Yaadein - Part 7

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Chapter 7 

City Hospital

2 hours Arnav paced nonstop before the ICU where Aarav was diagnosed. He had called up the best Doctors of the city to come and treat his son. Aarav was still unconscious and needed blood. Aarav’s blood group was rare and Arnav had already contacted every blood bank of the city and was waiting for some positive response. Anjali had contacted their relatives to check if anyone had the same blood group but to no luck again. The ones whose blood group matched were either not in the country or suffered from minor ailments, declining the possibility of donating blood.

“Chotte, please don’t lose hope. We will find someone soon” Anjali tried to ease her panicked brother. “I have asked Aman to put advertisements on the radio and television as well. Believe in God. Everyone is praying for Aarav. He will be fine”

Patience was not in his dictionary right now. Arnav clenched his fists for being in such a situation where he couldn’t use all his power and money to get some blood for his son. He had been controlling his tears so far but when the doctor returned to them again, he could read the urgency in the Doctor’s eyes and his helplessness roared.
“We have to arrange the blood as early as possible Mr. Raizada. We do not have much time” Dr. Ruhana mentioned. “Is his mother not in town?”

Arnav froze. Mother? His eyes sparkled with hope. How could he miss this? Aarav and his mother’s blood group matched. But calling her was risky. Could he risk all these 7 years by bringing her here? He had to if that meant saving his son’s life. He had to shrug all his ego away for a while.

“I will get her…” Arnav rose to his feet. “Just look after Aarav Doctor.. I am getting his mother”

Saying that he ran towards the elevator. Anjali and Sheetal were sitting at the corner having no clue where he left.

“I cannot see Aarav in this state, Anjali” Sheetal sobbed. “I will pay a visit to the nearby temple and pray for him there..”

Anjali shook her head weakly. Aarav was the apple of her eye and his life was in danger and yet she could do nothing for him. Tears sprung from her eyes.

“He will be alright. Our prayers will work” Sheetal added before leaving the hospital.

****************


Gupta Villa


Khushi saw the file her father just placed on the table.

“Sign each of these papers Khushi” Shashi’s hands shivered as he waited for Khushi to pick the file. He had carefully positioned the legal papers in between the land deal documents. Even if she reads one or two pages, she would think they are all for the same purpose and sign them all. But she seemed lost ever since she had returned home.

“Khushi” he shook her to break her stance. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing Dad” she faked a smile. “I will check them and sign. Give me some time please”

Shashi denied.

“I have checked each one of these papers. You can sign them blindly. Or should I say you don’t trust your father?”

“Dad…” she sighed. “Why would I not trust you? It’s just that I am a bit lost today. I don’t feel good”

“You not feeling well? Why didn’t you tell me?” Shashi immediately touched her forehead. It was burning. “You have fever Khushi. You should.. you should rest. Let me get you medicines. Stay here”

Shashi hurried upstairs. Khushi leaned back over the couch. She didn’t know what went wrong with her body but ever since she returned from Shantivan, she felt weak. She lost her appetite. Something wasn’t right. She could sense it. Someone close to her.. dear to her was in pain but she didn’t know who? The stress shooted her own body temperature and resulted in this fever but she didn’t care. She didn’t need rest but peace of mind. She heard sounds of footsteps and when she raised her head, she saw Arnav Singh Raizada storming in her house. She stood up, shocked. It was hard to decipher why he was here but she could read the growing pain on his face. He was in deep shit!

“Come with me” he said holding her hand.

“Arnav?” she forced herself not to give in to his commands. Why was he here? Where did he want to take her? “Where are you taking me? Arnav please stop”

He dragged her to his car but when she kept struggling to free herself, he pinned her to the car door.

“I need you to come with me. I need your help and God knows you are the only on who can do this otherwise I wouldn’t be here”

His plead sounded genuine. He opened the car door for her and she quietly sat in. Did he even realize she was burning with fever? Arnav started the engine and drove them out.

“What help? Is everything alright? Please say something”


She pleaded him to speak up but didn’t get any answers until they reached the city hospital.

“Hospital?” she jerked as he parked the car. “Who is in the hospital?”

She got down with him and once again, he held her arm and dragged her inside.

“Is.. is Aarav okay? Is he .. is he here? Arnav say something. I will get a heart attack if you stay mum”

“Doctor” Arnav stormed inside Dr Ruhana’s cabin with Khushi alongside. “She is here.. Just… just save my boy”


Dr Ruhana smiled at Khushi who had no clue what was happening. But the moment Arnav used the term Boy, she connected the dots. Her body trembled as she met Arnav’s gaze again.

“What happened to Aarav? Is he okay? Where is he? Say something” she shook him hard; her nails pierced through the fabric of his shirt and bruised his biceps.

“Aarav met with an accident”

Her lips quivered and eyes grew shinny with tears. Aarav met with an accident?

“Khushi.. please come with me. We need your blood for Aarav and we don’t have much time” Dr. Ruhana took Khushi with her in the other room, followed by some nurse and the assistant Doctor.

“How is Aarav, Doctor? Is he conscious? Can I see him?”

“Not yet. But once the blood transfusion is done, he will regain consciousness. One minute. You got fever? Are you sick?”

“no.. I.. I am absolutely fine. Please take my blood and save Aarav” Khushi argued.

“Khushi, it’s against our policy to take blood from someone who is already unwell”

“I said I am fine. Do not bother about me. Just .. save my boy.. please” she pleaded.

Dr. Ruhana nodded but she had to follow the procedures too.

“We will need your signatures on some papers then. Just few formalities. We will do this parallelly so that we don’t waste time. Please lie down”

Khushi followed every instruction given by the Doctors silently praying for Aarav in her mind. How did he meet an accident? Why did this little boy always land in trouble? Her heart cried whenever she recollected Aarav’s innocent face. This is what she had sensed from evening. She heard the assistant doctors discussing all the efforts the Raizadas had put in arranging this specific blood group for Aarav and failed. Khushi was glad that her blood group matched with Aarav’s but she couldn’t apprehend how Arnav knew her blood group? And even if he did during the college days, it was impossible he would still remember it after 8 long years. Something was amiss and she decided to speak to Arnav once things settled down here.


*******************

“You brought her here?” Anjali snapped at her brother. “Do you realize what would happen if..”

“Aarav’s life is more important to me than any other thing in this world. I want to save my son, Di. He is my priority. She is the only one who could save him today”

Anjali rolled her eyes and took a seat again.

“She better leaves before he wakes up” she mumbled staring blankly at the ICU.

Dr Ruhana came out smiling at the siblings.

“Aarav is out of danger now. He should regain his consciousness any moment”

Arnav let out a sigh of relief. His heart had almost stopped beating from last few hours.

“Can I see him?”

“Not yet. But you can meet Khushi. She is too pale right now. I had told her it is against our policies to take blood if the person is already sick. But she didn’t pay heed to our terms. After all she is a mother. She risked her health and save her child”

“Sick?” Anjali interrupted.

“She is having a fever and this blood donation has taken some serious toll on her energy levels. She will have to stay tonight under observation”

Anjali started at Arnav who had an unreadable expression on his face. Dr. Ruhana left and Anjali decided to ease Arnav’s confusion.

“Don’t bind any hopes from that woman Chotte. I am sure she has her reasons to do all these favors upon us”

Arnav pulled out his phone from pockets.

“I am calling her father. He needs to know and stay by her side” he strode away.

Anjali watched him cluelessly. She wouldn’t let her brother sulk again because of this woman. He had seen and tolerated enough.


*****************

Khushi woke up with a jolt at the sound of the ambulance. It took her a few seconds to realize she was in Hospital. The continuous ringing of the ambulance van outside, burned her body even more. She hated hospitals and even the thought of them nauseated her. 7 years ago after that terrible accident, she had shown enough patience to stay in a place like this for weeks and then her regular visits with the Psychologists and other brain doctors, undergoing therapies had killed her soul. She had lost every hope of regaining her memories.. her past. Even today when Arnav drove her here, she would have hesitated to get inside had Aarav not been sick. Aarav? How was he now? Was he better? She had to know because after the blood donation she had passed out. Khushi tried to get up from the bed but a nurse stopped her.

“Ma’am, please don’t get up. You need to rest for a while and let these energy shots work”

Khushi then realized she was injected with energy bottles. Two of them.

“I will send your father inside” the nurse said before leaving the room. Father? Her dad was here?

“Khushi” Shashi stepped in the room. “Thank God you are fine” he kissed her forehead.

“How is Aarav dad?”

Shashi knew this would be her first question.

“He is fine. He is conscious now and his father and aunt are around to look after him”

Khushi took a sigh of relief.

“How are you feeling? When you left the house without informing, I was so worried. It was later that Arnav called me up and informed where you are and why”

“He didn’t give me time to inform you” she replied. “Not his fault really. Had I been in his place, would show the same hurry for my son”

Shashi swallowed nervously.

“I have spoken to the doctor. You have to stay here tonight. You are too weak”

In any other circumstance Khushi would have denied and argued with the doctor and her father to release her from this place but today she didn’t. She wanted to stick around Aarav and ensure he was fine before she walked away. She readily agreed.


*****************

“It’s hurting” Aarav cried gripping Arnav’s shirt. It had been quite few hours that Aarav regained his consciousness but he didn’t complain about his hurt knee so far. Seemed like the effect of the pain killers were fading away and his little boy couldn’t tolerate the pain anymore.

“Aarav.. its going to be okay. You are a fighter aren’t you?” Arnav caressed his face.

“I want to go home..”

“we will go home tomorrow. I promise. Now you need to drink this soup first and..”

“No” Aarav pushed away the soup bowl. It was obvious his taste buds had perished.

“Okay, no soup. You want Pizza? Dad and Aarav will eat pizza today?”

“No, I don’t want anything” he cried clinging to Arnav’s chest.

Seeing Aarav’s pained look, tore Arnav’s heart into million pieces. He should have been there with his son in the fair. That accident would never happen. He had saved Aarav from every mishap so far because he hated to see his son cry. He had fulfilled all his crazy wishes, even the ones which demanded a mother for Aarav. Where had he failed? Where?

“Mr. Raizada” a nurse came inside, breaking his chain of thoughts. “Dr. Ruhana wants to see you”

Arnav nodded.

“Aarav.. I will be right back. Just lie down. Okay?” he wiped Aarav’s tears and slipped away.

Khushi Gupta saw Arnav leaving the room where Aarav was admitted. This was the best time she could meet Aarav. She had tried innumerous times from the past few hours to check upon the little boy but either her father denied or the nurses declined her request from getting down the bed. But now since her father had been in the Canteen to grab a dinner for them and the nurses weren’t around, Khushi used the opportunity to meet Aarav. She slowly entered his room and found the little boy pushing away the nurse who tried to feed him the soup.

“Aarav..” Khushi sobbed the moment she stepped in the room. Seeing him with so many bandages on his knees and forehead, stabbed her heart. She almost ran to the bed, forgetting her own body aches and pulled him closer. She kissed him all over his face and brushed his hair, snuggling him close to her chest.

“Khushi..” he snaked his arm around her waist.

“Ma’am, you are not supposed to be here. Please go back to your room” the nurse commanded.

“Please. Give me few minutes with him.” she pleaded.

“Khushi.. you got hurt too?” Aarav asked checking the IV kit injected on Khushi’s wrist. “I fell down from the ride.. And my knees hurt” he sobbed showing his own bandages.

Khushi sat next to him on the bed and embraced the little boy.

“Is it paining?” she asked nervously.

“Yes” he snuggled closer. Khushi noticed the nurse was still holding the bowl of soup which Aarav denied to even touch. She took it from the nurse’s hand.

“It will keep hurting until you finish this soup”

“I don’t want anything” he tried to push the bowl away but Khushi grabbed his wrist and kissed it.

“Aarav.. if you want the pain to go away so that you can go back home, you have to drink this. Even I had a bowl of soup and my daddy is taking me back home tomorrow”

Aarav seemed to be convinced.

“If I drink this, the pain will go?”

“Yes, but you got to finish the entire bowl and also take the medicines thereafter” Khushi filled the spoon with soup and brought it to his lips. “Open your mouth.. come on..”

“No..” he looked away.

“Please baby… for me..”

Aarav met her eyes and slowly opened his mouth. Khushi fed him the soup. The nurse was glad she could convince the kid and checking a few more readings on the monitor, the nurse left the two alone.

Arnav returned back to Aarav with Dr. Ruhana who wanted to take a few more tests of his son. The two heard the giggles coming from Aarav’s room and Arnav’s body instantly tensed knowing whose giggles those were. He saw Khushi feeding the soup to Aarav, sharing some jokes with him and the boy looked so calm and normal that indeed he had forgotten his pain.

“How dare she” Arnav was about to make his way inside, but Doctor Ruhana stopped him.

“You should let her be around Aarav” she insisted.

“No way” he snapped.

“Mr. Raizada. Think calmly. She is the only one who made him drink that soup. He was crying in pain all this while, she made him laugh. Your child needs her and if you want to see Aarav recovering soon, you should let him be happy. She makes him happy. For once, think from a father’s point of view”

Arnav wasn’t influenced by the doctor’s ideas but for now, he agreed.



To be Continued.


NEXT PART

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On the verge of getting married, Niyati elopes to fetch her lost life, only to be found again. They say when you are destined for someone, you find him no matter how far you run. Is Niyati ending up in a hopeless situation by tying this knot or is this beginning of something sparkling?

EXCERPT 1

The bustling sound of the vehicles didn’t stop her from running fast. She pushed people out of her way to escape from the busiest street of Chandanpur, a small town, few miles away from Delhi. People watching her might be surprised to see a woman in late 20’s, wearing grey jogging shoes in stark contrast to her Maroon Bridal attire. Running away from her family is inevitable. Sometimes you have to make difficult choices for yourself, to keep you safe from your own people. She had luxury touching her feet from childhood, servants walking around and fulfilling every demand she puts forth, but only when she grew up, she got the taste of her fate. All this extravagance had a price, all the moments she has spent with her foster parents had a price. And she was not ready to pay it their way.

EXCERPT 2


The elderly woman makes her sit next to the groom. He is wearing a strong masculine perfume which she is extremely allergic to. She twists her nose not to sneeze. He grips her hand and leans towards her.

“If you do this mistake again, I will chop your legs” he whispers.

Her eyes widen in shock. She knew the Zamindar is an arrogant man but his strength and powerful words is infusing fear inside her already nervous body. But she won’t let him mistake her to be his newly hired slave. She has a fitting reply ready.

“How will you sleep with a woman glued to the wheel chair for her life then?”

She finds his grip on her fingers tightening more.


A twisted tale of an unforeseen wedding fiasco.

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