ArHi FF | Vaadaa Raha | Chapter 4 P 21 | May 12th 2017 - Page 9

Chapter 4

Payal caressed her husband's hands as she took refuge in his arms. Since Arnav's accident, it had been quite a difficult and emotional period for their family. In the blink of an eye he was gone! She had lost her brother in law, not one, but two because he held two important roles in her life; he was her Jeethji through her husband and her Jijaji through her sister. She always looked up to Arnav and admired the individual that he was. She was also grateful of the way he loved her sister. There was a shortage of words to describe the relationship that Khushi and Arnav shared.

Arnav was the person that held their family together, although he was a man of a few words that did not stop him from always taking care of everyone and attending to their needs and wishes.

She remembered her last memory of him from the morning of the accident. She had busily entered the kitchen and bumped into Arnav, making his glass of water fall down. "I'm so sorry Arnavji I didn't see you."

He had smiled at her and motioned that it was okay.
As she was about to pick up the broken glass, he stopped her, "Its fine, you carry on... Akash must be waiting for you, I'll clean it up." He bent down and began picking up the glass shards.

"Thanks Arnavji..." She smiled warmly as she picked up Akash's tiffin and the bottle of water that she had entered the kitchen for. He returned the smile as she left to meet Akash.

It was something simple but it had meant a lot to her. A brief moment in time and it had been the last time she had seen or heard from him. That was until the shrill of Akash's phone rang in the dead of the night, where Aman conveyed the news of the accident to him.

Over the past few weeks she had seen their family simply getting by, living on the support of each other. Payal felt helpless, seeing her husband and sister grieve in front of her eyes, their lives had been torn apart and there was nothing she could do to lessen their pain. She desperately wanted to believe that the gleam of hope that they were holding on to was true. Payal encouraged her husband with her gentle words, "I'm right here beside you. We'll get through this together."

Akash took a deep breath and nodded at her words, thankful for the woman beside him. He had just disclosed to her that the private investigator may have found a possible lead. They were hopeful but at the back of their minds was the doubt that haunted them, what if he was really gone for good. He did not want to give Khushi a ray of hope in case the trail ended up cold, she would be shattered again but he wanted to share the news so badly with her, she deserved to know.

A lone tear slipped from his eye, he owed so much to him, he had never for once considered Arnav his cousin. Instead he had always seen him as his older brother, his confidant and his best friend! His brother supported him completely when he had announced that he wanted to get married to Payal. His brother helped his mother see eye to eye and agree to the marriage.

He had broken down in his wife's arms when he got the news of his brother's accident. He was in disbelief; he felt numb. As he told their family what had happened, he wanted to rush to the accident site immediately but he did not know how to leave their family, they were shattered. They needed him and he needed them.

The image of Khushi running down the staircase was plastered in his mind. She had approached him asking for answers, he had little to offer her then as he was the bearer of bad news, but not today! There was a chance, Arnav had a chance. And he would fight the world for the chance to meet his brother again and bring a smile to his sister in law's face.

"I'm going to tell her" He said, getting up to go to his sister in law's bedroom, she was the reason he was still hoping against the world that his brother would never leave them.

Khushi took up the hose and began watering his favourite roses at their poolside. She enjoyed spending time with his plants, tending to them made her feel a sense of closeness to him. She chuckled remembering the first time she had seen him gardening, she had been shocked. She could not understand how a firm businessman like Arnav could enjoy a hobby as delicate as gardening. It was only later on that Arnav had told her that he used to do it with his late mother and after she had passed, this is how he felt close to her. She heard the voice of her sister behind her, "Khushi"

She turned around to see her sister and brother in law, their faces mirrored with something doubting them, she was certain of it. "What's wrong?" She shut off the hose and followed them inside the room.

Payal ushered her to sit down on the bed and she obliged. "Now spill it. Does it have?" She stopped as she saw her brother in law's eyes meet her own. "Is he?" Her hand crept up to cover her mouth.

Akash knelt on the floor beside Khushi and held her hands in his, "Khushi the private investigator may have a lead. We may have found him. There is a patient who was admitted to a hospital in a small town around the time bhai's accident occurred."

Khushi shut her eyes soaking in the news, "Arnavji..." After so many days she truly felt alive in this moment. Her Arnavji, her husband and the father of their baby. She hugged her brother in law and her sister, feeling a sense of harmony wash over her body and mind.

Akash smiled at his sister in law, she was truly glowing, he was so glad at the prospect of their complete family again. The words of the private investigator returned to his mind with vengeance. "Khushi, I don't want to get your hopes down but it's possible that it could lead to a dead-end. You know what I'm saying right?" He said, his voice laced with emotion.

She nodded and touched his shoulder, "I know but the slightest chance that it could be him is worth all the pain and faith."

Later that night, Khushi sat down at the poolside beneath the stars, she caressed the diary in her hands. It was her safe haven, the place where all her thoughts were poured into. Her dreams, reality and the dimension in between, she had written everything in this diary. She leaned against the back of the chair as she began writing to her heart's content.

Dear Diary,

Hope, this is what I have been holding onto since your accident. Hope that you were alive. Hope that we would meet again. Hope that one day we can resume our lives, the way things used to be.

Today that hope lit a wildfire inside me, there is hope of you being alive, there is hope that we will meet again and there is hope of us resuming a life that was interrupted.

Tomorrow brings us one step closer to our quest of finding each other again. I know Akashji told me that there was a chance of returning empty handed when we follow the lead but I know in my heart that you are still here. You have to be! You told me to hold onto our hearts beating in unison and I won't let go, never!

I know it must hurt that I have not told our families about our little miracle growing inside me, but I'm selfish. When we find you, I want you to be the first one that I tell. You deserve to know what we created before the rest of the world does.

Arnavji please be waiting for me when I come looking for you. I love you always!

Yours forever,

Khushi.

Khushi closed her book and rose from her chair, she looked up at the starlit sky and smiled. Their parents always kept an eye on them, making their presence known on the toughest and most beautiful night. She turned and made her way into the bedroom, she tucked the diary in the drawer of her nightstand and caressed his side of the pillow. She dosed off as the memory of the day Arnav and she had decided that they were ready to start their own family lingered in her mind.

She looked up at him, "Arnavji I've been thinking a lot about something..."

He caressed her cheek, motioning her to continue.

"We've been married for a while, I feel like...maybe we should..."

He asked, "Am I thinking what you're thinking?"

She nodded seeing the glint in his eyes, "I think we should start trying for a baby."

He leaned closer to her, "I think you just made me the happiest man alive." He captured her lips, pulling her further and further into the intoxication of the night.

A few hours later, exhaustion took over but sleep was the farthest from their minds. They could not stop thinking about their future.

He trailed his fingers along the length of her arm as she lay in his embrace, "Just imagine a little bit of you and a little bit of me in another human, our baby."

She smiled, "The thought of creating another person from our love, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather do this with."

He kissed her hair, "When we do get pregnant, the day we find out, I think I'll go mad with happiness. I'll twirl you around and kiss you senselessly."

She kissed his chest and closed her eyes, "I can't wait for that moment."

Hundreds of kilometers away, in a small town surrounded by the Ganga, the morning dew decorated the window pane of a hospital room. Doctor Kumar looked at his patient who was distracted by the dewdrops on the window. He felt extremely sorry for him, a few months ago some villagers had brought him in, he had been washed ashore by the powerful currents of the river. By the state he had reached the hospital in, it was clear that he had gotten into an accident of some sort. After several hours of treating him for broken bones, slashes, head trauma and hypothermia, he had slipped in coma. The staff at the hospital was slowly giving up on the patient's recovery but not Doctor Kumar, he believed that he would wake up.

A month ago, much to Doctor Kumar's elation, the patient had awoken from his coma, although he had no idea who he was and where he came from. Tabular Rasa was the term; his patient was a blank slate. The past month had passed with hundreds of physical therapy sessions to aid with his movement especially since he had broken his leg at the time he had arrived to the hospital.

Doctor Kumar touched his head lovingly, "Son how are you doing this morning?"

The patient looked up at him and stunned Doctor Kumar as he stuttered the name, "Ar r n nav..."

Tu aata hai seene mein
Jab jab saansein bharti hoon
Tere dil ki galiyon se
Main har roz guzarti hoon

You come into the heart,
Whenever I inhale,
From the streets of your heart,
I pass everyday.

Hawaa ke jaise chalta hai tu
Main ret jaisi udti hoon
Kaun tujhe yoon pyaar karega
Jaise main karti hoon

You move like the wind,
I fly like sand.
Who would love you
like I do...

{Song: Kaun Tujhe - M.S. Dhoni}

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov0YGGSY6gY

Sarita