"La, how is Arnav?" Khushi asked, her heart was beating anxiously fast.
"Khushi, go home," Lavanya said and her tone was terrible sad. She was massaging her aching forehead as she sat in her office chair.
"La, I asked how is Arnav?"
"I said go home!" she repeated, this time little more angrily.
"La, please why are you angry at me?"
Lavanya had no answers to what Khushi had asked. And she herself did wonder if she really was mad at her.
"He is not well. Do you get that? I don't even know if he will ever be well now."
"What do you mean?"
"I just mean his condition is deadly serious. I don't see hope. Not anywhere."
"What the heck? How could you even say this about your friend, La?"
"If you being his wife couldn't take care of him what shall I say?" she retorted. She finished her sentence in agony but fell silent completely.
"I am sorry, Khushi. For the previous outburst and now. I hope he will be fine."
"La, I want to see him."
"Khushi, it's not possible. He is under observation and his treatment is going on. And since he is here you are my responsibility. I have to take care of you."
"La, I want to meet him," Khushi just had only one wish.
"Khushi, why don't you understand? You can't meet him."
"No body is allowed to meet him."
khushi knew it wasn't the truth. When she was away to take food for Arnav, she saw Anjali and Karan coming out of his room.
"I am his wife, I want to see him."
"Khushi, he doesn't want to meet you," she finally said the other half of the truth what she held it so far.
Khushi did expect it from Arnav. She knew what she did to him he will not meet her, but he told la that he didn't want to meet her was something that hurt her.
"But, Khushi, the only reason is, I must tell you, he is not well. If you will see him in this condition you might not able to see him. It will not be good for you and your baby. Moreover, he doesn't want you to see him in this condition."
"What exactly has happened to him?" she asked.
"His sugar is really low. We are providing him Insulin, but his body is not responding to it. Plus he has pneumonia. He has trouble breathing for that we had to put him on artificial oxygen and his coughing is really bad. Anjali and Karan went to see him, but Anjali only end up breaking in front of him. Khushi, he told me to tell you straight that he doesn't want to meet you. But he didn't mean it in a bad way. Yes, you are his wife. So, he wants you to take care of yourself and your baby."
Khushi couldn't tell if Lavanya was lying her or telling her the truth. But she knew Arnav in all this he would only be worried about her and her baby.
"Can I see him when he is sleeping?"
Lavanya immediately went to her and gave her the hug. Her cries made Khushi worried. "La, he is fine right?"
La broke the hug. "He will be," there was very little hope in her tone.
She looked it in her eyes and she could only tell Arnav was not at all fine.
She rushed to the ward. "Khushi," Lavanya said as she herself ran after her.
Khushi opened the door of Arnav's room and she saw Anjali crying.
"Bhabi see, he is not responding. Please only you could ask him to get up. More than anything he loves you. Please ask him to get up, he is not opening his eyes." Karan stood behind Anjali, his face deadly pale. As he saw his best friend's body.
He wasn't coughing at all, that was the lie La told her. His chest was flat, she stared at it and he wasn't at all moving.
"Why are you crying, Anji?" She asked angrily.
"Bhabi because he is not talking to any of us. I tried, Karan tried, la tried. But he is not saying a word."
So, la was lying to her, she concluded.
"He will talk to me," Khushi said. "He will defiantly do."
Her mind had stopped working at once. As she took one step towards Arnav, her heart jumped in her throat. Her legs were shaking.
Her mind was telling her nothing could happen to Arnav.
"Arnav, please open your eyes and say something..."
Arnav's monitor showed a flat line. "Arnav," she called.
Arnav beside all his pain and numbness, heard only Khushi's voice he felt nothing but anger. He took one sharp breath of air to suck in all the oxygen that his lungs would have been deprived of. As in something kicked him and he so wanted to get up and ask her to go away from him.
La immediately came forward. And asked everyone to leave the room and she called the senior doctors.
None of them knew if they should be happy that Arnav did show some moment or sad that doctors were inside for the past three hours.
***
Finally, when Lavanya came out of the I.C.U., a little smile of hope on her face made Khushi relieved.
She got up from the chair and rushed to Lavanya. "Arnav...How...How is he?"
"He is out of danger, Khushi. But it will take some time for him to get well completely. However, he is doing lot more better. Khushi, it is only because of you. The improvement in his health has only gotten better after you went to see him. Although, he asked me not to let you to meet him. But if I knew it will help him to get better in your presence than I wouldn't have let you go away from him. Anyways, he is sleeping at the moment."
"Congratulations, Anjali, your brother is out of danger. Now go and eat something. I am here with Arnav. And take Khushi with you.
"Khushi, don't you worry. Please go and eat something."
"Bhabi, let's go. Lavanya will take care of Arnav until we come back," Karan said.
Khushi reluctantly went with Karan and Anjali to home to eat food.
***
The next day...
"Arnav, how are you doing?!" Lavanya asked, and she checked his chest with her stethoscope. His chest was clear, no sounds of any sort of infection was there. And the tests showed that his sugar levels were all clear.
"Great recovery, Arnav."
Arnav smiled. "Thanks to you. Doctor told me you took good care of me."
His voice was low that told her he was still weak.
"Before being a doctor I am your friend, Arnav. I didn't want to loose a friend like even it meant giving my own life. Now, you are fine. You know
how scared everyone was. Anjali hasn't eaten anything until now. She would neither eat until, she sees you and talks to you. But, Khushi, had. For the sake of your baby she did. I did as you told me."
Lavanya saw a sudden enrage in his eyes. When before Arnav had told her to tell Khushi he didn't want to see her he didn't respond to anything, she thought that was because he was sick. But when Khushi came into the I.C.U., he did show a sign he was alive. However, now again she felt her previous assumptions were wrong. She didn't see anything in his eyes for her but something more dangerous. If there was anything she would ask him and he will tell her for sure. But at the moment she didn't want ask anything.
***
For a week, Lavanya took care of Arnav at the hospital. And Arnav hardly let Khushi come and see him. Whenever she wanted to see him he was either sleeping or if she was able to come to his ward he immediately told her to leave. One fear he had in his heart that today also, she would only make fun of him and even worst.
Now the truth was, there was limit to acceptance of him to Khushi's wrath that had made him deprive of the so called emotion "love." He regretted why did he think that taking his own life would make any difference. It was such an act of a weak human and against the law of lives. No, he wasn't this weak. He had gone through the worst and he lived and what had happened now, that was it, he wouldn't let anything to control his life he promised. Neither his own emotions that he was already sick of and to complete extent robbed of.
***
"Arnav, today, you will be discharged," Lavanaya told. "But it doesn't mean you are perfectly fine to go to work. An another week of complete bed rest."
"You sound more like a dictator to me," Arnav joked.
Lavanya laughed.
"That's everyone thinks of a doctor when they ask their patients to have bed rest and not to forget to take medicines."
"Everyone is really waiting for you. Khushi, Anjali, Karan."
Honestly, if Khushi waited for him or not didn't matter to him. He hardly showed any sign of anger or anything.
"Lavanya."
Lavanya put her clipboard away and sat beside Arnav.
"Yes, Arnav."
"Because of me everyone at home had been really tensed. I really want to ease up the whole tension."
"Tell me, Arnav, how may I help you?!"
"I want Anjali and Karan to get married as soon as possible. And I am thinking we could get both of them engaged."
"Arnav, you spoke my mind. This is what I was thinking. Our Anji and Karan are pretty much in love. Karan was there with her whole time and didn't left her. That's the first sign of love, Arnav. And I have seen the love in their eyes and the concerns they have for each other. I really think they will make cute couple. Don't you worry. I am with you. And I will make sure me and you and Khushi do everything."
"I don't want Khushi to be part of it," he said plainly.
Lavanya pretended as she didn't notice the difference in his voice.
"Oh yeah, she is pregnant. Okay, me and you will do everything."
"Let's go home."
***
When Arnav reached home with Lavanya, Arnav got a pleasant surprise. Arnav's cousin Akaash, along with his mom and dad (mama and mami ji) had come. Khushi's parents had come too along with Payal. And they had little family gathering with some other close friends.
Khushi's felt a gush of relief seeing Arnav. But she didn't come in front of him for quite some time. Reasons were many. Her heart ached knowing he didn't want to see her. And many times before he completely ignored her. Not when he was sick in the hospital and neither now.
She decided to wait there in the all for few minutes so that nobody get a hint that there was something wrong.
She saw Arnav coming towards her. She clenched her hand in a fist in a fear. Her heart was beating fast. She kept on looking at him.
"A welcome home party for me, huh?!" Arnav said in Khushi's ear with a smile as he was talking about something really pleasant.
He wrapped one arm around her, but shortly let go it.
"Sorry, I forgot you don't like being touched by me. Anyways, your presence here didn't make no importance to me. Only standing beside you so that my family who is here thinks you are really happy to see me back. Which of course you are not!"
"No, it's not the truth, Arnav."
He completely ignored her answer. He raised his glass of champagne in the air towards his friend, Karan and his cousin Akaash. Arnav smiled at them. And they did the same and raised there glasses in the air.
But he didn't stand there for a long time.
"Thanks for the welcome home party. Which of course you really meant to keep! Sorry, you have to tolerate me. But you see there is no other way out."
He went to see his only family who immediately came from London as they came to knew Arnav wasn't fine.
Khushi went straight to the kitchen, and busied herself. But her eyes never left sight of Arnav. Lavanya was with him and of course his family too. But Lavanya's presence beside him left her feeling jealous. And Arnav too seemed to be really happy. Was he pretending; yes, no?! She couldn't tell. If he was, he was a great actor; if not, which was the truth that Khushi didn't matter to him.
Slowly and gradually, his heart did turn into a stone. And if today, anybody would say where is his love for Khushi? Would be a fool to ask. Afterall, he was just a human.
In the end if Khushi wanted to test the limits of his patience and love, this was it.
It was hard to provoke, Arnav Singh Raizada but Khushi did it...
***
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