ArHi FF: Kya pata kahaan hum Chale(Part 25last 112 - Page 22

wow- this is sucha great story - thank you for the PMs and looking fwd to the next patr!!

nice story ...

Part 11

Next Morning

Three people

Three different lives

Yet intertwined

By fate, by destiny

Something he didn't believe in, he thought he charted his own

She had been oscillating between doubt and faith since the last few months

He didn't know what this had in store for him and why was he involved

Not having slept a wink last night, Arnav had a resounding headache as he got up from the sofa he had chosen in his plush and luxurious apartment to spend his night on. After a quick shower and a change of clothes he decided to skip breakfast and left for Sanjeevani. He was feeling like a zombie for he couldn't remember the last time he had slept soundly. He had to be very careful while maneuvering his way through the Mumbai traffic, he was finding it very hard to concentrate, as sleeplessness had given rise to haziness. It seemed like he had taken hours to reach the hospital and all he wanted to do now was see Khushi and apologise. "Khushi Kumari Gupta'''" he whispered her name.

Armaan kept trying Arnav's number wanting to warn him against going to Sanjeevani to see Khushi. "Damn!" he slammed his phone on the table cursing under his breath, little did he know that the phone lay in Arnav's empty apartment. "Looks like I will have to go on my day off, Khushi Kumari Gupta, this one is for you!" he went to his room to get ready.

Khushi felt dull, her head hurt, her neck had a crick as she had fallen asleep on the sofa. One more time in her life she felt absolutely no use of it, she just wished she could stay in her room forever. He was back in her life again,

Him with whom she had fallen in love with

Him who was her first love

Him who had let her fall from his office window

Him who had freaked out when he thought she had got hit by a car

Him who had said, "Don't you ever, ever do that to me again''."

Him who had then punished her for no crime by marrying her out of hate

Him because of whom she had been disowned by her family

Him because of whom she had come in a new city, all on her own''''

She got up wearily, sighing she thought, "Life has to go on, life does go on, nothing stops for you, for your troubles, plight''so Khushi Kumari Gupta, You should move on," she looked at herself in the mirror, "you are on probation remember? He will go, don't let your job go as well!" she thought before going to get ready.

Armaan sipped his coffee while waiting for anyone of the two to appear, Khushi or Arnav. His sixth sense told him to make sure they didn't see each other so soon. Well who was he kidding; last night Khushi's resolute stance had told him that she was in no mood of relenting.

"Who are you waiting for in this cold?" Atul asked as he passed by him to go in.

"Arnav Singh Raizada!" sighed Armaan still thinking of his plight at being caught between two people in love with each other, one bent on hating, the other full of remorse.

"Who?" Atul asked perplexed as according to his calculations Armaan should technically have been waiting for Riddhimaa, he shrugged his shoulders and walked in.

Finally, after a long wait of fifteen minutes Armaan saw Arnav's car pull up in the parking lot and he emerged from it looking tired. Armaan could hardly believe what he was looking at, he could still remember Arnav at Akaash's wedding, it wasn't everyday that girls gushed over some other guy when he was around and they didn't just gush, he saw them going to lala land when he only passed by them. However, the Arnav who was walking towards the hospital in blue jeans and a white shirt carelessly tucked in, looked tired, as if he hadn't had a decent sleep for a long time, being a doctor he could tell the signs of insomnia. He got up to meet him.

"hey Arnav, hi, how are you now?" he asked.

"yeah, I am ok, thanks. Is khushi in? I need to talk to her." he said on the edge of impatience, his face looked ashen, drained of color and that worried Armaan.

"Arnav, ummm when was the last time you ate something?" he asked cautiously.

"I don't know.. it doesn't matter'" Arnav dismissed the question and went forward to go in with Armaan close behind.

Arnav had it again but he tried his best to not show it. He had been having black outs since the morning, he had missed taking his tablets and the stress had done its bit to play havoc with his sugar levels. He had been living with the disease long enough and was meticulous enough to have read quite a bit of literature on it. He knew he wasn't well, he was fast approaching the danger zone but he couldn't afford any distractions. He stumbled again and was quickly held by Armaan who had already signaled staff to bring a stretcher. Arnav passed out.

Khushi sat listlessly behind her desk, she failed miserably to conjure up any spark whatsoever in her and just wanted the clock to strike five so she could go home. It had been an hour now after she had clocked in when she heard Dr. Shashank calling Armaan to the ICU over the central speaker system. "Armaan is here today?" Khushi mused as her spirits lifted up a bit. Asking sister Lovely to sit in her place, Khushi went towards the ICU hoping to meet Armaan. Armaan was coming out of the ICU with a face etched with tension, eyes filled with worry and agitation evident from his demeanor.

"Armaan, what happened?" Khushi asked forgetting her the troubles that had kept her awake for most part of the night.

"A diabetes patient collapsed in the morning, his first level diagnosis shows signs of prolonged depression, though this can't be conclusive, but we were able to ask his family about his life for the past few months and the investigation revealed what we feared. Extreme stress had led to insomnia and it had played havoc with his sugar levels and by the looks of it he hasn't taken his tablets in the last 48 hours, we are waiting for him to regain consciousness," said Armaan as he sank down on a bench nearby.

Sensing some unsaid messages Khushi cautiously asked, "What's the patient's name?"

Armaan raised his head and looked squarely at her and said, "Arnav Singh'''."

Khushi didn't wait for Armaan to complete the name and ran towards the ICU and looked in through the glass window. Tears started to roll down her eyes as she looked at Arnav lying still on the bed; the pulse on the monitor was the only sign of his life. Her Arnav, her life, her first love, her last love, lay helpless, tired and broken. She didn't want to go back to him but never wanted to live to see this! She swiftly turned around as she heard Armaan approach and looked at him questioningly.

Armaan explained how Arnav had come looking for her and had collapsed, he told her about the phone call he had made at RM asking about his past few months. He had told Anjali DI that he had met Arnav and was surprised to see his state. Fortunately, Di didn't question him much but gave answers to whatever he had asked. Then Armaan told her how Arnav had been looking for her like crazy for the past few months, he had been taking sleeping pills for he had failed to go to sleep normally. Making him eat and take tablets had been an uphill task for the family. Anjali had also told Armaan about the anguish Arnav had gone through during these months but Armaan didn't give all the details to Khushi.

Silently, Khushi turned around and went to the worship area in the hospital. After praying for his health she went back to her desk. She looked frighteningly composed, but from inside she was crumbling, she was back again at square one. Loving him despite wanting to hate him. She loved this man for so many reasons and wanted to hate him for so many reasons. Once before too, she had forgotten everything wrong that had happened between them and fallen in love with him, but he had ripped her heart into pieces by marrying her for hate. Bit by bit she had tried to mend her heart, and now he was back in her life to shatter the semblance of balance she had incorporated in her life.

At 5, she left her desk and went to sit with Arnav. She had taken permission from Dr. Shashank briefly explaining her relation with the patient, requesting for privacy of this info. Crying and praying, she held his hands, kissing them, caressing them across her cheeks. It was around midnight that the hand she held twitched a bit followed by a very low groan. Khushi shot up from the chair she was sitting on and looked intently towards his face, when his eyelids moved and he opened his eyes Khushi ran outside calling for the doctor. Soon Dr. Shashank along with Armaan took control, took his vitals and began further treatment.

The only thing Arnav could remember since he had regained consciousness was her voice calling for the doctors, he could barely recall her silhouette getting up from his side and running off. Since then his eyes had been fixed on the door expecting her to enter any moment, but she didn't come. Even Armaan had made himself scarce so he couldn't even ask him. While being shifted to a room he had expectantly looked around to catch a glimpse but to no avail. Emptiness settled inside him.