Chapter 1

Hey guys, this is my first ever OS on AbhiRa (or any character on YRKKH for that matter). Super nervous as to how y'all are gonna find it. If you do have some free time, or are bored, please give this OS a try, I would really appreciate it. 

Happy reading

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She woke up with a jolt feeling jittery and out of breath. In the weakened state of sleep and consciousness, she squinted her eyes to read the LED digital clock on the wall. It was 2 in the morning. She tried to adjust to the dim light, only to realize she wasn’ in her room. As a matter of fact, she wasn’t even in her own house. She noticed the trolley beside her, a bunch of fruits layed out in the tray while the other side had her hands attached to the IV drip. 

She couldn’t remember how she ended up in the hospital. Her throat felt parched and she looked around for a source of water.

Her feet wobbled on the floor as she attempted to walk to the desk to pour in a glass of water. Before she could reach the jug however, her steps halted as she remembered the evening that ruined three lives in a matter of a few minutes. It felt like someone woke her up with a splash of cold water. 

“Please tell everyone what is in your heart? Please...”

…

“It was all you! You must have done something, otherwise why would a smart and successful doctor like Abhimanyu fall for an average girl like you?”

….

“Please say something akshu…”

…..

 “Why are you crying? You should be happy to have successfully ruined the most important day of my life” 

…

“I’m sorry doctor Arohi, but I only love your sister. Of course It’s another thing that what I feel makes no difference whatsoever” 

….

“you have always snatched away everything that I held close to my heart! From dad, to my mom, my celebrations, my victories, my happiness - everything!”

Her breath began to come in short gasps, forehead filled with beads of sweat, hands shaky, and her full form withering like a dry leaf as she remembered the evening. The guilt pulled her down to the ground and her heart felt heavy remembering Abhimanyu’s defeated face. His one determined step in front of the other to leave the Goenka mansion, never bothering to turn back to look at her, broke the stride of her life. Her own little world wobbled on the axis seeing him leave her vicinity. It was probably the last time she was seeing him, because she had no hopes left for her to get him back ever again. The mere thought made her feel empty - it was nauseating. 

Her belly coiled in tension at the accusations her own sister threw at her. Her heart shattered remembering the pale face of Arohi. She felt like a mistake. She stood like a crime. The burden she felt in her chest made her want to throw up. Her entire existence felt like a huge question mark to her all of a sudden. Tears rolling down her cheeks questioned her, and a sob inside her broke out in response saying there is nothing left! 

She lost her love and her sister, both in one night. 

The thought made her clutch the side of her hospital gown with her sweaty hands in an attempt to calm herself down, only to feel her heart racing erratically. Her throat felt parched and she began to take big gulps of air in an attempt to get her breathing to normal. Her trembling hands tried to hold the jug to pour some water into  the glass only for it to slip from her hand, shattering into pieces. 

The sound however barely reached her ears as her heart thumping against her ribcage overpowered everything else. Her knees wobbled, the sickening feeling of ruining two people’s lives hit her hard in violent retaliation and she collapsed leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes and her trembling hands raised to cover her ears  in an attempt to shut off the voices of accusation as she whispered, “I didn’t do anything...pls”.

And that was how Abhimanyu Birla found Akshara Goenka. His entire world came into a complete halt as he chanted in his mind for it to be just a nightmare. Face pale, body withering mercilessly, eyes shut and hands covering her ears as she continued chanting something he couldn’t grasp, he felt as though he was living through his worst nightmares. His legs betrayed him, refusing to move - as if his lower limbs were conspiring against him by forcing him to memorize the uncomfortable scene, torturing him to his breaking point.

And when he did find his sense back, he was shocked to hear his own broken voice that called her name in a whisper of agony…

 “Akshara….!” 

He reached her in two long strides, fell on his knees and gathered the fragmented frame fervently in his arms. His own breath hitched realizing how cold she felt in his embrace. Her face was as white as a ghost, and her entire form withered like a dry leaf in his cocoon. He held her face to his chest, stroking her back in an attempt to bring some sanity to her as well as to him, as he tried making sense of what she was saying. 

“I got you sweetheart. It’s alright. You are okay…”

He continued to whisper in her ear soothingly to calm her down although in reality, he was trying to simmer down his own heart that took an abrupt dive to his stomach the moment he found her in that form no longer than 5 minutes ago. 

“ I...did...didn’t ...do this...o..on pur..pose. I have wan...ted no..thing but everyone’s hap...happiness. I...I...”

He felt a burning pain shoot up his chest hearing her broken sentences, his jaw clenched and hands around her body tightened in a painful fist. How did things go so out of hand?  Few hours after he left goenka mansion in the evening, he had gotten a call from Vansh saying they found Akshara unconscious on the floor in her room and that they were bringing her to their hospital as all the routes to other clinics were closed and the other ones were far away. 

He had felt his soul leaving his body as the news fully sank in and rushed to the hospital. He had taken up Akshara’s case midway, despite his father’s multiple attempts to keep him out of it. 

“This girl is no good for you. She can’t even stand up for you, how do you expect her to take up the whole responsibility of a Goenka Daughter in Law? Don’t be an emotional fool like your mother. You are going to stay out of it. She is just a patient who has come to get treated and she will be discharged once she comes to her senses. Dr. Gautam is a great doctor and he will take care of it.  Don’t make a mere medical case so personal.”

Abhimanyu had looked into his father’s eyes with an unfathomable resolution as he replied, “Too late, Sir. It has become far too personal for me to consider it just a ‘medical case’.”

And with that he had snatched the file from Harshvardhan’s hands and walked away.

He felt her fisting the lapels of his white coat as tears continued to roll down to be sipped into his shirt, unable to  to bear the pain of her heart being brutally wrenched out of her body.

“Deep breaths...”, Abhimanyu instructed, still holding her tiny form in his cocoon. 

Shocked, at once, Akshara raised her face from his chest to look at the source of the voice, only to find him looking straight down at her. The dim light and her blurry eyes made it hard to see his face properly, yet she saw the concern in his knitted eyebrows, agony in his chocolate orbs, and chapped lips ready to blast at her. She didn’t disregard the sense of sudden calmness she was feeling for the past couple of minutes being secured within the loop of a certain pair of arms. Now it all made sense. She didn’t know when he had entered the room, let alone remembering how they ended up being in the position they were in at that moment. 

The thought itself sprouted an unknown fear in her chest as multiple scenarios of being caught in such compromising position by her sister played out in front of her eyes and she jumped to stand on her wobbly feet, making Abhimanyu stand up as well. 

She quickly took her first step to get herself away from him only to be halted by the tight grip around her wrist.

“Don’t you dare move those tiny feet away from me again…” 

“Leave my hand.”, her broken voice almost made his grip around her loosen  but he quickly held it back again. 

Her absurd request brought back the blazing anger within him as he replied, “Like hell I will…what the f*ck were you even thinking, taking off the IV drip and getting up like this when you can barely walk?!” 

“It’s none of your business. Please leave my hand Abhimanyu.”

Abhimanyu scoffed, “oh, as a matter of fact, it damn well IS my business when it concerns you...all of it. So now you are going to let me walk you to that bed over there or I have other ways of getting my work done and trust me you don’t want that.”

His warning voice sent a chill down her spine. 

“No.”, replied Akshara, chin up.

Shocked at her blunt refusal, he begged her pardon, not sure if he heard her right,  “Excuse me?” 

“You heard me.”

She felt his burning gaze on her, while she stood her ground with a resolute determination.  He felt his patience wear down as he closed his eyes to gain back his sanity. When he opened his eyes, they held an unknown resolution.

He took a small step forward, almost close the small gap between them, making her breath hitch.

“You know, I don’t usually do stuff like this but you leave me with no other option. So with all due respect, - ”, 

And before she could grasp what he was talking about, she felt a warm hand under her gown-covered knee while the other went around her back  and in one swift motion, she was swept off  the ground. Her loud gasp didn’t seem to bother him as he took long strides towards the bed, with her being perfectly secured in his arms.

Never being at such close proximity to a man before, she squealed in panic while her gaze hovered around the door in fear, “Please please put me down. If arohi sees us like this….”

Abhimanyu’s  fast strides came to a sudden halt as his gaze swiftly lowered to look down at her face. She wasn’t even looking at him. Her face was stuck on the door as she kept pleading with him to let her down. Her whole face looked significantly paler than it already was 2 minutes ago and her fearful eyes, ready to shed another bucket of tears almost forced him to put her down. Almost...

Suddenly all the missing puzzles  began to fall into their respective places. It all began to make sense to him. Her silence during Tilak evening when he asked her to speak up, her eyes that always spoke volumes and that told him that she wanted to say so much, but betrayed him to the core, her occasional stolen gazes to her sister - everything made so much sense!

 And a sudden tranquility washed over his disheveled being.

Of course she would be silent. How would she talk about her confession of love to the same man her sister was about to get engaged to? How could she find happiness from the same source that broke her sister’s heart? It was Akshara, his akshu - a reflection of his own mother! She finds satisfaction in others’ joy; she lives for others and gives up for others. Of course she wouldn’t speak up! 

His trail of thoughts was interrupted with her tinkling voice.

“Abhimanyu! Can you please listen to me for once? You can’t just do whatever you want with my life alright? Just put me down!!!” 

“And you can?” was Abhimanyu's instant reply to her accusation as he carefully lowered her down to the bed. 

She faced him sharply, her shocked face was enough for him to ponder upon the words that left his mouth. But before he could do so, he saw her head bowing down and she took a painful gulp to remove the lump that she felt in her throat.  

She deserved it, she told herself. All of it and more. She was the one who ruined two lives. Her already worn down relationship with her sister completely broke yesterday because of her. And she broke Abhimanyu’s heart by not reciprocating his love. 

Abhimanyu’s sharp gaze took in her changing expression - from being shocked at his accusation to bowing her head down in guilt as if remembering something,  her small nose turning red again and her breathing quickening as he sensed another episode of her panic attack. 

Before he could make any amendments, he heard her soft whisper, “I’m sorry!”

He was about to tell her that it wasn’t her fault when she spoke again.

“I’m really sorry for leading you on when….when I...erm….I never intended to marry you”

He stared at her, shocked, unable to form any words.

Akshara’s own belly gave out a queasy feeling, making her want to throw up at what she was doing. Her heart thumped hard, ready to come out of her chest, she could feel her hands tremble and turn sweaty as she gulped to take a moment to form the next sentence. 

There was no other way to do this, she told herself. 

“It was just one of those passing flings for me and i never re...realized….that...that you would t...take it s..so seriously” 

Akshara felt his sharp gaze on her, screwing holes in her even as she continued to look down at  her lap. No one spoke for the next couple of minutes and the deafening silence was so uncomfortable that she gathered up the courage to finally look at him and a silent gasp broke through her lips. She could feel the pulse in his temple tick like an atom bomb while his jaw clenched painfully. He looked nothing less than a volcano ready to erupt. But before she could make anything else from his expression, he silently moved towards her and quickly slipped the gloves in. He tore a fresh  IV Kit and gathered all the necessary supplies before gently taking her hand to place it on the table. Cleaning the area, he injected the needle and attached the tube back to the saline that hung to the pole by her side. 

Dumbfounded, Akshara continued to stare at him. Out of all the reactions she had anticipated, this was definitely not one. His nonchalance to her words were far more hurtful than if he had decided to blast at her. The tension was so palpable that she was sure she could cut it down in half with a knife. She saw him get up and walk towards the door. She couldn’t believe he was leaving the conversation halfway. Her bones simmered with an unknown rage she didn’t know existed, forcing her to  look away.

A soft click on the door drew her attention and within a few seconds the bed in front of her dipped down as she felt him sit down in front of her. 

Clearing his throat to grab her attention, although in vain, he decided to ask the question he had been wanting to ask ever since she had stopped talking 10 minutes ago. 

“Did anyone ever tell you what a horrible liar you are, Akshu?”

Shocked, she jerked her head to the side to stare at him, her jaw dropping to the floor as she tried to decipher his out of the blue accusation. 

His lips curved into a soft smirk watching her eyes turn into the shape of a saucer. He could never get bored looking at her face. She would turn the weirdest expressions into the most adorable one without even putting any effort to do so. Abhimanyu shook his head as he chided himself for going off the track.

He continued, “A passing fling? Really? I mean, at least come up with something feasible for me to believe” 

Akshara continued to stare at him dumbly, not being able to form another word. She was sure her jaw had hit the floor by the way he forwarded two fingers to close her mouth. This was the best way to solve this entire problem in her opinion. She was quite proud of her instant idea even. Except the exceptionally smart Birla had to see through her words. 

Her heart however, weighed down with the sudden burden of the path Abhimanyu was taking to make his way back to her heart. And she couldn’t let that happen. Not when her own sister spent the night crying to sleep. 

Before she could say anything further, Abhimanyu interrupted, “You are in a tight spot. I understand. After what happened to Arohi, you don’t need to explain anything further. But please do not tarnish what we have between us with words like ‘fling’ or deny the fact that you have feelings for me. Because you and I both know that is a plain lie.” 

Her heart all at once leapt forward and threatened to come out of her chest as she continued to stare at him. And without a warning, her lips trembled letting out a wail as uncontrollable sobs surged through her. It felt as though his words broke the dam and let out what she had been suppressing within her chest ever since that fateful evening. 

She had been trying to stay strong for Arohi so that she could become her shield and put everything back to normal. She had put up a smile all throughout the evening for her sister, sacrificing her own happiness and telling herself that what she felt for him was only one sided and it would never be reciprocated. It was another thing that her heart never believed. So when Abhimanyu finally put light to the misunderstanding her heart leap up in joy. However the icy glares and constant scowls Arohi had thrown at her as Abhimanyu pleaded with her to speak up  made her pack up all her feelings for him and throw them somewhere in the dark for no one to ever reach out. Abhimanyu’s disappointment in her and his defeated face had further put her spirit down. The following confrontation by Arohi and the harsh accusations had sliced her heart into half. When she thought she couldn’t take it further, her sister had blamed her for snatching her, her parents, her happiness and now her love. When Kairav came and followed her as she ran to her room, she tried to put up her best smile, telling him that it would all be okay, that she was fine and he should worry about Arohi who just went through a heartbreak. When Kartik had left her room, she gave into her tears that had been threatening to flow down for the past couple of hours. She hadn’t realized when her entire body started shivering, when her panic attack started to reach a point of no turning back and when she collapsed to the ground from not being able to breathe. 

She had felt like a mistake that evening…stood like a crime in front of her sister...failed her first ever Love that night. Yet she had brushed it off, putting a brave smile on her face for the sake of her sister, and for the well-being of her family. What she couldn’t earn that night was a confidant to share her true feelings, to show how defeated she felt, to express that she too was exhausted from being strong for others and dealing with all the chaos that seemed to have taken a permanent place in their life, to reveal how broken she felt for letting whatever it was between her and abhimanyu go, to simply tell that someone how much arohi’s cruel words hurt her. 

So today when Abhimanyu said that he understood her situation, she couldn’t help the storm of sadness and exhaustion inside her to surge forward and finally out of his chest. 

Never in his life had he imagined himself to feel so petrified seeing someone weep. He practically felt his heart drop and soul leave his body. A sudden feeling of someone ripping his heart out of his chest made his entire skin break into goosebump and he felt the instant need to wrap her into the loop of his arms.

F*ck! 

He never felt so out of control. He had always made calculative steps to meet the smallest of needs in his life. Then how did he blurt out so much about a topic that is so sensitive and fragile?! 

F*ck your timings Abhimanyu Birla

His hands tingled to pull her to his chest and whisper sweet nothings but he refrained from doing so, lest he scares her away more than he already had. 

He was about to apologize when he saw her moving towards him to sit right beside him. Before he could say anything further, he felt her slowly leaning sideways to gently put her head on his shoulder. 

And just like that, she spoke in the most fragile tone, her voice bare a whisper, “I’m so tired...so so tired from everything...I don’t know how to handle this anymore.”

Abhimanyu Birla at once forgot to breathe. He stared at the white wall like a statue, immobile and too stunned to speak. 

“I don’t know how to go on like this anymore...I feel like a failure…”

His arms instantly on his own accord, moved  up her back and around her shoulder to hold her securely as he felt her tears sip into his shirt. The desperate need to never let her go or face the world without him being her shield overpowered, and he tightened his arm around her. 

“What is it that is bothering you?”asked abhimanyu softly, his voice matched that of a whisper.

He felt her shift closer, snuggling into the warmth his cocoon provided. It wasn’t until then that he noticed how perfectly they fit together. Her fragile form felt like the missing puzzle he had been looking for, for the past 34 years. He also noticed how petite she was and how vulnerable she was coming off to be at that moment. He never felt such sheer desperation to hide someone under his skin. 

“Everything… Aru’s heartbreak, failing you, losing you, me being the root of all the problems, the whole chaos last evening and….just in general, It is-”

“Who said you lost me?”, if he didn’t feel his lips move, he would have been certain that he hadn’t uttered those words. They felt so tender in his own ears which was such a stark contrast to his deep baritone voice. 

He felt her slowly raise her head from his shoulder to look at him, her face as transparent as ever, asking him to elaborate the meaning to what he just said. 

He brought his thumb to wipe the tear that stung her eyes as he continued, “I’m not going anywhere.” 

She stared at him for the longest moment before looking down, shaking her head, “I can’t let aru face the misery while I get everything in life” 

“I know...which is why I am ready to give you, us and this relationship however much time needed until we set everything right. You’re not alone in this. I don’t know what life has thrown at you up until now but today, right here, is a fresh start. I’m not saying the path is gonna be easy, but we will make it through. I promise. We will.” 

She blinked her blurry eyes and  bit her lips to stop another whimper that threatened to break her strong stance she was trying so hard to retain. Surprisingly she felt relieved. Everything was still a mess but she felt a sudden tranquility wash over her. She couldn’t decipher the cause but it certainly had to do something with the man sitting infront of her. 

“And the first rule to this fresh start is that you are never gonna hide those ugly tears from me, ever again”, said abhimanyu in utmost seriousness as his gaze fixed to her glassy eyes. He didn’t know until then how much he loathed seeing her cry.

“Okay?”, he stubbornly asked for reassurance to ensure that the simple fact had gotten through her pretty little head. 

Seeing her nod, he let out a sad smile.

“Good Girl!”, he pushed the strands of her messy hair behind her ears before continuing, “It’s quite late, you should get some sleep. We will talk about this in detail when you wake up. I have a surgery to attend to, so I'm gonna take off. Press the buzzer as many times as you need but do not get up from bed. Your vitals are still not normal. I asked sister Anita to keep an eye on you and she will be reporting directly to me, so think twice before you plan to go against my order. Are we clear on that?”

“Bossy as ever!”, Akshara rolled her eyes before looking away. 

“I will take that as a Yes”, smile Abhimanyu before walking towards the door.

She saw him moving away from her to unlock the door and she clutched the bedsheet to push away the sudden sense of loss and warmth she had been feeling for the past 45 minutes. She wanted to call out to him but chided herself for being so impassible.  It wasn’t long before she saw him walking back to her to stand right by the bed.

She felt his warm hands cup her damp cheeks, as he looked into her eyes. He stared down at her slightly longer than he intended to, as if to memorize the features in her face...

“I’m not going anywhere alright? I will be just two floors above you at OT#523. You will be okay right?” 

The warm pads of his thumb stroking her cheeks stirred her heart and flipped her stomach, yet it felt like the most natural gesture coming from him. She also didn’t fail to notice the unimstakable concern and fear laced in his voice. She jumped in for reassurance. 

“I’ll be okay! Do your surgery with a clear head, Dr. Birla”, spoke akshara with a reassuring smile.

Abhimanyu looked deep into her face. He wanted to say so much….he wanted to voice all his fears to her…

What if kairav didn’t go to check on you last night. What if I hadn’t come on time today? What if something bad had happened to you?

But he didn’t. He was a doctor and he knew better than that. Instead, he leaned forward to press his lips on her forehead as a reassurance for him that she was indeed okay, to let her know that he would be there for her, from now till his last breath, protecting her from all the evil, shielding her from the harsh words, and paving a better path for her to walk on.  

Akshara closed her eyes as she felt his hard lips lingering over her forehead. Her hand went up on their own accord to cover his hands on her cheek as she let the frail moment to sink into her bones. She didn’t know until then how much she needed this.

He retreated his face only to see her looking into his eyes with an unfathomable emotion. 

“Sleep. I will see you in a few hours”

Tucking her under the duvet, he left the room with a resolute determination to set everything right in her life. On the other hand, Akshara Goenka drifted into sleep with an instant warmth and tranquility she hadn’t felt in a while. 

God’s mercy didn’t seem to be too far away, after all! 

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Soooo....? 

LOL I'm honestly so nervous, please do let me know what your thoughts are on this piece if you did end up reading the whole thing. Love you guys!

-Mushfika

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