SS - Teri Baahon Mein..COMPLETE all parts pg-1 - Page 21

                                    Tenth step

Days passed away silently along with her silence. Slowly she was getting emotionally, physically and mentally detached from him at least that's what he thought. She had built a wall around herself and he was finding it difficult to get through it. Even though they shared the same room but they were turning into strangers. Not a single word escaped out of her lips nor a single tear slipped from her eyes since that horrible incident which earlier had impacted her and now was affecting him too. He started losing his temper easily and would take out his frustration on his work.

One late evening he came back home with baaji after having a huge fight with his dealers. No the fight wasn't verbal it was physical, nowadays his hands did the talking instead of his mouth. Baaji suggested on calling a doctor as he was badly bruised but he refused out rightly and went to his room. He saw her like everyday sitting near the window gazing out and failing to acknowledge his presence. He opened the cupboard and took out a ball of cotton along with the bottle of antiseptic. He removed his kurta to apply the antiseptic on his wounds. He sat on the bed and tried to reach his back which was deeply bruised but couldn't manage to reach the right spot. He thought of giving it up when he felt her hand on his shoulder. She took the cotton ball from his hand and cleaned the wound carefully, he hissed in pain and grabbed the bed sheet tightly. He looked up to see her reflection in the mirror, she was sitting behind him and examining his bruised back, She ran her fingers tenderly and kissed the place he was hurt. He remembered her saying " sahab paari karoon ? phir dard nahin hoga" he smiled at her innocence. She couldn't bear to see him in such a state, she leaned on him and rested her head on his shoulder. He was moved when he saw her shedding silent tears , trying to wash away his pain, in a moment she forgot all her past trauma. Earlier she was in her own small world where he was not allowed to enter but as soon as she saw him hurt she couldn't stop herself from reaching out to him. He turned around and cupped her face in his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumb. He pressed his lips against her forehead. The lights went off and darkness overtook the room, he left her to bring candles from the kitchen.

When he came back she was standing near the window quietly. He lit the candles and placed them at different corners of the room but it was very windy outside so the candles were flickering a lot. He walked towards the window and raised his hands to pull it shut. The window closed with a bang startling her, she turned around and saw him standing inches away from her. After so many days she looked into his eyes and saw the same love as before but found a hint of loneliness as well.  Since that day she had distanced herself from him, she didn't want to share her grief with him. But tonight when he was hurt she broke all the barriers between them, why? She wondered, may be because she couldn't see him in pain. But didn't he feel the same for her? didn't he want to support her? Didn't he lend his shoulder to her to cry on? Her mind answered a big YES, then why did she shun him away? Maybe she thought she was no longer worthy of him but to think of it he had committed heinous crimes in the past yet she loved him selflessly then couldn't he do the same after all whatever happened was not her fault and he understood that completely, in fact took the entire blame and cursed himself for leaving her alone. Her mind corrected her to accept the real reason why she didn't allow him to sooth away her pain which was that ever since she had stepped in his life she only wanted to give him happiness she couldn't bear to see him hurt or disturbed because of her. She believed that he was entitled to share only her joy and not her sorrow even though he always poured his heart out to her. In marriage both the partners have equal rights yet she had acted selfishly by moving away from him and keeping her pain to herself. She felt bad when she saw in his eyes the love that he wanted to shower on her but was reluctant to do so because she had gone into a shell.

He dropped his gaze and took a step back but this time she moved ahead to cover the distance between them and threw her arms around his neck. He didn't know when he too embraced her, he only knew that with her one step she had broken that wall around her into pieces. He picked her up in his arms and placed her on the bed gently then got up to leave but she held his hand firmly and plead with her eyes not to go anywhere. She raised her hand to caresses his face as if to feel and memorize each and every feature of his in her mind. His intense gaze pierced through her mind body and soul which she couldn't bear and closed her eyes. She moved her hand behind his neck and pulled him towards herself and whispered " sahab" at last she had broken her silence and called out to him, his ears longed to hear this small word "sahab" from her. His happiness had no boundaries and a lone tear escaped his eye and fell on her lips making her open her eyes. He lifted his thumb to wipe it but she stopped him. In the dimly lit room that tear sparkled like a pearl on her lips and he covered it with his lips like a shell. The candles blew out on their own giving the two lovers a night alone to remember and cherish in days to come.

With his hands covering his face he sat restlessly outside the operation theatre cursing himself for his acts. How could he risk her life once again? Regretting the step he had taken. He knew she wasn't well and his one mistake had landed her in the hospital where she was struggling for her life. How could he ignore her health? How could he take things so lightly as if everything was normal? If she had behaved with immaturity at least he could have acted sensibly but no he simply gave in to her desire without thinking about the consequences. AS pressed his shoulder tightly giving him her support, he looked at her with teary eyes " AS aaj agar usey kuch ho gaya toh main kabhi apne aap ko maaf nahin kar paunga." She tried to reassure him " nakku ko kuch nahin hoga..humein bappa par pura bharosa hai ..woh tum dono ka aur imtihan nahin lega." Saying so she left him and stood before a small lord Ganpatis idol with folded hands. The doctor stepped out of the operation theatre and dutta waited with bated breath to know about her condition. The doctor smiled and said " ghabrane ki koi baat nahin hai ..sab theekh hai , aap chahe toh unse mil sakte hain."

 The next moment he was by her bedside. She slept like a baby with her mouth a little open. He smiled in relief and pressed her lips together thereby shutting her open mouth.  Her eyes flickered with his touch and she opened them to see him giving her love filled looks. They both kept gazing at each other silently for a long time when their peaceful moment got broken by a shrill sound. They both turned their heads to look at the new member crying for their attention and love in the crib. He walked towards the crib and picked up her beautiful princess who was a replica of her mother. Ever since the news of her arrival broke he was on cloud nine, he always dreamt of having his own family and today it came true all because of the lady who loved him immensely. His small bundle of joy was too delicate and fragile he thought so kept her carefully next to her mother who had scared the hell out of him a few hours back.

FLASH BACK

Nakku was throwing up in the morning and dutta was supposed to leave for some urgent work. He refused to go and attend that meeting but she insisted him not to neglect his work for her " sahab mein theekh hoon aur yeh sab toh chalta rehta hai ..aap jao apne kaam par jaise har roz jaate ho." But he was not willing " roz ki baat aur hai par aaj AS bhi ghar par nahin hain aur mein tujhe akela chod kar nahin jaunga ..bas kehdiya nah." She held his hand and said " kuch ghanton ki toh baat hai aur aap kaunsa kahin door ja rahe ho ..yahin paas mein hi toh jaana hai ..jaldi se jao aur phir wapis aa jaana ..waise bhi yeh kaam patilvaadi ke liye bahut zaroori hai aur main nahin chahti meri wajah se koi deri ho." Once again her logic defeated his emotion and he complained " jabse tu phir se samjahdari wali baat karne lagi hai tabse tu meri koi baat nahin sunti." Recalling the way her condition improved after her pregnancy. She smiled at his annoying face and kept his hand over her stomach " ab jaldi jao hum dono apka intezar kar rahe hain." The baby showed her support to her mother by kicking from within. So dutta left after kissing her forehead. He reached the meeting point but felt very uneasy, his mind kept on going back to her. He instructed baaji to attend the meeting on his behalf and drove back home as fast as he could. On returning he saw his bedroom empty and went to the washroom to check on her. He was shocked to see her lying on the floor holding her stomach and crying in pain. He immediately took her to the hospital where the doctor informed that it was a case of premature delivery and in fact he had been late in bringing her to the hospital. In such a situation she should have been hospitalized in the morning itself. He felt like kicking himself for taking her condition lightly.

End of flashback