepy." Immediately, Mullai moved over a little and lay down, saying, "Theera, lie down here," pointing to the space next to her. Theeran came and lay down. "Vaishu, come and lie down next to your brother," Mullai called out, and Vaishu lay down next to Theeran.
This was because Mullai had an injured hand, wasn't it? If Vaishu slept on Mullai's other side, she might accidentally climb onto Mullai's injured hand in her sleep. What could be done? That's why she made her sleep next to Theeran.
Since the bed was large, four people could easily sleep on it. Because Mullai had taken medicine, she fell asleep quickly, and she slept along with the children. Poor Bhadran was wondering where he would sleep, because the sofa was very small. Bhadran couldn't sleep on it.
As he was thinking about what to do, he heard a voice say, "Sir," and turned around. Mullai had woken up and was looking at him. "Sir, where are you going to sleep? If you don't mind, you can come and lie down next to me. There's plenty of space," she invited him. Would he refuse? He immediately went and lay down next to her.
Mullai tossed and turned for a while, unable to sleep in his proximity, but eventually, she fell asleep. Bhadran also knew that she had fallen asleep. The woman, who had been tossing and turning all this time, was now lying still in one place. He lay down carefully, making sure his hand didn't touch her injured arm, and then he too fell asleep.
It was 2 AM. The room was silent, except for the ticking of the clock. At that moment, Theeran's phone vibrated. Always alert even in his sleep, he woke up at the sound, took his phone, and quietly stepped out of the room. He answered the call and held the phone to his ear.
It was Yukesh calling from abroad. Before Theeran could even say hello, Yukesh's voice urgently said from the other end, "Theera, you have to leave immediately and come here. There's a big problem going on here. I tried to control it as much as I could, but I couldn't. When will you leave?"
Theeran thought for a moment, then said, "Yukesh, I'll leave today," and hung up the phone, beginning to think intensely. As he was wondering how to go, he turned around at the sound of Bhadran's voice behind him, "Where are you going today?"
The seriousness on Theeran's face was evident. But Bhadran, not understanding the reason, stared intently at his face. Even in the darkness of the night, his face looked handsome. Bhadran had never seen Theeran smile before. Like Bhadran, he too was always serious.
Theeran just stared without saying anything, and Bhadran, looking at him, asked again, "What happened? I asked where you're going?" This time, he asked more firmly. Theeran opened his lips and for the first time said, "Dad, you have to do something for me."
Hearing him call him 'Dad' made Bhadran incredibly happy. For so long, he had longed for his son to call him 'Dad' affectionately, and this was a pleasant surprise. As Bhadran was wondering, "Is this really true?", Theeran pleaded, "Dad! Dad! Please do this one favor for me, don't say no, please!" Bhadran, kneeling down in front of him, said, "Theera, tell me what help you need, I, your father, will do it. You don't have to beg for it."
Theeran, with a slight, mysterious smile playing on his lips, looked at Bhadran and said, "Dad, I need to go abroad urgently. And without Mom knowing... You have to handle Mom by telling her something. I'll go today and come back tomorrow night, please Dad. Just do this for me, Dad..." He was pleading in a way that was unlike his usual self.
Hearing what Theeran said, Bhadran looked at him in shock, "What, abroad?" As Theeran continued to plead, Bhadran said, "Okay, I agree for your sake. But there's one condition," and Bhadran paused, making Theeran look at him questioningly.
"It's nothing much, just like you called me 'Dad' now, you have to call me that from now on. If you agree to this, I'll help you go abroad," Bhadran said, laying down a clever condition, leaving Theeran bewildered, unsure of what to say.