28Dec Ch25/2 pg71 :Arhi|Th5 How IPK should've been - Page 38

Arnav leans towards the wall he had punched, resting his head on the cold hard surface and closes his eyes trying to calm himself down. The images of the previous night rush into his mind immediately; the terror struck eyes of Payal as she mumbled "Di..."; the feeling of panic rising inside him as he ran down the stairs; the cold dread at seeing Anjali in a pool of her own blood; her half open eyes, her trembling lips, her faint smile of relief at seeing him...

It had been a torture of a different kind altogether to have seen his sister in pain and suffering that way. Arnav knew he didn't have any evidence against that slimy bas***d of a man at the moment, but every shred of his being was yelling out murder. He had to be involved in some way; that man was dangerous, he always had been. Arnav had just not given him any thought before. What a huge mistake that was!

Arnav stills as he feels a hand rest gently on his back. He turns around slowly on his spot and finds Khushi staring up at him with a slightly cowered look on her face. Behind her stands Aakash, his eyebrows scrunched in a frown. "Arnav ji, are you alright?" Khushi murmurs softly, her voice shaking with worry. Arnav bows his head and nods his head quietly. He wasn't okay obviously, but he'd have to let the feeling pass for now.

"The nurse told me that..." Arnav's eyes immediately shoot up in annoyance and makes Khushi falter midway. Having instantly recognized his demeanour, she looks at him with faintly surprised eyes, wondering what had happened in the last few minutes that had made him so furious.

Arnav looks beyond Aakash and glares at the nurse who had first noticed him banging his fist on the wall. Seriously? She couldn't keep her mouth shut?

"The nurse told me that," Khushi resumes in a faint voice, "Di has regained consciousness." Arnav looks back at her, his eyes softening at the mention of Anjali. "So I thought maybe we should meet her?" she suggests. Arnav mutely nods his head again, the shutters down in his eyes preventing Khushi from reading them. He takes Khushi's hand in his and starts walking towards the ICU, Aakash following closely behind them.

Khushi can feel the tension hanging in the silence between them. She peeks a glance sideways at Arnav and suddenly feels a frission of worry shooting through her to see his face rigid with anger. This didn't look like the Arnav of last night. This looked like ASR of last year; rigid, furious and calculative. "Arnav ji, what has happened?" she whispers, the worry again tugging in her voice.

Arnav turns to look at her with the same angry look in his eyes. But then as he sees Khushi's concerned eyes, his hardened expressions soften again. He raises their entwined hands up to his lips and kisses the back of her hand, shaking his head at the same time. She needn't be burdened with this just yet.

The trio reach the alley leading to the ICU ward of the hospital. A different nurse from the previous night greets them and after confirming their identification, she lets them inside the ward. They step into an antechamber similar to the neo natal ward Arnav and Khushi had visited the previous night. The duty nurse in the antechamber mutters something about letting in only one visitor at a time. But Arnav glares her as if she has lost her mind and still holding on to Khushi's hand, firmly pushes opens the double glass doors of the ward.

The first thing that hits Arnav's senses is the sterilized smell all around him and he scrunches his nose in disgust. He feels Khushi fidget slightly next to him and he looks sideways to see a slightly frightened look on her face. Arnav immediately understands her discomfort; this was the third time he had seen her visit someone in the ICU obviously she had reason to be scared. He squeezes her hand comfortingly making her look up at him. Arnav smiles reassuringly at her, "Every thing will be alright Khushi. Don't worry," he murmurs softly to her. Khushi returns his smile and nods her head.

The nurse walks past them to the bed on their left and parts the light blue curtains to let Arnav and Khushi close to the bed. Arnav feels the breath stuck in his lungs for a moment as he sees the lifeless form of his Di lying on the bed. He staggers to the chair next to her bed and sinks down looking at her.

Anjali looks extremely pale and has dark bags under her eyes. Her breathing is slow and looks laboured. There are needles sticking into her hands and leading to the saline drip set up on a stand by her bed side. A number of monitors were placed behind the bed, monitoring her vitals at each moment. She suddenly flickers her eyes open and blearily gazes at Arnav and Khushi.

"Cho... Chotey..." she whispers croakily. Arnav gently holds Anjali's hand, trying with all his might to gulp down the lump in his throat.

"I'm right here, Di," he murmurs reassuringly, his voice breaking with emotion. Khushi too nods smilingly at Anjali despite the tears of relief now coursing down her cheeks.

Anjali smiles back as best as she can and then she rests her free hand on her abdomen. Her smile suddenly dissolves as she pats her hand on her now flattened belly, her eyes darting in panic. "My... princess...?" she whispers urgently.

Right on cue before either Arnav or Khushi can reply anything, the nurse walks in carrying a little bundle in her arms. Anjali stares at the nurse for an infinitesimal moment before she withdraws her hand from Arnav's grasp and extends both her arms longingly towards her. As the nurse gently places the baby in Anjali's arms, she cradles the bundle awkwardly in her hands, months of having handled babies quite turning moot when she handles her own for the first time.

Anjali peers down at her baby, slowly parting the towel to reveal her chubby pink face. Cooing peacefully and looking up at her mother with big round eyes, she looks nothing less than an angel. And just at that moment, watching the mother and daughter reunite after hours of uncertainty suddenly rushes in a collective feeling of relief in the hearts of everyone present.

"My princess," Anjali murmurs with a faint tone of pride in her voice and then raises her baby to plant a loving kiss on her forehead. The warmth of the tiny bundle of joy was strengthening Anjali by the minute.

The nurse looks at Anjali with an understanding smile on her face; Aakash looks at his older sister with an affectionate look on his face; Khushi too smiles at Anjali, earnestly thanking Devi Maiyya in her heart of hearts for making both of them pull through; and Arnav just sits still on his seat, watching his sister murmuring sweet nothings to her daughter, not realising the descent of the tears of joy down his cheek.

Khushi looks down at Arnav's face and is faintly surprised to see him crying. She slowly bends low and wipes off Arnav's tears, shaking her head in a silent request for him not to shed any more tears. Arnav looks at Khushi utterly bewildered as her action finally makes him realise that he had been crying. "humne kaha tha na aapse, sab kuch theek ho jayega," she reminds Arnav and then straightens up, her hand squeezing his shoulder.

Another nurse walks up from behind Aakash and murmurs something in his ear. He nods at her and walks closer to Arnav. "Bhai, Maa, Payal, Naniji and NK are here and are waiting outside," Aakash whispers. Arnav involuntarily looks up at the first nurse who frowns slightly at the mention of more visitors. He stands up from his chair.

"Di, Naniji and everyone else have come to meet you. I'll be back soon," Arnav murmurs to Anjali who nods back at him. He kisses Anjali gently on the forehead.

[Hospital, 06:00 A.M.]

Arnav, Khushi and Aakash walk out of the ICU ward. Outside, they see Naniji, Mamiji, Payal and NK all dressed in fresh clothes with no trace of sleep on their faces. As the trio approaches them, all of them get up from their chairs and look at Arnav with inquisitive eyes. "Di has gained consciousness, Nani. she is inside with her baby," he says. Naniji immediately folds her hands and mutters a silent prayer of thanks. "You go inside and meet her," Arnav adds motioning them towards the ICU. The congregation slowly dissolves as they make their way to the ICU.

Payal hangs back for a while and hugs Khushi. Then she walks to Aakash. She rests her hand comfortingly on his shoulder and he relaxes visibly, thankful for her presence. Then, Payal finally walks inside the ICU to meet Anjali.

Arnav, Khushi and Aakash sit down on the steel cold chairs, a silence hanging between them again.

"Aakash, why don't you head home and get some rest?" Arnav mutters after a minute. "You have been here all night." But before Aakash can reply, Khushi speaks up.

"you were here all night too," she retorts looking at Arnav. "You both should head home and get some rest," she suggests.

"But I have to drop you home too, Khushi," Arnav tries to reason with her but she shakes her head resolutely.

"Nanhe ji will drop me home. You don't worry about that. You both please go home and take rest for some time," Khushi reiterates firmly. Arnav and Aakash exchange a glance.

"Okay," Arnav finally agrees with a sigh. "But once you reach home you will-"

"Yes I'll call you once I reach home," Khushi finishes his sentence. Arnav smiles fondly at her and leans in closer. But his intentions get interrupted by Aakash clearing his throat loudly. Khushi blushes, while Arnav glares at Aakash who chuckles good humoredly.

"Hospital Bhai," he reminds his brother cheekily. Arnav rolls his eyes at him and then turns towards Khushi. He kisses her gently on the forehead, ignoring Aakash's reminder.

"I'll see you soon," Arnav murmurs quietly and Khushi nods back with a smile.

The two Raizada brothers walk away from the ICU ward and towards the Exit, the younger brother still pulling his Bhai's leg good humoredly. Khushi watches their retreating backs with a smile on her face. The day had started on a happy note.

[The Imperial Bank, 08:30 AM]

Mr. Bhushan walks inside the bank premises holding his briefcase in one hand and a file in the other. The employees greet the affable Branch Manager a good morning. On the way to his cabin, he stops by one of the bank executives' desks.

"Ramanan," Mr.Bhushan says, "I have Mrs. Anjali Jha's bank account details. She has requested for her joint account to be frozen. Can you please do the needful and confirm to me as soon as possible?" Ramanan nods his head in reponse. Mr. Bhushan hands over the file he had been carrying to the executive and heads towards his cabin.

A little while later, there is a knock on the door and Ramanan peeks inside. "Sir, I've taken care of the request. The joint account is now frozen."

"Thanks Ramanan. Please ask Raghu to send me a cup of coffee please?" Mr. Bhushan requests taking out his mobile phone from his coat pocket. Ramanan nods and leaves. Mr. Bhushan quickly finds the number and hits the dial button.

"Hello, Mr. Raizada? Sir, I've taken care of your sister's request for freezing her joint account," Mr. Bhushan speaks into the phone.

"Thanks Mr. Bhushan. I'm afraid there is another request I need to make from you," Arnav says sitting down on the recliner in his room in Shantivan. "I need you to please dish out the medical insurance papers of my sister." Mr. Bhushan stares for a moment.

"Medical Insurance papers? Sir is everything alright?" he asks worryingly.

"My sister had a medical emergency, Mr. Bhushan. I'll be needing the insurance papers to cover the medical expenses," Arnav replies in a clipped tone. Mr. Bhushan immediately gets the hint that Arnav is being tight lipped about his personal life and rightly so.

"I'll have them ready for your perusal." Mr. Bhushan replies affirmatively.

"Actually Mr. Bhushan, I'm sending my senior executive Aman Mathur to your bank. Please hand him the papers."

"Sure Sir," Mr. Bhushan replies and hears the click of the phone being disconnected from the other end. He too keeps his phone away praying that Anjali Raizada Jha was alright.

Arnav hits speed dial to call Aman.

"Aman, I need you to go to Imperial Bank and pick up Di's medical insurance papers. Then wait for me at the Care Hospital in ShantiNagar... Oh that meeting is today? What time? Are the delegates here already?... Damn it! No, one of us has to be there to meet them... Okay do one thing, drop the papers at the hospital reception, I'll pick it up later, and you head back to office and get started with the preparations for the meeting. Aakash will join you in the office," Arnav directs pacing in his room. Once he disconnects the phone, he heads off towards Aakash's room to wake up his younger brother. Poor thing had barely an hour of shut eye.

[Somewhere Undisclosed, 09:00 A.M.]

Shyam is fiddling with a laptop. Closer inspection reveals the screen open to be of the Imperial Bank's personal banking page. He logs into his and Anjali's joint account and frowns that the transaction link on the home page had been disabled. He futilely tries to click here and there a couple of times but when nothing happens, he clicks on the account status link. His eyes widen in surprise as he reads the message on the screen.

"This account has been frozen for all debit/ credit transactions until further notice. For more information, contact your bank branch today."

Shyam slams shut the lid of his laptop, seething in anger that his only source of income had been blocked off. Saale Sahib, this isn't done, he thinks to himself vengefully.

Then he picks up his mobile and dials a number from the last dialled list. "Mr. Bhushan, this is Shyam Manohar Jha. You recollect I had spoken to you regarding some property papers couple of days ago?... So I can come to meet you today? Splendid. Okay, I'll meet you in a couple of hours then. Thank you," Shyam disconnects the phone and gazes at the white board at the back of the room with Arnav's picture on it.

You froze my bank accounts, so what? In some time, I'll be owning everything that you do currently, Saale Sahib Shyam gloats and his lips curve up in a leering smile.

[Laxmi Nagar, 09:05 A.M.]

The sedan halts next to Gupta House. NK is seen sitting at the drivers' seat and Khushi is sitting next to him.

"Thank you for dropping me home, Nanheji," Khushi murmurs gratefully. NK shakes his head.

"What is there to thank me, Khushiji? This is my duty," NK replies with a smile. Khushi starts getting out of the car when NK suddenly speaks up. "Khushi ji!" Khushi sits back inside the car staring at him enquiringly. NK looks slightly embarrassed.

"You are going inside right?" he asks. Khushi nods, thinking where else would she go. "So can you call Nandini ji..." NK trails off, looking slightly sheepish. Khushi's eyes widen in surprise. She remembers seeing the two of them hitting it off during the cards game the previous night at Shantivan and then NK dropping off her family later. Had something happened between the two?

"Call Nandini ji for what, Nanhe ji?" Khushi says teasingly. NK starts fidgeting embarrassedly making Khushi burst out laughing. "Okay okay, I'll send Nandini ji out," she replies mercifully. NK beams up a smile at her. "But we still have to talk about this," Khushi reminds NK good humoredly. He nods his head fervently at her. Khushi gets out of the car and walks towards the house with a spring in her step.

First Anjali Di's baby had survived the worst, then Di herself was showing promising signs of recovery and now Nanheji's shy admission of something happening with Nandiniji! Oh the day had started on such a great note. She walks inside to see Nandini rushing around with a towel tied on her head, just like Buaji.

"Khushi!! You are here? Buaji!!" Nandini yells towards the courtyard. "Khushi is home!!" Khushi looks at her bemusedly. It was endearing that in just a handful days Nandini and Buaji had become so much on the same page.

"Nandini ji, why are you running around like this?" Khushi asks pointing at the towel on her head.

"Arre I'm very late, Khushi! I had to reach School early today, and look at me, I'm still here!" Nandini replies dismayed. Khushi grins at her. "You're smiling?" Nandini asks in a shocked voice. "I go around telling my sad story, and madame here laughs in amusement," she adds dramatically.

Khushi wordlessly takes Nandini by the hand and leads her outside the house to point at the Honda City standing by the house and NK checking out his hair in the side view mirror. "Your chariot awaits Your Highness!" Khushi announces dramatically making NK stagger against the car in shock. Nandini stares at NK in shock as well but before she can respond, Khushi pushes her down the stairs. "Teach well, Nandini ji!" Khushi says with a giggle and quickly walks back inside the house.

NK shyly looks at Nandini for a moment before walking to the co-driver side and opening the door for her. Nandini smiles faintly and then gets inside. NK shuts the door and steps back for a moment, looking dazed that Nandini was in his car and he was going to drive her to work. Nandini taps her finger at her watch making NK rush to the driver's side.

The day had started on a good note.

[Hospital, 10:30 A.M.]

Arnav is seen sitting in the Accounts department of the Hospital going through Anjali's medical insurance papers. NK is sitting next to him discussing something with Arnav. At the suggestion of Payal, the rest of the family had gone to Payal and Aakash's house which was closer to the hospital than Shantivan. Aakash had gone to Office to take care of the meeting with the delegates who had come down from USA as Arnav was informed of in the morning by Aman.

Suddenly Arnav's phone rings and he picks it up still looking immersed in the paperwork. Aakash's worried voice replies from the other end.

"Bhai! You have to come to the office!" Arnav straightens keeping the paper on the table.

"Aakash, I'm at the hospital right now getting the paper work done. What is wrong?" Arnav asks making NK look at him curiously.

"Bhai, tell NK Bhai to take over," Aakash continues urgently, "You just come down RIGHT NOW! The bankers are here aur you will not believe who's sitting in your office right now," he breathes panickingly. Arnav's eyebrows rise up involuntarily.

"Who?" he asks warily.

"Shyam Manohar Jha!"

Writer's note: I'm so so sorry for disappearing. I had an exam which demanded my complete attention for a while. I'll try to post regularly. So how are you liking it so far 😊

Do leave your feedback please! and oh, thank you for your lovely comments earlier! 🤗 I'm sorry I couldn't reply back to them either!

Cheers!