FF: The Beautiful and the Condemned (Completed) - Page 79

The jeep barely came to a complete halt when Rudra jumped out with Parvati in his arms. He rushed in yelling for a doctor, and Aman followed suit. The BSD uniform caused all units to respond to the distressed shouts of the two men. A young male nurse brought a gurney and Rudra placed Paro on it. As they wheeled her away, he followed behind, listening to the doctor order the nurses to do this and that. He was holding Paro's hand all the way until they had to take her into the room to attend to her.

Rudra sat right outside the room, refusing to budge under any circumstances. Seeing this before, Aman allowed him to stay but ordered nurses to attend to him there in the hallway. He knew that if Paro saw him in this state she would have a heart attack. Also, Rudra would most likely bleed out if the stitches had truly reopened as he predicted. Aman left after a few minutes, but promised he would be back soon.

As Aman had predicted, the stitches had reopened and the nurse had to restitch them or else Rudra would bleed out. Rudra didn't even flinch as the needle went in and out of his body, sewing his injury shut. His entire being was worrying about Paro. His wounds were trivial compared to her health. Once is wounds were tended to, Rudra began pacing around the hall. It shouldn't be taking this long. A feeling of uneasiness began settling around him. He could feel something was wrong, but didn't know what.

His mind replayed his perilous rescue. Rudra thanked Bholenath over and over again that Paro was still barely breathing when he reached her. He was grateful that they made it out of the burning house alive. But not, this waiting was getting the better of him. The longer he was away from Paro, the more impatient he got. This was all that Tejawat's fault. It was because of him that his Paro was again hospitalized. This was the second time her life was hanging by a thread. He was lucky for now that he had been arrested and that he couldn't get his hands on him. Once Paro was safe (and he would make sure she would be), then Rudra would deal with that lecherous Tejawat!

The lead doctor of the hospital came out of Parvati's room almost an hour later. By this time, Rudra had been walking up and down the hall, clenching and unclenching his fists. When he saw the older female doctor exit the room, he immediately rushed forward. The look in his eyes spoke of desperation and fear. The woman could see the heart-wrenching plea that his eyes were carrying. They were filled with hope of good news, and fear that something terrible was going to be uttered from her mouth.

"Are you Mr. Ranawat?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Rudra responded.

"I'm Doctor Sharma. I'm overseeing your wife's health."

"How is she, doctor?"

"Mrs. Ranawat is perfectly fine. I have to go and get the results for her blood

work right now, but she is conscious and wishes to see you. You may go-."

Rudra didn't even hear the rest of Doctor Sharma's statement. The words he had sought to hear reached him as did an overwhelming sense of relief. Rudra rushed passed the doctor and ran into the room.

He slammed the door open, "Paro!"

His heartbeat escalated as he saw Paro sitting up in the hospital bed with a nurse checking her vitals. Upon hearing her name in that familiar, dear voice, her gaze shot to the door where she saw Rudra staring at her. The nurse quickly glanced at the young couple before quietly exiting the room, allowing Paro to get a good look at her husband. Rudra's chest was heaving heavily, as if he had just run a marathon to get into the room. His hair was completely disheveled, and the bruises and bandages on his body were visible to her naked eye, making them flicker with concern. However, the emotion that overtook her at the moment was happiness.

The last thing she remembered before slipping into unconsciousness was the flames closing in on her. Parvati truly believed that she was going to die in that cellar. She thought that she had dreamt Rudra calling her name. The next thing she knew, she was laying in a hospital bed, alive. One look at her husband right now made her realize that, like always, he had found her and saved her. Her hands shook as they extended out to him. Rudra could see the rope burns on her wrists from when she had been tied up and struggled to break free. In two large strides, Rudra made his way to her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. He sat down on the edge of the bed. The mixed feelings of fear and relief came out in the form of sobs and tears as Paro clung to Rudra, practically digging her nails into his back.

Rudra felt the hot tears escape him as he was finally able to breathe again. Paro was alive and in his arms. That was all that mattered. He had almost lost her again. Almost. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her natural feminine fragrance that he had come to cherish. Even though she was in his arms, Rudra felt that she wasn't close enough. After coming close to losing her again, he felt that even the air between them would somehow manage to separate them forever. His irrational thinking came to a halt as he felt Paro pull back slowly.

Parvati caressed his cheek lovingly, making Rudra hold her hand against his face, savoring the warmth radiating from it. She watched with tender eyes at how the love brimmed through his in the form of tears. She leaned forward and gave him a small peck on the lips. A few hours ago, she thought that she would never be able to do that again. It was always those little things that meant the most to her. Paro could still feel Rudra's protective grip around her waist. She looked up and saw that the relief in his eyes became clouded with concern. Silently, he was asking her if she was okay.

Her eyes, too, reflect concern as she stroked his cheek softly and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I am now," Rudra managed to choke out before turning his face into her palm and kissing it. "I thought I had lost you."

"I'm okay now. Rudra...what happened to Tejawat?"

Rudra stiffened as he growled lowly, "He's in BSD custody."

"With Aman?"

His eyes widened in shock, "You knew?"

"Pia told me. But Tejawat...is...is he..."

"He's still alive, but he has been arrested. You're safe Paro. I'm here. Everything is going to be okay."

Paro shook her head, "No, everything is not okay. Tejawat told me something in the cellar before he set the place on fire."

The seriousness in her voice caused Rudra to turn his full attention to her, "What did he say?"

"It's about the fire in your old home, and your parents. Rudra, that fire in the Ranawat Haveli...it wasn't an accident...Tejawat and his men started it."

Rudra's eyes widened in astonishment.

"They weren't there to save you and your family...they were there to kill you."

Parvati narrated every detail of the truth that Tejawat had told her. She refused to leave out any information because she knew it was important for Rudra to hear everything. There wasn't a way to state any of it nicely, so she said it all bluntly and outright. She saw his demeanor change with each word that left her lips. The seriousness was replaced by shock, which was later replaced by hurt, which finally brewed into unmitigated anger. She didn't blame the surge of emotions running through him. For years he had been blindly following orders to the thakur because he felt indebted towards him, when in fact Tejawat was the reason he was an orphan. He had been working for his parent's murderer, and there was no other way he would be able to look at it. The sense of hatred and betrayal was filling him, Parvati could just tell. When she finally finished retelling the tale, Paro saw the flames of rage sparking in his eyes.

"...And then he lit the cellar on fire and left," Parvati concluded.

Rudra stood up angrily, "Tejawat...when I get my hands on him I will kill him!"

Parvati grabbed his hand, "Rudra, calm down-."

Even though he sat back down on the bed, his voice showed now signs of calming, "I will not calm down! That Tejawat...he...he murdered my family! He lied and made me believe that I was in his debt! He made me believe that he saved my life! The truth is he wanted me dead! And now...now he is trying to kill you! No! I've had enough! He has crossed one too many lines for far too long! I swear Paro, when I see him I will kill him!"

Before Parvati could say anything, Doctor Sharma walked in with a clipboard in her hand. Rudra glanced in her direction before using all his willpower to control his anger. The last thing he needed was hurting an innocent person, especially one who was caring for his wife. His anger became more controlled once he saw the serious look on the doctor's face. It was a look that defined something was wrong. The thought made Rudra's heart pound against his rib cage. Was something wrong with Paro? She looked completely fine. Dammit, if Tejawat did something else-.

Doctor Sharma looked up with a smile at Parvati, "Mrs. Ranawat, how are you feeling?"

Paro nodded, "I'm okay."

"Doctor is something wrong?" Rudra finally inquired. "You have a serious look on your face. Is everything okay? Is there something bad in the results?"

"Everything appears perfectly fine, Mr. Ranawat. There is no need to worry. Your wife did manage to inhale quite a bit of smoke in her lungs. However, once we put an oxygen mask on her and got her breathing properly again, her body began functioning on its own. That's why she regained consciousness so quickly."

"So she is going to be okay, right?"

Doctor Sharma smiled and turned to Paro, "Oh yes. You're very lucky your lungs didn't completely fill with smoke. It would have most likely been life-threatening to you and the baby."

Rudra and Parvati froze; their grip on each other's hands tightened. Both of them looked at each other, eyes wide in disbelief, wondering if they had just imagined what they had heard. From the looks on both their faces, they knew that they hadn't misheard. Their gazes both turned to Paro's flat stomach hidden just behind her pink dupatta. Her free hand slowly rested on it, as if waiting to feel for some sign of life, to know that what they had heard wasn't just a figment of their imagination. Her eyes brimmed with tears of shock, disbelief, and happiness. Rudra's eyes reflected the very same feeling as he watched his wife caress her stomach, which now held life in it.

He looked back at the doctor and managed to ask what they were both thinking, "Baby?"

Doctor Sharma glanced back at the notes on her clipboard before nodding in confirmation, "Yes. Mrs. Ranawat is pregnant. She's approximately two months along."

Rudra continued to stare at the doctor, his thoughts were lost somewhere. Doctor Sharma turned to Paro, who was looking at her.

"Congratulations Mrs. Ranawat," Doctor Sharma said. "I will prescribe some medicine for you to take, and you will have to have regular checkups. I will have the nurse bring in your medicine and come back to check on you again. Okay? Congratulations once again."

With that, the doctor left, leaving Rudra and Paro to let the news sink in. Parvati was so elated to receive the news that her previous worries had instantly melted. Her hand continued to rest of her stomach as she looked at Rudra to see what he was feeling. What stunned her was the cold, dark look on his face. It worried her. They had just received wonderful news, but he seemed hard towards it. Was it possible that...he didn't want a child? She had always spoken about having children, two sons to be exact, but he had never said anything about it before. Was he not happy about the news? Did Rudra want children? Did he not want the child inside her right now?

She removed her hand from her stomach and touched Rudra's cheek softly, startling him out of his thoughts. His eyes searched for answers in her eyes as he saw tears brim them.

"Paro?" he said softly.

"Rudra," she said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just that-."

"Are you not happy with the news?"

He blinked twice, "What? How could you ask me that? Of course I'm happy. Are you not?"

Paro cupped his face and smiled, "I'm happy. Very happy. Just think, you're going to be a bapu-sa. And I'm going to be a maa-sa."

"I know."

"Then why do you look so serious? Is something wrong?"

"You don't get it, do you? You are pregnant. You have been for two months. You almost died a few hours ago in a fire. I wasn't just on the verge of losing you. I almost lost you and our child. Tejawat...he almost succeeded in taking my family away from me again."

Paro's hand immediately went back to her stomach, as if to protect her unborn child from what Rudra had said. Her heart began beating fast as his words sunk in. Not only was she close to dying, but so was their child. The sheer fear of standing on Death's doorstep was daunting. Without warning, she slammed against Rudra's chest, holding on to him tightly. He reciprocated.

"Rudra," she said. "What if Tejawat manages to escape? What if he comes after us again? What if he tries to harm our baby?"

He pulled her back and held her face, "He will not escape and he won't come after us again. We are not going to live our lives looking over our shoulders. Tejawat will not get anywhere near us or our child. I am going to put an end to Tejawat's reign of terror. This is my promise to you, Paro."

Parvati's eyes met Rudra's and found the seriousness of his words. In them was a distinct fire. They were the angry, tyrannical flames that were all too familiar to her. They were the eyes of the jallad, the merciless killer that had been locked away all this while. The old jallad had returned to put an end to Tejawat, and Parvati was not going to stop him.

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Wow! I bet none of you expected that! Crazy, right? Let me know what you think by leaving your comments and feedback below.

Next update (Final update!): The final showdown! Tejawat vs. Rudra!

Thanks for reading!