SS: Lamhe {updt Prt 05/Pg-16}

He sat there in the lonely dim litted corridor .he had both his elbows resting his knees and his resting on the entwined fingers

"Sanskar"

He looked up to the voice with hope in his eyes. He looked tired,pale,defeated. His hair and facial hair overgrown,his smile lost the twinkle in his lost.

"Yes maa any news? " he asked

Shomi nodded in negative

He slumped his shoulders nd half smile at shomi

"She will come...she has to" he said reassuring shomi and himself

Shomi couldn't help but felt weakened at his growing hope everyday since that awful day.she cleared her throat not to give away her pain

"Sanskar m staying here .you can get back to home"

"No maa,m fine..and above everything they need me.I promised them to never leave their side"

"Look at yourself...with this appearance you are going to scare her. You need to take rest sanskar. Maa kehte hona ..meri baat bhi maan lo" shomi almost pleaded

"Maa main apko mana nhi karna chahta...what if m needed. What if she wakes up when m not around?" He asked

" I 'll call..next instant... Plz hav some rest"

Shomi somehow managed to convince him to hav an hour rest

"Let me check that angel of ours. She might miss me" they both smiled with tears brimming their eyes.

Sanskar walked towards another ward .shomi stood watching at the departing figure of this ever so patient soul. She prayed deities to let this person be happy always.

She felt a hand on her shoulder

"Shekar abhi toh khushiyan aayi thi inki zindagi ..phir kyu.."

Shekar took her in his embrace.

"Shhh ..mishti ..ye waqt bhi beet jayega"

Sanskar was driving his car.his mind drifted back to the fateful day

"Sanskar ...I really I want to talk to her"

Swara was lil low today,she has been trying to call someone .

"Swara you hav to give her time ..and I assure you she is fine"

He hugged her frm behind resting his chin on her shoulder

Before swara could say anything there was a knock on their door

They both turned towards the door.

"Ye le chhori ye doodh abhi pee mhaare saamne. "Said sujata handing swara a glass of kesar milk

" mom..main baad main peelongi" swara made a face

"Main janoo hoon baad main keh ke tu srf bachti hai..aaj main thari koi baat na maano ..naahi he chora Teri wakalat karega" said sujata shooting angry glares at sanskar

Swara pleaded with her eyes for him to help her

"Mom ..apko pata hai ..ye swara bahut kamzor hogayi hai..isne weight bhi loose kiya hai"

Hell broke loose on sujata

"Je hi darr tha mhaare ko..main toh keh rahi mhare ko bhi le chalo doctor k paas ..ab se swara ka poora khayal main rakhoongi hoon ..choora tune mhari bahu ka thik se khayal na rakha..mhare pota ya poti kamzor howe na tab bataoongi"

Swara was shooting daggers at sanskar. Now she hav to bear the consequences .mom and badi maa will stuff her mouth with ghee dripping food.

This was usual scene at MM these days. Nok jhok smiles laughter. This has became a new face of MM. Though every person has hidden their pain behind heartfelt smiles. Everyone missed laksh and ragini. Though none take their name nor talk about their whereabouts.

Ragini was sent off to rehab centre after her ever increasing obsession . and laksh was sent off to Mumbai to sought his life and have a different environment . .

Laksh was in contact with annapurna .. But soon after he got too busy in wrk and didn't got enough time to contact his family is what he claimed.

It was also heard 8 months later ragini was out of rehab and wanted to find her own path. Shomi was the only person she was in contact with.

Every person respected their decision. And went on with life .silently weeping behind those radiant smiles .

A year later . sanskar and swara announced the arrival of new member to the family

Badi MA and mom found there solace in this news and now it was their real happiness which gave peace to both sansakr and swara. They were always on their toes around swara. Talking about baby day and night ..even in their sleep . which was disclosed one fine evening by their respective husbands.

Today wasnt different. MM as chaotic as ever. But now the reason for chaos was the upcoming baby shower. Both the grand mother took the responsibility to make it as special as possible.

Sanskar was busy with his files. Swara sat at the dresser lost in thoughts.

"Earth to Mrs sanskar"

"Srry sanskar..I was just thinking about..."

"About?"

"Ah..well this baby shower. I mean mom n badi maa are leaving no stone unturned added to the duo is dadi and dida. These four are adorable" she laughed

"I know ..they are adorable...and u are the wrst liar as ever, so what are u thinking?"

"Sanskar...wo music school main kuch.."

Swara looked at sanskar who gave i-don't- even-believe-this-make-up-story-of-yours.

" sanskar I miss ragini. I want to talk to her. And I even know you are in contact with her. Why is she avoiding me"

Swara had tears rolling down her eyes

"Swara,she is different person now.she said she will be back once she is ready to face everyone. Do you want her to be weak when she is facing everyone again ?"

"No sanskar, but I need to talk to her. This sinking feeling in my heart dsnt stop"

"Shona, nightmares dsnt come true. And it happens in pregnancy, crazy thought,mood swings ,nightmares."

Swara just nodded

"Okay now I hav to attend this meeting in Delhi and I tried to send in a proxy and DAT didn't wrk ,I will be back tomorrow" he smiled at her and kissed her forehead and walked towards the door

"Sanskar "

Sanskar stopped in his tracks. Swara almost ran to him and hugged him back

"Be back soon ..we'll miss you..I love you"

"I love you too meri jaan..I ll be back before you wake up. Nd my lil angel ..don't trouble maa much " he said kissing her bulging belly

Sanskar turned back n gave her a flying kiss.

He noticed she was different today fake smile pasted on her face,she seems to be worried and lost . she waved him bye. He even noticed she had tears in her eyes.

"How do I tell u sanskar,if feel like drowning, this unknown fear is engulfing me.for the first time I fear..I fear for this life" thought swara

Later in the evening .sanskar got free from wrk finally he had time to breath in peace. He came out of board room after hours of brainstorming . his assistant told him about the calls he got frm his home. Sanskar realised his phone was silent. And had many missed calls frm home, shomi sujata. Panic gripped his heart

With trembling hands he dialled the number.praying his swara was okay.he promised himself to never leave her alone He called his mom . who wasn't taking his call

"Mom,pick the damn call" he cursed inwardly

He then tried calling shomi ..who wasn't taking the call either. He threw away his phone in anger.

"Sanskar" he heard a hollow voice from the receiver. Which only made his heart pounding like crazy

"Maa..maa..u there...is swara okay..has anything happened to her?" He asked breathlessly

The silence from the other side confirmed his fears.he gulped down and tried hard to stop his heart from bursting out. He asked the next question which would define rest of his life.

"Tell me maa..has anything happened to her?"the calm with which he worded the question took him by surprise.how could he think about such thing..she was his swara ..his life..she can never leave him.

" sanskar... Shona met with an accident..doc..doctors are doing their best..she lost lots of blood..."and the strongest woman in his eyes broke down.

Accident. Blood loss. Doctors.he allowed these wrds to sink in before the phone slipped from his hand.pain ,pain was all ,like someone had ripped a vital organ out of his body.suffocation,like some was squeezing his lungs till the point where he couldn't breath .a guilt so intense that he felt it eroding every sense of his body.

In a daze he drove to the airport ,shouting at staff to get him on plane very second.

He landed in Kolkata .late at night.he felt like he have been dragged through hell and back.throughout the journey he had no idea .in which state his swara is in. He tried to keep the images of her lifeless body out of his mind as possible. Soon he was running out of dumdum airport .he hailed a taxi nd gave him the addressee of the hospital shomi told him about

When hospital came in sight. He forgot to use legs. He sat in taxi looking at intimidating building which could possibly ruin his whole existence. The sanskar maheshwari who never had been intimidated or feared anything was now deathly scared of going in. It was the drivers honking which brought him out to f daze. With clumsy and stumbling footsteps he entered the hospital. He was unable to inquire the reception about her whereabouts. His voice seemed alien to him . he was later guided by an middle aged nurse. The entire elevator ride to the supposed floor seemed like eternity. When he reached his eyes laid on badi MA. Who endlessly praying with tears rolling down her eyes. Sujata was weeping at the another corner. Dida and dadi supporting each other. Shomi stood closed to door with hope in her eyes. He straight walked up to shomi

"Maa" he croaked

"Sanskar" she pointed at the door

"She is good and fine I know maa.." He replied

His hands gripped the door knob tightly.as he hesitated. What would he find in..but it was not the time to be coward when his life was inside. With a great determination he pushed open to the door find his swara lifelessly lying on bed,looking deathly pale. She was attached ventilator and several tubes linking her to different machines.a breathing mask on her face, a drip on her wrist,a cast on her leg bandage completely covering her head.the sight shook his existence. He leaned against the wall for support as his legs almost gave away.

The doctor finally noticed his presence after checking swaras vitals. He walked towards sanskar with a solemn expression on his face

"You must be Mr. Sanskar maheshwari?"

Sanskar nodded

"Can we walk up to my office. We need to discuss something"

"Is she going to live?"

Of course she is.why would he ask such a thing. No one could be so cruel to take her away from him he thought.

"Mr maheshwari..u'd rather discussing this in private"

"Tell me damn it" growled sanskar which was so unlike him.

"Mr .maheshwari. We did the best we could"

Their last meet was all he could think about

"My angel?? Wha.. What about our baby?"

"Look Mr.maheshwari. the accident was pretty bad. Mrs .maheshwari had internal bleeding ,concussion ,broken neck ,broken ribs. It was almost no chance of foetus survival. We did our best and also considering the foetus being premature there very less chances of survival. For now the baby is in MICU we are keeping a check on her as she cannot breath on her own "

The doctors words rang in his head. The pain that had threatened to unleash in the past 5 hours finally exploded and he stumbled to the ground.

Present

He stopped the car.he sat there. Thinking about the turn his life took 2 and half month ago.