Originally posted by: Sunn_shine
Hello Everyone 🤗
Here I am with the last part of this story.. Thank you everyone.. Ankie has helped a lot in making of this story and Cassi- I hadn't shared the prompt yet, to not kill thoda bhaut suspence element of the story.. But now that the story has come to an end, a due credit to your prompt just below the story, that's where it all began.
Thank you all the readers for your time and kind words shared with every update. And BIG thanks to all the silent reader too 🤗
I had a great experience and leant a bit about story writing in the process.
Love
-Sunshine
Chapter 5 (LAST)
Mr Mehra picked it up and gave it a brief glance. Giving it back to Prerna he asked "Maam ye envelope ab deliver hua?"
"Nahi the night of the accident, but mujhe aaj subah hi mila" she said wondering why he was questioning her.
Mehra took a deep breath and said "agar main kahu is envelop ne ek tareeke se us raat mujhe us attack se save kia to galat nahi hoga" he said looking at her who was trying to make some sense out of Mehra's words.
"That night sir ko ghar drop karke meri car kuch dur ja kar kharab ho gai. Kuch der baad Sir waha se nikal rahe thay toh, he called me and offered to drop me at nearby cab stand" and I got it.
FLASHBACK
"Mehra you need to change your car now, get yourself a new car from office for God's sake. You are ruining my reputation, standing in the middle of the road with a broken car. Tomorrow get this done without fail" said Rishabh with a straight face, though his eyes laughed silently.
"Sir Mam has already done that a couple days back, to say in a way today was anyway my last day with this car. Good it ditched me, ab isey chhodne mein zyada dukh nahi hoga. Thank you!" said Mehra smile chuckling towards the last.
"Mehra I am noticing these days your loyalty is leaning more towards Mrs. Bajaj so much ki ab baatein hide krne lage hain aap" said Rishabh looking straight into Mehra's eyes, sadly.
Mehra was caught off guard and tried his best to stay as unaffected as he could but it was too late.
"Mrs. Bajaj closed the most awaited project and entire the office hides it from me, am I right Mehra?"
"You are right sir. Mrs. Bajaj wanted to surprise you. I was just following orders. I am sorry sir I didn't mean to..." said mehra looking away from Rishabh.
"Its alright Mehra. she looked pretty excited, I just met her and had no heart to ruin her excitement, so I acted as if i don't know. I wanted to surprise her too. Right before cab stand there is a cake shop. STOP THE CAR" Rishabh immediately asked his driver to stop the car.
"Mehra.. That's the shop, Mrs. Bajaj love their cakes. You go and buy a nice bouquet and red velvet cake for Mrs bajaj and my little angel and have it delivered at home by 9.30 tonight along with this card. I thought I'd do it myself but now you do it for me. I can't wait to go back home to them. You followed Mrs. Bajaj's orders now it's time to follow mine. So get down here and have this done before you take a cab; cab station is just 5 mins away" Rishabh said and moved ahead leaving mehra behind.
FLASHBACK ENDS
"I must not have spent more than 5 mins in the shop, when I got a call from his driver about the incident a little ahead of the cab station. In a rush I dropped my phone and broke it. He lay already unconscious in the backseat when I reached…..with his.. his blood all over. To save time we got him to hospital in the cab and called you from his phone" Words died in his mouth as he narrated what had happened.
"If he hadn't asked me to get down for this envelope I too could have been....How..how i wish... I wish I was with him...not him but me..." finished Mehra sighing deeply, guilt evident in his desperate words; Prerna sat in utter silence without a reaction and kept moving her fingers over her name on the envelope that laid in her hand.
"Mam he kne...." before Mehra could finish his sentence she completed for him.
"He knew.. He always does. I know it was never a surprise.. how I wish I knew he was going to give me the biggest shock…. Biggest nightmare of my life, when I allowed him to leave that night" she said and both went silent again. “I shouldn't have had.. I shouldn't… I should have known… I should have…”
"Mrs. Bajaj, we are now ready to take him off sedatives and hope he wakes up as soon as possible. If you want you may be with him inside" announced the doctor as he interrupted and Prerna almost hugged him, but stopped. She looked at Mr Mehra, and his face mirrored the same happiness that she felt. She saw Mr Mehra, escorting the doctor away, asking him more details.
It was very late at night and she slowly entered his room escorted by another doctor, taking her own sweet dear time. Though the room wasn't cold but she almost got chills overwhelmed by the feeling that she could finally see him from close, touch him and be beside him.
"You can wait here, while we wait for him to wake up," said the doctor and got busy updating his chart before leaving the room.
She went towards him apprehensively, caressing every single part of him as she scanned him with her tear brimmed eyes. She slowly extended her hand and carefully caressed his hair, moving her hand down to his face. She bent down giving a soft but a long peck on his forehead, whispering "come back Mr. Baj... Rishabh. I know you know that I am waiting for you here"
A tear rolled down her eye and fell on his cheeks. She moved back and carefully wiped her tears off his face and she grabbed a seat on a stool right next to him. She held his hand in hers and waited for him to show some movement.
At around 5am in the morning, half asleep Prerna felt some movement in her hand. She lifted her head rubbing her eyes. She checked if it was for real or just a figment of her imagination. She noticed slight movements in his fingers and then she felt his eyes moving behind the closed eyelids as if he was trying to wake up. She quickly hit the doctor on call switch and went close to him. He opened his eyes a bit, but she had no idea if he even noticed her because his face only expressed the pain he must have been feeling right now. He tried to move his lips behind the oxygen mask in an attempt to say something but barely mumbled "Mrs. Baj…."
"Mrs. Bajaj, you called? Everything alright?" asked the doctor who was there within moments after she called for help. She informed the doctor that he had tried to wake up and even tried to say something, which she thought was her name. Doctor took a step forward to check on him.
"Mrs. Bajaj, these are good signs. He is trying to wake up, but he is still under effect of meds. If I am not wrong he should be up in the next few hours. One more thing, if he gets up again and responds differently please don't panic because it usually happens after such traumatic experiences. Patients often take some time to connect with reality after being under the effect of heavy dosage of drugs and please don't make him talk too much. Call any of us if you need anything." he explained and left.
In the next few hours Rishabh woke up several times and towards late in the afternoon, he heard someone talk. Though the voice was faded but he knew it was hers. He tried calling her name but only coughed. This caught Prerna’s attention and reached him looking into his eyes. He looked at her with tired eyes hiding all the pain he was feeling but mumbled anyway “ Mrs..."
"I am right here Rishabh, look at me" she said with her eyes drowned in tears.
He tried to lift his hands to wipe her tears but all he could was to slightly nod his head asking her not to cry. She quickly wiped her tears and gave him a weak smile. Not able to control herself she kissed him on his cheek; though he was still disoriented but not enough to not realise that this happened for the first time. She carefully sat on his bed and lowered her head on his left shoulder, holding his hand in hers she said "Please don't do this ever again; I.. Kukki.. We can't live without you Rishabh"
He wasn't able to speak much but slow tears from his eyes expressed his helplessness for being the reason for her sadness. Prerna noticed and held his face and said encouragingly "Hey, No... we are good, I have you back. We will be better soon...I promise"
"Excuse me Mam, we need to change his dressing, Please allow us a moment" said a Nurse who entered with a tray. She opened up the front of his patient's gown and that's when Prerna was exposed to his injuries for the first time. His body was swollen and bruised, covered with stitches post surgery. She saw him flinch his eyes because of the pain when Nurse removed his bandage. Prerna couldn't bear him go through this and immediately shouted at nurse "Aram se kijiye na please.. Aap dekh sakte hain na unhe pain ho rha hai".
Nurse was taken aback by her reaction and but didn't react much because she knew the patient's family often reacted so and responded calmly by saying "Sure Mam".
Prerna moved beside Rishabh and held his hand while nurse carried on with her work. Rishabh struggled to speak much due to his sore throat but he did try to tell Prerna with his eyes that he was Okay and she shouldn't worry so much.
Next couple of days he mostly spent his time sleeping and silently looking at Prerna who was not ready to leave his side at any cost. He knew she was going through a lot, trying to manage so many things by herself, which made him feel helpless and guilty for being a burden on her. He made a few attempts to speak to her but she wouldn't let him.
It was over a week past accident and Rishabh has been recovering well under doctor's care and Prerna's careful watch. She was always around him like a hawk, making sure everything was done as per her wish. Rishabh often smiled while she was busy instructing hospital staff and they obediently listened to her. Rishabh could sense change in Prerna in past couple of days, she was less reluctant to be near him.
“Mrs. Bajaj, why don’t you just sit down for sometime. Let hospital staff also have some time to breathe” he said smiling at in his low and sore voice.
“Mr. Bajaj, please, you don’t tell me what to do and what not” she huffed trying to mimic him like previous times as she came near him and sat next to him. Holding his hand in hers she said “I cannot see you in pain aur agar ab koi bhi aapko chhota sa bhi nuksaan pahuchane ke baare mein sochega bhi to I dunno what I will do”. She moved ahead and placed her head in his arm while sitting on the stool next to his bed. “You have no idea Mr. Bajaj, main kitna dar gai thi”
He somehow lifted his right arm, still jammed because of the wound and placed on top of her head and caressed her hair “its okay Mrs. Bajaj. Bhool jaiye please”
Nurse was changing his drip when Inspector with Mr. Mehra and one of the doctors came in to take Rishabh’s statement. At first Prerna was reluctant in letting the police take Rishabh’s statement because she thought it would only harm him due to unpleasant memories of the incident, after all who would ever want to remember such a life threatening harrowing incident, especially him in this weak vulnerable state, that would harm him even further. But Rishabh assured that he was well enough to give his statement to the police. He narrated the whole incident and also informed them how he also had hired a private investigator to look into the matter. After all the formalities Inspector and doctor left and Mr. Mehra stayed back in the room.
“Sir, Mam.. I am really sorry but there is a very important meeting in the office today and either of you needs to be present. I wish there was another choice” said Mehra, looking at the two of them feeling extremely guilty and awkward. Both the husband and wife needed some time together especially after recalling the worst nightmare of both their lives but his hands were tied.
“Its okay Mehra, you don’t have to kill yourself for this. Mrs. Bajaj please go and attend the meeting. I am good here, and Kukki, Masi and Tanvi anyway will be here anytime now. I think you must go” Rishabh looked at her waiting for her to agree.
“But” she tried to say something but Rishabh interrupted her “No buts and Ifs.. We have so many people working on these projects, their bread and butter... they shouldn't suffer for us. so please go”
She reluctantly agreed to leave once Masi reached with Kukki and Tanvi. As soon as they came she picked up her bag and looked at her husband.. He gave her a smile and said what he always did “Go seal the deal”. His words brought a wide smile on her face.
Prerna was busy with her business discussions and signing endless papers but she had left her soul with her husband in the hospital. She wanted to finish her work to leave but she got stuck there for a few hours more instead. She did make a few calls to Masi to get regular updates on him. On the other side in hospital, Rishabh spent some time with her daughter while Masi and Tanvi were around to look after them but he missed his wife already.
Prerna arrived late in the evening and Tanvi had left as Kukki was quite sleepy by then. Massi was with him reluctant to leave his side, until Prerna came back. Prerna had a small chat with doctors and sat beside him who was sleeping.
“So gaya kuch der pehele. Intezaar kar raha tha.” Massi said looking fondly at her now sleeping nephew. Prerna pressed her lips in a sympathetic smile and caressed Risbhah’s hair. In few moment’s time he peered his eyes open from the short nap, clearly excited to see his wife.
“Tired?” He asked her.
“No.. I mean yeah. But I am fine now” she gave him a tired smile. “Anyway,” She announced to both of them, “Doctors have given a go ahead for some liquid food, soon it’ll be here. So whatever it is just have it without any fuss. Please Massi tell him not to create a scene like he did a year back when he was sick.” she said adjusting his bed a bit to make some space for herself to feed him as she helped him to sit up.
Mass tried it hard not to laugh at the two while Rishabh rolled his eyes looking at the food and was about to make some excuse when she said almost mimicking him “See I am so tired ab mujhse aap mehnat karwayenge.. ki main aap ko manau, samjhau.. YA CHUP CHAP KHAYENGE” the last words of hers almost scolded him.
Both Massi and Rishabh were left stunned by this sudden change in her expressions. From a pleading face to a hitler face wasn't Rishabh had expected. Massi encouragingly touched his arm and he, just like a little obedient boy without creating any fuss ate the whole thing.
He was recovering but it was a slow one. There were moments of happiness when Kukki came to visit him, he smiled his best and played board games with his little girl; everything seemed alright and there were moments of worry when he woke up with severe chest pains at night or felt light headedness or couldn't breathe without an oxygen mask because of his wounds and his lung that collapsed. Recovery was hard on both of them but they were getting there. Doctor's had informed them that wounds would heal soon but full recovery would take anywhere between 6-7 months, for which he strictly needed to follow prescription, diet and regular breathing exercises..
Upon Prerna's insistence their stay in hospital was extended from 15 days to 20 days because she didn't want to take any chances. All this while she learnt all breathing exercises and post discharge care. Prerna made note of every single detail. She shuffled between home, office and Police Station when needed, but spent most of her time in the hospital with him.
She fed him, helped him with small walks in the room itself. She did all the breathing exercises with him as prescribed by the doctor for faster healing of his damaged left lung. Sometimes she even allowed him to go through a couple of office files, to keep him occupied, but in limits.
They never felt emotionally so close to each other as they did after this incident; but one thing that never changed was their silent acceptance for these new feelings that developed amongst these two. They still spoke to each other with their eyes and words often felt cheated in their conversations.
Their last day in the hospital; Mehra and Rishabh waited for Prerna to come to take him home as she was a little late; while Kukki, Tanvi and Masi waited for them at home. She came and three of them thanked the entire hospital staff. Prerna and Mehra with help of a hospital staff carefully helped him sit in the car on his favourite side. Mehra, took his seat next to the driver, Prerna looked at his face concerned if he was comfortable enough.
Rishabh sensed her worry and said "Mrs. Bajaj, I know jo bhi hua it was traumatic, but that doesn't mean I will stop using a car. So better wipe off this worried expression of your face. I am fine, don't worry. Raghu let's move, I can't wait to be home" he said, assuring her with his smile and twinkling eyes clearly excited to go home. She kept her hand over his and gave it a little squeeze, excited to be home.. their HOME after what looked like ages.
Everyone welcomed three of them at home and it felt like a celebration of a festival in itself, some of the staff members had also joined. After the little celebration was over everyone in the house went back to do their respective work, while Rishabh and Prerna sat on the couch with tired Kukki sleeping in her father's lap. Rishabh caressed Kukki’s hair admiring his little girls innocence who was creating havoc around the house a few minutes back.
Prerna got up from her place and sat next to him. She gave a soft peck on her daughter’s cheek and said “You know.. She got to know about your accident through a news channel. By the time I reached home, usne poora room tahas nahas kr dia tha. Tantrums mein to ye aapse bhi bhuat aage hai… You should have seen her room.”
Rishabh smiled looking at his daughter and he tried to lift her up. But Prerna stopped him.
"What are you doing, kuch weight uthane ke lie mana kia hai na.. Layie main Kukki ko uske room mein sula ke aati hu and then I'll take you inside. Raat ho gai hai, you must rest now" Prerna picked up Kukki in her arms and left. Rishabh rested his head back on the couch and a thought crossed his mind what would have happened to his family, if anything had happened to him that night. Not wanting to think about that night any more, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was happy to be home with his people, his family.
Prerna came out of Kukki room and she rushed towards Rishabh, who was trying to get off the couch on his own to go to their room.
"Kabhi to dusre logo ki baat suna kijie, maine kaha tha na main aati hu, fir sath mein jayenge. Main aapko ghar le aayi hu it doesn't mean aap manmani karenge" she scolded him while supporting him and walked towards their room.
She made him sit on the bed and arranged a few of pillows at the back. She helped him lie down comfortably on the pillows and said "Main abhi aayi"
Rishabh lied with his eyes closed when Prerna whispered in his ear "Welcome home Rishabh". He opened his eyes and saw a huge bouquet in front of him with an envelop; she hid her face behind the bouquet. He removed the envelope and opened to read it with a smile on his face-
Dearest Rishabh
Thank you for being in my life!
Missed you!
Prerna
He took the bouquet and kept it on the bed to see her face, only to find her with a red velvet cake in her hand with a candle lit on top of it. She looked at him with a wide smile, she kept the cake on the bed and helped him sit straight against the pillows.
"Ye sab kya hai Mrs. Bajaj. Flowers, cake n all" he was surprised.
She spoke in a soft voice "First, aaj se aap mujhe Mrs. Bajaj nhi, Prerna bollie please. I like hearing my name in your voice" she continued "us raat you wanted to celebrate aise hi na.. So I thought jo tab nahi ho paya, ab to ho sakta hai..wo bhi mere wajah se" she said her voice cracking now.
"It's all right, it was not your fault so stop punishing yourself because it hurts me more" he said wiping her fresh tears. "Aur waise bhi roke kaun celebrate krta hai. Cheer up and let's cut the cake, poor candle aise hi melt ho jayegi nahi to. Come this side let's do it together"
“Pehle aap ye medicines le lijie” Rishabh denied saying he would take it after their little celebration as meds put him to sleep.
She agreed and quickly jumped on to the other side to be with him. They blew the candle and holding each other's hand cut the cake. He grabbed a big Piece for her and she took a tiny bit from it for him. They ate the cake from each other's hands. Rishabh put some cake on her nose and they both burst into laughter, leading him to cough heavily that left him struggling to breathe; his lungs still coping to keep up. She rubbed his back and asked him to breathe in acting herself while instructing.
She gave him a glass of water and medicines. Rubbing his back she said "Enough, Rishabh, abhi bahut ho gaya.. you must rest now". She made him lie and carefully lay with him with her head on his left shoulder, making sure not to hurt any of his wounds. He was a bit surprised finding her so close, but quietly tightened his grip around her. She looked at him and said "Aapko pata tha na mera surprise, to us din aisa kyu act kr rhe the jaise aapko kuch pata nahi tha?"
He smiled at her and turned his head towards her. "Well, I thought it was cute that you actually thought I won't know about it and I didn't want to kill your excitement soo..." he chuckled. "I own this organisation Mrs.. I mean Prerna.. that means something, isn't it?" He said keeping a soft peck on her forehead admiring her for her innocence. Prerna responded with a smile, thinking how naïve she was. She felt happy but the very next moment her expressions changed as she recalled the entire episode with Khattar. She dug her face into his shoulder, tightly gripping his T-shirt below her face and she said with a sad tone
"Aur wo Khattar wali baat, wo bhi aapne nahi bataya mujhe? Please aaj ke baad aap aisa kuch nahi krenge, mujhse kuch bhi hide nahi karenge kabhi bhi. Aap Ko andaza bhi nahi hai, how scared I was! Please don't do this ever again.. Promise me Rishabh..Rish….." She took a pause and looked at him and found him fast asleep. She facepalmed herself and smilingly mumbled "He was right.. Medicines.. Do make him sleep"
She raised herself and gave him a soft peck barely escaping his lips. she noticed a small smile forming on his face. Lowering her head back on his shoulder she tightened her grip around his neck. Prerna closed her eyes, finding herself in the safest place ever and whispered 'He Knows, he always does' before drifting into one of the most peaceful sleep her life.
THE END DA ISHTYLE :)
Ufff Yeh Love Hai Mushkil
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