Arnav heard her calling out to him before he saw her from the top of the stairs.
"Khushi" he yelled, as she floated to the ground like a sheet of paper making its descent.
He ran down the stairs, skipping two and even three steps at a time until he stumbled forward into the living room.
Payal was holding Khushi by the shoulder and shaking her. Aunty and Buaji were crouched beside them, calling Khushi by all her different names.
Arnav sank to his knees and delicately removed Khushi from Payal's arms. Cradling her neck with one arm, he patted her cheeks with the other.
"Khushi" he said, "Wake up'kya hua tumhe?"
Her eyelids fluttered open and close several times in quick succession and Arnav's heart began thudding loudly in his chest.
"Payal, please paani leke aao" he said, "Jaldi"
Payal got to her feet and hurried away. Arnav patted Khushi's cheeks with a little more force than before.
"Khushi, open your eyes" he said, panic breaking his voice. "Apni aankhen kholo, dammit"
She opened her eyes, the strain of it evident in her face.
A ripple of fear shot through him and he looked up desperately.
"Di, I think we should call the doctor" he said, "Aapke pass number hai na?"
Di stared back and forth from Khushi to him, uncertainly. Arnav realized then that no one in his family had moved at all. They were staring at the two of them as if they couldn't believe their eyes.
"What?" he asked, unable to hide his irritation.
He had a vague feeling that something wasn't right but this was hardly the time for it. Why wasn't Di dialing for the doctor?
"Arnavji" Khushi's voice was barely above a whisper.
She squirmed in his arms trying to sit up.
He lifted her to the sofa behind her just as Payal returned with a glass of water.
He brought the glass to her lips and sighed with relief when she lifted her head to take a sip.
He'd seen her eat dinner. What maybe considered borderline gluttony by some was fairly normal for her. So it wasn't lack of sugar in her body.
Why had she fainted then?
"Tum theek ho?" he asked, caressing her cheek.
She nodded slowly, taking the glass from him.
He flipped out his own phone and was about to make the call when he felt her soft touch on his fore-arm.
She shook her head.
He peered closely at her face and saw tear stains running down both her pale cheeks.
Embarrassed by the unexpected dampness in his own eyes, he turned away and found his family still frozen in their places. On observing more closely, Nani's eyes were blood-shot and Di's eyes were filled with tears too. Mami looked as though she had jumped forward to help Khushi when someone had pointed at her and said, 'Statue'.
He turned to Akash to share his confusion and found that Payal was clutching his arm as though she were holding on to life itself.
Looking equally disconcerted, Akash was trying coax her into talking.
He turned back to Khushi whose eyes tearing up again and stood up, stretching to his full height.
"What the hell is happening here?" he said, his pitch rising with each word.
"Arnav" Dadi said, stepping towards him. "Jis ladki ke liye aap itna pareshaan ho rahe hain, aap jaante bhi hai ki voh kaun hai?"
Arnav found himself actually praying for patience.
How many times had they been through this? He couldn't believe that Dadi was bringing it up yet again, especially since she had herself given Khushi the heirloom bangles and made a show of accepting her place in their family. And whatever minor quibble she'd decided to obsess about, bringing it up now when Khushi was clearly unwell was just'Arnav took a deep breath to remind himself that Dadi was his grandmother and he had to respect her for her age.
"Dadi, hum kitni baar iss baare me baat kar chuke hai" he said, hoping to sound placating. He didn't want a confrontation now, not until he dropped Khushi home and made sure she was alright. "Can't you see? Khushi ki tabiyath theek nahi hai"
"Humari baat poori tarah suno" Dadi said. "Hum aapko jo sach batana chahte hai, use sunne ke baad is ladki ke liye pareshaan hona toh door, aap iski shakal tak nahi dekhna chahenge"
He heard Khushi's sharp intake of breath behind him and turned to see her struggling to stand up. He helped her to her feet and turned to Dadi.
"Aisa koi sach nahi hai" he said, his voice even.
He heard her choke back a small sob as Dadi took something from Mami's hands.
"Iss tasveer ko dekhne ke baad faisla kijiye" Dadi said, holding it out to him.
Weariness overtaking him, he took it from her and turned the photo over.
His eyes widened with slow comprehension as his fingers still over it's edges. He looked up at Garima Aunty who was standing beside Buaji with a defeated look on her face and back at the photo again.
His vision was turning blurry but there was no doubt that it was her in the picture.
"Ab bataiye Arnav" Dadi said, "Yeh sach hai iss Garima ki. Yehi voh dusri aurat hai jisne iss parivar ko thod diya, jiske vajah se aapke Amma aur Babuji ne apni jaan de di"
Blood pounding in his ears, Arnav had no awareness of crushing the photo but only of the crumpled form in his palms.
He threw it away furiously.
Behind him, Khushi rushed to her Amma's side. She cupped her mother's face and shook her head as if to say- 'Don't listen to them, Amma'.
When Dadi opened her mouth to continue, Arnav held up a hand.
All eyes in the room turned to him and he didn't stop to think.
"I know" he said, in a low voice.
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