Maaneet FF: A Twisted Fate #1: Link Pg. 148 - Page 85

Chapter 18:

A few hours later, Maan and Geet were on their way back to India. As soon as they had found out the news of Dadi's accident, there was no dilly dallying. Maan had quickly made arrangements for their flight back, calling Angad to pick them up from the airport, while Geet had taken care of packing up all their belongings. And soon enough, they were on the airplane once again, an unfinished honeymoon behind them.

Geet watched Maan's face warily, the ever so cool and collected face was, for the first time, contorted in an expression that was a mixture of anxiousness, anger, sorrow, and fear. As Geet soundlessly reached for his arm right before the flight took off, she was surprised when she found that her hand was being taken into someone else's, and glanced up to find Maan giving her a reassuring gaze, a soft, sad smile playing on the corners of his lips.

"Don't worry Geet. We'll go back safely. We have to." He whispered. And Geet took her other hand and placed it over his own, comforting him in the only way she knew how. "I'm sure Dadi's fine Maan."

And just like that, they passed the flight ride in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Geet had completely forgotten all about her anger, which was replaced by the anxiety she felt over Dadi's condition and the tension she saw on her husband's face. Sure she had seen him as the angry young man, the cool, distant businessman, but never, not once had she seen him this worried in the entirety of their marriage.

She could only hope that Dadi's condition would be stabilized by the time they got back home. Otherwise, would Maan even be able to handle the situation?

With these thoughts floating through her mind, she drifted off to sleep, her troublesome thoughts soon replaced by the wonderful dreams that arose, dreams about the future, the baby, and simply much happier times.

Maan, his hand still sandwiched between his wife's, glanced over at her as he felt a sudden weight drop on his shoulder. Her eyes closed, a soft smile playing on her lips, she simply looked like an angel, innocence radiating through her very being. He carefully removed his hand, and placed a blanket around her, covering her up securely before he turned back to staring at the tv.

Geet was anxious now, but she would go into hysterics if she found out the truth. If it had been a simple car accident, Maan would have trusted Armaan and Riddhima enough to not cut back on the honeymoon. Heck, even Angad might not even called if that was only the case.

But the situation was different.

And there was more to what was going on.

Angad, in his really short description of the situation, had told him that there were serious suspicions that the accident had simply not been a hit and run, that someone had targeted the car specifically, intending to kill, or at least severely injure, the people that were inside of it. But they had no further information, and nothing new could possibly even be added, unless Dadi or the driver came out of their unconscious state. If it ever happened.

And even he couldn't do anything now. He was on the airplane and all he could possibly do was to simply wait.

-|||-

Maan and Geet were met by a grave Angad and Kripa at the airport. Angad and Maan had quickly begun to walk ahead, talking in low whispers, while Kripa followed from behind with Geet.

"What's going on Kripa? How's Dadi right now?" Geet asked nervously, and Kripa smiled back warmly, putting a comforting hand on Geet's arm, as she spoke in a soft voice, "She's doing better than before, but nothing spectacular. The doctor hasn't said anything seriously conclusive yet Geet. All we can do right now is pray."

And Geet closed her eyes, sending a silent prayer up to higher powers, pleading with them to save her life.

-|||-

Meanwhile, Maan and Angad, a few steps ahead of the women, were having a completely different conversation. Angad was filling Maan in on the happenings in the past 20 hours, the time during which Maan and Geet had been in the airplane.

"So Ramu (the driver) has woken up, and he said that he saw someone following them from the time they entered the highway. And obviously, Dadi has her kitty party meetings once a week, exact same time, exact same place, and so it must not have been something sporadic. The person obviously knew that Dadi would be there. It must have been planned." Angad began, skipping out on a lot of the parts just to give Maan the general gist of what was going on.

"Damn. Damndamndamn. Really? I thought it was just some sort of a misunderstanding of the situation. But if someone was actually targeting them, then we have a much more serious situation in our hands. Are there any clues, is there any other information to go by?" Maan asked softly, glancing back every few seconds to ensure that Geet and Kripa were out of hearing.

Angad sorrowfully shook his head in response, "Nothing at all."

-|||-

As soon as they entered the hospital, the two couples were greeted downstairs by Armaan and Riddhima, who had anxiously been awaiting their friends' arrival.

After quick hugs, Maan quickly asked Armaan about any improvement in Dadi's condition. And he received a negative response. "Unfortunately nothing much Maan. Until she wakes up, we can't really say anything further."

"And the driver? Did he say anything else?"

"No, nothing else. He was discharged just over an hour ago, and told us that if he had anything else he wanted to add, he would simply contact the police." Armaan answered quickly, as he led the men upstairs towards Dadi's room.

The women were following behind, talking about Dadi's condition, with Geet completely clueless about a huge chunk of the accident.

"And the police said that they would drop by the hospital in a few hours to discuss the details of everything with you" Armaan concluded, just before the six entered the hospital room.

Dadi was lying there, in the hospital bed, her eyes closed, machines hooked up to her left and right, motionless. Was this really his Dadi? She had always been the loud, boisterous woman, always too quick to jump to conclusions, like she had done with Maan and Geet, the woman that was always literally the life of everything around her. And tears welled up in Maan's eyes as he slowly inched forward, and sat by her bedside, taking hold of her hand as he whispered to her how she simply had to get better.

He had completely forgotten about the people around him, and had not even noticed his wife's reaction to seeing his grandmother lying there, pale and looking absolutely lifeless.

-|||-

The sudden gasps of everyone around had been what forced Maan to turn around, and the sight that met his eyes instantly forced him to jump up and rush over towards her. Seconds after Geet had lain eyes on Dadi, she had crumpled onto the floor, falling in a dead faint before anyone had the time to catch hold of her.

"Geet!" Maan had quickly picked her up from the floor, while the doctors, Armaan and Riddhima, had sprung into action, directing Maan outside of the room and into another so they could take care of Geet.

And as he paced outside of the rooms, Maan's anxiety was building up insanely. His grandmother was already in the hospital, fighting for her life, and now his wife in the hospital as well?! How much was a man supposed to take?! And with a groan, he sank into one of the chairs in the hallway, while Kripa stood beside him, muttering comforting words, hoping to alleviate the tension that seeping through.

Seconds ticked by, and Armaan and Riddhima were still inside the room. A nurse had left the room, not even sparing a glance at the people waiting outside, and had hurried back in minutes later.

And still no sign from Armaan and Riddhima.

"Gosh, what could possibly be taking them so long? What's wrong with Geet?" groaned Maan, as he buried his head in his hands, closing his eyes shut.

The sound of hard footsteps made him lift his head, and he looked up to see cold gray eyes glaring back at him, his lips pressed into a thin line of fury.

Armaan came to a stop directly in front of him, his hands crossed over his chest, as he tapped his foot impatiently. And before Maan could utter a single word, Armaan began, "Anything you would care to share with everyone Maan, or would you like me to break the news to Angad and Kripa?"

Maan stared back, confused, before realization dawned on him. Geet was pregnant! And pregnant women fainted! So Geet fainting wasn't something that abnormal.

SHIT. Geet was pregnant.

And he hadn't told his friends. Hadn't even remotely clued them in on it.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Um…Armaan…give me a second, I'll explain everything-" Maan began, but he was cut off by an extremely confused Riddhima, who was walking towards them with a file in her hands, a set of papers which she was staring at intently, as if she were trying to decipher what they were saying.

"It says that the baby's father is Dev Singh Khurana. The results of a test that was done a week ago." Riddhima stated, her voice completely flat, as she finally halted next to Armaan and looked up at Maan.

Kripa's gasp, and Angad's "What the $#$%" seemed pretty appropriate considering the circumstances.

He scanned his four friends only to find them staring at him intently, each mirror images of one another, their hands crossed over their chests as they waited impatiently, a mixture of anger and confusion resting on their faces.

But what would he do next?

-|||-

Phew.

I have not proofread or edited this, so please excuse any errors. I'll come back with a nicer, edited version soon. I hope you all enjoyed this update!

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Cheers!

-Naina