Khushi - Arnav... I want to say something ...
Arnav - save it ... just get off the vehicle and move away ... you have less than 5 seconds ...
The coverage at hospital was full, the backup assisted by Sean arrived to find the driver pressing the send button on his mobile and BOOMMM !!!!!!!!!
Everyone was shocked by the sound of explosion.No one spoke . Ash , Colonel and Arnav were stunned , hoping that Khushi was safe and prayed that nothin should have happened to her. Arnav felt as if his heart had stopped beating , his lungs constricted as if he couldnt breathe , his limbs went cold and mind went blank , eyes staring at the monitor where a dot glowed at Khushi's location.
Meanwhile , the driver had a devilish smile on his face , happy that he had managed to kill someone atleast. He was about to cut his throat using a knife on his hand when Vicky who had come down with the back-up fired at his hand making the knife fall down. Sean who was faster than the driver , snuck off the knife away from the driver's reach. Now the driver had nothing around him using which he could hurt himself. He looked at Vicky with a glint in his eyes that he had done some damage. Vicky signaled one of the back-up team members to take him into the custody. With his hands tied at back and four commandos roughing him up , he let out a evil laugh . "you are all gonna die ... like that scared little bitch who took off with my baby (his bomb) ..." .
Vicky who was at the peak of his rage , came forward , held the driver roughly by his collar , pointed his gun on the driver's temple and with his eyes boring into the driver's , " ek aur awaazz ... " , the man replied with a evil sneer, " toh kya pretty boy ??? ... you will send me up in flames like that pretty girl ??? " ... Vicky , " no ... maut toh tumhare liye sazaa se zyaada tohfa hoga ... I won't let you die so easily ... take him off before I lose it !! " , he thundered at the others. They just roughly pulled the driver to an unknown location . Everyone was upset about Khushi and Sam .
Vicky - (to himself ) ... Khushi ... I am soo sorry ... I am soo sorry Ranny ... I couldnt take care of her ... I failed (he was almost on the verge of tears) ... (his head was bursting and it was as if there was a continuous ringing sound which worsened his head ache.)
Vicky's voice bought Ash out of her shock and she started crying silently.
Ash - Khushiii ... why did you do this ?? ... I am sorry ... I should have checked the ambulance details ... I didnt think ... I …just ….didnt …think !! (she sobbed , while Colonel placed a shaking hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her) ...
Arnav just , well ... he was still in his shocked and shaken world , where there was no Khushi ... It looked like he had forgotten to breathe . Colonel did notice his fear and shock.
"Can you …. Can you guys repeat that ?? " , boomed Khushi's voice on the speaker n headphones. Ash shrieked , Vicky let out a audible sigh , while Colonel finally sat down in peace. Arnav jolted out of his seat .
Arnav - Khushi !!! ... (he sighed and relaxed a bit and slumped on the chair with his head in his hand)
Vicky - (yelling into the phone) KHUSH ???
Ash - Khu...Khushiii ?? (gaping for air) ...
Khushi - Ok now ... ppl ... I do know my name ... itna repeat karne ki zaroorat nahi hai ...
Colonel - Beta ... you fine ?? ... where are you now ?? ... we need to send any medical help ???
Khushi - ofcourse daddu ... It will be a lot more difficult to get rid of me ... yeah ... I think I need medical help ... Main koi cliff ke paas hoo ... on NH8 ... just before the jungle starts ... lagta hai haat mai aur pair mai sprain hue hai ... but I am not moving much …….. check karna hai ki fracture nahi hua ho …
Ash - YOU IDIOT !!! ... KAUN BOLA THA TUMHE JAANE KE LIYE ... I WILL KILL YOU !!! I WILL !!! I SWEAR !!! ... N ... N ... YOU COULDNT REPLY BACK OR WHAT ??? ... YOU ALMOST KILLED ME ...
Khushi - Oh god Ash !!! ... I dont think zyaada mehnat karni padegi ... just dont send the ambulance ... aise hee marr jaaungi yaha pe ... paas mai jungle bhi hai …… aur mere paas zyaada rounds bhi nahi hai gun ke liye …..
Ash - SHUT UP !!!!!!! you get that ??? ... ( she sent a command for ambulance to be sent to Khushi )
Five minutes back :
She was frantically driving at the fastest speed possible. She had driven in the third gear at a hairpin curve , earning some really choicest abuses from co-drivers in the lane. She pressed the horn blaringly hoping to find a secluded place soon , so that there would be minimum collateral and human damage. She glanced at her watch , which she had timed for 3 minutes , it had a minute left . Her earphone was buzzing with Ash and Arnav's frantic appeals for her to get out of the damned vehicle .She closed her eyes and prayed "Devi Maiyaa" , remembered the faces of her guardian angel Veer and prayed for Sean to be fine . She knew Sean was angry at her for ditching him, but he was smart ,a part of her brain quipped . She opened her eyes in two seconds concentrating on the outline of the forest appearing nearing. She glanced left and felt a breather, there it was … a CLIFF !!! She steered her vehicle to left all of sudden , almost crashing onto another vehicle , but managed to get into the slope . The person of the other vehicle braked his vehicle and came out hurling abuses at the mad person driving to kill . She smiled looking at the rear view mirror. Suddenly , she felt that no one spoke for a long time. It was quiet and it was annoying . She didn't know if she could make it or not , but she did know that no one else was in danger.
Khushi - ok ... Ash ... why are you soo quiet ??..(she asked trying reduce the tension)
Ash - u r mad Khushi ... do you know that ???(Khushi smiled at that … yes , Ash was right, she was indeed mad .She imagined Ash's angry face)
Khushi – (remembering another angry person) just in case ... daddu ... promise me you will take care of Sean ... (she needed assurance for her baby, if she didn't make it)
Colonel - shut up Khushi !! ... just leave the damn vehicle and move off ...(his voice even now made her proud. He might be battle worn , but he still had authority written all over him)
Ash - why does it have to be you ?? ... why cant you just listen to me once??? ... and i am not promising anything to you ..(Ash's desperate voice , made Khushi promise herself that she will have to hug her first, if she did get a chance to meet her) …
(she changed the gears of the vehicle to the last one , so that the vehicle would not meet with any resistance for falling off the cliff) ….
Arnav - Khushi ... please ... get out of the damn vehicle ... please ... (his desperate voice ,almost took her 7 years back , when all was rosy . She could feel a lump in her heart and throat , but they disappeared as soon as they appeared. He had to be warned !!! She had a clue as to who was responsible for his situation, but she didn't have proof. But she would be damned if she didn't inform him and died today. She had to tell him)
10 seconds to go ...
Khushi –(taking a deep breath, readied herself for a jump , by opening the door and looking at the terrain) …. Arnav... I want to say something ...
Arnav - save it ... just get off the vehicle and move away ... you have less than 5 seconds ...(she thought it would be a miracle if she jumped and not get atleast one of her bones broken thanks to the rocks and rough terrain there)
She just took another deep breath , and jumped. She tried her best to fall with the least force making her body land light on the ground . But the speed of the moving vehicle didn't give her much needed force and she slammed on the ground and rolled off . She held a creeper to decelerate her rolling and lest she fall down with the vehicle. She wondered how comical it would sound if she survived the blast but fell down on the blasted vehicle anyways since she couldn't control her rolling on the slope. Somehow the creeper seemed to have a lot of strength , since it not only slowed her down , but completely stopped her . It was as if , some divine force was holding her and her life safe. She just turned in time to see the ambulance , slip off the cliff and blast midway in air before it collided to the ground underneath. Then she heard another blast and felt fragments of heat ,glass and metal jump up in the air. The worst was over, she knew.
She shielded her face, specifically her eyes from the brightness and heat of the blast just 100 mts away from her. After a minute, she just turned with her back on the hard ground and looked at the stars, thanking them . She somehow felt watched over and she was glad for it. She saw two stars which she felt were her parents and then next to them was a bright star with another naughty sparkling one. Veer and her son , she thought . A tear again escaped her eyes. A part of her was angry that she again was separated from them, when she could have easily died and joined them . That was when she heard some noise in her ear , she shifted her hand a bit to feel a numbing pain on her left arm . She was sure she had hurt her left arm for now , she prayed it not be a fracture. Using her right arm , she shifted her earphone which was dangling in one of her braids , to her ear. She heard Ash ,Vicky , Daddu and even Arnav let out their anger on her. She tried to reduce the tension by mocking at their concern . She checked her left leg and again felt pain in her knee. She decided not to move more , and informed Ash and Daddu about her condition and position. She could rest a bit for now . She again resorted to watch at the stars , wondering how it would be to watch someone from up there.
At the camp :
Arnav - I don't care …… Main aa raha hoon , aapke saath …… (trying to talk sense into Ash and Colonel. While they thought that he was speaking nonsense!! They didn't know if the hospital was clear for him to go and disapproved of his request) Please ……. I …. Main ……. Mai bass usse ek baar milna chahtaa hoo ….. just once ……. I want to make sure she is fine …..
Ash - Arnav ……… your sister IS fine !!!!!
Arnav - (totally annoyed at her , for thinking he was talkin about Anjali when he was clearly worried sick about Khushi , turned to Colonel ) … Pleasse ….. (he asked with pleading and begging eyes)
Colonel - I think ……… he can come …..
Ash - what ???
Colonel - yes …. Khushi aur Vicky ne hospital ko secure kiya tha ….. so it cannot be any safer … I think we better go now ….. (and turned to leave with a further furious Ash and a glad Arnav following him. They sat in Colonel's Special SUV and left for the hospital)
At the hospital :
Two doctors were checking Khushi and providing her with first aid. A smug looking Vicky was in the next bed and Sean at her feet on all fours. Sean just stared accusingly at her for ditching him of the action. She remembered the ambulance arriving in less than 10 minutes and was glad that they took her in as a accident patient not bothering to question her more and she was tight lipped all her way to the hospital which was 10 minutes more. She smiled and mentally patted herself for reaching that location in 3 minutes. Once inside hospital with Vicky, came to her aide and she was glad to see him never leave her side. His presence was an assurance that she hadn't lost anyone again. That reminded her of Sam , and she looked questioningly at Vicky . He informed her that Sam was still in OT and his condition was a bit fragile. She let out a sigh ,while she was ushered into her ward.
Doctor - Stretch … yes …. A bit more (she tried and he checked her bones using his hands) … Oh … your lucky ……. Its just a sprain ….. fracture nahi hua hai …. (Khushi smiled back at him) …. (while vicky tried to get up) …. NO sir !!! …….. you cannot move ….. you have just survived a blast and were too near the area ….. the sound you have been subjected to is too high and if you don't do as I tell you or take care of yourself , you can very well turn deaf soon …. (he told him sternly) … I shall send you to take X-rays and the orthopedic will check your reports for confirmation of no breakages of bones … Ms??(he asked Khushi) ….
"KHUSHI !!!" a voice boomed in the room ,with everyone turning towards it's owner.
One look at his face and anyone would guess he was worried sick about her. He looked like a grief stricken person , who was on a verge of losing something more precious than his life. He was angry, concerned, glad and yet at his most vulnerable state. His eyes spoke of emotions which his voice couldn't . He took three long strides towards Khushi to everyone's surprise. He went and held her shoulders , shaking her with each sentence of his .
" SAMJHTHI KYA HO TUM APNE AAP KO ?? …… KITNI DEER SE SAMJHA RAHA THA TUMHE ??? ….. MAI KYAA ?? SAB TUMHE SAMJHA RAHE THE ??? ….. KYAA ZAROORAT THI YEH SAB KARNE KI ?? ……. KHUD KI JAAN KO MUSIBAT MAI DAALNE KI ??? ……. TUM …… TUM CHUPP KYUN HO GAYI THI ??? ……. MUJHE LAGA ….. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT I AM GOING THROUGH ??? …… DO YOU EVEN CARE DAMMIT ??? ……. PATA HAI KITNA PARESHAAN THA MAI ??? …… MUJHE LAGA KI (HIS VOICE CONSTRICTED) …… MUJHE LAGA MAINE TUMHE KHO DIYA !!! …. AUR TUM … AUR TUM YAHA …… (TAKING HER FACE IN HIS HANDS) AGAR US AMBULANCE SE TUM NAHI NIKAL PAATI TOH …. AGAR TUM ….. WHAT IF I HAD LOST YOU ??? " (he had tears in his eyes)
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End of part 8
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