SS*end* Her Faded Footsteps- part5 Pg 71 upd 04/07 - Page 45

Chapter 5

Ouch!

"Thank you" she whispered as he carried her upstairs, her face alight with a gentle smile as she surveyed his serene expression. He looked younger, vibrant and his face glowed with an inner peace.

He stopped on his track, looked at her quizzically and the blissful expression vanished in an instant as a sure look of consternation crossed his face. "For what?"

"For this..for everything" she waved her hand around to indicate the changes in the house. "For marrying me"

She felt it rather than saw it, the subtle change of air around him as his mood turned darker, almost defensive.

"We need to talk" he murmured softly as he resumed the march back to the room.

Placing her gently on the bed Arnav crouched beside and took her hand in his. "Khushi there's nothing to be gratified about. Why are you thanking me?"

"Because, because you were kind enough to accept an invalid as your wife" her voice wavered.

He inhaled a deep breath, to hang onto his temper or on the course of a deeper emotion; she couldn't fathom. "But I love you. Whatever that happened in the past doesn't matter to me. You being here with me is all I want"

"Love doesn't make up for everything Arnav ji" she whispered sadly.

"It does Khushi. It would." His voice was husky, a pleading note jarring it; a plea to understand him, to accept him. Khushi shook her head- the large lump in her throat refusing her to utter words.

"Please Khushi" the plea in his voice was more evident, his voice hoarse as if at the brim of tears. "Why is it so difficult for you to believe that I can love you over everything? Am I lesser of a man?" he drew her to him, her head cradling in his arms and she felt waves of unspoken emotions cascading over her through his skin, the heat he emanated, the fragrance of him that consumed her . But she was too resolute.

She gulped the lump and barricaded her tears. No! He was more than anything she could have ever asked for; a wonderful human being with a gem of a heart. She ran her hand over his cheek, cupping it, caressing him softly. "You're more of a man than anyone can ever ask for" she gently kissed him on the cheek

"It's not about you Arnav ji. It's about me. I don't think I can get over the fact that I'm lesser of a woman"

---

"Arnav ji, the physiotherapist was here this morning. What's the point of pressing my legs again?" Khushi stared at him exasperatedly as he sat patiently beside her and continued to knead her calves in angular motion.

"Wouldn't hurt to do it more often. Besides I like touching you" he smirked at her teasingly.

"Chi! Arnav ji what if someone hears you?" Khushi gasped mortified as she looked around the room as if people are hiding behind furniture.

Arnav's smirk grew wider as he bent towards her suggestively. "What! So you don't like my expert touch?"

"I wouldn't know about it because I can't feel anything" her face had fallen, she was back again on her depression streak. "I can't feel anything on my legs" she whispered, her thin face pale and haggard. "You don't understand Arnav ji. Sometimes I feel so helpless. I hate it!"

"Khushi" Arnav whispered, pain slicing through him as if a molten iron has plunged inside him. But before he can continue there was a knock on the door. Arnav squeezed his hand while giving her a reassuring nod that said 'this-talk-is-not-over' before walking over to open the door.

Maami ji entered the room and looked at Khushi sitting on the bed with her legs spread over the quilt and a bowl of chick peas sitting beside her.

"I wanted to see patti sadi. I..I couldn't talk to her properly after the'the incident" her voice shook.

Khushi looked surprised as she sat down on the bed, exactly on the place Arnav had just vacated while he stood beside the door watching their conversation with a bemused look on his face.

Maami ji looked as if she was stealing to say something. "How are you feeling?" she asked abruptly, startling Khushi by taking her hand in hers.

"I, I'm fine maami ji" she patted her hand awkwardly.

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry this happened to you" she said softly, her face sincere and sympathetic; the latter emotion something Khushi hated to see in people who came to see her but was consoled to watch on maami ji's heavily make-uped face; maybe because there wasn't even an iota of pretence in her.

Khushi shook her head, smiled and repeated. "I'm fine maami ji"

"Hadn't it been for you, my Arnav bituwa would not have..." she gave an involuntary sob.

"But maami ji you helped me so much! Hadn't it been for you I would never have.."

"How did you finally find Arnav bituwa? I know you must have repeated this to the police a thousand times but I never.."

"That's true. Actually the details are a bit fuzzy to me too. I know everything about how Mrs Raizada came to my rescue but I'm still not sure about the finer details. Khushi care to enlighten us?" Arnav sat on the other side of the bed and peered at her, a shadow of a smile on his face.

Khushi's tinkling laugh reverberated through the room as she perked up considerably and started to immediately narrate on the details, how she suspected something was wrong, how she and maami ji smuggled into CCtv camara storage house and watched Arnav getting intercepted by unknown men, how she followed the man with a tattoo on his hand because he was in CCtv footages, how she got hit by him and taken to where Arnav was been kept, at which point he grabbed her hand and squeezed it painfully.

Khushi smiled at him reassuringly and explained how she escaped with Arnav, found refuge in a hut at which point she skated over the details while a pink blush crept up her face.

Then how she and maami ji went around looking for the man with the dragon tattoo, how a concrete boulder was dropped on them, how she found the kidnapper's house and how she and maami ji escaped him were again explained while maami ji chipped into the narration from time to time and Arnav's expression got more and more sombre; a cross between incredulous amazement and concern.

Suspicion of Shyam, how she found blood on his shoe and got it tested and realised it's Arnav's, NK's involvement in her efforts to track Arnav, how she realised shyam's deceptions, the USB flash drive, The Will, password for the USB, how she stealthily made Shyam sign the execution of Will to assign the power back at Anjali, how she found Arnav's note and followed the hint until she reached the place where he was being held, how she changed the kerosene to water, how she was captured and taken away by shaym and then how she finally met Arnav were all narrated in minute detail with a self satisfied smile on Khushi's face.

It was dusk when maami ji finally left their room leaving them alone to watch the yellow shades of light slowly turn to a rich coppery red as sun set low over the tired, battle-worn world emerging victorious from a day of hardship and work. The room was gathering darkness and hues of twilight settled in patterns across the air. It was the hour of enchantment when dusk turned to night, when stars appeared, calming the world into a peaceful slumber.

"I can't believe you did all that for me" Arnav murmured softly, disrupting the companionable silence while he caressed her hand and kissed it reverently. "You went through so much for me" it wasn't a question. It was a simple statement.

"Is it hard for you to believe I could go to any extent to help you?" Khushi smiled, echoing his own words.

Arnav's heart exploded with fierce love and pride for the fragile woman in his hands. "No. It's not hard for me at all" he whispered as he drew her to his arms and kissed her hair, trailing his fingers over her smooth graceful neck. The emotions gushing out of him held no bounds. He wanted to kiss her, breath her in, hold her as if there's no tomorrow and bring the world at her feet. He wanted to love her with all his might, forever.

---

It was a balmy Saturday morning with dew drops sprinkled around the pool side and drops of them had settled placidly on the leaves of the plants. Early morning sunshine reflected off them, making them sparkle like little drops of diamonds. Khushi breathed the cool fragrant air, exhaling it out in a sigh as she settled against the wall while she watched her husband going through his usual private physiotherapy session with her. She had given up telling him to stop wasting time over it.

They were sitting on the floor surrounded by plants, having finished their breakfast, seated on the floor beside the poolside.

"Di's baby's due anytime now. I'm so excited" Khushi said chirpily as she watched Arnav's hands working relentlessly on her calf muscles.

Arnav frowned slightly and halted for a while.

"And you're worried because..?" Khushi tried to hide her smile as she watched his face becoming darker by the second.

"I'm worried because I'm worried" he growled resuming his massaging.

"I think that sentence is axiomatically incorrect. Don't look at me like that. You're not the only one who knows big words" She giggled as he looked at her startled.

"Khushi, you and Di are like two peas in a pod. Never take care of yourself properly. Am I wrong to get worried?" Arnav scowled darkly.

"Oh please Arnav ji, stop being such a.. Ouch!" she cried as he gave a particularly firm squeeze on to her upper left calf.

There was a moment's silence.

"What did you just say?" whispered Arnav, his voice calm and composed as he watched her.

"I said stop being a..?" Khushi started disconcertedly.

" No after that" his voice was laced with unsuppressed excitement.

"umm, Ouch?" and then it sank into her. "I felt it!!" she whispered hardly daring to breathe; her mouth shaping into a perfect 'O'.

Arnav gave another squeeze even harder, right on the very same spot and she yowled another "Ouch!"

And she realised she can feel her left leg. At least part of it. His hands moved to her other leg and massaged the same exact spot and after a couple of second she felt the stinging pressure of his hands bellow her right knee. The feeling was exhilarating. It was as if she was born afresh.

"Felt it?" he said softly, his face bursting into one of his rare smiles that transformed his face and made flowers blossom around him in awe of the warmth that radiated off him.

In answer Khushi flung herself into his arms sobbing tears of happiness into his neck, drenching his t-shirt and sniffling in a most unladylike manner.

"Now it won't take long for you to get better" he whispered softly.

---

The End

Hiru