Arshi FF: Jeene Laga Hoon (NOTE pg. 68) - Page 22

The next day, Anjali was discharged from the hospital. Aman decided to take her back to Shantivan. With everything that had happened, he knew she wouldn't be her usual self. Her heart wouldn't be in the rest of the wedding celebration in Udaipur. Arnav agreed with him after he saw how broken Anjali looked. She hadn't spoken to anyone after she found out she had miscarried again. Her pain only intensified when she found out she would never be able to be a mother. Her eyes remained hollow and her face was pale. It broke everyone's hearts to see her in such a state. NK, Arnav, Akash, and Nani all returned to Shantivan with the couple.

Payal had gone back to Udaipur to handle matters there. Seeing Anjali in such a state, she didn't have the heart to go through with the wedding in a few days. She explained this to Akash, who agreed with her, and together they decided to postpone the wedding until things returned to normal. She went back to The Mahal and told her parents the situation. They agreed with the decision and they all managed to bring the guests together to tell them that the wedding had been canceled until further notice. The manager of the venue was told of the situation, and he understood that family issues happen unexpectedly. He let them know that they were welcome back any time if they desired to hold their wedding here again. Payal and her family cleared out The Mahal by the end of the week and returned to their home in Delhi. She visited Shantivan everyday, and spent most of the day there in order to help out.

Weeks had gone by, but there was no improvement in Anjali's behavior. She stayed in her room all day and talked to no one. She cried a little in the beginning, but then completely stopped. It was as if all emotions had left her body. She barely ate, only at the behest of her husband. This worried Arnav as Aman informed him about it. They tried to bring her out of the room and get her to go back to her usual self, but nothing work. Everyone tried to help out. Even Khushi, who came personally to check on Anjali's health, didn't get any response out of her. The fact that she not only lost another child, but couldn't have any children ever, destroyed Anjali's dreams of being a mother.

By the third week, Arnav felt completely helpless. He tried in the beginning to cheer his Di up, but nothing worked. He watched everyone make some attempt to bring the smile back on Anjali's face. After a while, he couldn't bare to see her in such a state and went to work at his Delhi branch. He just needed to get away from it. It was suffocating. He needed to clear his mind and try to figure out how to help Anjali with a calm head, but no matter what he did he couldn't stop the feeling of helplessness gnawing away at him. Maybe it was best to leave her alone for awhile. Maybe she just needed time to cope. He wondered if she would ever be able to come to terms with what had happened.

Arnav came back to Shantivan late one evening and found his family sitting in the living room. Anjali still hadn't come down, and it seemed that everyone was having an intervention on what they should do to bring the old Anjali back. NK was walking around and talking, explaining his idea on how to cheer her up. Arnav walked over to the group to hear what he was saying.

"We can take her out to the park," NK suggested. "She loves the park."

"That's a good idea, but she can't go to the park if she won't come out of her bedroom," Akash said.

"What about those old home movies?" NK asked.

"I tried that," Aman said. "It didn't work."

NK let out a huff, "Come on, there must be something we can do!"

"NK, why don't you just let it go for awhile?" Arnav asked.

"What?" NK asked as he turned to face Arnav.

Arnav strode over and stood in front of him, "Why don't you just leave her alone for awhile?"

"She needs someone. It's not good for her to be alone."

"No she doesn't. Can't you see she's in pain?"

NK clenched his fist angrily.

"Just let Di be."

"At least I'm trying to make her happy, unlike her brother who is wallowing in his helplessness."

Arnav gritted his teeth, "What did you say?"

"You heard me, Arnav."

The fact the NK had called him Arnav' again really bothered him. Growing up, he had always been called Nanav', and the fact that NK didn't call him that anymore didn't make sense. He and NK didn't always get along, but they were like brothers. They loved each other through the bad and good times. And now? What had he done to deserve such distance? It was as if he had some personal enmity with him now. They used to be so close, and now they were acting like complete strangers. Even Akash had rekindled his old relationship with Arnav. So why was NK acting this way?

"Look Nandkishore," Arnav said, causing NK to flinch as he heard his full name. "Understand this. Di has to come to terms with the fact that we can't change the past."

"But we can give her a brighter future," NK persuaded.

"You know Di always wanted kids. It was her dream. The fact that she can never be a mother has crushed her! It killed her dream."

"Then let's help her weave a new dream. Don't you love Di enough to do that for her, Arnav?"

"NK-."

"Oh right, you hate talking about your feelings, right? Let's just face the facts. You don't even care about the situation."

"NK..." Arnav growled. NK was crossing the line. How dare he imply that he doesn't care about Di!

"And why should I expect you to care? You didn't care when Lavnaya died! You didn't even show up at her funeral! So why would you even care now!"

"NK that's enough!" His words stung Arnav. Was she the reason behind this anger in NK? Was it because he didn't attend the funeral that NK was mad at him? Arnav didn't want to bring up the topic of Lavanya. This was something he knew no one would really understand. Well, except Khushi. But this wasn't about that. This was about Anjali, not Lavanya.

"No Arnav!" NK stepped forward so he was in Arnav's face. "We already lost someone who was dear to us. If we don't help Di out of this, she could go into a depression. And if that happens we could lose her for-."

SLAP!

The sound the skin making contact with skin echoed throughout the house. It became pin-drop silent as everyone realized what had happened. NK held his face as he looked back at Arnav with both shock and anger. Arnav stood in front of him with the same look. He couldn't believe NK would even think that Anjali would...Arnav couldn't even complete the thought. He didn't want to hear that.

Before he could say anything to justify his actions, NK leaped forward and started hitting Arnav. The next thing everyone knew, the two men were fighting each other, throwing punches and shoving one another. Nani demanded that they stop, but wasn't heeded. Akash and Aman had to pull the two of them apart. They acted like schoolboys as they tried to kick one another while being separated.

It was in the midst of this separation that Khushi walked into Shantivan. She halted when she saw Arnav and NK being pulled apart, and instantly knew something had happened. She hurried her steps over to them so that she now stood in between them, staring back and forth between the two incredulously. Khushi couldn't believe these two grown men in suits were fighting like little boys. Both men stopped fighting as they saw their friend act as a barrier between them.

"What is going on here?" she asked. "Why are you two fighting? Arnav? Nanhe?"

Neither men gave her an answer. Instead they shrugged off the person that was holding them back and adjusted their suits. Khushi didn't understand what had happened, and hoped someone would tell her, but it seemed that that wasn't going to happen.

She took a deep breath, "Fighting isn't going to solve whatever problem you two are having. So stop it. If you aren't seeing eye to eye, then just walk away...now."

NK looked at Khushi, then glanced at Arnav before turning and going to his room. He was still angry, but now that Khushi had intervened he didn't want to hurt her. She was his friend, after all. He left in order to clear his thoughts and calm his mind. Akash followed after him, knowing that he should at least reason with NK and apologize on Arnav's behalf. After making sure that Arnav was okay, Aman went upstairs to see how Anjali was doing. Payal took Nani into her room, knowing that she did not need to witness all this drama, especially her being elder. Khushi was about to follow them when Arnav's voice stopped her.

"Khushi," Arnav said weakly.

She turned back to face him and was surprised to see the vulnerability etched on his face. In his silence, Khushi understood that he needed someone to talk to. NK had Akash, Anjali had Aman, and even Nani had Payal. But Arnav...there was no one. Apart from her, he didn't think he had anyone else on his side. He felt that no one, apart from Khushi, understood what he was going through. And right now, it seemed that he needed someone, and as always she was there for him.

"What happened, Arnav?" Khushi asked.

"NK and I fought," he replied.

"Yeah...obviously. But why?"

"Di."

Khushi didn't need him to explain. It was obvious he and NK had different views on how to handle Anjali's situation. One thing must have led to another and the next thing they knew they were fighting. She understood their frustration, but also knew that fighting was not the answer.

"Look," she said. "Fighting isn't going to solve anything. Anjaliji's condition will not get any better if her own family can't agree on how to help her."

"I know. I know," he paused. "Di means everything to me and I just want her to go back to normal. I've tried everything I could possibly think of to fix this, but nothing has worked. Should I continuing trying or just let her be? What should I do?"

"Nothing."

Arnav looked puzzled, "What?"

"You are not going to do anything," she smiled. "I am."

"I know you're a doctor and all, but I don't think medicine-."

Khushi shook her head, "I'm not going give her medicine. In fact, I'm not going to go to her as a doctor."

"O...kay? Then what are you going to her as?"

"A human being who has lost loved ones in the past."

Arnav's gaze softened as he stared at Khushi. As she said this to him, he realized that maybe she would be the best one to talk to Anjali. If anyone could get her to cope with the loss, it was Khushi. She had done so with him eight years ago in Manali. It was something he was grateful to her for to this day.

"The stars..." Arnav said softly.

Khushi's eyes widened, "You remembered?"

"I could never forget."

She smiled.

"Do you think it will work?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes," he answered without any hesitation.

"Then I will go talk to her."

**********

I feel a little bad for leaving you with that cliffhanger...just a little though ahaha. Anyways, let me know what you think by leaving your comments and feedback below.

Next update: Will Khushi be able to break through to Anjali?

Thanks for reading!