Broken Angel ArHi SS : Updated Chapter 8!!!

Chapter 2

"Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation."

-Khalil Gibran

Arnav watched with horror as Khushi's face reached a surprising degree of paleness and she started to fall towards the ground. He was trying his hardest to cut through the crowd to reach Khushi in time but his legs just didn't seem to move fast enough. At last he got to her just in time to kneel on the ground to catch her head on his lap. "Khushi! Oh God Khushi look at me. Open your eyes damn it!" Arnav's frantic voice reached the rest of the family members and they turned around to find Khushi unconscious, lying on the ground with her head in Arnav's lap. Everyone rushed forward to see what had happened to her.

Arnav's world had just come to a standstill and all he could focus on was Khushi's still form lying in his arms. 'What if ' What if she left him just like his Mom? NO! No. I refuse to let that happen.'

"Koi phone lao jaldi se. Ambulance ko bolao. Quick!" Arnav barked at anyone within hearing distance. He would have gone himself if he had the strength to let Khushi out of his arms but he couldn't. He couldn't even force his eyes to leave her face for a second lest he lost her forever in that dreadful second.

"Kya hua Khushi bitiya ko?" "Khushi! Kya hua tujhe? Uth na!", Garima and Payal were both on the ground beside Khushi with tears streaming down their faces.

Aakash had rushed off to call an ambulance. Anjali had taken in the situation and quickly called for the servant to bring a glass of water. She went to kneel beside Khushi to see if she could help in anyway. She checked her forehead and found that Khushi's entire body was too warm. She turned towards Arnav with worried eyes,

"Chote, zara Khushiji ka forehead check karo. Dekho unka matha and chehra kitna garam hai. Humein lagta hai inko bukhaar hai." Arnav jerked his head towards Anjali at hearing this and quickly moved one of his hands to check Khushi's forehead. His eyes widened as he felt how warm Khushi was. He quickly grabbed Khushi's hand to feel her pulse and felt his heart stop for a second when he noticed its irregularity.

"Di aapne ambulance ko bulaya hai na?" Arnav looked towards his sister with wide eyes. Anjali stopped short at seeing the dread in her brothers face but then quickly replied,

"Haan Chote. Aakash ko ambulance to call kar diya tha. Bas aane wali ho gayi. Tum-"

"Aane wali thi tho abhi tak aayi kyun nahi hai. Nahin mujhe pata karna hoga. Aakash phone do mujhe. Quick!", Arnav quickly grabbed the phone and dialled the hospital number. Everyone was preoccupied with Khushi but Anjali was observant enough to notice the signs of her brother's on the edge behaviour. He looked like a man who barely was holding on by a thread. Arnav's raised voice brought Anjali out of her keen observations.

"WHAT! Kya matlab hai aapka keh ambulance ka tire puncture ho gaya aur doosri aa rahi hain. Agar Khushi ko kuch ho gaya toh mein aap logon ko responsible samjho ga. Aur mera matlab hai kuch bhi. You don't want to mess with me!" With that Arnav slammed the phone shut and threw it on the ground. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find his Di staring at him with comfort in her eyes. Arnav then looked towards Khushi's face which was being caressed by her mother's hands. He stared at her angelic features and felt his eyes threatening to release the tears that he was trying to contain with all his might.

"Kya hua babua? Ambulance kyun nahi aa rahi hai?" Buaji asked with worried eyes when she saw how Arnav had reacted on the phone.

Arnav opened his mouth to offer an explanation when he heard the sound of a siren. Arnav released a sigh of a thousand breaths and wasted no time in lifting Khushi into his arms. He didn't want to waste any more time. He walked as quickly as he could through the room and towards the door. Payal, Garima and Buaji rushed forward to keep up with Arnav's long strides. Anjali moved as fast she could with Nani being escorted by Aakash while Mamaji and Mamiji were handling the guests. Throughout this ordeal Shyaam was nowhere to be seen and during the all debacle everyone had forgotten about him. But now Shyam saw from near the staircase that Khushi was being carried by Arnav towards the door, unconscious. He ran forward to find out what had transpired.

Meanwhile, Arnav had reached the spot where the paramedics had set up the stretcher and he laid Khushi down on it very carefully like he was handling some precious treasure. Arnav refused to let go her hand and in the chaos nobody noticed this except Anjali. When they reached the ambulance, the EMT announced that only one person could ride in with the patient. Arnav was about to jump in when he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked behind him to see Anjali shaking her head discreetly and urging him to look at something. Arnav looked around to see Garima, Khushi's mother, getting in the ambulance with Khushi. Arnav realised with a start that he was no longer holding Khushi's hand and knew that he had to let her go for the time being. But that did not mean that he wouldn't try to get back to her as soon as he could because he just couldn't bear to be away from her for longer than he absolutely had to. He turned towards his family and said to no one in particular," I am going to follow the ambulance to the hospital so that Khu- Khushi's mother is not alone when they get to the hospital. You guys come with Aakaash."

"Haan, yehi theek rahein ga."

"Haan Jaldi karo babua. Garima ghabrae jaaye gi." Buaji and Nani both voiced their consent but Arnav didn't listen to them as he was already walking briskly towards his car. Anjali watched Arnav speed out of the driveway with a worried frown on her face. She had suspected a handful of times a connection between Khushiji and Arnav but never really confirmed it. But now seeing Arnav's reaction to Khushi's illness, Anjali knew that she hadn't even touched the surface of the depth of the feelings Arnav had for the spirited girl. Just as she was about to make her way towards the other car with everyone else she was stopped by Shyam. She realised that she had not seen him throughout the whole event and started to explain to him what had happened.

Arnav was driving at a break neck speed through the rush filled roads of Delhi. He cursed once again when a couple of bikers came in front of him and he lost his view of the ambulance when it turned inside the emergency entrance of the hospital. He dodged his way in front of the motor bikes and parked his car just as the ambulance doors were being opened. He ran full speed towards the ambulance and reached just in time for the stretcher to be wheeled inside the double doors of the emergency room. He ran the alongside the stretcher and grabbed Khushi's right hand tightly in his own.

"Khushi! Khushi please just look at me once. Just open your eyes. Please" Arnav continually pleaded with Khushi to open her eyes and look at him one more time but his plea remained unanswered as Khushi was wheeled away from him into an operating room. Arnav remained where he was in the middle of the hallway with the hand that was holding Khushi's a minute prior outstretched in the air in front of him. Khushi's mother had fallen behind when they wheeling her away, and she came to stand beside Arnav.

"Kya hua beta. Kaha le gaye Khushi bitiya ko?" Garima's voice shook Arnav out his trance and he turned to find her watching him with an anxious frown on her tearful face. Arnav realized that he had to get a grip on himself for Khushi because he knew that Khushi would have wanted her mother to be comforted and taken care of by someone.

"Ghabrane ki koi baat nahi hai Aunty, doctors Khushi ko check kar rahe hain."Arnav replied in the most calming tone he could muster under the circumstances. He then led Garima towards the uncomfortable plastic chairs attached to the wall and sat down with her.

"Doctors abhi kuch bolat to nahin hain bitwa?"

Just as he was about to answer her a doctor came out of Khushi's room and looked in his direction. Arnav got up, feeling like his heart was in his throat. He slowly walked towards the doctor, trying in vain to control the feeling of dread creeping over him.

"Aap patient ke rishtedaar hain?' the doctor asked. Arnav was ready to shout at him to just tell him about Khushi instead of asking stupid question when Garima answered from beside him,

"Hum Khushi ki Amma hain. Kya hua hai meri bitya ko ?"

The doctor nodded and looked at his clipboard before answering,

"Dekhye, aap ki beti ko blood poisoning hui hai. In simple terms, humein uske haath pe ek zakhm mila hai jo kisi cheez ke katne ki wajah se hai. Uski wajah se patient ke khoon mein zehr phel gaya tha aur jiski wajah se woh behosh ho gaye theen."

Arnav and Garima both gasped at hearing this. They just could not believe their ears. Arnav felt as the whole world was spinning in front him and he could feel his whole body growing heavy with fright. Vaguely, Arnav realised that the doctor was saying something else as well and forced himself to focus enough to listen,

"-blood se jitna poison detect hua tha utna nikal diya aura ab patient under observation hai. Hum ne abhi tak do insects ke naam deduce kiye hain jis ki wajah aisi poisoning ho sakti hai. Ek hai bichchoo aur doosra hai-

"Look Doctor, I don't want to know all this. Just tell me is Khushi going to be alright? Usse koi .. koi khatra to nahin hai. I mean will s-she sur-survie?" Arnav asked in a tone full of anxious and eyes full of dread. The kind doctor took pity on the young man and tried to answer his question to the best of his ability.

"Look young man, patient ki jaan ko abhi bazahir koi khatra nahin hai, lekin humein abhi usko under observation rakhna hoga and agar inko 4 se 5 ghanton mein hosh nahin aaya then it will be a bit serious. Abhi hosla rakho."

Arnav knew that the doctor was trying to calm him down and was just doing his job but he had lost any semblance of control a long time ago.

"What do you mean? Iska matlab hai keh aapko for sure kuch pata hi nahin hai. Yahan ka best doctor kaha hai. Mujhe abhi unse milna hai. Abhi!" Arnav's shout turned a few passer biers' heads and some nurses immediately shushed him.

The doctor didn't take offence at his words as he knew that the young man must be feeling terrible right now. He tried to diffuse the situation by using a soothing yet firm tone.

"Dekho, I understand that you are in a lot of stress right now but please have some faith. Sab theek ho jayega. Why don't you go sit down on chairs ok? I will tell you as soon as I have any new information."

Arnav clenched his jaw to control his emotions and gave a swift nod to the doctor while moving to sit down besides Khushi's mother. He tried to calm her mother to the best of his ability but he just didn't have the strength to do it. He hoped that the rest of the family would get here before he lost all his control. Just then he saw he saw his Di along with Payal and Buaji rushing towards him.

"Jiji! Payalia!" Garima exclaimed and fell into Buaji's outstretched arms. Payal laid her head on her mother's shoulder and cried silently.

"Chote, kuch pata chala. Khushi ji kaisi hain abhi. Kya hua unko?" Anjali asked the questions on everyone's minds. All the heads swirled towards Arnav and he replied in quick, detached sentences,

"Di Khushi ko kisi cheez ke katne ki wajah se blood poisoning hua hai. Doctors ne kaha hai keh abhi ke liye Khushi out of danger hain lekin agar 4 to 5 hours mein hosh nahin aaya to phir kuch kehna mushkil hai." Anjali's eyes filled with tears at hearing this and she raised her hand towards her mouth.

By then, Aakash, Nani and Shyam had also arrived and had heard the explanation. Shyam's eyes went as wide as a tennis ball and he started sweating profusely as the full meaning of the situation set in.

When Arnav realized that everyone was here he went off to the side and stood against the wall. In this position he could clearly see Khushi from the small window in the door. He unblinkingly stared at her face and braced himself for what he knew would be the longest night of his life.

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Whew! That it for today comrades. Click on the little comment button and tell me what you thought about it.