FF - Togetherness Again - Epilogue & A letter from NK Updated Page - Page 16

Part 9

'Ranbir?!' Ragini called out in a tense voice and ran into Ranbir's room and sat beside him.

Ragini rushed home soon after she received a call from Mrs. Malhotra. She panicked when she heard Ranbir was taken to the hospital and even after being assured her over the phone that Ranbir was fine, Ragini refused to listen and she rushed home leaving her meeting half way.

'Ranbir, beta open your eyes once, please, look mumma is here', Ragini warmly stroked Ranbir's head and waited anxiously for Ranbir to open his eyes and speak.

'Mumma', Ranbir said in a low voice. He struggled to open his eyes as he was still under the influence of medication.

Ragini was relieved to see Ranbir talk, but at the same time was disturbed to see him in pain, 'Yes, bache...mumma is right here, don't worry okay?'. She kissed his forehead affectionately and drew him closer.

Ranbir cuddled to her and spoke in a weak voice. 'You know mumma, today when the doctor gave me an injection, I did not get scared.'

'Really? And what made Ranbir so strong?', Ragini asked curiously, gently caressing his head.

Ranbir cutely smiled at his mother and proudly continued, 'When the doctor brought the injection, Nachiket uncle held my hand tightly and told me that it would prick just a little, like an ant bite'.

'Nachiket Uncle?' Ragini asked a little surprised as she least expected Nachiket to bring Ranbir home.

'Yes mumma, Nachiket uncle!'

'But didn't Karan Uncle take you to the hospital?', she probed.

'Oho...Nachiket uncle and Karan uncle both.'

'Oh'

'And mumma don't you also tell me the same thing when you take me to the doctor?', Ranbir animatedly asked Ragini who was taken back to such a moment with Nachiket.

Flashback

'Ouch!'', Nachiket yelped in pain and slowly lay down on the small hospital bed in Dr.Shah's clinic.

'Who told you to go cycling early in the morning in this weather?'',Ragini scolded but then cooled down looking at him in pain and comforted, 'Ok am sorry...now don't worry Nachiket please, the nurse will be here with the painkillers and you will feel better okay.'

Just then the nurse entered with a tray which she she set on the table, it had an injection too. Nachiket immediately looked at Ragini with panic written on his face and gulped in fear. He hated injections and was trying his best to not burst out crying in pain, anger and frustration. He silently pleaded Ragini to request the doctors to replace the injections with tablets.

'Now, no more fussing! You get me.' Ragini warned.

Nachiket helplessly looked away and shut his eyes tight. He felt a warm hand on his and opened to see Ragini holding it firmly. She smiled at the nurse and began to talk to Nachiket to divert his mind, Nachiket is an ant bite painful?'

'Huh?', Nachiket was confused with such a weird question from Ragini.

'Am asking you something...Is an ant bite painful?'

'No!', Nachiket grunted and continued in frustration, 'But...but why are you asking me that now?''

Nurse smiled and winked at Ragini and gently rubbed a cotton on the little wound of the injection and left. 'Because that is what it feels like when you are pricked with a needle of an injection!', Ragini said and laughed along with Nachiket when he realized he was fearing nothing and it was all done.

'Mumma...! I asked you something', Ranbir's voice brought Ragini back to present. 'Yes...yes beta...mumma tells you the same. Am so proud of Ranbir, he was so strong today', Ragini hugged him again and kissed him on his head.

Before Ragini could ask anything about Nachiket, Ranbir began to fill her in on the day's happenings, 'And mumma you know we also won the Tug of war game today... '

He narrated the whole incident about his and Nachiket's joint win in excitement. Ragini was pleased to see Ranbir happy and that he had forgotten about his fall and was back to being his normal chirpy self. She had never expected Ranbir and Nachiket to bond so well in such a short time. Ranbir's happiness meant the world to Ragini and so she mentally made a note to thank Nachiket for everything!

***

Sunday

After a lot of insistence from Mrs.Malhotra that Ranbir would be taken care of by her, Ragini finally decided to participate in the Health Check event which was scheduled for the day. She had promised to volunteer and supervise the event and manage along with Mrs.D'Souza. The event was organized at the Health Plus hospital, Mr.Nair the trustee of the hospital along with the approval of the other trustees were pleased to be supporting this noble cause. The kids were taken to the hospital by a bus.

Ragini half expected Nachiket to be present, but she knew he wouldn't be around. She managed everything well as planned. A team of 5 doctors along with some very helpful nurses were seated in a large hall. The children were sent to doctors one after another while Ragini noted everything well and maintained different reports and sheets for each child. Mrs.D'Souza helped too and with the co-operation from both teams the event was a success. After some light snacks and refreshments the children were sent back. Ragini and Mrs. D'Souza left after thanking Mr.Nair for his and his team's co-operation.

After a brief good bye to Mrs.D'Souza in a couple of minutes Ragini was standing on the main road to hire a rickshaw. Thick dark clouds covered the evening sky and weather began to turn gloomy . She prayed the rain gods to not pour at least until she reached home. Since it was a Sunday and a very remote location she was not lucky enough to get a rickshaw to drive her home. The clouds began to growl and the evening started turning darker with time. She decided to walk down towards the main road and try her luck to get a bus before the rains lashed; she took hurried steps escaping the vehicles and marched on the road leading to the bus stop. While she had just taken countable quick steps it began to drizzle. Rains were uncertain in Bangalore and forgetting to keep an umbrella along at such times was the usual thing for Ragini. She admonished herself for being careless and took shelter under the nearest building, hoping for it to not pour. She tried to cover herself with her stole, but it was of no use. It got windier and the slow drizzle soon turned into a heavy downpour coupled with lightening. She was miffed with the untimely rains and tried her luck yet again to hire a rickshaw but failed. She gave up and stood shivering, trying to avoid getting wet further.

A shiny white Merc just stopped in front of Ragini and the glass rolled down to reveal Nachiket waving at her. Ragini closely saw through the rains and noticed Nachiket; she smiled and waved back to him hesitantly. Nachiket quickly opened the front door and said in a loud voice, 'Come on in Ragini!' Ragini contemplated for a second, but then quickly hopped into the car and shut the door.

'Thanks! And...am sorry...', she said, and glanced at the messy mats and soaked seat. Nachiket looked at her guiltily pointing at the wet seat and smiled, 'It's really okay, don't worry. Actually, I stopped by at the hospital to check with Mr.Nair but I was late as everything was done. I was driving home and I happened to notice you.'

'Oh, okay!', she replied and both fell silent.

'Here! This will keep you warm', he mumbled and handed her his jacket. She smiled mentally as she knew why Nachiket had done that and took the jacket from him and covered herself with it. Nachiket kept stealing glances at her and noticed her shivering slightly as she was wet. While he was still pondering on how to bring up Ranbir's topic to her, she broke the silence, 'umm...Thanks Nachiket!'

Nachiket looked at her in her surprise and asked, 'For what? This ride? I am going to charge you a fare now!'

'Stop it Nachiket!', Ragini chided and laughed along with him. She realized how easy it was for him even now to pull her leg and tease her like he did during their college days.

'No really, thank you for what you did for Ranbir', she stated in a sober tone.

'Come on Ragini, Ranbir and you are like family to me. This is the least I can do!', Nachiket said casually. Ragini's eyes darted towards him at the end of the word family'. He looked back straight into her eyes and asked, 'Isn't it?'. She could see honesty in his eyes and gently nodded with a smile.

Without wasting another minute Nachiket hesitantly spoke, 'Ragini!'

'Hmm...'

'I don't mean to pry, but you and Aman got married in 2008 right?', he asked and waited for her to reply. Ragini was wondering what made Nachiket ask her this suddenly, but she replied casually, 'Yes! Why?'

Nachiket registered her confused looks, but still continued, 'Sorry to bring this up, but he met with the unfortunate accident the same year?' With this it dawned on Ragini where Nachiket's questions were leading to, she briefly nodded to him and looked away to fight her tears, stubborn on flowing out. She mentally prepared to answer Nachiket's next question and waited for him to ask further. She knew nothing could be hidden from him, but also feared if this would complicate things further between them...

Nachiket was shocked though he was aware of these facts. He took a deep breath before he spoke further, 'Then Ranbir...'

There was no response from Ragini for a moment. Nachiket regretted asking when he heard her soft sigh.

'I am not Ranbir's biological mother', Ragini declared. Nachiket's heart skipped a beat when he heard what he had already concluded. He suddenly hit the brakes and brought the car to a screeching halt. They were all alone in the car that stood on the empty wet road. The sound of loud thunder and rain lashing against the windows interrupted the prevailing silence. The rhythmic movement of wipers was audible until Ragini spoke again, 'Ranbir is...', she paused and took a sharp breath before she continued, 'Aman and Nivedita's son.'

'Nivedita?', Nachiket asked bewildered.

'Aman and Nivedita were married which I was not aware of until the day he met with the accident. Through his diary I got to know that they had a year old son Ranbir who was with his nanny. I could not leave the little toddler all by himself and since then I have...', Ragini's voice choked as she fought her tears but in vain. They slowly trickled down her cheek, leaving a fresh trail each time after she wiped them off.

Nachiket looked helplessly at Ragini, there was so much more to the pain and anguish in Ragini's eyes. He shuddered with the glimpses of Ragini fighting and braving all this all alone. He left Ragini so heartbroken yet he hoped to be excused someday for his treachery. Today he realized that unknowingly the damage was beyond repair. He squeezed Ragini's hand hesitantly in an attempt to comfort her instead of speaking anything as there were no words to offer any comfort to her.

The journey home from that moment was silent. Ragini was confused if what she did by disclosing about Ranbir to Nachiket was right because she did not want to portray herself weak and helpless to Nachiket. She already knew that she was partly the cause of the tragic end of his marriage, but now she did not want things to complicate further. She looked at Nachiket briefly once and studied his expressions, all she could read was remorse.

Nachiket stopped the car outside the Sky Touch Apartments, her building. The rains had now reduced to a light drizzle. Ragini mumbled a quick thank you for the ride and opened the door to step out, just then Nachiket held her wrist. She looked at Nachiket's hold on her wrist and then at him. The hold was more protective and authoritative than a mere gesture of concern. Her heart raced as she looked at his eyes on her.

'Take Care', he said warmly, but his eyes spoke more than those two words She could read a promise in his eyes to be a friend in need and support her, she could read respect and admiration for her in his eyes and she could read silent apologies to her in his eyes.

Nachiket's tense face changed and a bright smile appeared on his face, 'Don't mention it. You are family!', he said and waved before he drove away, leaving Ragini standing all by herself.

And after so many years she smiled to herself as she felt contented and light with all that happened. She was not sorry for herself!

***

Nachiket's Study

'Sir anything else?', the butler asked Nachiket after he'd got him his Scotch. Nachiket took the glass from him and politely answered, 'I think this is good. Please shut the door before you leave.' The butler nodded and left. He promptly shut the door behind him as instructed by his master.

Nachiket stood engrossed in his thoughts looking out of the only window in his study facing a breathtaking view of the sunset. There was a faint rainbow that he noticed at a distance as he sipped his scotch slowly. He saw the setting sun play a peek-a-boo with the clouds and everything looked freshly washed by the rain. 'There is always a beautiful rainbow behind dark clouds and heavy rains.' He remembered Rupali's words.


Flashback

'Nachiket, I have no complains. In fact you have been nothing but honest and good to me always. It's not you, but I who is at fault, so stop feeling guilty.'' Rupali said to a shocked Nachiket who was handed Divorce Papers by her.

'But Rupali...Divorce?'', Nachiket asked in astonishment.

After Kamolika's warning and his father's insistence on his wedding for the investments in the business from the Oberoi's, Nachiket agreed for the alliance only after he had spoken to Rupali once before the wedding. He'd stated very clearly to her before the wedding that he loved Ragini but was being forced to marry her for the developing business relations. He did not want to ruin her life as he knew he would never be able to give Rupali the love and place in his heart, which was meant only for Ragini, but Rupali, a very simple and beautiful girl was charmed by Nachiket from the time the two families had been friends. She secretly had a crush on him and always wished to marry him. She had expressed this to her parents who were happy with the alliance and proposed the same to Khannas.

Despite knowing Nachiket's love interest, she had agreed to marry him with a hope that someday she would win over him and things would be fine and her dream to be happily married to the man she loved would be true.

'Yes Nachiket, Divorce,'' Rupali stood up from the chair and covered the distance as she walked to Nachiket who stood near the balcony. 'You know Nachiket, I always respected and admired you before we got married, but my respect and admiration has only grown more since the day you spoke to me about Ragini. I fell in love with your simplicity and honesty. I believed that some day I will be able to win your love and things would be normal and so I agreed to marry you.'

Nachiket was taken aback with Rupali's confession. 'But I told you Rupali that...''

'...that never in life you will be able to give me the love that was meant only for Ragini right?'', Rupali completed his sentence. Rupali placed her hand on his shoulder and said, 'I know Nachiket and I have realized that in life you can only learn to love someone but you can never teach someone to love you...I can see Nachiket is incomplete without Ragini and Ragini is incomplete without Nachiket and you both are meant to be together. I should not have agreed to this alliance back then...I'm sorry Nachiket.''

'No Rupali, I am sorry. It's because of me that even your life is a mess today. But...', Nachiket trailed off. He felt dejected with all that was happening and the amount of pain it brought to three lives.

Rupali faked a smile as she fought her tears and said in a very convincing tone, 'Nachiket, things can still improve. You sign these papers and free yourself from this fake relationship which is giving nothing but misery to each one of us. I want you to go back to Ragini and begin a new life. Kamolika has got what she wanted, the investments, she is now least interested in what happens in your life.'

'No Rupali, what about you?'', Nachiket objected.

'Don't worry about me Nachiket, I have learnt how to love' someone so deeply, from you and that will help me to correct a lot of wrong decisions I've made in life. She cupped his face, I want you to go ahead and complete your love story, Nachiket, it's not every day you find true love who fortunately loves you back. Ragini IS your life and I want you to go back to her and begin your new life...Remember, there is always a beautiful rainbow behind dark clouds and heavy rains...,'she said with utmost honesty.

'I think this is God's way of saying that we were and are meant to be together Ragini', Nachiket said to himself. 'After the day I heard about your marriage, I only wanted God to give me one chance to meet you and apologize, but I think he wants me to not only apologize but also correct the mistake of letting you go from my life. Your sudden appearance after 5 years, my instant bonding with Ranbir, you being a so-called widow to Aman, everything, every damn thing is a game of destiny.'

'Whatever had to happen has happened, I cannot change, but now I know what has to happen...' He said to himself in a determined tone.

'I promise Rupali, I will complete my love story! I promise to give all that Ragini deserved and I promise you our togetherness again.' Nachiket said and sipped the remains of the scotch.

To be contd..

Originally posted by: poetic

Thanks.I am seriously trolling you 😆

Originally posted by: iamcurious

😆 be my guest!