(Hey, guys. I am back with a new OS. Hope you will like it)
REUNION
The most awaited day finally came. Ram was tested negative and was to be discharged today. Brinda, Adi, Vikrant, Kunal and Priya all of them were anxiously waiting for him outside the hospital.
Adi had got the car completely decorated. Brinda, Kunal and Vikrant were holding a play card ' Welcome back Ram'
Priya felt a little left out. She did not get the time to prepare anything to receive Ram. She was juggling between managing Ram's business, her college commitments and of course was in continuous touch with the doctors, sending home cooked bland food for Ram all the three times.
She barely got the time to even look at herself in the mirror . Adi had straight away picked her up after her last lecture.
(It's Ok Priya, she mumbled to herself. So what if she could not get flowers or welcome back card, she would make it up tomorrow. She had a zillion plans for Ram's birthday the next day)
Finally, the hero came out of the hospital accompanied by a team of doctors. Adi, Bri, Kunal, Vikrant jumped with joy seeing him.
They lifted him and screamed " Welcome back Ram. We missed you so much !!!!!!!!".
Priya almost freezed on seeing him walk majestically , like a king. Who could say he was sick all this while?
She felt a strange set of emotions stir in her heart. She could hardly put words to what she was feeling at the moment. She wanted to cry, laugh, was feeling happy, anxious, relieved, grateful everything at the same time.
Gathering her strength, she started walking towards him.
One by one the friends gang embraced Ram as tightly as possible. He was the life of their group. Their sunshine.
Ram was equally happy to see them, but his eyes were searching for his wife.............
Had she not come to receive him? Where was she???
The friends gang surrounded him so closely that he could barely see anything beyond them.
Uhh. Uhh !!! Ram cleared his throat. " Wo.... Priya... nahi ayi .... ??"
Bri - " Wah jaan. Yaha hum log phool, playcards, sab lekar kabse intezar kar rahe hain, ki hero kab ayega, but lagta hai hero ko apne biwi ke siva kisi se nahi milna ......"
Ram - " Arrey nahi jaan. Aisa kuch nahi hain. I am so happy to see you all. But woh kal Priya ne call pe kaha tha ki wo bhi ayegi.. To bas iss liye puch raha tha . But it's ok. I understand . Kisi kaam me phas gayi hogi. It's ok , koi baat nahi" . He tried hiding his disappointment.
"Mai yaha hu Mr. Kapoor" declared Priya.
Ram's disappointed eyes twinkled on hearing her voice.
The friends gang divided to either side of Ram paving way for husband wife reunion.
Seeing Priya walk towards him, her soft silky hair shining and hiding her face here and there, Ram's heart skipped a beat. It was after 14 long days he was seeing her face to face. Nothing else mattered. Time stopped for him.
Ram and Priya walked towards each other.
Brinda - " Adi, dekho dekho, kitne pyar se dekh raha hain ye dono ek dusre ko. Kisi ki nazar na lage. Lagta hain kisi romantic movie ka climax scene hain "
Adi - " Haan baby. Ram ki ankhon me kitna pyar dikh raha hain. Aisa lag raha hain jaise usko Priya ke siva kuch nahi dikh raha ho "
Ram and Priya were finally face to face. There were so many things they planned to tell each other upon meeting, but both fell numb. They were at loss of words. All they did was to look deep into each other eyes. The eyes were doing all the talking.
Kunal & Vikrant - " Brii.. Yaar . Dekh . Ye dono kar kya rahe hain ? Aisa statue ki tarah kyun khade hain ?
Brinda - " Arrey yaar. Kitne nalayak ho tum dono. Ankho hi ankho me baate kar rahe hain yaar. Kuch to samjho"
Kunal - " Arrey hum logo ne kuch nahi kiya toh ankho hi ankhon me dekte reh jayenge zindagi bhar "
He signaled Bri and she quickly understood.
Bri - "Arrey itne dino baad mil rahe ho. Hug shug to banta hain ".
With that she pushed Priya and Kunal pushed Ram.
Startled by the sudden push , Priya almost lost her balance only to find herself safely caught in Ram's arms.
Ram - " Bri yaar. Kya karti hain . Kuch bhi ??"
( But secretly he was happy by this little mischief by his friends. He wanted to hug Priya the same way he hugged his friends, but of course he was too scared to make the move. Now that Priya was in his arms, he could not help but blush and relish this moment)
Priya too wasn't angry. She felt peaceful, caught in his arms. It felt soothing. It felt good. It felt beautiful.
"Mr and Mrs Kapoor " , called out the chief doctor.
The heavy daunting voice broke their soft tender moment.
Priya quickly adjusted her scarf.
" Tum theek ho na Priya ? " asked a concerned Ram. She looked a little tired to him.
Priya nodded her head.
Both of them turned towards the doctor. It felt nice to be collectively addressed as Mr & Mrs Kapoor.
"Congratulations Mr.Kapoor. You finally tested negative. Congratulations to you too Mrs Kapoor. I know you had a tough time too. I must say you are indeed lucky Mr Kapoor. You wife was in continuous touch with me , keeping a check on your health, conveying your medical history, recent health scare due to BP, and of course that was so helpful that she arranged home cooked meals for you ."
Priya smiled a little.
Ram - " Indeed Dr. I am lucky."
He proudly looked at his wife. She was the best. The grace with which she handled the sudden crisis was worth all the appreciation.
Doctor - " Ok then. Take care and call me if you are need of anything".
Ram & Priya - " Thank you Doctor"
Friends gang - " Chalo chalo. Jaldi baitho gaadi mein. Dekho Ram humne gaadi bhi decorate karvaya hain"
They dragged Ram to the car. Adi sat on the driving seat and Brinda sat in the front beside him. Priya opened the door and was about to sit that Ram stopped her.
" Kunal , Vicky, tum dono pehle baith jao".
Ram wanted to sit next to Priya. No way he was going to let this opportunity slip.
Priya gave him a confused look.
Ram quickly tried to cover up. " Priya woh tumne kaha tha na ki tumhe left side window seat mai baithne achaa lagta hain "
Priya - " Par maine aisa kab kaha?"
( Ram felt like banging his head somewhere. Priya was surely a tubelight in such matters )
Fortunately for him , the friends were smart enough.
Kunal - " Koi baat nahi bhabhi. Aap jaha comfortable hain waha baith jayiye. Chal vicky hum dono pehle baith jate hain"
Ram followed and sat after them.
Priya seated herself next to Ram, still not able to understand why Ram lied. She banged the door and gave him her Priya style stare.
It had no effect on Ram. Anything to have her sit by his side and moreover he missed those angry stares in the last 14 days.
The car started.............
Adi - " Ram yaar. Koi gana bata na. Kya chalaun ?"
Ram - " Eh zindagi , gale laga le "
Bri - " Chii. Itna boring slow motion gana . Itne dino baad aya hain, Kuch happy wala song bol na?'
Ram looked at Priya's face , she quickly turned away to hide her disappointment.
Ram - " Arrey jaan. Mujhe yahi gaana sunna hain. Pls chala na "
Bri - " Ok. OK. Chala rahi hun".
The song started playing....
Priya felt very light and relaxed . The difficult time was finally over. Her husband was back to being hale and healthy and was seated just beside her, smiling as always, goofy and mischievous as always, his eyes twinkling and happy as if nothing happened in these 14 days.
Priya wondered how can someone be always happy and positive. She closed her eyes feeling the music and relaxed. She internally thanked god for helping Ram recover. Tired and sleep deficit that she was, she unknowingly dozed off .
Ram - " Priya. Woh main keh raha tha................."
(Arrey , Madam to so gayi. Had hain. Itni mehnat kari taki saath mai baith sake. Itne din baad pati wapis aya hain, ye nahi ki haal chaal puch le. Madam ko sona hain. Theek hai, aap soyie , achhe se soyie . Huhhh!! )
Bri was keeping an eye on them through the rear view mirror.
"Ram, tu aise tedhe medhe muh kyu bana raha hain ?"
Ram - " Arrey bri yaar . Thoda dheere bol na . Priya so rahi hain !! "
Brindha - " Achha . Mujhe to laga ki tujhe bilkul achaa nahi laga ki woh so gayi "
Ram - "Kuch bhi. Kitni tired dikh rahi hai yaar. Thak gayi hogi bechari. Sone de usse, disturb mat kar".
Vikrant, Kunal, Adi, Bri all put fingers on their lips and whispered in unison " Shhhhh, koi disturb nahi karega".
Ram gave a sluggish look, irritated by their teasing.
He turned towards Priya and looked at her lovingly. She indeed looked tired and weak. He so badly wanted to caress her hair.
Just then Priya's head started drooping and she was about to hit the window. Ram quickly put his palm in between and protected her.
Priya woke up with a jerk. Seeing Ram's hand around her , she realized what just happened.
Embarrassed she apologized.
" Sorry, pata nahi kaise so gayi "
Ram - " It's ok Priya, itna conscious hone ki zaroorat nahi hain. We still have 45 minutes to reach home. You can rest your head on my shoulders and take a nap. You look tired"
Priya - " I am okay Mr Kapoor. Ghar pohunch ne wale hain na todi der me . I'll manage ."
Ram( to himself)- " Nahi manegi yeh ladki. Had hain. Koi anjaan admi thodi na hun. Husband hu. Mere shoulders pe to rest kar hi sakti hain ."
Whether it was the soothing music, or her tiredness or her newly discovered feelings for Ram in the separation of 14 days, to rest on his shoulders suddenly felt the right thing to do at the moment. She was indeed sleep deficit and it was anyway good to take a nap, as she had to do a lot of preparations for his birthday the next day. She recollected the night Ram had leaned on her shoulders and smiled.
Ram started to drift a little away from Priya, upset by her indifference towards his care.
Just then Priya, put her hands around his for support and rested her head on his shoulders.
Ram was on cloud nine. He did not expect Priya to relent so soon.
He looked at her sleeping so peacefully on his shoulders, he could not avert his gaze from her even for a moment.
Ram caressed her head and prevented her naughty hairlocks from pricking her eyes.
Even in sleep, Priya felt his soft, gentle touch. She never felt so peaceful and secured. She smiled, happy and content from within.
Her sweet smile meant the world for Ram. This was the most beautiful moment of his married life so far. He had finally managed to make a little place in her heart. He was going to bask in the beauty of this happy moment throughout the ride.
Seeing Ram and Priya lost in each other, the entire friends gang had tears in their eyes. Their Romeo had finally found his better half. They had lost all hopes that Ram would ever get the true companionship he deserved.
But the time had finally arrived. The tender love and twinkle so vividly visible in his eyes, was all they always wished for.
They finally reached home.
Ram was in no mood to wake up Priya. She looked like a sleeping beauty straight out of fairy tales. He would freeze the time if he had the power.
But he wanted to be the one to wake her, else Bri could scream her lungs out anytime and Priya would wake up with a jerk.
He gently patted her forehead, " Pri..yaa, Priyaaa !!! ".
Priya slowly woke up and rubbed her eyes like a little girl.
Ram - " Humare ghar pohunch gaye hain. Chale ?"
Priya happily nodded her head, content with her sweet power nap.
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
Tum Se Tum Tak
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Vasudha
