#2 FF: Unspoken EPILOGUE pg 48

Last part ---> pg. 41

Epilogue ---> pg.48

Avni welcomed the doctor who came in their house to do a check up on Arnav. He went in and asked for privacy then shut the door behind him. "Arnav babu," he greeted in a quiet voice because he found his patient sleeping. His lids opened wide and he tried to get up in respect of the aged doctor but the man didn't allow him. "You stay put. How do you feel?"

"Not bad. The past three days have been boring in bed but I don't feel any pain so I can't complain too much."

The doctor smiled approvingly as he took a few notes in his notebook. He closed it and looked at Arnav with a pleasant expression. "If you continue like this, then you'll be able to move around sooner. But full recovery will take another three to six weeks."

Arnav huffed out a big sigh but his eyes narrowed when he saw the doctor taking out a tiny square box. "What's that?" Arnav inquired.

"The bullet that hit you," the doctor passed him the box and Arnav opened it and that's when curiosity took over even more. He took out the round end pellet and stared closely at something very interesting engraved on the surface of the bullet. He couldn't make out what it was though - the design was too intricate.

"This isn't normal," Arnav stated as he looked up at the doctor who nodded his head in agreement. "This is the first bullet I've seen that has any kind of mark on it. As you can see, it's hard to tell what it is but I thought you might be interested."

"Yeah..." Arnav's gaze lingered on the design again. "I'll keep it, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind. It's no use to me. Are you sure you're feeling well?" He asked once again as he prepared to leave. Arnav grinned wide and put out his hand for a shake. "I feel great for the state that I'm in. Thank you." They shook hands before the doctor left and Khushi quickly made her entry.

"What's that?" She asked while she sat next to him on the bed. She took it from his hand and cringed at the sight. "Is this the bullet that...?" She couldn't seem to finish her sentence.

"That's the one," he answered casually. "Put it away in the drawer, please." She walked to her vanity table and did as he ordered and smiled when she caught Adi's reflection in the mirror. She turned and smiled as he climbed up on the bed and kneeled next to Arnav.

"Abba, are you okay?" He asked as he stroked Arnav's increasing beard. He looked behind him and gave a quick hi to Khushi before he turned his attention back to his brother who nodded his head and pulled his head towards himself to kiss his forehead.

"Abba, I did something today," he whispered with an anxious expression. "What did you do?" Arnav asked.

"Adi, are you keeping a secret from me?" Khushi scolded and sat on the bed next to him. He sighed and sat so he was facing the both of them. "I hit someone today."

"You did what?" Khushi immedietly reacted but Arnav's cautious eyes told her to keep calm. Arnav knew Adi never did anything without a reason. In many ways, Adi was better than him so in this case, he really would not hit someone unless it was serious.

"What happened?" Arnav asked in a collected tone.

"That Sureel, he makes fun of me because I call you abba," he said with a frown, making his chubby cheeks hang low.

"Because I'm your brother?" Arnav asked and Adi nodded - no longer speaking because his throat was filling up with tears. Khushi glanced at Arnav with sad eyes and lifted a hand to console Adi but Arnav grabbed her wrist and put it back down. Adi was on the brink of tears and although he needed comfort, he also needed to hear out his words.

"What Sureel did was wrong - there's nothing funny about you calling your brother abba.' Did you explain to him why you do that?" Adi briskly shook his head.

"Then maybe he would have said sorry if he knew why. Pull him aside and tell him the next time you see him. If he continues, then I'll talk to him myself."

"No abba. You don't talk to him," Adi quickly said, in fear that Arnav would say more than necessary - from past experiences. "I'll tell him myself."

Arnav chuckled, knowing of what the little guy was thinking. "Blink away those tears now. That's not needed. You're a Raizada! You have to stand up for yourself without fear!" Arnav boasted and Khushi rolled her eyes. She pulled Adi to her lap and placed a big kiss on his cheek then hugged him real tight. "Adi, if anyone says anything, you tell me, okay? I'll take care of them."

"What are you going to do? Put your hands on your hips and give them a lecture?" Arnav teased with a smirk and Khushi shook her head. She twisted his ear making him wince then slap her hand away. "That's how!" She said happily making Adi laugh at the two.

Avni came in and saw what the commotion was. "Aditya!" She gaped at her naughty five year old who came from school without even letting her know. He jumped up on the bed and ran to throw his arms around her. She laughed and hugged him tightly to her before turning on her heels with his legs hanging. "Bath time!" She chimed making Adi groan at the monstrous thought.

*

After a few days passed, Arnav finally got the chance to sit up again and walk without any pangs of aching. Khushi helped him to the living room with his arm around her shoulders and plopped him down on his chair. Her eyes fell on the picture of a baby Adi and her stomach did a double flip. She had to pull her gaze away when she heard footsteps in the hallway. It was Vijay.

"Can I have a moment please?" He asked Khushi and although she didn't want to give him a second, she complied and left the room.

Vijay sat on the couch and faced Arnav. "Things in the market place are getting a bit shaky."

Arnav stared blankly at Vijay. "What do you mean?"

"Just some unnecessary complaints now that you're not around to take care of it." He didn't feel like his lie was very strong but he was willing to give any lie at that moment.

Arnav frustratingly stared at Vijay. "So what do you want me to do? Jump in and hold everyone by the ears?"

"Of course not! There's no way you can move at this time...I can try to keep things under control until you come back, though. What do you say?" Vijay asked with a small smile to add the kind and gentle effect.

"I don't know..." Arnav looked down at his fumbling hands. Vijay was a changed man to his eyes and for someone who had already done so much for him; he would have felt embarrassed to deny him. Normally, he never would have let him or anyone else for that matter take over his duty but when desperate times called for desperate measures, Vijay was the desperate measure in this case.

"Do not go past your limits - you very well know what they are. Don't ever do something I wouldn't. This is a civilized village, not a jungle - I don't want things to spiral downwards."

Vijay grinned wide to show his joy. "Arnav, I truly want to help you and for you to trust me with your land, I'm very humbled. Thank you for having faith in me."

"Don't break the trust," Arnav said sternly and noticed Khushi standing by the door and slowly shaking her head. He furrowed his eyebrows in oddity at her expression but his attention was pulled back to Vijay when he saw him stand up. "I'll take your leave now." He left and gave a conniving smile at Khushi as he passed by.

Khushi gritted her teeth and went to sit on the table in front of Arnav. "What did you just do?" She asked incredulously.

"It's for a couple weeks! I'm not dead - I didn't give him the deed to the land!" He quickly defended his somewhat senseless action.

"And Akash? What will he think?" Khushi was frowning at him when Avni came in. "Arnav, was Vijay here?"

"Ammi, he passed all his responsibilities to that man!" Khushi complained as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest. She tried to avoid Arnav's infuriated stare at her for telling his mother.

"You did what? To Vijay? To the man you've gotten into countless fights with? Arnav what's gotten into you?" Avni's voice rose as she was practically yelling at him.

He started wringing his hands as his blood started to boil. As an egoistic man, he hated to have people talk to him in a condescending way. As his mother probed him to speak up, he suddenly whipped his head to face her. "As far as I remember he's the one who first found me shot! He's the one who told me the truth about my wife!" He ignored as Khushi's mouth dropped open. As if he had to nerve to bring up that painful memory for her.

"Don't forget Khushi, he was one of few who agreed that I should continue with my decision to marry you. He's done a lot for me so how can I not trust him with some simple tasks for just a couple weeks?" He held his rib when it started to throb a bit.

"Fine. Do as you please. I never knew it was in your behavior to create an alliance with someone you once hated."

"Well maybe it is now - I accepted Khushi didn't I?" He blurted out and regretted it as he saw the color from his wife's face flush and see her eyes painfully shut closed before she opened them again and swiftly left the room. He looked away when he saw his mother disappointingly shake her head at him.

"Don't do that!" He yelled and felt a hand slap the back of his neck. "You stop acting like an ass." She walked away and he heard her bedroom door click shut.

He released a large intake of breath and carefully got up from his seat. He walked to his room and closed the door behind him. He grimaced at her for sleeping on her stomach with her head buried in her arms. He walked over to her side and tapped her shoulder since he couldn't lean down to do much else. "Get up."

She turned her head the other way making him sigh in annoyance. "Look at me! I can't chase after your head like a cat - I'm disabled right now!"

He saw her figure shake as she giggled. She turned around and gave him a funny look. "Do you mean to say you'd chase after my head if you weren't?"

"Not if you give me this much attitude," he curtly replied. He saw her smile fall to a frown again as she clearly remembered his words. To anyone else they wouldn't be bad, but to her it was. Especially because his mother said that he was creating an alliance with someone he hated. And for him to say that he accepted her - to even mention her name - he practically admitted that he hated her. And that hurt her a lot.

"What I said is not what I meant," he tried to lift her chin but she pushed his hand away. "Don't try to cover up your words because they were clear as ice."

"Khushi, please. I'm sorry," he cupped her face as she continued to look away. His thumb caught a tear that escaped the corner of her eye. "I'll come to you if you don't come yourself," he said with a teasing smirk and when he saw that she wasn't going to move, he tried to sit down on his own and gasped at the pang in his rib before he felt Khushi's hands holding his elbows and helping him down. "Arnav!"

"Khushi!" He retorted but with an amused expression. Making sure to have her on his good side, he raised his hand to cup the back of her head as he pulled her close to him. He kissed her temple once. "It happened in the moment and I admit it was a very stupid mistake of mine. You know I love you. I never would have said those words to you the night I came back if they weren't true."

As heavy as her heart felt, she raised her arm to hook it around his neck. "It just hurts to hear those words from you."

"Khushi I never hated you. I can't ever hate you, don't you get it? I was upset with what I found out and the only reason I used your name was to make a point. I'm so tired of fighting with Vijay. I don't want us to end up like Surya and my father. One of us can end up dead in the end."

Khushi smacked her index finger against his lips. "Don't ever say that. Tum meri ho. Hamesha ke liye. Samjhe tum?" She smiled when he bumped his forehead against hers. "Forever it is."

His hand slid from her upper back to wrap around her slim waist to hug her sideways. Khushi's heart fluttered at the feeling of his hand there. Of course he wouldn't feel it so soon because even she couldn't, but her heart raced with anticipation at the thought of when they would. It was going to be their raj kumar or raj kumari, after all.

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A HUGE thank you to every single reader of this story! Thank you beyond words! I can't explain how grateful I am! This is the very first time I've reached a second thread and I'm so elated and it's all thanks to you guys! Thank you SO much! I'm truly very grateful.

I am also so sorry for the crazy late update! I've been so busy with uni and my new born niece that I really don't get much time to write as much now. I'll try my very best to be regular again but I must thank you all again for your patience. 🤗