"Ishita, pack up! Let's go!" Yash said, without glancing
back. Panic was evident in his voice.
"Aarti I have to go! I'm sorry Aarti but Palak, I haven't
seen her for years and when I hear about her this is what happens. I will never
forgive myself as a father if something happens to her Aarti!"
Aarti was in shock. The moment for something like this to
come up was not now - it couldn't be now! She had just confessed her love to
Yash and now they had another difficult situation to face. "Yash, I'll come
with you. I'm her mother. If you've been a bad father, I haven't been any
better of a mother. Yash, let me come with you, please! Mansi and Aman will be
okay here, they don't need me."
Yash nodded, not in the mood to argue right now. He needed
to catch the next plane back to India. He quickly called the flight centre and
booked three tickets.
In the plane, Ishita explained to Yash that Palak's heart
was weak. It had been weak from the moment of conception but the doctor's
failed to notice until recently. Now she was on life support, fighting for her
life.
Yash buried his face in his hands and Aarti was about to
comfort him but was beaten to it by Ishita who placed a reassuring hand on his
shoulder. "Don't worry Yash," she told him, "I'm sure that everything will be
okay."
Aarti felt her own eyes tear up. It was true that she hadn't
known Palak for long, but in that short period of time, she had bonded with her
like a mother would with her child. She had considered Palak her own. But even
she hadn't remembered Palak's innocent face when she left her. She didn't give
Palak a second thought. She was selfish, she was horrible.
Aarti faced the other side and let the tears silently flow
out of her eyes, repenting ever leaving Palak.
As soon as their flight landed, they rushed to the hospital
where Palak's condition was slowly deteriorating. Yash looked into the window
of the ICU and cried. Ishita made her way to comfort him again, but this time
Aarti took his hand first. She held on to his hand tightly and he turned around
and buried his face in her shoulder. She stroked his hair lovingly, crying
herself.
The family was scattered around the room - Gayatri hadn't
even glanced at Aarti once when she came in the room and Prateek was too busy
comforting Paridhi to even notice Aarti in the room. The rest of the family had
not said a word to her.
Soon the doctor came out and nervously looked at them. "We
can perform a heart transplant but the chances of failing are extremely high.
Right now her chances are slim as well. However, we certainly would advise you
to follow through with this transplant. There is no guarantee, but the chances
look better than they are right now. We need to start this process as soon as
possible. Fortunately, we have a suitable match for her."
Yash's face contained grief. "I can't make this decision,"
he whispered out loud.
Aarti gently lifted his chin with her finger. "Yash, think
practically," she said softly, cupping his cheek. "We have to do this. We have
to try."
Yash took her hand off his cheek and squeezed it, nodding. He
had faith in Aarti's words. He had to protect his daughter and he had to do it
now. There was no time to think about it - this was the most logical route. "Yes,
we will do this transplant."
Soon the transplant process began and was over before they
knew it.
Aarti held Yash's hand the whole time, silently offering him comfort, hoping
that she would be able to compose herself. Yash's family had not said one word
to her. They were all too distraught with the recent event that they did not
have the courage to speak to her as of now.
A doctor walked out of the operation room and removed his
mask. Yash let go of Aarti's hand and ran towards him. Aarti sympathetically
watched a tearful Yash fold his hands in front of the doctor.
"Palak," he breathed out, "Palak, how is she?"
"She's fine Mr. Scindhia. It is with God's grace that this
operation was successful."
Yash looked up and closed his eyes in relief. Aarti smiled,
her whole body filled with happiness.
"Thank you doctor," Yash whispered, "Thank you so much."
The doctor held his shoulder. "She's going to be alright Mr.
Scindhia. She will be perfectly fine. However, we need to keep her under
observation for a few days before we let her go. Her new heart still needs to
adjust, so it's relatively weak. With time it will grow stronger. You can come
and visit her tomorrow. For now she can't have any visitors, she needs her
rest."
"That's fine doctor, I'm just happy she's okay."
That night at home, everyone was in a good mood. Gayatri had
even given Aarti her blessings. Everyone welcomed Aarti back into their family
happily, for her presence made Yash very happy. It was only Ishita who seemed
sour.
Soon, Ishita left for her own home and everyone departed for
bed while Prateek and Paridhi went to the hospital to keep Palak company.
Aarti and Yash made it to their own room and faced each
other. Yash opened his arms and Aarti fell into them so easily, like this was
meant to happen.
Aarti asked him a question that was bothering her. "Yash,"
she said, "Why does Ishita act strange around me? Why do I feel so
uncomfortable about her?"
Yash placed a hand on Aarti's shoulder. "She likes me. Mom
sent her to Canada to be my assistant. She had plans to arrange our marriage,
but I told mom I didn't want to get married to anyone else."
Aarti placed her head on Yash's shoulder and smiled. "It
feels nice to know that my Yash is wanted."
Yash chuckled. "I'm yours, only yours Aarti."
He took her hand and rubbed it lovingly.
"Everything feels so perfect Aarti. I'm so glad to have you
back in my life."
"We lost two years where we could have been together Yash."
"One moment with you and my life is complete Aarti. I don't
need anymore time than that. I'm just very grateful that I have you in my life.
I love you."
"I love you too Yash."
Yash leaned towards her slowly and touched her lips with
his. Both of them were eager to physically become one.
A few days later Palak came home. The two year old hugged
Aarti right away and accepted her as her mother. A month later, Aarti found out
that she was pregnant with Yash's child, and eight months later, she delivered
a healthy baby boy who they named Aayu.
"Are you happy?" Aarti asked Yash as she sat on the hospital
bed an hour after the delivery.
"I'm the happiest man in the world," he said, kissing her hand.
"I love you Aarti."
"I'm the happiest woman in the world then, because my
happiness lies in yours," she whispered in response, Aayu on her lap.
Palak ran into the room then. "Mama!" she yelled. "This baby
brother?"
Aarti laughed as Yash took Aayu in his arms and Palak sat on
her mother's lap. Aarti stroked Palak's hair and smiled. "Yes Palak, this is
your baby brother, Aayu!"
Yash smiled and kissed Aayu's forehead.
In the last eight months, Ishita decided to work for Mansi's
ex boyfriend Akash, and they eventually fell in love and got married. Mansi
married Aman and both of them were very happy in their life as well.
They all remained great friends and lead a very normal life
with each other.
Yash would wake up every morning and whisper "I love you
Aarti" in his wife's ear.
"Until when?" she would ask.
"
As long as I live."
--
This is the last chapter! I really want to thank all of you for supporting me through this journey and for reading the story. Without you, As Long As I Live wouldn't have gotten very far. I am really attached to this story because it's the longest story I've ever written. I've spent so much time on this story, on making the promos and writing the chapter's that I myself don't want to let it go. However, when inspiration fails you and you lose your vision, I think it's better to wrap up the story than to unnecessarily drag it by writing bad chapters. I will be back soon, but until then, Thank you so much! You are all awesome!
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