Chapter 15"How is she?" Raman asked the woman in the white coat anxiously
"Who are you?" she asked politely.
"I am her father, now how is Ruhi?"
The doctor smiled at his concern as he tried to peek through to look at Ruhi. She tried to calm him down and said...
"Luckily she was brought in time. She is fine now, but her blood pressure is still low and we need to observe her for the night."
"She will be okay right?"
"She will, just take care of her."
"Can I meet her?"
"Of course, but she will be drowsy and cranky because of the medication. Also please be quiet and not too many people at once. Just 1 or 2."
He nodded and the doctor left followed by a few nurses. Everyone asked him to go in and meet Ruhi first. He took slowly unsteady steps to the room holding back tears. As he entered the room quietly Shagun turned to Ishita...
"Can you go in behind him quietly and make sure he is okay?" Shagun requested her.
She nodded and quietly followed him in. She thought he would be upset on seeing her in the room, but he was too busy in his own world to notice her there. She stood in the corner of the room letting him have his time with his daughter.
He sat down on the stool shaking as he saw his Ruhi laying on a hospital bed. He just stared at her taking in what he was seeing. As the reality sunk in, he ran his hand over her head...
"Ruhi...Papa is sorry...I couldn't do anything for you."
He cries silently holding back his sobs not wanting to disturb her. She stirred in her sleep and woke up as a tear fell on her hand. She looked at him and he smiled faintly. As he placed his hand on hers, he accidentally touched the IV drip injected into her hand causing her to scream...
"Ahhh! Papa!"
"Sorry...sorry"
He took his hand back immediately feeling horrible for hurting her further.
"Papa it hurts!" She exclaimed crying as the IV hurt her and her arms were sore with the shots she was given.
"I know beta...I know." He told her in a choking voice.
He hoped for the morning to come quickly so she could go home and be free from this. He wished for there to be a way he could bear all her pain for her. He wanted to keep her away from all of this and take it on himself because he had never seen her in this state and never wanted to ever again. He patted her head gently as possible scared of hurting her again. She kept on crying and mumbling things that no one understood. He could do nothing but assure her it would all over soon as he held back his sobs. She soon fell back to sleep due to the effect of her medication and the patting on her head. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and brushed away her hair.
Ishita watched all this from the corner of the room in tears. They were both suffering so much and she wanted to help...but how? She came out of her thoughts as the door opened and a nurse walked in. She carried a tray of supplies with her and placed it on the table next to her bed. She asked Raman...
"Did she wake up yet?"
"She did, but she went back to sleep right after."
She nodded and silently continued her work. As she pulled out another injection, he wanted to snatch it out of her hands and blast her for giving a small child so much pain. But he knew she was probably doing it for her good, but couldn't see it even though the needle was just put through her IV drip. He turned around closing his eyes and Ishita came to him holding his shoulder...
"It's alright, she won't feel any pain."
"I know, but I don't want to see it."
She patted his shoulder lightly and he asked to if it was over. When she answered yes he turned around look at Ruhi still sleeping peacefully. The nurse smiled at him and left not before looking at Ishita and saying
"Your husband seems very sensitive."
Before they could correct her, she had left the room leaving the two to steal glances at each other awkwardly. He realized at the moment what occurred outside in the corridor. He had hugged her and cried on her shoulder!! How could he do such a thing? He should have thought twice about what she would have felt if he would something like that so suddenly. After all she was a married woman and even if she wasn't, he shouldn't have done what he did. He looked at her and apologized...
"I am so sorry for what I did outside. I couldn't think and...I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I know what you were going through, and that's why I hugged you back."
He faintly smiled at her and she smiled back at him. She asked him if he wanted to go home and freshen up since she would be here with Ruhi. When she asked him he felt sense of relieve knowing she was with Ruhi It made him feel like everything would be okay soon. He politely declined and told her he didn't want to leave Ruhi alone. She let him be and told him she would be outside if he needed anything. He wanted to ask her to stay back since she was the one who gave him more support than anyone else. But he let her go knowing it wouldn't be right to ask her to stay back.
A Few Hours Later
Soon everyone saw Ruhi and started to head home except Raman, Ishita, and Shagun. Ishita told Mihika to convince Amma to let her stay back with Ruhi while Raman asked Mihir and Romi to handle the house and office for 2 days. Shagun postponed her London trip for a couple of days wanting to leave once she would be satisfied Ruhi was completely okay.
As Shagun was busy on the phone, Ishita walked into the room to find Raman trying to feed Ruhi who already seemed to be better than before. She was sitting up and seemed to be mad at her dad who was sitting on the edge of the bed almost begging her to eat...
"Ruhi you have to eat, how else will they let you go home?"
"No it's yucky!"
"Ru!"
"No Papa please!"
"I will feed it to her." Ishita chirped in offering help.
He turned around to see her witnessing the argument between the father and daughter. He got up and handed over the bowl to her.
"You can try, but she's a tough cookie!"
"I think I can manage." She smiled at her.
"I hope you can."
She took the bowl from him and sat on the edge of the bed. As she brought the spoon to Ruhi's mouth, she turned her face away refusing to eat.
"Ruhi beta please eat a little bit. Just a few spoons." Raman requested her to eat knowing it's been at least 3 hours since she had been brought in and hadn't eaten since then.
"No I don't like it." Ruhi said looking away.
"Ruhi, you want to go home and eat the food Papa makes for you? To have him feed you and maybe even have a little ice cream?" Ishita asked her quietly.
Ruhi looked at Raman innocently and he smiled through his tears and nodded at her indicating he would make whatever she wants. She looked back at Ishita who was waiting for her to say something. Ruhi opened up her mouth and they both smiled at her. Ruhi quietly ate as Ishita fed her while Raman sat on the other side of the bed wiping off Ruhi's mouth and giving her water to drink. As she was almost done, Ruhi started to cough, both Raman and Ishita stood up helping her. As Ishita rubbed her back, Raman grabbed the water from the table and helped her sip some. As they helped Ruhi, their hands brushed against each other's. They both looked at each other for a moment until Ruhi's cough interrupted them and they focused back on her although they stole glances at each other occasionally in the process.
Shagun stood by the door, and she saw the three of them together and she couldn't help but say...
"They look like a perfect family, why can't it be like this always?" She walked away from the room letting the three of them be alone with each other. But Ruhi had seen her as she walked away.
"Papa where's mumma?"
"She's outside. Do you want to meet her?"
Ruhi nodded positively and he went outside to call Shagun in. A few minutes later, Shagun walked in with her head hung low. She felt horrible and responsible for Ruhi's hospitalization and didn't want to face anyone right now especially Raman and Ruhi. She took slow steps to Ruhi and managed to sit down on the bed's edge.
"How are you now?"
"I'm okay!" Ruhi replied giving her a huge toothy smile.
"That's good! Always stay like this." She said as she pulled her cheeks. Ruhi's expressions all of a sudden turned serious and she said...
"Mumma I liked staying with you, but I want to go with Papa now."
"Of course Ruhi. You will stay with your Papa forever now. I won't ever take you away from him again." Shagun said through her tears.
She hugged Ruhi gently and kissed her head before getting up to leave. She thanked Raman for the time she got with Ruhi and apologize for causing this to happen. He didn't say much and just nodded as she left with tears running down her face. Ishita told him she would be right back and followed Shagun.
She caught up with her by the front of the hospital and found her crying bitterly. She asked her to sit down with her on the bench.
"Shagun why are you crying so much? Ruhi is fine!"
"Ishita you don't know how important Ruhi is for him. She is his life, he only lives for her. And I can only imagine what he must have felt when he saw her like this."
"I know she is so important to him. Any father will love his children like he does."
"Maybe you don't know, but he had stopped living after you left his life. Ruhi brought him back to life. You know I sometimes feel like the one good thing I have ever done for him is giving him Ruhi. Otherwise I have always messed things up just like today."
"Shagun why are you saying that? It wasn't your fault."
"Really Ishita? Don't you ever feel I am the reason you and Raman aren't together anymore? If I never told Ashok about Raman's visit, everything would have been fine."
"This is the problem Shagun, we all blame ourselves and feel guilty, but the person who should feel bad is probably happily getting drunk in a bar with girls."
"Ashok? He still hasn't changed?"
"Not one bit, in fact he is worse than he was before. His company is slowly falling into debt and he himself is a mess."
"I can't believe you put up with him Ishita."
"That's just what my life is Shagun. It's been happening for 6 years because of my family's decisions I don't know if I can ever be happy again."
"What do you mean?"
Ishita told her everything that happened when she and Raman had left that room and the truth behind her marriage. Shagun was shocked would be an understatement. She couldn't believe her friend had gone through all this quietly while she faced the hate from Raman as well. She held Ishita hand assuring her as she was about to cry. Ishita wiped off her tears realizing the place they were in.
"Why don't you tell Raman? Ashok needs to be taught a lesson!" Shagun suggested
"I can't. I have finally gotten him to forgive me and let go of his hate, I can't have him misunderstanding anything at any cost."
"What is there to misunderstand?"
"I don't know, but I am scared of telling the truth. You're the only one that knows. So promise me you won't let Raman know."
"No way! He needs to know!"
"Shagun please, trust me I can handle this myself."
Shagun thought for a while and agreed to keep this a secret only until Ishita was handling Ashok, but whenever she thought things were getting out of hand the first thing she would do is tell Raman. Ishita was hesitant to agree, but gave in eventually. After that they both headed to Ruhi's room to find Raman still sitting with here staring into blank space. Shagun decided to leave him alone, but before leaving...
"Ishita I saw he feels okay around you. If possible take care of him, please?"
"I will, I am here with him and if anything happens I will call you."
Shagun bid goodbye to her and Ishita went back to Raman and Ruhi to find Ruhi fast asleep and Raman with his eyes closed resting on the sofa placed on the side of the room. She looked over at the time and realize it was getting late and he was getting tired as well. He was still in his office clothes; his coat was in his hands and his tie was loosened. He was visibly worn out and she knew he hadn't eaten at all and his emotional state wasn't helping either. She left the room to make a call and came back to find him by Ruhi's side.
"Raman go eat something otherwise you will fall sick as well."
"No Ishita I am not leaving Ruhi."
"Raman it's just a few minutes. And I am here too."
"No, right now I want to be with her, she's most important."
"I know Ruhi is important, but you're also important. Eat something."
"You don't know Ishita, you don't know!"
"What don't I know? How much Ruhi matters to you?"
"Exactly you don't know how important she is."
"Then tell me..."
He looked up at her and she nodded asking him to tell her anything he wanted to.
"You don't know but the day you left me, Ruhi came into my life." He began...
"What do you mean?"
"That night after you got engaged to Ashok...I went with Shagun to her place. We were both...drunk...full of emotions and...Then Ruhi..."
He realized what he was saying and looked at her face. She squirmed in her spot feeling awkward listening to him talk about him and Shagun. At that moment she realized how much it hurt to have your love be with someone. Just listening to him talk about Shagun and him together made hurt her and make her feel so horrible. She could imagine how he would have felt when as he saw Ashok and her together. No wonder he had asked her to stay away so he could forget that hurt. He looked at her as she looked away. He realized he was hurting her and she didn't like this, so...
"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright. Tell me what you were saying."
He brushed away the topic of him and Shagun and continued to talk about Ruhi...
"For the world Ruhi was an accident, a mistake. But for me she is another chance at life. I don't know what I would have done or if I would even be here if it weren't for her. For the past 6 years, she has made up my world. Her happiness is the only thing that makes me happy, and I want to take away all her pain like right now. And you know how they say children are God's gift. It's true, she is the biggest gift I have ever gotten. If anything had happened to her today, I would never forgive myself for being careless." He said everything to her as he looked at Ruhi tears streaming down his face as he patted her head.
"Raman she's fine."
"I know, but it's scary seeing her like this."
"Be strong for her."
He nodded wiping off tears and running his hand over Ruhi's head.
"And to be strong, you need to eat."
He looked at her and nodded his head agreeing to eat. She took him outside and he saw Mihika and Mihir there with a bag that they handed to Ishita. They went inside leaving the two alone and Ishita asked him to follow her. He looked reluctantly as he looked back at the room's door. Ishita told him Mihir and Mihika are there with Ruhi and will call even if she wakes up. They both sat in the cafeteria as Ishita placed the food brought by Mihika in front of him.
"Amma made all this specially for you."
"Really?" a smile appeared on his face as he looked at everything in front of him.
"Yes really." She said as he started to eat. She watched him eat joyfully and enjoy every bite of his food.
As he ate for a few minutes, he realized she had been with him this whole time and she hadn't had something to eat either. He looked up at her and she didn't bother to mention anything about herself to him. So he asked her himself...
"Do you want some?"
"No I'm fine." And he heard her stomach growl. She looked away embarrassed and he forwarded the plate to her asking her to eat. She knew that it was visible that she was hungry and looking at her mother's food, she could resist and began to eat. She watched her animated eat the food like a small child being giving cookies and candy. As she finished up, he helped her clean up and they both went back to Ruhi's room to say bye to Mihika and Mihir.
They both were with Ruhi all night alternating from sitting on the couch to sitting on the stool by her bed. Around midnight, she woke up from resting on the sofa and found him swaying back and forth on the stool. She ran over and held onto him before he fell.
"Raman! Careful!"
He opened his eyes adjusting to the dim lighting and looked up at her concerned face. He looked her worried face with questioning eyes. She knew exactly what he was asking her, but chose to ignore it. She asked him to move to the sofa and rest for a bit. He agreed and she helped him over. A few minutes later she checked on him and found him fast asleep. She sat down next to him and just looked at him. The tired stressed out face, the lines of worry & the strained tears. He really didn't even get a peaceful sleep. She didn't know why, but she reached out and stroked his head gently and watched as the lines on his forehead disappeared slowly. She didn't realize when she shut her eyes and fell asleep on his shoulders.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He woke up the next morning hearing chatter in the room. He opened his eyes to see Ishita on his shoulder fast asleep and he also noticed 2 nurses standing by Ruhi; including the one who had checked on Ruhi yesterday. He looked away embarrassed and tried to move Ishita's head onto the cushion gently, but woke her up in the process. She realized how she had fallen asleep on his shoulders and he felt bad for waking her up as she helped him watch Ruhi throughout the night and so
"Sorry" "Sorry" They said simultaneously earning a few giggles from the women watching Ruhi until he gave them a stern look.
They walked out of the room leaving the two to looking away and avoid eye contact with each other. She excused herself by saying she needed to use the bathroom while he went to the doctor to talk about taking Ruhi home. She was already back in the room by the time he returned to tell her Ruhi was allowed to go home after a check-up. She looked relieved and smiled at the sleeping child as he did as well. He woke Ruhi up gently like he always did and Ishita watched this side of him with admiration. Soon Ruhi was allowed to be taken home, and Ishita offered to drive considering Romi and Mihir would be busy with the work he gave them. He agreed quickly and they both headed back home...to their own respective homes.
Raman sat in the back as Ruhi leaned on him fast asleep. He also hugged her not wanting to let her away for a moment and Ishita was a mute spectator at all of this. They arrived home 20 minutes as she drove into their driveway. She helped him with taking everything as Ruhi was cuddled his arms. They reached his front door and as he looked for his keys, they heard a similar voice call out...
"Ishita! It doesn't look nice when you spend your night with your ex instead of coming home darling."
__________________________________________________________________
Everyone that was looking forward to Ashok; he's here!
That was all! Hope you all liked it and will leave your feedback!
Edited by smilesforever98 - 10 years ago
1.2k