Zindagi Ke Mausam - Part Six (b)
Flashback
Khushi heard screaming, and try to keep awake again.
NK: YOU bas***d ! I WILL MAKE YOU PAY. I'LL BREAK YOUR f**kING FACE. HOW f**kING DARE YOU. YOU WILL WISH YOU NEVER WERE f**kING BORN YOU PIECE OF SHIT !
Another loud thud and she was out again.
The next time she came back to semi-consciousness, she remembered was the sound of NK's voice.
NK: KHUSHI ! GET UP ! I SAID GET UP KHUSHI. DON'T DO THIS TO ME, OPEN YOUR EYES. DON'T FALL ASLEEP!
Khushi's eyelashes fluttered, she really was trying but she was just so..so tired.
NK: Yes, just please, just we're almost there.
Khushi tried to focus on the other sounds she was hearing. She heard..a heartbeat. It was hers. There were other people around her. She realized she was in an ambulance.
Khushi tried to harbor all the will power she had and whispered a Thank you.
Khushi saw NK's eyes. She tried to read them but before she could she felt something fall on her face, it was a tear. She managed a small smile and she faded back in to darkness.
1 week later
Garima and Shashi were sitting by Khushi anticipating NK and Payal's return from the doctors cabin.
Doctor: NK, I understand you're worried but I assure you we are trying our best.
NK: I don't want to hear that you're f**king trying, I want to hear that she's going to be fine Doctor !
Payal: NK, please. Please calm down.
NK: I'm..sorry Doctor.
Doctor: It's okay young man, I know this is hard for you. You have to comprehend that the worst part is over, Khushi isn't critical anymore. From now, the journey to recovery might be slow but you have to make sure it is steady.
NK: Doctor she hasn't even opened her eyes since that...I haven't heard her voice. Nothing.
Doctor: Look NK, when she came here, we were afraid she'd slip in to coma. There was so much blood loss, the gash to her head was deep..there were fragments of glass stuck in her scalp. Her shoulder was dislocated, she had even broken a rib. You can thank your God that she didn't slip in to a coma but we did sedate her ourselves. We needed at least a week for her body to garner up some strength. More so then the physical wounds we were worried about the trauma. That still is a issue NK. When she weans off the sedation, we have no idea what kind of Khushi we'll be seeing. I need you to be prepared. Her physical wounds will heal with time, they always do. As for her mental state, I cannot guarantee anything. You'll have to excuse me now NK, Payal. I have to go check on another patient.
Payal's focus wavered. The tears blurred everything. Everything the doctor said kept echoing in her head.
Payal: What kind of Khushi we'll be seeing? There is only one way Khushi is. She's what her name is, khushi, she's... What else kind could there be? NK, what else can there be?
NK fell in to the chair and covered his face with his hands.
NK: I don't...I don't know Di.
Payal: NK, we have to go tell Ama and Bauji.
NK and Payal headed out of the doctors office and made their way to Shashi and Garima.
As NK narrated everything the Doctor said, Shashi and Garima felt the world slip from under their feet. They could not go back to the Khushi from many years ago. From when her parents had passed. After that incident, they both had promised they'd take her in and love her like Payal. But they had forgotten their promise when they rushed for her wedding. They had let the promise slip from their heads.
As they four sat outside of Khushi's room, they all wondered what awaited them.
The next day
Doctor: NK, where are her parents and sister?
NK: Di and Aunty went to the mandir and Uncle said he couldn't..stay.
Doctor: Okay. Look, I want you to be prepared before you go inside. She should be waking up within the next half hour.Wait till she's awake and accordingly start the conversation. The nurse will be around, so just buzz if you need her and if you need me ask her to page me.
NK: Thank you so much Doctor. So so much.
Doctor: This is my job young man.
NK walked in to the room and sat next to Khushi. He observed at what lay before him. A bandaged, colorless human. He just hoped with all that he could that Khushi could overcome this. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the whimpers.
The whimpers that came from Khushi, the whimpers that gradually became louder. Before he knew it, Khushi's face contorted in to an anguished expression and her arms began thrashing against the bed.
Khushi: NAHINNN, NAHINNN PLEASE HUMEIN CHOHR DHO, PLEASE ! PPLEASE...
NK: f**k, f**k. KHUSHI, NURSE ! Khushi, shhh...Khushi, it's me..it's.. me. Khushi, Khushi what's happening to you?! NURSE ! DOCTOR ! SOMEONE HELP PLEASE !!!
Khushi's eyes rolled back and her body started convulsing. She was having a seizure.
The Doctor and nurse rushed in and asked NK to leave the room.
When he was allowed to come in, Khushi lay there pale and blank.
NK put his hand against Khushi's face and with the other stroked her hair. Khushi's eyes fluttered. Her vision was hazy, she blinked a couple of times to clear up. Her eyes reflected pain and then quickly they went blank. There was nothing in her dark honey-speckled hazel eyes. No emotions.
NK: Khushi? Khushi? Khushi, talk to me. Khushi, please.
Khushi heard NK, she felt his hand against her face but she felt nothing.
NK couldn't take it. He got up and left the room.
Doctor: NK, please understand that this seizure may be the first of many. You need to learn how to help her. If this isn't just a one time occurrence we'll explain to you what you can expect. We'll prescribe her medication if during the next two week she has them again. We will be running different tests to see if anything at all has been impaired with her health. After that, she's ready to go home. That's when I give you the responsibility to make Khushi better. It perhaps isn't my place to say this, but that bas***d will suffer. Just make sure Khushi doesn't anymore, NK.
NK: Dr. Gor, I really do appreciate this so much. I can and will do this.
After 3 weeks of being in the hospital, Khushi was discharged.
While Khushi had been in the hospital, she would only stare blankly at the walls. She would eat only when being fed. The times they did hear her were when she'd wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Unfortunately, the seizure was not a random occurrence. Khushi was prescribed medication for the seizures. They tended to happen after Khushi's night terrors. Any mental stress/breakdown and she'd start convulsing.
The next couple of months were a slow process of Khushi's recovery. NK decided to take an internship at a business for the next 6 months. His parents were not as accepting but they agreed when he wouldn't budge. He could not tell them what had happened with Khushi. He had promised and made sure that what had happened would not leave the mouths of the four people that resided in the home.
NK and Payal had adapted a routine with Khushi. NK or Payal, one or the other was always by her side. NK tended to be there more often with Payal taking her courses at university. Their nightly routines though, were promised. They would both sit with Khushi and talk for hours at end about their days and their childhood memories.
Then, one night NK and Payal had gone outside to get some chaat and kulfi for Khushi. They weren't in Khushi's room at their usual time. Garima was in the kitchen washing dishes and Shashi was drinking his evening tea.
Khushi walked out.
Khushi: Di aur NK kahaan hai?
Where's Di?
Garima dropped the dish she was holding in to the sink and turned. Shashi looked up at Khushi in relief. NK and Payal had stepped in when they heard Khushi's voice. They both put the bags down and ran towards Khushi. They both hugged her and cried, they cried and cried when they heard an unfamiliar cry. Khushi's cry. Khushi was finally crying. She finally reacted. She had made the first step to recovery.
The next month was spent ensuring Khushi got out of the darkness that had engulfed her so deeply. Her night terrors lessened, as did her seizures. Every smile, every sound of laughter was a milestone for them. It finally came time to bid adieu to NK however he promised he'd come a weekend a month for her. And he did. He did for the remainder of the year.
Though his trips reduced, Khushi and NK's bond increased two folds in strength.
Present Day
Khushi's eyes remained closed. She tried to regulate her breathing but she couldn't help but remember. She couldn't help remember the feeling she tried to wash away for the days after. The feeling of his disgusting self on her body.
Khushi couldn't hold it in anymore.
Khushi began to shake as she sobbed. It was because of that rakshaas, the way he..the way he grabbed her. The way he left marks on her. The insinuation behind his words.
With Khushi's sobs and shaking, her dupatta fell off, as well as the makeup she had used to cover up Arnav's handywork on her cheek.
As Khushi tried to regain her composure she felt a man's hand on her shoulder. Her memories vivid in her head, released a scream when Arnav's hand came clasping on to her mouth.
Arnav: Chup, shhh !
Khushi's eyes widened and she ripped his hand off her mouth.
Khushi: Haath...HAATH NAHIN LAGAAYEIN ! DON'T TOUCH ME !
HAND...DON'T PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME ! DON'T TOUCH ME !
Arnav puzzled about the outburst and outraged at her tone grabbed her by the arm and faced her towards himself. That's when Khushi winced and closed her eyes.
As Arnav was about to yell at her, the moonlight shined on to her face, he noticed the fingerprints that were left on her face. Had..had he done that?
Arnav: Did..I..?
Khushi opened her eyes slowly as Arnav's grip had loosened. Noticing the sudden confusion on his face , she took at as an opportunity to leave. He reached to hold her by her shoulder but instead accidentally caught his watch on to the pearls that aligned the upper back of her blouse. They all came shattering down on to the floor. Khushi's face though not turned towards Arnav was horrified. She pulled the ribbon that kept her hair in the braid and all her hair came loose flowing on to Arnav's face suddenly.
As soon as Arnav felt the dark tresses on his face, Khushi had gone. She had ran out the terrace door.
Arnav stood there with the essence of her dark long hair that had teased him just half a moment ago. He looked towards the doorway trying to make sense of all that had happened.
Khushi ran in to her room and took her medication for anxiety. She thanked heavens that her Di had scolded her for skipping the medication for her seizures since they'd been here. She had made sure Khushi took it in the morning over the phone. If she hadn't..what..
Khushi looked up at the clock. Had it really been two hours since she was up there? The party must've died down by now, she peaked over the ledge and saw that there was hardly anyone left.
Khushi walked in to the shower and let it pour over her. She tried to wash away the feeling. The feeling of despair.
She had changed in to a simple green colored shalwar kameez and braided her hair to the side. She changed the dressing of her ankle as well. As she was about to doze off, there was a knock on her door.
Edited by skay9112 - 11 years ago
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