OS Jaan ka Dushman *UPDATED PART 9 PG19* - Page 5

Here is Part 4 everything in bold/pink is Astha POV

PART 4

Anjali stood outside watching her son and daughter-in-law with tears in her eyes "Joh baatein Shlok ko nazar nahi aa rahi voh mujhe saaf saaf nazar aa rahi hain Aditi yeh tumne aacha nahi kiya" Anjali said wiping her tears "Jab Shlok ko sach pata chalega toh tumhe koi bhi bacha nahi payega shayad Sahb bhi nahi"

Astha opened her eyes she didn't know where she was and where was Shlok why wasn't he here, she looked around for him scared "SHLOK" Astha cried out "Shlok kaha ho tum?" It was dark and she was getting scared "SHLOK"

"Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha"

Astha turned around shocked but she couldn't see anyone it was so dark, she wrapped her arms around herself from the chill but the chill had nothing to with the cold. "Ka..Kaun hai?" Astha asked but no reply came

Shlok sat next to Astha's bedside holding onto her hand not wanting to let go, her hand was cold he began to gently rub it to warm it up.

"Sahb aap yaha nahi aa sakhte" Shlok looked up to see a nurse standing in the doorway "patient ko aaram ki zaroorat hai"

"Main iss ka pati hoon mujhe meri patni ke paas rehne se koi rok sakta" Shlok said angrily

"Par sir humare hospital ke kuch rules hai" Before Shlok had time to reply another voice spoke from the doorway

"Rehne do Shlok ko Astha ke paas" Shlok looked to see Anjali standing there and was shocked "Yeh meri bahu hai Astha Agnihotri aur yeh mera beta Shlok Agnithotri, agar aap ko koi takleef hai toh aap Shlok ke Baba Niranjan Agnihotri se baat kar sakte hain"

Hearing Niranjan's name the nurse nodded and left the room Anjali came into the room and walked over to Astha's bedside and poured a glass of water and handed it to Shlok who took it without a word. Anjali gently stroked Astha's face and whispered " Maine toh Sahb se pehle hi kaha tha ke Shlok ke saath dono ko mat bhejo, kaash unhone meri baat maan li hoti toh shayad Astha apna dhyaan rakh paati, zaroor Aditi ka dhyaan rakhte rakhte voh khud ko bhool gayi ho gayi" Anjali sighed praying Shlok was listening, She walked over to the cupboard and brought out an extra blanket " Aur yeh Aditi ushe kya zaroorat thi ik shaadi shuda jodi ke saath goomne jaane ki" she mumbled wrapping the extra blanket over top Astha to keep her warmer, she slowly walked out the door.

Meanwhile in the hallway

The nurse that had come in to ask Shlok to leave the room was standing in the corner on the phone whispering into "Aap pagal ho gayi hai kya? Pehle nahi baata sakti thi ke yeh Niranjan Agnihotri ki bahu hai! Bar mein jaaye tumara paise mujhe nahi chaiye Miss Aditi" and she quickly cut the call and left to do her rounds before anyone found out what she had been about to do.

Why had Aditi wanted to come with us to Goa Shlok wondered if she wanted to go for an outing why not with the rest of the family? Why tag along with the two of us and why is she always hovering around Astha? Shlok was getting frustrated when he suddenly felt Astha shudder breaking him out of his thoughts "Astha" he looked at her and could see her lips were twitching almost as if she was saying something "Bolo Astha...Astha" he encouraged wishing she was waking up

"Ss..ssshlok...me..mera..hai...Aa.."

"Haan Astha haan main tumara hoon ab ankhein kolo" Shlok begged "Please Astha ankhein kolo"

But there was no response from Astha dejected Shlok placed a kiss on her hand "Please Astha ankhein kolo mujhe itni baadi saaza mat do, main kabhi tum pe nahi chilaoon ga bus ankhein kolo"

"Shlok" Anjali spoke from the doorway "Astha ke dressings change karne wali hai tum thodi dher bahar wait kar lo"

"Par..." Shlok said looking back at Astha "Main hoon Astha ke paas tum fiqar mat karo main uska pura dhyaan rakoon gi"

Reluctantly Shlok got up placing a gentle kiss on Astha's forehead he made to leave the room when Anjali once again spoke up "Shlok operation ke waqt shayad Astha ka sindoor mit gaya hai, jab tak uski dressing change ho rahi tum mandir pe jaa kar uske liye sindoor le aao" Anjali placed a hand on Shlok's arm "jab Astha ko hosh ayega ushe aacha nahi lage ga bin sindoor"

Shlok didn't want to be away from Astha for so long but he knew what Anjali was saying was right, Astha would feel bad without her sindoor so he nodded "jab tak main wapas nahi aata aap Astha ko akela mat chodna kisi aur ko uske paas nahi aane dena" Anjali nodded before she spoke up "Shlok sindoor ussi mandir se le ke aana"

"Theek hai" and Shlok took off so he could return as quickly as possible

Anjali went and sat down next to Astha, there was still sometime before her dressings were to be changed but if everything she had heard about what had happened at the mandir between Shlok and Astha was true than maybe just maybe the sindoor would have the power to bring Astha back to Shlok and her family where she belonged. As Anjali took Astha's hand in hers praying she was right and Astha would wake up within these critical 24 hours she heard a faint whispering sound

"Sshlok...siirf...mera...hhai...Aaaditii"

Anjali was shocked her suspicions were right! Aditi was the one responsible for Astha's condition, she knew there was something not right with the girl from the beginning but she hadn't been able to put her finger on it but now, now it all made perfect sense. How from the beginning Aditi had clung to Astha and was always hovering around the young couple. The little things that Anjali had picked up on that her two youngest were oblivious to trying to do things for Shlok which were Astha's right, going to apply color to Shlok before Astha, the bhang, trying to push Astha down the stairs, the kerosene, the fire everything flashed before Anjali's eyes like a movie. "Mujhe jald se jald Shlok ko baatana ho ga" Anjali said grabbing her phone but was interrupted by the nurse as it was time to change the dressings.

Shlok was driving to the mandir as fast as he could he wanted to get back to Astha as soon as possible, he brought the car to halt and ran all the way up the steps, finally reaching the top he saw the same pundit from before and his temper flared. The pandit turned around and smiled "Arre bete aap phirse aapki patni kaha hai?"

Shlok walked over to the pandit barely controlling his anger "Aap ne to kaha tha ke humhe koi judaa nahi kar sakta to phir Astha ke saath yeh kaise hua? Kyun voh aaj maut se lar rahi hai" Shlok demanded

"Beta voh maut se lar zaroor rahi par haari toh nahi na" the pandit smiled gently "yeh pal, yeh mushkilyen yahi tum dono ke rishte ki dhor ko aur bhi masbhoodt kar dega aur koi cha kar bhi tum dono ko juda nai kar payega" The pundit walked over to where the idol was and came back over to Shlok "yeh sindoor lo aur apni patni ke maang mein bar do sab theek ho jayega" Shlok grabbed the sindoor and ran back down the steps back to Astha not wanting to be away from her any longer than needed.

Astha was really scared now she didn't know where she was and the darkness was getting to her, she wanted Shlok, she wanted him to wrap his arms around her and make her feel safe. "Shlok please aa jayiye"

"Kitni baar kehna padega Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha" the voice Astha had been hearing laughed

"Kaun ho tum?" Astha cried "Shlok sirf mera hai sirf mai"

"Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha" "Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha" "Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha" "Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha" Aditi said coming out of the shadows and started laughing

Astha felt the ground slip out from beneath her feet "Aditi tum?"

"Haan main Astha aur ik baat sunlo Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha"

"Shlok sirf mera hai Aditi" Astha screamed at her but Aditi kept standing there laughing like a maniac. Astha fell to the ground repeating over and over again "Shlok sirf mera hai Aditi"

Anjali and the nurse had just finished changing the dressings when Niranjan, Varad, and Aditi walked in

"Sahb aap yaha? Anjali enquired "Aap to dobara subah aane wale the na?

"Anjali dekhi khirki se bahar subah ho chucki hai" Niranjan said pointing towards the window where the sun had risen and birds were chirping. Anjali was shocked she hadn't realized when the night flew by, she looked around but didn't see Shlok anywhere "Shlok kaha reh gaya" she worried

"Ayi aap theek toh hai" Varad worried

"Main theek hoon" Anjali composed herself and smiled at Varad to reassure him

"Voh aunty maine aapke aur Shlok ke liye naashta laya hai" Aditi said stepping forward smiling sweetly

"Isski koi zaroorat nahi thi Aditi Shlok ne khana mang waleya tha hum ne khaa liya hai" Anjali smiled just as Shlok walked in hearing the last little bit of the conversation he was confused but a nod from Anjali told him to keep quiet.

Astha was lying on the ground everything was getting darker she couldn't see anything anymore but she kept hearing that voice taunting her "Shlok kabhi tumara nahi ho sakta Astha" but who was it she couldn't remember anything. She kept repeating "Shlok sirf mera hai" over and over again but found herself sinking deeper and deeper the pain of never seeing her Shlok again was unbearable, she couldn't fight the pain any longer and closed her eyes awaiting her fate as the footsteps and the voice of her tormentor got closer and closer. "I love you Shlok" she whispered one last time ready to give up her fight when she heard another voice call out to her

"Astha"

Astha knew that voice, she tried to call out but her voice was gone and the laughter was getting louder, her head was pounding she didn't know what to do when she heard the voice again

"Astha...Astha...Astha"

Astha smiled he was here, he was finally here "Shlok" it came out as barely a whisper Astha tried to call out to him louder the footsteps had reached her now, she was to weak she couldn't call out to let Shlok know where she was

"Goodbye Astha" the tormentor sneered "I am sorry Shlok" Astha whispered as she heard Shlok call out to her once more "Astha" when suddenly there was a huge burst of bright light and Astha found her voice "SHLOK" she screamed as loud as she could before falling backwards

Shlok sat next to Astha holding her hand in his praying for her to wake up, "Astha" he could hear voices around him but he didn't care all wanted was his "Astha" he called again placing gentle kisses on her hand he begged her to come back to him. When all of a sudden the machines hooked up to her started going wild

"ASTHA...ASTHA...ASTHA" Shlok screamed as he was held back by Niranjan and Varad as a team of doctors and nurses rushed into attend to Astha

"Dekhiye aap sab bahar jaiye" a nurse instructed but Shlok broke free and ran to Astha grabbing her hand "Aapko jo karna hai karo par main apni Astha ko chod kar kahi nahi jaane wala". Everyone else left the room but Shlok remained holding Astha's hand refusing to let go as the nurses and doctors worked to figure out what was wrong.

"Shlok"

"Astha" Shlok looked down at Astha he heard her whisper his name he held on tighter to her hand when suddenly he remembered the sindoor in his pocket, he hadn't had almost forgotten about because everyone had been here when he arrived. He quickly reached into his pocket and removed the sindoor taking a pinch he filled her maang with it.

Sir please aap peeche rahiye hum..." a nurse reprimanded but was unable to finish as she was cut off

"SHLOK" Astha screamed waking up