Her faded footsteps
Chapter 1 - The Fall
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"No!! Arnav ji!"
The scream reverberated across winds, chiming from tree to tree, breaking the silence of the evening as he watched her rushing towards him and covering him with her petite body.
"You'll have to go through me!" her voice was steady, strong and calm as she clutched the railing on her side for support and faced his brother-in-law.
He watched from behind her, too shocked to react, and as if in slow motion, the devil pulled the trigger, the bullet whizzing across air, stopping to a standstill for a fraction of a second before penetrating her skin
The roar that escaped from his own throat was deafened by the amplified sound of blood rushing through his ears.
He watched her clutch her shoulder as if momentarily surprised and next second loose her balance with the impact, topple sideways in a graceful arc before falling over the railing from the two storied terrace of the house.
He felt frozen, unable to move, a curious rushing noise issuing from his ears as he watched the thin air and empty space that supported her moments earlier. He didn't believe, couldn't believe it. Only numbness spread slowly through his mind in to his body.
The next bullet that rocketed off the railing, aimed at him, put him off his trance as rage like he had never felt before consumed him.
He heard with a relish the sound of crunching bones under his fist as couple of his brother-in-law's ribs gave way beneath the flesh and he released him and let him fall to the ground with a thump.
Arnav took another deep breath to control the waves of desperate energy erupting off him and took aim and punched him in the face even harder than before and saw with satisfaction as his dear brother-in-law's skull literally loose it's shape, resembling a gruesome bloody apparatus.
The blood pumping oxygen into his own brain wondered if he survived the last blow but then dismissed the thought as monstrous rage took over him again. The man was either knocked out or had died. He was happy either way.
"Kushi" he whispered as his vision momentarily clouded. The ground was dropping at his feet or his knees were giving away, he wasn't sure which. But it wasn't time for dramatics. He needed to get to her. There was still a chance of saving her.
As he rushed down the stairs, heart thudding, hope flaring inside him, one image in his heart fuelled the energy to keep his feet moving-
-her beautiful smile as she looked at him with eyes brimming with love- love for him.
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"The impact was quite severe. The bullet wound is in her forearm so not much of an injury. We removed the bullet in a trice. But the fall.."
Arnav's heart thudded to a stop.
"We can't say anything until your wife regains consciousness. It's a near miracle that her head wasn't hit. But the lower regions of her body received most of the impact. There is a nasty spine injury. We have performed two surgeries; one for a herniated disk in her lower end of spine and one to correct a slight deformation of the shape of the overall spine after the impact. Amazingly again there are no fractured vertebrae probably because the fall was just two storeys. She would probably have a mild concussion, nothing severe than that but we can't be sure of this either.
We have performed all the CAT and MRI scans possible to find any other injuries but apart from a twisted ankle everything else seems fine."
Arnav nodded, encouraged by the doctor's tone. It didn't sound that bad.
"But.."
There is a but?
"But we have no idea of the amount of injury to her spinal code. For that we will have to wait until she regains consciousness"
He felt desperate, for the first time in his life utterly and unimaginably helpless, at the mercy of doctors and destiny, both uncontrollable forces in his hands. He nodded feebly, feeling sickened and at a loss of what to do next.
Sitting down beside her, he took her small hand in his as he watched her slowly breathing through her intubation respiratory system. As he closed his eyes and let his head rest on her soft palm, the only thoughts that gathered in his head were the ones with her; her picking fights with him, running away from him, hiding from him, trying to annoy him, kissing him, hugging him, rescuing him, crying, smiling, laughing..
As image after image of thousand and one memories poured into his heart, he realised the extent to how much he felt for her. He wouldn't exist without her. Life began and ended with her. Her being in his life was not an exception; it was an essentiality; because without her, he won't survive.
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Khushi smiled encouragingly at Arnav as the doctor surveyed her critically. "Well Mrs Raizada, you seem to be perfectly fine now that you have regained consciousness. You obviously can't walk or do any movements from your lower half of the body. But before we get into any serious procedures, I'm just going to do a few routine checkups".
He held a shinny metallic stick in front of her and moved it from side to side, allowing her to move her eyes with the stick's movement.
"Alright very good" he smiled at her as he observed the movements of her pupils while Arnav literally breathing down the doctor's neck exhaling in relief at his words.
"Now tell me if you can feel this"
Before khushi could say anything he poked her arm with the shinny stick and she yowled a loud "aowww"
"Ok very good" he pocked her again on the other hand and Khushi nodded "I feel it"
Next, he removed the bed cloths off her and Khushi saw him giving another sharp poke on to a sole of her left foot.
She saw it but didn't feel it.
"I.. I can't feel it" she said as her voice trembled.
"What? What do you mean?" cried Arnav as he went around the side of the bed to get closer to her.
"I didn't feel the stick"
The doctor poked her on the other sole. Nothing. She felt nothing. Khushi shook her head too shocked to utter anything after seeing the most bizarre thing in the world as she watched someone poke her quite hard and not feel it.
He continued to poke her, taking a trail up the feet, on to her leg. Again, nothing. She was too stupefied by the strangeness of the situation until reality hit her and felt angry helpless tears springing to her eyes.
"Why can't I feel it? I..I can't feel it. Why is that? Tell me! Tell me!" tears were now streaming down her face as panic and hysteria hit her in equal measures.
"Khushi, shhh" she felt Arnav's protective hands around her cradling her head to his chest as he tried to pacify her. But she wouldn't have any of it. It was as if she didn't have any legs at all and she had every right to be hysterical.
"Why can't I feel anything?" she sobbed as he hugged her to him, helplessness crashing over both in overwhelming waves.
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"Mr Raizada there's no need to panic as of yet. Loss of sense of a region of body is quite common after suffering a fall" They were out in the confines of the doctor's consultancy office before the implication of Khushi's condition was discussed again.
"Then she would be able to walk again right? Right?" he felt his voice raising menacingly, his already jittery insides about to explode out of him.
"Hear me out please. Most of the time it's temporary. I'm sorry My Raizada but there is a chance that this condition could be permanent too. You must be prepared for the worst. We'll do all we can to help her regain her senses but we can't guarantee if we will succeed."
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Index
Chapter 1 - The fall - Pg 1
concluded
Cricket
Debate Mansion
Bigg Boss 19
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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