28Dec Ch25/2 pg71 :Arhi|Th5 How IPK should've been - Page 32

NK looks around at the dismal atmosphere and silently curses in his mind. Who would have thought that from having a carefree and happy celebrations, things would soon change drastically into the dreadful tragedy. Every time he closed his eyes, the sight of Anjali's blood flashes in front of his eyes and a cold shiver runs down his body. He looks towards the OT doors for the nth time, hoping the doctor would come out soon and tell him that his sister was alright. He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks sideways to see Nandini look up at him with sad eyes.

"Di will be fine NK. Don't worry," she whispers with a small reassuring smile that doesn't reach her eyes. NK merely bows his head and nods quietly.

Aakash looks around to see Garima, Shashi and Buaji looking tired. "Amma, it's getting quite late now. I think you all should head back home and take some rest." As Buaji starts remonstrating, he briefly raises his hand. "I know Buaji, you are equally worried about Di. But there is no use sitting here and wait right now. Di's delivery is over and both of them are under observation."

"Yes Buaji, you, Amma and Bauji should go home," Payal adds stepping by Aakash's side. "I'm here as it is, with Aakash. So whatever news we get, I'll let you know as soon as I can." Buaji and Garima exchange a glance which clearly said they weren't too keen on the idea but then Naniji too agrees with Aakash.

"Aakash bitwa is right, Garima ji. You should return home. Whatever news we recieve we'll let you know," Naniji croaks.

"NK, take my car," Aakash mutters handing the keys of his car, "and drop everyone home." NK takes the keys from him mutely, feeling faintly relieved to get a chance to clear his head. Finally, the Gupta family gets up. Buaji squeezes Mamiji's shoulder reassuringly one last time who nods back at her. Payal hugs her parents and Garima wheels Shashi away. As NK starts walking towards the exit following the Guptas with him, Nandini hovers back awkwardly and slowly walks towards the stoic looking Arnav.

"Arnav," she mumbles in a low voice. Arnav looks at her with subdued eyes. "I hope Anjali Di will be fine soon," she says earnestly. He looks faintly surprised to see Nandini speaking to him normally for a change. But before he can say a word to her, she turns around and quickly walks towards the exit.

Finally, it is just Aakash, Mamiji, Payal and Naniji sitting on the steel chairs outside the OT, glancing surreptitiously at the red light of the OT from time to time, waiting for it to turn off. Khushi stands by Arnav's frail frame, holding his hand tightly, trying her best to be a support for him.

He turns to look at her, his slightly puffy eyes brimming with redness. Khushi suddenly feels her breath getting stuck in her lungs, like someone has clamped her heart in an iron grip. She caresses Arnav's face, running her dainty fingers on his eyes gently, completely oblivious to the people around her. She didn't care if anyone would see them like this right now. For nothing was more important than reassuring this man that the woman he had sworn to protect was going to be alright.

Khushi tugs at Arnav's hand and nods his head at him to follow her. She starts walking away from the OT, away from the distressed family members. Head bowed, Arnav wordlessly follows her, not asking her where she was taking him, his mind not registering anything other than the gentle pressure that was Khushi's hand in his. They keep walking down the corridor, taking a turn here and there. He faintly hears her asking for directions from a nurse here and there till her footsteps become even more resolved and she trudges on.

Finally, after walking for a few more minutes, Khushi stops. Arnav too stops mechanically. Only when Khushi gently removes her hand from his does he look up at her with inquisitive eyes. Khushi smiles at him gently. "Wait here for a minute," she says to him and walks towards a nurse to talk to her. Arnav looks around and realises he was standing in some sort of an antechamber which was leading into another sterilized room. He watches dazedly as Khushi disappears behind the glass door into the other room. A few minutes later she reappears, this time holding a bundle in her arms.

Arnav stills in his stance as Khushi starts walking towards him slowly. His heart starts beating quicker and the numbness in his body starts fading away. With a gentle smile on her face, Khushi hands over the bundle to Arnav, nodding her head encouragingly at him. With trembling hands, Arnav takes the bundle in his arms and for the very first time, looks down at the cherubic pink face of his niece. Emotion so acute rushes through his body, that he feels weak kneed for a moment. He stumbles back till his legs hit something hard behind him and he sinks down on the cold steel chair, holding the bundle of joy closer to his heart.

The baby is extremely fair. Her eyes are shut but fluttering slightly as if she's in her dreamland already. Her nose is tiny and so are her pink lips which seem to be pouting at the moment, just like Anjali's. Her cheeks are smeared with a faint pink tinge, almost as is she's blushing. Arnav's breath hikes up as he looks down at the tiny thing.

Khushi sits by his side, watching the transformation of Arnav Singh Raizada taking place right in front of her eyes. Arnav had been struck speechless and yet, she could feel a sense of happiness emanating from him that she had never seen before. A knot the size of a golf ball lodges in Khushi's throat that she's unable to gulp down. Feeling overwhelmed with just watching Arnav's reaction, a tear streams down Khushi's cheeks.

"Khushi... she... she..." he stutters in a croaky voice, looking at Khushi with a look of absolute joy in his eyes. Khushi nods her head fervently in understanding, smiling through her tears. Arnav looks back down at his niece, tears of happiness slowly replacing the tears of pain in his eyes.

"Anjali Di's princess Arnav ji. And your niece," she murmurs touching the baby's tiny fist with her fingers. "By the grace of Devi Maiyya, she is absolutely fine now," Arnav doesn't reply but goes on staring at the baby in his arms, a bubble of hope suddenly inflating in his heart after hearing Khushi's words. He turns to look at her.

"Di will be fine Khushi. I have faith," he murmurs earnestly to Khushi, his voice sounding stronger than before. Khushi smiles at him and slowly wipes his tears away.

"Di will be fine," she repeats reassuringly. Just then the nurse comes and gently pries away the baby from Arnav's hands. He looks up at her with surprised eyes, as if not ready to let go of his neice so soon, but Khushi places her hand on Arnav's arm restraining him. He looks at her enquiringly. "We can't stay here for very long, Arnav ji," she explains pointing to the other parents wearing sterilized gowns who had come to take a look at their babies in the incubation rooms. She stands up and offers her hand to Arnav, "but no worries. We'll meet your niece in some time again. When Anjali Di regains consciousness."

Arnav nods at Khushi and takes her hand. Both of them start walking back towards the OT once again. She glances sideways at him and realises he's no longer walking with his head bowed down. Also, his strides seem to be purposeful, not dragging as they had before. His grip on her hand is harder than before, almost as if he's leading her and not the other way round. Khushi feels happy having fulfilled what she meant to do, even if it was for a short duration. Arnav wasn't numb without feeling anymore.

Just as they reach the OT, the doors open simultaneously and the doctor walks out. Arnav rushes to meet her, his eyes widened enquiringly. The family too gets to their feet expectantly. The doctor gives them all a tired smile and pats Arnav's arm. "Anjali is going to be alright Mr. Raizada."

Her words make everyone visibly relieved. Naniji joins her hands and looks heavenwards in a silent prayer. Mamiji bursts into tears of relief and rests her head on Payal's shoulder who looks taken aback for a moment but then hugs her mother in law back, comforting her. Aakash pinches the tips of his eyes to get rid of the tears. He places an arm each around Naniji and Payal and hugs them tightly.

Arnav staggers again, his legs feeling weak with the relief. Khushi supports his frame against her and places an arm around him, quickly muttering a silent prayer to her Devi Maiyya. "How is she doing now, Doctor?" Arnav asks, holding Khushi's hands tightly in her own. Just then, Anjali is taken out of the OT in a stretcher and wheeled down the corridor towards the ICU. The ladies of the family immediately rush after the stretcher.

"Mr. Raizada, we discovered traces of a toxin in Anjali's blood stream, because of which she had the premature haemorrhage. And we believe that is what affected the baby as well." Arnav looks thunderstruck at hearing the doctor's words. "Luckily we have been able to flush most of it out of Anjali's blood stream. But we are keeping her under observation." The doctor says walking towards the direction of the ICU.

"But how could that toxin have entered Di's blood stream? She only used to follow the prescriptions. Her diet was similar to what we ate," Arnav mutters, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. This just didn't add up. The Doctor halts just outside her office door and turns to face Arnav.

"Well, you seem to have answered the question yourself haven't you, Mr. Raizada?" she mutters. As Arnav continues looking slightly bewildered, she sighs. "There must have been some problem with the medicines. Sometimes expired medicines also cause complications in pregnancy. I'd suggest you get them checked by our pharmacy lab. I'm the on call attending tonight, so I'll be here whenever you need me for the consultation. And don't worry Mr. Raizada, your sister is out of the danger now. Excuse me," the Doctor murmurs entering into her room.

Arnav continues walking towards the ICU where the rest of his family was. He turns sideways to glance at Aakash and Khushi, both of whom look completely confused at the doctor's words. "We need to have those medicines checked Aakash," Arnav says in a slightly serious voice. Aakash nods his head in assent. Khushi looks from Aakash to Arnav, wondering what was going on.

Just as they reach the corridor leading to the ICU, Khushi notices Naniji, Mamiji and Payal standing huddled outside and a stern looking nurse restraining them from entering.

"Madam, ICU's visiting hours are over for today. Please come tomorrow morning," the nurse requests patiently.

"What do you mean we should come tomorrow? She is our Anjali bitiya, not a strangers!" Mamiji immediately retorts indignantly. Aakash hurries over and places an arm around Mamiji to calm her down.

"It's okay Maa, the nurse is right," Aakash murmurs calmly, preventing Mamiji from making any more remonstrations. "In fact, all of us should head home now. We can't do much by staying here and waiting," Aakash repeats the same words that he had said to the Guptas.

"But what about Anjali bitiya's daughter?" Nani murmurs suddenly. "I can see my great grand daughter now can't I?" she asks hysterically. Arnav steps in towards her.

"Your great granddaughter is very sweet," Arnav says to Naniji making everyone gape at him. "She's tiny; she has tiny eyes, a tiny nose and her lips... they look just like Di's," Nani gasps and covers her mouth with her hand, tears again streaming down her face. Mamiji and Payal too start crying although they are smiling at the same time. "Your great grand daughter is doing just fine Nani. And she'll be here tomorrow morning as well when you return. I promise, I'll not let anything happen to her," Arnav mumbles, his voice breaking with the emotion. Khushi again feels the lump in her throat resurfacing.

"But Aakash is right. Right now, all of you, the baby and Di need to take rest," Arnav mumurs wrapping his arm around Naniji and making her slowly walk away from the ICU. Everyone else start following them.

The Raizadas slowly gather themselves and move out of the corridor towards the lift waiting at the end of the corridor. Arnav tugs at Aakash's arm and murmurs something into his ears. Aakash straightens and nods at him once before leading the Raizada women towards the exit, leaving a tired looking Arnav standing in the corridor and Khushi slowly holding his hand again.

Arnav looks down at Khushi's face and is momentarily surprised to see the tears in her eyes. He shakes his head at her once and slowly wipes away her tears like she had wiped away his some time ago. Then he places his arm around her back and pulls her close. She rests her head on his chest, and snuggles into his embrace allowing the warmth being proffered by him to sink into her senses. They slowly walk to the VIP waiting lounge by the elevators. "You should have left with Payal to Shantivan too Khushi. What will you do here all night?" he asks her.

Khushi looks up at Arnav. "The same thing that you'll do," she instantly replies as they settle down on the couch and Arnav keeps his arm wrapped around Khushi. He smiles at her and tucks the strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll wait for Aakash to return. Then I'll hand over Di's medicines to the lab for testing. And then I'll wait for those results. And then I'll go for the consultation with the doctor," Arnav replies, still smiling. "What will you do?" Khushi looks thoughtful for a moment before looking at Arnav.

"I'll keep you company, during the moments you wait," she replies, looking up at Arnav having no traces of doubt in her eyes. Arnav's smile becomes more pronounced as he thanks his lucky stars for giving him such a wonderful partner in Khushi. He kisses her gently on the forehead and she snuggles into his embrace again.

"It's all going to be alright Khushi," Arnav mumbles and Khushi nods closing her eyes.

[Hospital, a few hours later]

Khushi suddenly opens her eyes and gets up from the couch looking around disoriented at the unfamiliar surroundings. She realises she's lying on the couch of the VIP lounge and Arnav is no where to be seen. She sits up in panic and struggles with the light blanket. Just then the familiar face of Aakash appears in the doorway holding a plastic cup.

"Oh Khushi ji, you're awake?" he asks, walking inside and sitting on the sofa at the end of hers. "Bhai has gone to the Doctor's cabin for consultation."

"How long have I been asleep?" Khushi asks him. Aakash checks his watch.

"Around 5 hours. I got a little late while returning from home. Then it took some time for the medicines to be checked in the lab. It's 4:30 in the morning right now. Do you want some tea or coffee?" Aakash asks politely. Khushi shakes her head no as she yawns hard. Aakash smiles at her.

"If you want, you can sleep for some more time, Khushi ji. Bhai will take some more time," he murmurs to her conspiratorially and suddenly Khushi sees the playful glint in her jeeja ji's eyes that she had seen last night. Gosh, it seemed from a different time altogher! This had affected everyone so much. Khushi straightens on the couch and starts talking enquiring about how Payal was holding up.

[Hospital, Doctor's cabin]

The specialist and Arnav are sitting in front of each other. The Doctor is studying the biopsy reports sent by the pharmacy lab containing information about Anjali's medicines. She looks at him with a grim look on her face.

"These are not multivitamin and Iron substitute capsules, Mr. Raizada," she says keeping the reports back on the table. "These are growth inhibitor pills. They affect a pregnant woman and her unborn child very severely. How long has Anjali been consuming these?"

A dreadful chill envelopes Arnav's heart. Anjali couldn't have known she was taking these pills. Obviously she couldn't have! "I don't know doctor." Arnav admits helplessly.

"Well, from the traces of Arsenic we discovered in Anjali's bloodstream, I'm guessing she must have started consuming this not longer than a week ago. Does that ring any bells?" the doctor asks.

One week ago? What had happened one week ago? Arnav suddenly sits upright in the chair, his eyes narrowing as things click into his mind and he realises what had happened. "No, doctor. It doesn't ring any bells," Arnav lies to the doctor, his mind already on high alert putting two and two together.

The Doctor sighs "Well, I can see that she has been prescribed the correct medicine from her previous gynaecologists until her last visit to her consultant which was about three weeks ago. So I'm assuming she had been eating the right supplements at that time," she says and keeps the reports down inside the folder containing other papers pertaining to Anjali's pregnancy. Arnav's eyes narrow.

"As of now, there is no follow up needed." Doctor adds. "But after she regains consciousness, she will be weak for some time. I'll give you the medicines and the post-natal diet she should follow. Also, I'd recommend no breast feeding for the baby until we are absolutely sure that the toxin is completely out of her blood stream, otherwise it will affect the baby's health disasterously." Arnav nods mutely, his mind still whirring with his thoughts. He gets up and thanks the doctor for her help and leaves her cabin.

Well, from the traces of Arsenic we discovered in Anjali's bloodstream, I'm guessing she must have started consuming this not longer than a week ago. One week ago, Raizada's had returned from Lucknow. So she had started eating these changed medicines after that. Which meant that the medicines must have changed before they got home. Which meant someone had tampered with her medicines on purpose. Someone had tried to hurt his sister and her unborn child.

Rage, so absolute, so sudden, so extreme rushed through Arnav that he punched the wall in anger making the nurses throw surprised looks in his direction, obviously shocked to see such an extreme outburst of aggression. His knuckles sting a little, but Arnav's mind doesn't register the pain anymore. For a maddening storm was building up inside him which was quickly evaporating the ache that had been building up since last night.

Somehow, Arnav had a pretty good inkling of who that "someone" might be.

Shyam Manohar Jha.

Writer's note: Yooo hooo!! Leave feedback please! 😊 Lots of drama coming up in the upcoming chapters! Pakka Promise! you'll be sitting on the edge of your seats darlings!

muaaah!!

cheers!

PRECAP:

Aakash: Bhai, you have to come to the office. Something has happened.

Arnav: Aakash, I'm at the hospital right now getting the paperwork done. What is wrong?

Aakash: Bhai, tell NK to take over. You just come down RIGHT NOW! The bankers are here and you'll not believe who is sitting in your office right now.

Arnav: Who?

Aakash: Shyam Manohar Jha!