Part 15

The Raizada family was trying to be as discreet as they could, yet one could see they were all closely observing Khushi that evening. At first, they were worried if she was going to come out of her room or not. But then she did. Then Anjali was scared of how Khushi would behave with her, but she got a smile in greeting. And finally, everyone held their breath as Khushi spotted the only vacant chair beside Arnav. She stood on her spot for a minute longer than needed, perhaps deciding something, and then took the chair beside him with a perfectly normal face. As if there was nothing unusual that was revealed to her just few hours ago...

They all finished their meals with their hearts in their mouths! And as soon as Khushi retired to her room, they gathered in Nani's room.

They had a common puzzle to solve. Khushi's reaction or lack of one, to her knowledge of a significant part of her past.

"Hello hi bye bye, Arnav bitwa, are you soor(sure) you told Khushi bitiya about your marrijj(marriage)?" Mamiji asked as usual, the direct query.

"Haan chote, tumhe pakka yakeen hai ki tumne usse bataya ki woh hi tumhari patni hai (are you really sure you told her clearly that it was she who was your wife)?" Anjali followed.

"Of course, Di. What do you all think, I imagined it?" Arnav asked, himself annoyed and puzzled at Khushi's normal behavior which had become abnormal for them in twisted fate!

After Khushi had left his cabin, he was worried about what she would do and where she would go. But to his relief, soon followed by confusion, he had seen her go to her assigned cabin and then to the design team's desks to discuss their latest design. He thought she was perhaps trying to cool down after hearing about the part of her past that was hidden from her until now. So, keeping an eye on her, he called Dr. Vikrant and informed him about how he had to tell Khushi the truth under those circumstances. Vikrant was initially upset that Arnav didn't follow his instructions of ensuring khushi was under doctors' watch when she came to know of her past. But then he also remembered that he himself had instructed them about not lying any further to khushi if she insists on knowing something from her previous life before the accident. And Arnav had done the same. Also, one good thing was khushi had been handling herself pretty well. So, he told Arnav that he would visit them at home unless khushi herself called and reached out to him. And they should just follow along with whatever khushi asks or wants to know or not wants to know.

To their bad luck, she seemed to not want to know...

"But where is Vikrant ji? Why is he not here yet?" a worried payal asked, "I think we should not wait any further. Khushi's reaction is scaring me. Aakash ji, let's just take Khushi to his clinic." She said, worriedly.

Aakash was thinking of ways to console her with something, when HP came there informing that Vikrant was here and shall he be sent directly to Nani ji's room. And as Nani told him to do so, Vikrant entered into the tense atmosphere in that room.

There was no time for pleasantries neither Arnav was a person for that, so he directly asked, "Do you have any explanation for Khushi's surprisingly calm reaction, Dr. Vikrant? Better still, why don't you consult with some other experts, outside India, if this is beyond your experience?"

Vikrant only smiled for the moment, not taking any offence at Arnav's direct hint of him being incompetent of handling khushi's case.

He opened the bag he had carried with himself and pulled out his laptop. Then pulling a small table to keep it at the center of the room, he placed his laptop on it and punching in his password, he powered it on and clicked on a video. Meanwhile, he started speaking in a voice that was both assuring as well as confident of his diagnosis.

"Well, technically, this is not too surprising, Arnav. Patients suffering from amnesia react in different ways when they know their past."

"So, Khushi's reaction is not abnormal?" Payal asked.

"Certainly not! And I can say so because in the past 3 years since I started working on Khushi's case of retrograde amnesia, I have researched and read extensively about all available and documented cases around the world. I also spoke to a lot of doctors in India as well as around the world and have been taking references. Of course, every case and every patient are different in the medical field, but I can assure you that I am not leaving any stone unturned in her treatment." He said looking at Arnav and got a not-committal nod in response.

"Lekin Vikrant bitwa, ab humein kya karna chahiye (what should we do now)?" Nani ji asked.

Vikrant then turned his laptop so that it was visible to all of them and clicked on the play button, "this video has a compilation of interviews of a few patients' relatives. You can watch it in parts time to time but one thing you will find out in summary from all their talks is, they followed different techniques, different ways to help their patient recover, get their memories back and if nothing, make peace with their pasts..."

He was serious. Most times, the best approach to solve a situation is looking at someone else's ways of handling a similar situation in their lives. You cannot copy it word to word but certainly can take some hints...

He then straightened up and said, "and now I will go and talk to my favorite patient. Excuse me."

The rest of the Raizadas excluding Arnav were feeling much more relaxed after hearing Vikrant's talks and were now watching the video, but Arnav's mind was not at peace... he longed to get his life back, his Khushi back. And the fact that even after hearing about them being married, she didn't recollect anything disturbed him more than he would admit.

--*--

Khushi was playing different songs, trying to select one which she could use to perform in the upcoming dance performances in her college when Vikrant came there.

"You have got everyone worried outside and here you are listening to songs!" he said, walking inside the room, in a playful tone which he often only used on his younger sister. Khushi had earned that place in his life long back. She was not just his patient, but she was like his beloved younger sister whom he had lost years ago. He couldn't do much for her but for khushi, he had tried to do as much as was in his capability and capacity!

Khushi looked up but didn't smile at him, "Why are they worried? Don't they know they can control when I should feel what!"

Vikrant sighed. Coming to sit beside her, he spoke with sincerity, "Khushi, I hope you know that there was never any ill intention behind keeping you away from some parts of your past. At that time, you barely survived a life-threatening fall to death and Arnav considered himself responsible for it. Your family thought it was for the best that he stayed away from you and thus, I agreed with the whole idea. We wanted to tell you about it eventually but last year when you got to know about Shyam, you closed yourself into a shell. You surely remember how worried we all got. And thus, we had to put that aside again. But the reason of Arnav's return to delhi was you. We all were hoping and waiting for you to react positively in his company..."

Khushi got up from her sitting position, and said in a troubled voice, "I don't know, jiju. I ...I just don't want to think about it. Because the more I think, I feel cheated. I feel he manipulated me...I don't know what I want to feel in fact." she finally confessed the things she had not to even herself. She had been trying to forget what happened earlier that day in Arnav's cabin. If only her 'memory loss' worked selectively and let her forget some of the present too!

Vikrant too got up and went to her, caressing her head lovingly, "And you are allowed to feel whatever you want to feel, Khushi. No one, I repeat, NO ONE can tell you that you cannot feel this way or can feel only that way. You are justified in feeling the way you do. But allow him to tell you the entire story too, no? Allow them to tell you about who you were before your accident and what all happened." he said in a bid to comfort her and make her ready to come to terms with her entire identity...

"But I don't want to. In fact, I just want to forget about today. I want to pretend ki aaj ka din kabhi hua hi nahi, it would be better that way to be around them, especially around Arnav." Khushi replied, tearing her gaze away from him.

Vikrant sighed. The way Khushi was speaking, it was a clear case of denial. He didn't want to put any pressure on her, but he had to direct her thoughts in the right direction...

So, he asked, "Ok. Fine. But I want you to think about something. What exactly are you afraid of, Khushi? What is stopping you from knowing the past? About the entire truth of Arnav's relationship status and the whole past about you two?"

The questions made her speechless as he had expected.

"Iss ke bare mein sochna (think about it), Khushi."

Khushi indeed started thinking when she heard him say, "And please, let Anjali sleep here with you for a few days. I know you are very, very strong person but for my mental peace, please don't sleep alone, ok?"

Khushi smiled weakly and nodded. Like he considered her a little sister, she had found a brotherly affection in him. It was the reason why she had opened up to him about her feelings at the moment.

But would she really be ok to know her entire past? And was she ready to see herself as Arnav's wife? Hey devi maiyya, why did she wish for this bizarre thing to happen? To get Arnav's love? Because it really did happen! In a way she couldn't have imagined. She was SO NOT ready for that. Heck, she barely knew him. Or maybe she did in the past. But as much as her memory served, he was nearly a stranger to her.

A stranger she had a crush on but a stranger nevertheless!

--*--

Precap: "So, she doesn't know me well, I am a stranger to her, that's the problem, right?" Arnav asked.

"That is THE problem, brother. Knowing your social and interpersonal skills, we have no hope of making any progress for the next 10-20 years!" Kashish said in sarcasm.

"What rubbish! I can woo her; I did the first time remember?" ASR remarked, rolling his sleeves.

--*--

A/N - The story is taking its own course, mostly following what I had planned initially. And since it was always thought with Arnav's viewpoint so sometimes Khushi's points of view or reactions may be vague. Let me know if you imagined something differently. All reviews, very much welcome. And remember, more votes help the next chapter come sooner!

p.s. hope you all heard and saw the hottest, biggest news! Our dearest ArShi i.e. sanaya and barun are teaming up together for something, mostly an ad. Aren't we excited for this reunion? ♥

p.p.s. if you haven't caught the hints already, the mentions of khushi's dance have a strong connection with 'Teri meri' sequence parallel!