Chapter 6
Avni was sneezing continuously and at the same time angry with Neil. Neil wanted to bring a soup for his wifey, but she was not ready to take any 'ehsaan ' from her husband. Finally after much insistence she had one spoon from his hands. A constant stare from his wife, forced Neil to ask " ab mujhe hi ghurati rahogi, yaa soup pe lougi, ek toh tumhari itni cheekh, mujhe toh dar hai ki kanhi tum bimar na pad jao. Nahi toh pura honeymoon kharab ho jayega".
That taunt was enough to force Avni to take the bowl from him and she replied "mein khud kaa lungi, tumhe meri chinta karni ke zaroorat nahi hai". A cold war had sliently creeped in between the two. Hence, she avoided her low temperature fever going without medicines as it seemed irrelevant.
They travelled as per the itinerary ,but Neil was not happy as they honeymoon was turning out as per his expectations. Whatever talk was done was through gestures. Sometimes he spoke to himself "Mitali hoti toh alteast itna toh bor nahi karti"
As per their travel plan on the 5th day they had a 1 day visit to a nearby island in Mauratius. Being near the equator , the island had been witnessing hot summer from last 1 week so a heavy rain was expected in coming days. AvNeil boarded a small jetty with small handbag which had some biscuits and some other stuff. Everyday a call was made to Khanna house to update how was their honeymoon going on, but since today was a day in island and hence a skip was expected on the same.
Avni was already angry with Neil, as he was ignoring her from last few days. It was alone when she went for shopping. It was alone when she went for couple of sight seeing. Only the water sports they did together. But it seemed more or less like they were on a forced trip. Avni was in dressed in a white off shoulder dress while Neil in his denim shirt and jeans. Since the area was partially habituated by the local African tribe, they were instructed not to go inside the island.
Neil was not ready to talk with her, after multiple attempts, Avni decided to have a walk on the island alone. Without mobile network in this remote place, soon she lost her way back they were asked to be present in evening. Neil was all the more worried where was his wifey. No network, how to search her. As the sun was ready to touch the sea , it was time for tourists to get back in jetty.
As Avni was missing, he already updated that he would not board the jetty until he finds his wife by next morning. Though dangerous to stay in night, he decided to take the risk. He shouted out her name but she was no where to be found. The rainy clouds had already started to pour and in the thick rain forest it was not easy to find her. All dark , his constant shouts were also becoming feeble as time passed by.
It was already 10 pm local time, when he hit her . Angered and worried at same time, he asked "Avni kahan thi tum, mein kab se tumhe pagalo ki tarah dhund raha hoon. Yahan naa network hai naa kuch . Ek toh yahan raat ko rukna dangeruous hai Agar tumhe ho jata toh". She didn't want to talk to him, but it was necessary to reply " Kuch ho jata toh hone dete. Kya zaroorat thi yahan aane ki. Nahi chaiye tumhara ehsaan. Mein thik hoon Neil."
By the time they met, she was already drenched in rain, shivering in high fever. Crying, feeling helpless how to find her way back to jetty. But it was necessary to stay strong in front of Neil as no 'eshan ' has to be taken . Neil scoffed "Agar maine saath rehna nahi tha, toh honeymoon pe aayi kyun tum mere saath. Lekin ab mein tumhe akela nahi chod sakta. tumhe chahe pasand aaye yaa naa aaye I will not leave you alone. Halat dekhi hai apni bukhar se tap rahi ho tum, roo rahi hoo, akhir baat kya hai kuch toh bolo".
As he tried to hold her in his arms, while resenting she slowly lost her consciousness. Since, it was raining heavily, it was no use to go inside the island or even light a fire . The only way to keep her warm was body to body heat transfer. He arranged few banana leaves and with help of broken branches and sticks he build a small tent like structure. Soon he removed his shirt and Avni's top remembering the last time they had shared the body warmth in the same way at gazebo. He did the same, she lied unconscious in his embarace, while his body radiated the heat to keep both of them warm. While repeatedly saying "mein tumhe ek bar kho chuka hoon, ab nahin. Kuch nahi hoga Avni tumhe. Mein tumhe kuch nahi hone dunga"
It was already 5 am in the morning the rain had stopped , only to find Avni weaning Neil denim shirt, she asked " Neil kal raat ko kya hua humare beech". Seeing his wife heatlhy, he was not in a mood to let her go easily , he said " wahi hua jo abhi tak ho jana chaiye tha , Mausam mastana tha, raat mein ek deewana tha, aur phir humse khata hogayi ". Avni couldn't believe her ears that even in this state of hers, he could do such a thing, she retorted "Neil tum mere saath aisa kaise kar sakte ho".
Neil turned his back and said "ab kya kar sakte hai kya nahi who toh nahi pata, jab halat hi humare bas mein nahi the wifey". Avni knew that he was bluffing so she added " thik hai naa Neil, jo hona tha ho gaya. Hum honeymoon pe jis purpose ke liye aaye the , ek chota baby ab woh bhi aajayega. Mowgli, mummyji, papap ji sab ghar pe kitne khush honge"
Neil knew their talk were going in wrong direction so he replied "hum dono ke beech raat ko kuch nahi hua , woh toh kal raat ko tumhe bahut tez fever tha so I was giving you body heat ". Avni smiled and said " I know , ki mera Neil mera saath aisa kar hi nahi sakta. Chalo ab jetty aane wali hai lets go. I don't wanna live any further in this haunted island". As left a small smile broke on Neil face as he murmered " abhi nahi toh kabhi kisi aur din sahi , ho sakta hai hum kareeb aajaye"
As they reached back to their hotel in morning, the receptionist ask them to call back to Mumbai. AvNeil freshened up and after breakfast a call was made , where Shweta was crying and asked them both to come quickly back to Mumbai as Prakash had suffered a minor heart attack
Neil was taken aback with the news, his father who seemed hail and hearty , how come this could occur. Avni meanwhile search for the earliest departure tickets to Mumbai. As they boarded the flights, Avni knew she had to stay strong in the coming period of time as she was expecting a breakdown from Shweta who was alone handing all the situation and also from Neil. Neil was shocked and was not responding as he himself could believe what the uncertain future holded for him.
Edited by njain16385 - 7 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
