Chapter 14
"I don't see a point as why we need to participate in this stupid game, Ramya." She whined as she followed the group of her friend as Ramya led the way. She was feeling a little low, all thanks to the man she saw the previous morning. She felt an instant attraction but she wasn't going to give it the name crush'. She hardly saw the man for five minutes and he succeeded in making her restless the whole day, snatching her sleep, despite of her having a hard and tiring day. She had laid on the bed and gazed at the ceiling, having nothing better to do. Now, when s he hardly slept for three hours, Ramya had forced her to step out of the room as the girl had found about some stupid card game the resort held.
"Stop whining, Khushi." Ramya snapped back as the gang laughed at their irritated friends. "This is going to be fun. Just imagine meeting some hot, handsome hunks. We can even have a date, you know."
Thirty minutes later, Khushi found herself in the crowded area where the supposed game was about to start in a while. She heard some instructions through the loud speakers but was unable to let the words sink in her numb mind. All she could see was the pair of eyes of that mysterious man and the husky voice. She still heard his annoyance as he complained not to be addressed by his middle name. Suriya, she heard a small voice whispering at the back of her mind, just as her friend tugged a slip in her hand, along with card.
"If I get it done with this stupid game, am I allowed to go back?"
One of them hissed at the gang, some agreed while others glared at them. "Oh come on, just for few minutes." Ramya requested, "if we find our partners to be boring, we will leave this. But who knows we might be lucky with them, you know, a fling of sorts."
Khushi laughed at her friend's excitement. Ramya was a fun loving girl who lived in the moment, without bothering what life had in store. That was what attracted Khushi on their first day of junior college. And to push the man, Suriya, who seemed to settle in her system, out of her thoughts, Khushi looked around the crowd, and at her number, and then opened the card. Without thinking much, she scribbled onit.
This is strange, this game. I am here to enjoy a week's break after two years continuous medical education, and am forced by my friends to have this fun' game. As I am writing to you, all I can say is all the best for your success and I hope you achieve everything that you aspired. Bye!'
And that wasn't an end. She was forced, again, by her friend and found herself following Ramya all the day as she and few other excited friends tried to find out the people with whom they were paired up. By the end of the day, the gang succeeded in knowing about the partners based on the slip-numbers. Khushi didn't bother to find hers, as she was irritated with the game in the first place. Ramya wanted to meet her partner and Khushi agreed to it finally, as she didn't want to hurt her friend's mood.
They had spoken to the man, who introduced himself as Aman, who was there on a business trip. He had introduced his colleagues and Ramya, ignoring Khushi's protests, enquired about Khushi's number and found out that her partner was his colleague and friend. Few minutes after it, Khushi found herself staring her partner's back.
Khushi was surprised, and shocked, to see the man who was responsible for her restlessness, standing few feet away from her. She was stunned to know that he was her partner and even more so when she read his card for her, the content almost similar to hers. Before Aman could call out for his friend, Khushi saw him leaving the place, his eyes fixed on the way as he tried to avoid the crowd.
And just like that, he had walked past her for the second time within twenty-four hours, taking away the little peace she had in her.
***~***~***
"I am fine, Uncle." Khushi tried to explain tiredly, her eyes casted low as she played with crystal ball on the table. The air around her contained faint smell of medicines but she wasn't affected to it. She was used to visit the place on daily basis that she felt numb whenever she was there. The cries, the patients, the blood stains... nothing made her depressed anymore. "Nothing is alarming." She said again, now looking at the elder man who stared at her with affection and sorrow that she hated to see the most. It irked her, as always. "Okay, I feel a little low, but I am alright. At least, that's what I like to think. Please don't create unnecessary drama, Uncle." She requested in a low tone.
After leaving the house after defending Arnav against himself, she went to the Radio Station. She tried working on her program for the coming episode but was unable to, as her thoughts went back to him. It was too much for her to bear. She wanted to confess the truth... that she was the one that Arnav was waiting and longing for... that she was his Shona and that she loved him too. But as much she tried, she couldn't bring herself to do so. She couldn't let him know about her and her life threatening condition, and make him suffer along with him. Keeping him in dark seemed to be the best option. However, she failed to follow her decision. For once in her life, she wanted to be as selfish as she could. She had thought, had been thinking from the moment she came to know that her Suriya was the Paying Guest and that he reciprocated her sentiments, to confess him the truth and let him decide what he wanted to do with her and their unnamed relationship. She had thought, at one point, to hide her condition, and spend as much she could with him, enjoying his company. That was why she had roamed the city with him the previous day. But the day only turned her into the most selfish person alive in the world. By each passing second that she was with him, she wanted and wished nothing but him. She needed him.He was the only person with whom she would be happy.
And that scared her. That scared her so much that she ran away from him... running away from him for his own happiness.
"This is not you, Khushi."She heard his worry that made her flinch further. "Our Khushi was never scared or depressed. She never failed to have that heartwarming smile. What happened now, dear? What's bothering you?"
Dr. Girish, Kiran's father, looked at Khushi, his hand reached out for hers as he squeezed it gently. She smiled with a shake and rested her face on the table, the cold glass against her warm cheek, hiding a lone tear that betrayed her self control. "I would like to spend a love life, Uncle." She voiced her wish as freely as she would with her father. "Sometimes I wonder how it will be to be in love, to be with the man and..." she bit her lip as she said, "... to experience everything." Sighing, she looked at him, "those medicines, I can't take them anymore, Uncle. It makes me feel so useless... so artificial... so lifeless..."
"Khushi..."
Girish warned her sternly as he walked around the table and pulled her into a hug. "You will be fine, dear. As soon as we found a donor, we will be..." he halted, his voice choking. He knew he couldn't fool her, who was a medical student herself - dropped out, but nonetheless.
Khushi smiled as she looked at him, breaking the hug that suddenly suffocated her. "Yes, as soon as we found a donor, I will be fine." She stated plainly. "If I am not an O -vepatientandhadn'thad a cancer history, I would have found a donor by now." She smiled bitterly as she demanded, "whom are you fooling, Uncle?"
"You were perfectly fine after the bone marrow transplantation, Khushi."Girish said almost angrily, as the elder man was unable to see the girl, whom he loved as his own daughter, was losing her spirits when she had fought with cancer at a young age of five. "Heart transplantation with such history has complications but it isn't completely a failure. There are cases where the transplantations have been a success. So, keep up with the spirits, dear, just like you have been for the past six months. We are lucky to diagnose it in its early stages."
She laughed aloud, the previous depression leaving her as she gathered her strength... her faade she had been keeping up to make her family happy. The truth was, she was scared all the while. And she knew if she was weak, her family would be shattered. And now, she was tired in acting that she was strong enough to fight for her life, once again.
"I know, I know..." she said, her hands raising a little, indicating truce between them. "I am sorry, I was becoming a little clinch, but what to do, Uncle... I love when I am being pampered."
"Khushi..."
She laughed again, now hugging her uncle as she heard the warning, along with concern and worry for her in his voice. "I am really sorry for having roadside food lot more than what you instructed," she apologized sincerely, "but I am being a selfish girl now a days... wanting to have everything I could, so that I would have memories if ever this donor thing doesn't works as we expected."
"It will..."Girish said as he kissed her hair, "have faith, Khushi. We will find a person who is willing to save you."
***~***~***
"What the hell?"
Kiran shouted at the man who stood in front of him with a huge grin. He blinked as he tried to understand that he wasn't imagining things due to his sleepless night. "Are you really here?" He asked again, unsure, as he hugged his friend who laughed aloud at his reaction.
"Of course I am," he heard his friend's deep voice as Kiran noticed he wasn't alone but with his family. He stepped aside, inviting them in with a smile as his friend continued, "I wanted to give you a surprise."
Kirangreeted his friend's wife but turned to face the man, his eyes narrowed perfectly. "Come on, Mathur. I know you wanted to surprise your brother-in-law." He stated and called Bindu before adding, "then again, I am surprised you actually travelled half the country just because you missed your brother-in-law."
"Actually,"Aman replied with a shrug, "I am not the one, Kiran..."
"He is trying to make it up to Arnav," Anjali interrupted her husband as she informed Kiran about their sudden visit. "Arnav is angry and upset that he is going to miss his nephew's birthday and Aman, not wanting to upset one of his chief Architect's, decided to hold a party here itself."
Kiran laughed at her words, and then introduced Bindu to the couple. "I will go, inform Arnav about his surprise," said Bindu as she made her way only to be stopped by Anjali.
"Let me come with you,"she said, as she handed her sleeping son to her husband and walked up to Bindu. "I would like to see the shock on his face."
***~***~***~***~***~***
50