That fateful day
Nupur sat outside the operation theatre, with Rahul and pranav in her arms. Mayank paced the corridor waiting for the red bulb to go off, so that the doctor could come outside and tell them about Khushi's condition. Nupur waited quietly without saying a word. She was in deep shock and in desperation. She had been crying ever since khushi was brought to the hospital. Rahul and pranav knew that their little sister was inside the operation theatre and was in trouble, but did not realise the gravity of the situation.
Nupur's mind had stopped working and all that was flashing in front of her was khushi's face. She ran back in time, five years back, when she had first held the tiny baby in her arms. Mayank had always wanted a daughter and his face had lit up like a 1000 watt bulb when he had picked up his bundle of joy for the first time. She recollected Rahul and Pranav's expression when they had first seen their sister, Khushi. "yeh toh bahut choti hai, iske saath cricket kaise khelenge?" they had said the moment they saw her.
She remembered the excitement that the three Sharma men ' mayank, rahul and pranav- had when khushi took her first step. The day she said 'dada', mayank had taken them to a seven-star restaurant for dinner. The day she had fever, all the three of them stayed back home to take care of her. On the first day of her school, she cried horribly after she had seen her brothers and dad shed tears for sending her to school. All in all, she was the apple of everyone's eye, especially mayank's.
Nupur now looked at mayank. He had become pale and worried. For the past 8 hours he had not sat in a place. He kept pacing up and down the passage. He had taken rahul and pranav to the hospital canteen so that they wouldn't be hungry, but he himself had not eaten anything. Nupur got up from her seat and walked near mayank. She placed her hand on his shoulders and he looked into her eyes. Her eyes were filled with hope; hope that khushi will be alright and it filled him up with positive energy. But then the doctor's words rang in his ears ' "hum koshish karenge Mr. Sharma, but please don't keep hopes"
"humari khushi ko kuch nahi hoga mayank" nupur hugged him tightly when she saw him lost in his thoughts. He took some time to register her words in his mind. He felt so helpless. On an impulse, he hugged nupur tightly. "yeh sab humari bacchii ke saath hi kyun hua nupur. Humne toh kisi ka kuch nahi bigaada tha. Meri bacchii ander marr rahi hai aur main kuch bhi nahi..." nupur broke the hug and placed her hand on his mouth. "aisa kyun bol rahe ho haan? Meri khushi bahut strong hai, usey kuch nahi hoga." She said as she wiped his tears.
Mayank looked at Rahul and pranav, who were leaning on each other and dosing. they too had been terrified when they saw their baby sister being brought to the hospital, in a state of unconsciousness and covered in blood. "Khushi ko kuch hoga toh nahi na papa? Woh thik ho jayegi na?" they had asked mayank, who had absolutely no answer to their questions. "main bacchon ko driver ke saath ghar bhijwa deta hoon. Thoda araam karlenge toh unke liye accha hoga" he said in a dry voice. Nupur agreed with him and she carefully tried to carry the boys with mayank's help, trying not to wake them up. But unfortunately, they had already got up and immediately began to ask questions about khushi. Nupur suggested that if the boys wanted to stay in the hospital, he shouldn't be forcing them to go home. and finally mayank agreed.
He sat down on the chair, hugging nupur and his sons, waiting to hear from the surgeons, praying to God, in silence. And he recollected the fateful incident that happened a few hours back.
Khushi was playing hide and seek with rahul and pranav. It was khushi's turn to seek, while the boys hid. After a while, rahul and pranav completely forgot about the game and went inside their house to eat something. it was then that they remembered about the game when nupur asked about khushi. Just as they were about to go and get khushi, they heard a scream. Mayank, nupur, rahul and pranav ran outside to see what happened.
Khushi was in the middle of the road, lying there, covered in blood. A truck had hit a car, which in turn had rammed into khushi and she now lay unconscious. Mayank was the first to reach to her. he saw his baby lying there, crying in pain, with glass pieces pierced into her head and body. He picked her up and looked at her in shock. He handed over her to nupur and moved out the car outside the parking space to drive her to the hospital. Khushi's sobs reduced on the way and she drifted into unconsciousness.
On reaching the hospital, when the doctors first examined her, they told the family that she was critical and they could not do much except pray for mercy. They told mayank not to keep high hopes since the girl was sinking.
Mayank closed his eyes tight, as he increased his grip on nupur. Nupur held him back tightly and rubbed his back. They were waiting, and hoped that she got better. Soon the red bulb went off and one of the surgeons came out. Mayank rushed towards him and asked if khushi was alright.
"Mr Sharma, the operation was a success, but she has a lot of head injuries. You might want to see her, since she's got a little time left" mayank felt numb. She had a little time? Without thinking much, he rushed inside, to be followed by nupur and the kids.
When they reached inside, their heart melted. The little girl had bandages and wires all over her, with a huge oxygen mask. She lay unconscious. Mayank sat next to her on the bed. He kept staring at her. She looked pale, yet pretty. She had the scars of the glass pieces all over her. Her tiny body was wrapped in white plasters. Nupur stood next to the bed. She touched Khushi's hand. She remembered when she had first touched her tiny fingers in the hospital, those fingers had automatically wrapped round nupur's finger. But today, it was still. Khushi did not react to that touch. Rahul and pranav stood next to their mother, hoping to see khushi getting up.
Mayank wept sitting next to her. a tear drop fell on khushi's hand, and she involuntarily moved her hand. A while later, her eyes fluttered and finally she opened her eyes. "papa..." she managed to whisper and mayank's happiness knew no bounds. He turned to nupur who smiled back widely at him. "nupur, humari bacchii ko kuch nahi hua, dekho usne mujhe papa kaha..." he hugged nupur. But then turned back on hearing the cardiogram's beeping. The heart rate was going higher and higher and khushi found difficulty in breathing. And before the doctors could give her a ppt shock, the cardiogram showed a straight line along with a long beep, indicating that she was no more.
Mayank sat next to her bed, this time with a blank expression. "khushi, baby utho na. phir se so kyun gayi?" he shook her a little, but she did not wake up. Mayank shook her a little more, but that did not affect khushi at all. Nupur took a step back towards the wall and sat on the floor without any reaction. Rahul and pranav knew that there was something wrong, but were too small to understand anything.
"papa, khushi ko kya hua? Yeh chup kyun ho gayi?" rahul asked in a worried voice. Pranav walked up to khushi and said "aye khushi, uth na. bahut drama kar liya. Tu nahi uthi, toh main tere teacher se keh doonga ke tu kisi ki baat nahi sunthi, bahut naughty girl ho gayi ho"
Rahul and pranav began to get worried. Khushi wasn't responding and so were their parents. A lone tear escaped from nupur's eye. She lost her baby. Forever. And she would never return. She looked up at mayank who sat there without any movement, just staring blankly at his angel's face. "humne usey kho diya mayank, hamesha ke liye. Aur woh kabhi nahi aayegi" but mayank seemed to be lost. He looked at khushi, lovingly, like he always did while she would be fast asleep.
Nupur got up from the place she was seated at, walked up to mayank and shook him. He looked at her with no expression. Nupur hugged mayank tightly and the kids stood looking at them, at khushi and at each other. Rahul walked up to where khushi lay. "tu wapas kab aayegi?" and at this, mayank burst out crying. Nupur looked at the boys and gestured them to come to her. pranav ran to nupur and hugged them both. But rahul just stood there, looking at khushi, stroking her head in a careful manner.
"tu tension mat le khushi, main jaanta hoon ke tu so rahi hai. Lekin main tere uthne ka wait karunga. Aur phir hum kabhi bhi tujhe seek karne nahi denge. In fact, hum hide and seek kabhi khelenge hi nahi. Jo tu bolegi, wohi khelenge. Bass tu jaldi se uth ja."
Nupur left mayank and pranav, walking towards rahul. She ran her fingers through his hair and hugged him. "kaash woh uth jaati rahul. Lekin woh nahi uthegi. Woh chali gayi Rahul, hamesha ke liye..." and she cried, hugging him tight. Rahul finally burst out crying. The four of them hugged one another mourning the loss of their baby - khushi.
That was the day they lost their angel ' khushi. A daughter, a sister, an apple of the eye. Life would definitely go on, it never stops. But it would never ever be the same for any of them.
Edited by rapunzel_angel - 14 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
