OS " Because Of You". Chapter 7 & epilogue, page 77 - Page 50

                                      "Because Of You"

                                              Chapter - 6

Aarti was still lying unconscious on their bed. 

 It has been several hours now, when she had fainted outside kids room. Yash had brought her in their room. They had called their family doctor to come and check on Aarti.

After examining her, Doctor had told Yash "She's become very weak. She fainted due to excessive stress and fatigue. I've given her injection. If she wakes up in few hours, she'll be fine. But if she doesn't wakes up by then, then it might be a matter of concern"

The doctor had also said that after Aarti wakes up, she'll need proper care and rest and she should be kept stress free, as even a little stress might become harmful for her. She might go into severe depression. 

Yash had promised the doctor that he'll take proper care of her.

Since then he was sitting by her side, not leaving the room even for a single second. Aman told him that he'll keep him company.

All kids were with Vidhi and Paridhi. They were asked not to disturb Aarti, as she's sleeping.

 Prateek, Aakash, SP and Pankaj had gone to police station to check on Ishita and what action the police had taken against her and and father.

Yash's back started to bother him, as he too had not slept in last two days. He got up to go to bathroom to splash some water on his face, as he had to stay awake till Aarti wakes up.

As the warmth of his body left Aarti's side, Aarti, slowly opened her eyes. Scenes of what had happened before she fainted, started flashing in front of her. Yash's face of dejection, came in front of her eyes. She was responsible for it. She had broken his heart.

She looked around to look for him. 

She saw Yash's back as he was about to enter into the bathroom. His dropped shoulders were an indication that he was stressed and worried and desolate. 

She wanted to reach out to him, to tell him that she's fine.

She whispered "Yash" which was barely audible. 

She closed her eyes, as she was feeling weak. Yash felt as if he heard Aarti's voice. He turned around and saw her lying in the same position, as he had left her. 

He told Aman to sit by her side for couple of minutes till he returns.

Aman, who was busy texting on his phone, nodded. Without looking up he went to Aarti's side, while Yash went into the bathroom.

Aarti opened her eyes again. This time she saw Aman, he was busy texting on his cell phone. A small smile appeared on her face. In an weak and hoarse voice, She called out his name "Aman"

Aman's phone almost dropped from his hand when he heard Aarti's feeble voice. First he screamed "Aarti", then he shouted Yash's name "Yash"

Aarti held his arm and said "Aman, please don't tell Yashji that I'm awake. Right now I'm in no position to face him, much rather talk with him"

Aman said "But Aarti he needs to know. He's been worried sick about you. The poor guy has not slept or eaten since last couple of days. If not you then I'm sure he'll go into depression, by worrying about you"

Aarti replied, "I know Aman that he's worried about me, I know my Yashji so well. But I need a little time to face him, after what's happened in the past few days, and how I reacted earlier, I can't face him. Please try to understand".

Aman "But Aarti..." They heard the bathroom door opening.

Aarti whispered "Aman if you'll tell him that I'm awake, I swear that I'll never talk with you ever again". She closed her eyes again, while Aman confusingly looked at her and then in the direction of the bathroom, from which Yash was coming out.

From the distance Yash asks, "Aman did you call me? Did I hear Aartiji's voice? Is she awake?"

Aarti (self thought) "Aman you better not utter a word"

Aman stutters "No Yash she's not awake" but he vigorously nods his head up and down, which confuses Yash. 

He starts to move ahead, "But I heard voices Aman, as if you were talking with someone"

"Oh that! Well I was on a phone" Aman,motions Yash to stop moving ahead, which doesn't stop him. Thinking for he second, He starts to type on his phone.

When Yash comes near him he shows him what he's typed "Yash Aarti is awake, but she's pretending not to be, as she's not ready to face you, after what happened.  She's made me promise not to tell you about it"

Reading the message, tears rolls down Yash's eyes, he looks up and mouths a "Thank You, God", then he hugs Aman. 

Aman pats his back, and says "Umm Yash, I'm feeling very hungry, let me go in the kitchen and see if Vidhi Bhabhi has some snack for me. Can I bring something for you also? You too have not eaten anything"

Yash replies in a choked voice "No Aman I'm not hungry. Now I'll eat with my Aartiji only. You go ahead, and please check on the kids also"

Aman leaves the room, and closes the door behind him.

Yash goes and sits by Aarti's side. He leans and kisses Aarti on her forehead. Then he gently strokes her cheeks with the back of his finger. Aarti felt a tingle, but she controlled herself from reacting.

Yash took one of her hand in his, in a tight grip. He said "Aarti my sweet, beautiful Aarti, how much I love thee? I hope I had enough words to express that"

Aarti was shocked to hear this, she thought "Did Yashji just called me Aarti? Of all the days, this was the day and time he had to call me Aarti and not Aartiji, when I'm pretending to be unconscious"

Yash continued "How much I love you? Why do I Love you? Do I need to answer that? If Yes, then my answer is, how much I love you, well there's not a single thing in this world that'll measure my love for you. Why do I Love You? Well I don't need a reason to love you. Yet I have millions of reasons to Love you. You are my wife, my Life, my Everything. Today if I'm alive and breathing, then it's only Because of You, my Aarti. Without you and your existence I'm nothing. Nothing"

A tear rolled down the side of Aarti's eyes, yet she didn't opened them.

Yash wiped her tear. He said "I know that you are awake and can hear me. You can hear me as our hearts are connected. Our souls are connected. Please open your eyes, so that I can look at myself, my image, in your beautiful eyes"

Still she didn't react. He then leaned forward, a little closer to her "If you don't open your eyes, I'll start to kiss you. And you know very well that once I start to kiss you, I won't stop, till I..." He didn't continue, and waited for her reaction.

Her face turned red, she closed her eyes more tightly. He had moved very close to her. Their nose were almost touching, they could feel each other's warm breath.

Aarti waited for him to kiss, but he didn't. Suddenly she felt something wet on her cheek. First one drop fell, then another. 

She opened her eyes, and saw his face, so close to hers. His eyes were filled with tears, that were falling on her face. They kept staring at each other.

Yash suddenly pulled back, while Aarti sat up. She whispered in a pained voice "Yashji.

All he could say was "I'm sorry Aartiji, I'm sorry" and he hugged her. He hugged her tight, as if he'll never let her go. As if his life depended on her. And it was. His life depended on her.

If he held her any more tighter, her ribs will break. She was in pain because of his tight grip, yet the physical pain was nothing in front of the emotional pain that they had went through, that they were still going through. 

He buried his head in her neck, and was crying, while repeatedly saying "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..". She too was crying in his arms.

The hold of his arms around her was getting tighter, her weak body couldn't bear the pain anymore, so she whispered "You are hurting me"

He misunderstood her and his grip tightened as he said "I'm sorry for hurting you. For causing you so much pain"

In a strained voice she tried again "No Yashji, you are hurting me, right now with your tight grip. I'm having trouble breathing"

He loosened his hold, but didn't let her go out of his arms. He said "I won't let you go anywhere, not now not ever"

Aarti buried her face in his neck "I'm not going anywhere Yashji. Aarti, can't live without her Yashji. She'll die"

In a husky voice, he said "Without you, I'll also die Aartiji. You are the reason, why I'm breathing today. You've put life in this soulless, lifeless Yash Schindhiya. Had I lost you today, I would've died. Since the day Arpita left me, I was...", he choked, as he was still crying.

Hearing Arpita's name, made her a little jealous, Since he had brought it up at a moment like this. Aarti felt that he was struggling to say what he wanted to say. Earlier, whenever he talked about Arpita, he seemed lost in her thoughts. But today it was different. Is he going to say something unexpected today? She thought.

She knew that it was as difficult for him to talk, as he was a man of action and not words. She whispered "Yashji, we don't have to do this today. We can talk later. We both have been through a lot. I know that you are not very expressive about your feelings, I understand..."

He stopped her midway "No I've to do this. Till now I've kept quite, never expressed what I felt about you. But now I can't keep quite. I always took you for granted. Never gave importance to you and your feelings. It was always about me and my feelings. But never about you. The day when I was about to forcefully marry that woman. I realized your worth in my life. So today, for the first time, I want to tell you About how I really feel about you. My feelings that I was never able to put into words, today I want to give words to them. Today I've to say what has been in my heart all along. Please don't stop me"

Aarti nodded, in a approval.

He took few seconds then continued "When Arpita left me, I thought that my life was over. But I was wrong. I was still living, still breathing, though it was a life of a soulless person. Then you came into my life and my life changed. Since the day of our marriage, I kept saying that I'll never give you Arpita's place in my life. I'll never stop loving her. I know that you never wanted to take her place in my life. And you didn't. You made a special place in my life, in my heart. A place which is above anyone's else's. A place which no one will ever take. Ever."

Aarti's heart was beating faster. She couldn't believe that she was hearing, what her heart craved to hear from her Yashji's mouth.

He cupped her face with his hands "Aartiji, if truth be told. It was never about giving Arpita's place to you. It was about me falling in love again. I was scared to fall in love again. I was scared that if love betrays by leaving me again, how will I survive? Today when you fainted, I was hit with another realization. Had something happened to you, had I lost you today, I would've died. Like I said after I lost Arpita I was still alive and breathing. But without you, I won't be able to breath for a single second. You've become My Life, My Soul, My Very Existence. Today I'm alive, it's only and only Because Of You. If you are there, Yash is there. Without Aarti, there's no Yash. I Love You, Aarti, I Love You" 

He confessed. Today he confessed. He said what she wanted to hear for so long.

She didn't knew when her heart had stopped beating, she didn't knew for how long she kept gazing in his love filled eyes. She didn't knew when and how, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Kissed him hard.

At first he was taken aback, as this was not the reaction he was expecting. When she deepened the kiss, he also wrapped his arms around her, in another tight embrace and kissed her back.

Their kiss was filled with passion. It was filled with assurance that they were there for each other. It was filled with many unspoken promises. 

He broke the kiss "I know that I've hurt you so badly this time. That's why you were avoiding me, when you kept pretending to be still unconscious"

She said "I could never avoid you, but at that moment I was not ready to face you, after what I did earlier. The way I talked with you and others without giving any of you a chance to explain me what and how you all had planned to set a trap to catch that woman. It's my fault, to always jump to conclusions, without rationally thinking".

He said "It was not your fault. It was my fault. I'm the one who was always at fault. I'm the one...I'm the one who's always hurt you"

Once again, Tears started rolling her eyes. She said "I won't lie to you Yashji. I was hurt this time. Though you were pretending to be angry with me, your words were like a dagger in my chest. I too started believing that I was responsible for loosing everything. For loosing you. For loosing your trust in me", she couldn't control and started crying.

He wiped his own tears, then He held her face with his one hand and with the other he wiped her tears. "Aartiji my trust in you was never broken and it'll never break. How can I Not Trust You? You, who always puts my needs and my wishes over yours own. You went to lalithpur, cause you were scared of how will I react when I'll learn about your pregnancy. Your own life was in danger, yet you didn't wanted me to feel anymore guilt, after learning about the pregnancy. How can I Not Trust you, when you put your own life at risk to bring Aayu in this world.

Once again she couldn't believe that she was hearing all this from him, whom she had felt, had stopped trusting her.

He continued "Time and again you've proved that you are the best wife and best mother. You won't hesitate for a second to give up your own life to save me and our kids. You risked your own life when you had saved me from drowning, when my car was stuck in that heavy rain. You risked your own life to save Ansh. You risked your own life to give life to to bring Aayu in this world. God forbid, but if something happens to Palak or Payal, You'll risk your own life for Palak and Payal also. So how can you be careless, where your kids are concerned? How can I not trust you with my own life and our kids life? For a second I can stop trusting myself, where our kids are concerned, but I'll never stop trusting you. Never"

Once again he left her speechless. Today he was confessing from his heart. She was about to wipe his tears when they heard a loud, continuous knock at the door. The whole family had barged in. 

Radha Ma said "Aman told us that Aarti is awake. Sorry we couldn't control and had to come to see her" 

Aarti moved away from Yash. He got up from the bed and stood at one side. 

Aarti saw SP and Dubeji coming in. SP asked her how as she feeling to which she replied that she's feeling much better now.

Without looking up, she folded her hands and said, "I want to apologize to everyone for my rude behavior. I crossed my limits today. You all are my elders and I was disrespectful to all of you. Ever since I met you, you all have showered me with your love. You've given me so much respect, yet I insulted all of you. Shobha Ma and Bauji, once again, because of you I got such a loving family, and I..."

Dubeji cut her midway "Aarti Beta, don't embarrass us. You were right, I'm the one who used you and took advantage of your affection for us. After loosing my only son, I had lost my sense of thinking. I blamed you and Yashji for it. Whereas the fact was, Prashant was never the son that any parent would want. But you were always the daughter that all parents will pray to have. You were not disrespectful to us, we are the ones who were disrespectful to you"

Aarti shook her head "No Bauji don't say that"

Yash finally broke his silence "No Bauji, Aartiji's biggest culprit is me. Her own husband"

He went and got down on his knees in front of her. He took a bewildered Aarti's hands in his. Looking at her face he said "Aartiji I've always insulted you in front of our whole family. Today in front of that same family, I want to apologize for all the atrocities that I've done on you. I know that sorry is a very small word in front of what I've done to you in the past one year. But I'll still say Sorry. I know that I don't deserve forgiveness, yet I still ask for your forgiveness"

SP Bauji said "Actually the problem is with both of you. You both are so similar in nature. You both are impulsive. Patience is something that you both don't have. You both jump to conclusions without thinking for a second. You both make big issues in front of the whole family. Thus ending up insulting each other and yourself also, in front of all. First you'll have to learn to be patient, and try to understand each other properly. Then only your marriage will become successful. This is something that I learned from Gayatri. But by the time I realized the importance of it, it was too late. My only regret in life is that I cheated on Gayatri, when all she did was dedicate her whole life to me and my happiness. I never got a chance to apologize to her. You are lucky that you've got a chance to apologize and rectify and work on your mistakes. You all are young. You still have your whole life ahead of you. Try to become each other's support and strength, and not their weakness"

He came to Aarti and put his hand on her hand "Aarti, today I learned something from you too. You made me realize today that, When we bring a daughter-in-law in the house, We make talk claim that we will treat her as a daughter, yet we never treat her as a daughter, we force her to change herself, adapt our family values and cultures, but never try to learn something from her. Never try to give her real place in the house. But not anymore, from today you, Vidhi and Paridhi are no longer daughter-in-laws of this house. You are daughters of this house. There will be no restriction on any of you. No restriction to cover your head, cause I know that you all respect me from your heart. You have all the freedom to live your life as you want. No one will stop you. Not even your husbands, or else they'll be dealing with your father, Suraj Pratap"

Aarti was overwhelmed to hear this. She wanted to say something when SP's phone rang. He checked the number and immediately answered it. After talking for few minutes, when he turned the phone off, his face was beaming with happiness.

He said "I've got good new, in fact the Best News for everyone. It's related to that psycho woman. I've told  everybody no one will take her name ever again in this house. Aarti when you were unconscious, we had got a call from the police station. They informed us that while taking her to the police station, she got a chance to run away, and she tried to escape. But to her misfortune, while running from the police, she didn't saw the speeding car that was coming in her direction. She went and collided with it. The impact was so strong that she was thrown away several feet. She was badly hit in the head and  her spine. She was in a very critical condition. The chances of her survival looked very slim at that time" 

Aarti gasped "OMG is she ok? What happened to her?"

SP continued "She was rushed to the hospital. With the help of the police, I hired the best and most reliable doctor. I wanted to make sure that she was not faking her injuries. I don't want her to return and trouble my family again. So all the check ups were done in the presence of reliable police officers. The phone was from the doctor. Gayatri's cousin is still with him. They said that because of the head injury, she's lost her mental balance. And because of the spine injury, the lower part of her body, that is below the waist, has become paralyzed. She won't be able to walk ever again. And she will have to leave the rest of her life in the Mental Assylum. Now she won't be able to trouble my family ever again".

Bua was the first one to react "MBKK, that NAGUN,(Bua's pronunciation for the word NAGIN, which means Female Snake), has reached the place which is most suitable for her. Her actual home, the Mental Assylum"

Except for Yash and Aarti everybody laughed. Yash asked "Bauji are you sure that the doctor is reliable and not someone who's working for her father?"

SP assured him, "Yes Yash, the doctors are very reliable, as I personally know them. Besides after the arrest of that MLA, no doctor will dare to work for him. All his assets and properties have been seized by the authorities. That man is left with no money, no power. He and his daughter are in no position to trouble anyone, much less come near our family"

Now Yash was convinced. He looked at Aarti, she said "Though that woman was after my husband and kids, but I never wished such punishment for her"

This time Shobha said "Aarti you don't have to feel bad for such a person. Everyone have to pay for their sins, sooner or later. Prashant paid for them by loosing his life. And she will pay for them by loosing her mind and half of her body. It won't be wrong on your part if you are happy after hearing this. What is more important for you? Your husband, kids or the welfare of that woman who almost snatched everything from you and left you to suffer?"

They heard Paridhi saying "I think Aarti Bhabhi, will be able to answer that, after she sees who has come to meet her"

Everyone turned in her direction to see who had come to meet Aarti...

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