To everyone who was expecting different content. I have it in the works, but, this distracted me... The medical facts ignored by this show have always irked me, and because it was Raavi this time, I just had to do something, you know? Also, there's a little something based on the dhoka BTS. Haven't watched the episodes because I didn't want to be influenced, so do let me know if anything feels wrong.
Disclaimer: Again, it's Raavi, and so I couldn't bear to have her hurting too much. The symptoms I've given her should correlate to a mild, treatable at home with relative rest and painkillers kind of concussion. Not sue how accurate it is because I had to base it off of YouTube videos, which is not my MO when approaching medical issues for my stories. For anyone who doesn't know, concussions are dysfunction of the brain due to physical trauma or jostling. It can have severe repercussions, but more often than not, it doesn't. They're considered Brain Bruises, kind of. 2k words, nearly, so this is a ficlet, not drabble.
xxxxxxxxxxx
Sleeping Beauty? Sleeping Beauty.
Shiva carried Raavi into the house, his worry overpowering his happiness from a while back. She had woken up and talked to him back then, but then she hadn't woken up despite his efforts on the truck ride back home. Like some cursed Sleeping Beauty. That wasn't how things were supposed to be, were they?
He called out for Gaumbi and his bhabhi as he carried her into their room, and by the time he'd laid her down on the bed, they were both there along with Krish. Quickly explaining the situation to them, "Bhabhi, Raavi aankhein nahi khol rahi hain. Kuch kijiye na?", he asked.
"Kuch nahi hua hoga Shiva, bas sar pe chot lagne ki vajah se behosh hui hogi, aur kuch nahi. Thodi dher aaram karne de, voh kudh uth jayegi". It was hard to believe, and anyways, he couldn't stand a scratch on her, but maybe bhabhi was right. Because she must have more knowledge than him atleast, didn't she?
Just as bhabhi turned to walk out, Krish called her back. "Bhabhi, humein na Maa ko bolne chahiye, do baar 'Aye, markundi gaay' bolke dantenge, tho Raavi bhabhi khud dar ke maare uth jaayengi!", and then chortled as if that had been the funniest thing in the world. Shiva could feel his temper rising again, but her hand moved gently in his and he turned back to her. Still not awake.
"Bilkul nahi, Krish! Maa pehle se bohot naraaz hain hum sabse. Yeh baat bata chalegi tho aur naraaz ho jayenge, aur usse main abhi sambhal nahi sakti", she said and finally walked out of the room in the periphery of his vision.
He heard footsteps, and then Gaumbi was placing a hand on his shoulder. He turned around quickly to hide his face in his brother's legs, not letting go of her hand because he simply couldn't. "Dhara Maa ko lekar darr rahi hain Shiva, aur shahad ek hadd tak voh dar jayaz hain. Par agar Raavi ek ghante ke andhar nahi uthi, tho humein ek baar doctor ko bulakar dikha deni chahiye usse. Samajh rahe ho na Shiva?"
He nodded into his brother's legs, moving away, understanding too well for once perhaps. "Ji Gaumbi. Samajh gayi". His chipkali was behosh and not waking up, and he was one of the parties responsible. Should he have told her the truth? Maybe atleast hinted at it?
He remembered how satisfied he'd felt when she'd fallen asleep after reading his text yesterday.
Aye, chipkali, chup chaap so jaa. Aur itna pareshaan hona band kar. Aa jayenge dono wapas.
Had it not been enough? Or had he simply underestimated her fear of his family breaking apart? Whatever it was, the moment she woke up again, he was going to give her a good lecture on the perils of walking out of ther house like that without letting even him know. It was his right, as her husband.
xxxxxxx
A couple minutes later, she did wake up. With a moan of pain and a hand that clumsily tried to block out the light. "Shiva", she gasped out, pointing at the lights, and he rushed to switch them off, leaving only the soft nightlamps on. He quickly sat by her side as she made an effort to get off the bed, catching hold of her shoulders and trying to make her lie back down gently. "Ulti. Bathroom", she said, pressing a hand over her mouth and pushing against the hold he had on her.
Taking a split second decision, he lifted her up in his arms, carrying her out to the bathroom and calling out for Gaumbi while he was at it. He set her down and turned around to let a clearly panicking Gaumbi know to call the doctor when he heard the bathroom door slam and lock. Why did she lock the door? How was he to help her now? "Raavi! Aye gadhedi, kya kar rahi hain?!", he shouted, only to receive a "Bas ek minute, Shiva!" in response.
Still standing right outside the door, he conveyed his message to Gaumbi while tapping his feet impatiently, both of them completely vetoing his bhabhi, who was still worried about Maa finding out about things. "Shiva, agar Maa ko bata chal gaya tho alag basadh mach jayegi! Kyun samajh nahi raha hain tu?!", she had asked, frantically gesturing at him. He understood. Really, he did. Dev was stuck there for the sake of the plan, and they couldn't be under Maa's scrutiny if they had to help him if and when he required it. But this once Dev could do this alone, couldn't he? He was capable of it. Plus, Shiva knew he wouldn't leave Raavi's side unless he knew she was absolutely alright. And she wasn't right now.
Just then, the door opened and Raavi tripped over empty air on her way to him. He caught hold of her waist, and cupping her cheek with one hand, "Ulti aayi?", he asked. "Nahi, par... " She trailed off, and his mind began to come up with the worst possible fill ins at the speed of light. "Par kya? Bol na kuch?", he implored, bending his head down to look into her eyes. "Sarr phata jaa raha hain, machli ho rahi hain, aur upar se yeh lights!" She closed her eyes, hiding her face in his chest, and he let his hand move to the back of her head, gently yet firmly caressing her head.
"Dekha Shiva! Maina kaha tha na, ki doctor ko bulane ki koi zaroorat nahi hain? Yeh sab bas sar pe chot ki vajah se hain!" Raavi looked up then, "Doctor?!", she asked with a panicked look on her face, eyes wide and staring right at him. "Aye shechu! Bas ek baar dekhne aa rahe hain tujhe, chup chaap kamre main jaake aaraam kar tab tak. Vaise bhi, Maa ko jo doctor dekhne aate the na bachpan main? Vahi aa rahe hain."
"Theek hain", she said, pouting at him for scolding her. She really had no idea how much she meant to him.
xxxxxxxxxx
Two days later, on the occasion of New Year's Eve, Shiva stood there shocked as she called his admittedly stupid decision a dhokha. A betrayal. And although he had been trying to be as gentle with her as possible since they'd gotten back together, he couldn't stand that blame. "Kya kab se dhoka dhoka laga rakha hain tune?! Kya dhoka diya maine, iss parivaar ne, tujhe? Jo muh main aa rahi hain, bass bhole jaa rahi hain tu?!"
She teared up almost immediately. Her tears standing on her lashes, with her stubbornness somehow keeping them from falling right then and there. And his heart had clenched in pain and melted at the same time. Mad heart. She had taken one look around the room at their families that had gathered around the date set up he had arranged as a surprise for her, for pulling through with the two days of bed rest. And then she had run into their room and slammed the door shut.
He was at the door in a matter of a couple strides, banging on the door and asking her to open it. "Raavi darwaza khol! Kya harkat hain yeh?!" Why couldn't she understand? That the one thing he couldn't bear was something happening to her, for her to be alone and in pain? Because you refuse to tell her, his heart said. Mad heart, as he'd called it. He had managed to hide that there had ever been a plan, simply by being by her side whenever the family spent time with her as she had her two days of bed rest, as recommended by the doctor. She had finally gotten the all clear today, although she had been asked to still take things slow, if they wanted the effects of the mild concussion she'd had to truly stay away that is.
And then she had found out everything in minutes, thanks to that stupid brother of his. Krish. Hearing no sound from inside and only the sound of the family's muttering growing louder and louder behind him, he called out to her once more. "Raavi?!", and finally, a desperate "Chipkali, darwaza khol, please". He heard his family quieting down, his Mami gasping at this pleading version of him that he was sure she had never seen. Only the people closest to his heart had ever seen him like this, and that too on the rarest occasions.
As their house became so silent he could've heard a pin drop, he heard the one sound he wished he could never hear again every time he did. She was sobbing. She was sitting inside a locked room she sobbing. And he was on the other side of it. Unable to help his stammer, he forced out a "Aye! R-ro kyun rahi h-hain tu?!" "Shiva, jaa na!", she said back, her voice trembling with the tears she must be trying to hold back.
"Hargiz nahi! Kaha tha na maine tujhe? Pati hoon main tera, aur agar tu roegi, tho main teri aansun pochunga". He heard her go nearly completely silent on the other side, before he heard the rustling of her clothes, her bangles tinkling as she moved, and then he felt her on the other side of the door. He laid his forehead on the door, holding his breath as he waited for her to say something. "Tho maine bhi kaha tha na tujhe? Ki tu pati haina mera, jaake laa Dev-Rishita ko! Maine apni dard tujhse baat li Shiva, aur tune phir bhi mujhse baat chupayi", she said, her voice cracking at the end.
He knew he was wrong, and she probably knew her mistakes too. But they didn't know the other knew. Why? Because he refused to tell her. And that stopped her from telling him anything completely either. He turned his head sideways and spotted the window of his room they looked into the aangan. What a fool he was, searching for ways to where he wanted to be without looking ar what was staring him in the face. He walked over and jumped in, and as he heard the family rushing towards it, each with their own bits and pieces of advice, he heard his bhabhi call out to him and turned around. "Shiva, mujhe baat karne de Raavi se, meri baat jaldi maan jayegi voh, mujhe pata hain!" Gaumbi held her back as she tried to move closer to the window, trying to peek in to see Raavi. "Bhabhi, please. Maine pehle bhi kahaa tha aapse, humare rishte ki ladayi humein khud ladne do. Aapke bacche bade ho gaye, aur abh hum khud ko sambhal lenge." Saying so, he shut the window close and turned around, only to be bodily thrown back by the force of nature that his chipkali chudail hybrid of a wife was.
And then they talked, of broken trust and her kacchi pet, of expectations and his autonomy, of stolen kisses and dreams, and then at twelve that night, he kissed her, and she feel asleep. Sleeping Beauty indeed.
xxxxxxxx
I figured him ignoring Dhara was simply more effective than him addressing her until absolutely having to, so thoughts? Also, I wanted to write a conversation, but it was getting too long, which I didn't want.
Do read and review! Lambe comments give me ultimate khushi! ❤️
Edited by Pottermeow - 3 years ago
DO NOT COPY THIS POST AS THIS IS EXCLUSIVE TO INDIA FORUMS
