Chapter 28

Chapter 28: What Happened In Delhi?

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 I was convinced I would explode with laughter after reading the comments for the last chapter. Thank you for them🤗. But seriously people, from "Arnav is a monster and I hate Arnav", it took only one chapter for me to make 90% of you guys to post, "Awww Arnav is SOOO caring.😳" 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣

Anyways thank you for trusting me...😉 You all are too adorable...😳

~~~~~~

Khushi remembered she had promised Arnav that she'll call after she reached the guest house. She settled back on the bed but first dialled her Amma's number without any response and the same result with Payal too. She started to get a bit worried now. Normally if she was out of town Payal at least would be in touch constantly. She sighed and dialled Arnav's number.

It just rang, he too didn't answer this time. Now this was something she hadn't expected. ARNAV not answering HER call? Maybe he was in a meeting. She checked the time, it was 6 in the evening. She tried Amma's number again. Still no answer. She then dialled her Babuji's mobile; that too went unanswered. Payal too didn't answer. This was starting to get out of hand now. She was starting to panic.

She started calling almost every number possible. Arnav, Payal, Amma, Arnav, Babuji, Raizada house, Arnav, Mamaji, Mamiji, Arnav... Not one call was answered. She got up from the bed and started pacing along the length of the large room. As a last try she called Akash. It rang for a long time but then was answered.

"Hello? Jijaji? Where are you? Where is everyone? Why is Jiji not answering my calls?" She asked impatiently.

There was silence for a moment and then, "Khushi, it's me, Arnav" He spoke.

"Arnav? Oh Thank God. Where have you been? I've been calling you for so long. Why isn't ANYONE answering my calls? Why aren't YOU answering my calls? Is everything alright?" She demanded frantically.

"Khushi, Khushi calm down." He said softly.

"Calm down?" She asked with disbelief. "Amma and Jiji always stay in touch with me when I'm out of town. Even Babuji isn't answering my calls. No one in RM is answering my calls. And as if that wasn't enough even YOU weren't answering my calls now. How am I supposed to stay calm Arnav? I have a horrible feeling that something is wrong. Tell me Arnav, has something happened? Why are you speaking from Akash Jijaji's phone? Please Arnav, say something?" She pleaded.

"Okay first please sit down, I'll tell you everything." He requested.

"I am sitting tell me." She lied.

"No, you are NOT." He said confidently.

She let out a frustrated sigh and moved towards the bed and sat down cross legged. "Fine, I'm sitting; now tell me."

He hesitated for a moment, "Khushi... after dropping you at the airport yesterday, I realised that I had forgotten an important file at home. When I came back, Payal was talking to your mother. She was saying that your Babuji was having minor chest pains."

"WHAT??? Babuji???" Khushi screeched. "Hey Devi Maiya... Arnav... Babuji... what has happened? Why didn't you tell me before?" She was on the verge of tears.

"Relax Khushi, He is absolutely fine. He was taken to the hospital in time for treatment and he is quite Okay now. In fact he is sleeping right now or I would have let him speak to you." Arnav said soothingly.

"You are with him?" She asked surprised.

"Yes, me and Akash are here, don't worry everything is fine." He replied and this somehow reassured her. "Everyone is in the hospital and that's why couldn't answer your calls." He explained.

She let out a long breath. "Okay."

"Khushi, I've made arrangements, as soon as the weather clears you will be returning by the earliest flight possible."

"Thanks." She said slowly.

"Is every thing alright at the guesthouse? Are you guys comfortable?" He asked.

"Yes, everything is good. Shaan and Susie have asked me to thank you." She said but then a thought struck her. "Arnav? You knew Babuji was not well since yesterday and you didn't say a word to me?" She was starting to get angry. "The weather wasn't that bad yesterday, I would've immediately returned."

"Uh... Well..." He hesitated. "I wanted to tell you but... I didn't want you... to worry."

"Worry? Of course I would worry Arnav, he's my FATHER." She fumed. "How could you not tell me?"

"Khushi, I..." He tried to explain but she cut him off.

"Forget it Arnav, what else can one expect from you." She disconnected the call and threw the phone on the bed fuming.

~~~~~~

She tried to rest for some time but in vain so she went downstairs into the kitchen. Sandhya was busy preparing dinner for them. She smiled when she saw Khushi enter.

"Arre Bhabhi, do you need something?" Sandhya asked.

"No Sandhyaji, I was just wondering if I could help you." Khushi smiled at her.

"Of course not Bhabhi. You have come here for the first time after your marriage. I can't let you work in the kitchen. How would I ever face Naniji?" Sandhya refused.

"You know Naniji?" Khushi asked.

"Of course. The family visits here sometimes." Sandhya replied.

"Oh, I thought this was a AR Group guesthouse." Khushi said.

"Oh no, this house actually belongs to Arnav Bhaiya. He got it from his Dadi in legacy. He comes here quite frequently to spend some time alone."

Khushi just nodded. "So you guys recognised me by the Picture in my bedroom?"

"Of course, Arnav Bhaiya had put it up there about a year ago. He never said anything about you though. But I've seen him staring at it for hours sometimes. I don't know if I should say this but I've also seen him in tears a couple of times. When we heard that he got married we were hoping that it would be you. And after seeing you today as his wife, I can't tell you how happy we are." Sandhya wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "Arnav Bhaiya has done a lot for my family. I'll be forever grateful to him for giving me and my husband employment in our worst times. He has taken complete responsibility of my son's education. It hurt to see him in so much pain. He loves you so much. I'm glad he finally has you with him."

Khushi felt a tug at her heart on hearing all this. She smiled and returned back to her room. There was too much confusion in her mind. She just stood in her room, rooted at the same spot for god knows how long but only when Susie came to call her down for dinner did she realise that she too had been unconsciously staring at Her and Arnav's picture. She turned away and followed Susie downstairs for dinner.

~~~~~~

Next day it had stopped raining and the weather had improved a lot. Arnav had arranged an afternoon flight for the three of them to return. Khushi spoke to him stiffly and to the point. She was still a bit angry with him for not telling her about Babuji's condition.

He came to pick her up at the airport. He tried to tell her that her father was Okay now but she turned away and got into the car. She didn't wish to speak to him and kept her eyes closed pretending to be tired. After sometime she felt the car stop.

"Khushi we've reached." He said and she opened her eyes.

She took in her surroundings and looked at him surprised. He had got her to her parent's house.

"Your father has been discharged this morning, I thought you'd want to meet him." He said not meeting her eyes.

She got off the car and rushed inside. Her Amma opened the door and Khushi flung herself into her arms.

"Amma, How's Babuji? Where is he?" She began sobbing.

Garima smiled at her. "He's fine Khushi, he's resting in his room. Go meet him. But don't let him talk too much, the doctor has advised against it."

Khushi went to meet her Babuji. It was a very teary encounter where Shashi kept reassuring her that nothing major had happened. After sometime she asked him to rest and came out of the room. She saw Arnav talking to her mother and froze.

Arnav was handing over a thick bundle of notes to Garima, who though hesitant, didn't refuse.

"Arnav bitwa, I don't know how to thank you." She said touching his cheek. "I don't know what would have happened if not for you."

Arnav looked a little embarrassed. "That's Okay Aunty, don't say it. Khushi is my wife, I was only doing my duty."

Khushi came forward then. Garima left for the kitchen to get some coffee for Arnav. He turned to Khushi and handed over a small bag to her. "These are some fresh clothes for you. I got Payal to pack it. The ones you have from Chandigarh must be travel worn, I'll take them home. Stay here, I know you'll want to spend some time with your father."

Khushi was actually shocked now. First her mother had accepted money from Arnav and now he was asking her to stay at her parents place. He had flatly refused when she had told him about the Chandigarh trip. She wondered what was going on in his brain.

She kept the bag aside and looked at him confused. "Thanks a lot."

They sat quietly for some time. "I hope you didn't have any trouble at the guesthouse." He said after a while.

"No, it was very nice there." She replied.

Garima came out with the coffee then.

After the coffee Arnav got up to leave, "I'll be here tomorrow after work to pick you up."

"Can't I stay for some more time?" Khushi asked trying her luck.

"No, you can't." Garima spoke up before Arnav could say anything and Khushi turned to her shocked.

"But Amma..."

"No Khushi, I didn't let Payal stay either. You two barely got married bitiya; your first priority should be your Sasuraal. I wouldn't have let you stay even today if Arnav Bitwa hadn't insisted." She said sternly. "Your Babuji is fine now, I can look after him."

It took a while for Khushi to process what she just heard. Her Amma was letting her stay here only because ARNAV had insisted? She had been out of town for only two days, for crying out loud. What had happened?

~~~~~~

After Arnav left Khushi once again checked on her father. He had taken his meds and fallen asleep. She came out and settled down in the living room with her mother. She had a million questions running in her head.

"Amma, you took MONEY from Arnav?" She almost accused and Garima looked uncomfortable. "Why Amma? I earn enough to spend on my Babuji's treatment. Why did you have to go to HIM?"

Garima looked a little surprised at the way Khushi was speaking. "Khushi? What are you saying? He is your husband. And it's not even that. I would never take money from my Damaad, you know that."

"But then... Why?" Khushi looked at her puzzled.

Garima let out a deep breath and began to explain. "Khushi, what Arnav bitwa has done for us in the past 3 days, not even a son would do. The moment he learnt from Payal that your Babuji was unwell, he immediately came here with her. He had already called for an ambulance and your Babuji was instantly moved to the hospital and was put under the care of the best doctors in Delhi. You know we could never even dream of the kind of treatment he arranged for. Your Babuji would have certainly suffered from a major heart attack if not for Arnav bitwa. He made sure that the best treatment was done at the right time and the heart attack was stopped. And not just that, he stood by us like a rock solid support system. He never moved out of the hospital even at night. He hasn't slept a wink in the last two days and whenever I asked him to take rest, he would instead send me home to have some rest. Yes you earn enough to pay for your Babuji's treatment but the money I accepted from him today was not because we require it. It was for the feeling with which he gave. He has done more than what a Damaad would ever do and we can't refuse him anything. I don't think he would have told you anything of this."

Khushi was hearing everything with her mouth hanging open. It was a while before she recovered enough to say, "No he didn't tell me anything. He didn't even think it necessary to tell me about Babuji's condition."

"I hope you haven't fought with him over that." Garima asked looking at Khushi suspiciously. "He wanted to tell you right away. I stopped him and everybody else from informing you as I didn't want you to worry. But by yesterday evening he couldn't hold back from you anymore and told you everything. Really Khushi, he was so worried the whole time for you. I think the only thing that kept him going through all this was talking to you over the phone."

Khushi shifted in her seat uncomfortably. All this was too much for her to believe but it was coming from her Amma, how could she deny it?

Garima touched her cheek and continued. "When we got his proposal for you even we were hesitant because of your past while you were working with Arnav bitwa. But now I don't have any doubts in my mind. We wouldn't have been able to find a more loving and caring husband for you. I can sense some stiffness between you two Khushi. All I can say is don't let your past over shadow your future. Building walls around your heart will lead you no where. I'm not saying that it will be easy but give him a chance, give yourself a chance. He has already taken the first step Khushi, now it's your turn. You two are married now, your relationship is not child's play. At least think about it, your whole life lies ahead of you. I'm sure you'll take the right decision."

Khushi spent the rest of the day taking care of her Babuji. She noticed that he too spoke of Arnav very fondly, as if he were a son. All her parents spoke about was Arnav this and Arnav that. By the time it was night, Khushi's head was pounding with all the new turn of events. As she lied down on the bed and closed her eyes her phone rang without checking the screen she answered it, "Arnav?"

"Ummm, Khushi it's Rohan actually."

Her eyes opened in surprise. "Oh Rohan... I'm sorry, I didn't check the caller ID."

"No that's fine, I understand you wouldn't have expected anyone else to call this late." Rohan said sheepishly. "So you are staying at your parent's place?"

"Yeah, Amma didn't want me to stay but Arnav seems to have convinced her." She answered grudgingly.

"How's your father?" He asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. It's Devi Maiya's grace." Khushi sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry about the Chandigarh trip though. I couldn't arrange a place to stay for you guys." He said apologetically.

"No, that's fine. Arnav made sure we were comfortable." She replied automatically.

"Yeah, please thank him on my behalf. I mean I know you are his wife but for Shaan and Susie."

"Yeah alright." Khushi answered.

Rohan disconnected the call and smiled to himself. He was could sense that unconsciously Khushi was getting involved in her marriage and he was happy for her.

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