This is a very short update...
Sorry for it..
But I want to write the next part in a different chapter..
Promising you, that's gonna be a long chappy...
Happy reading..
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Chapter 11
An hour later, in the wee hours of the night, when Jodha stepped in the hospital, she had the faint sound of Jalal's cries still pasted in her ear drums. The ride back to the hospital with Arnav was a silent one with the latter's full concentration on road and the former's concentration with the man left behind in the backyard.
Though she wanted to stay back with him, Jodha also knew that Jalal was a fire now and if she attaches herself with him again, it will only result in her burning. And the least of things she wanted now was to get burnt with him once again after a decade.
She had asked Arnav to call her once he drops Jalal home. She checked her phone again. Though it was still not time that Jalal will reach home, but still her mind felt restless.
"Jodha", breaking Jodha's thoughts, Moti came running.
"What?", unable to contain her surprise, Jodha blurted, "Is it related to Salim?"
"Yes", Moti's excited voice came out, "Doctor has said he's coming to sense slowly, as if some miracle has happened".
Jodha half laughed-half cried and at last not understanding which expression would suit the situation best, she ran towards the ICU.
...
"Doctor", watching the doctor coming out of the metal door, Jodha frantically approached him, "Is my son fine?"
Watching the distressed mother, the doctor gave a small smile and nodded his head, "He's doing much better now".
Feeling relieved about her son, Jodha aked, "When will he come to senses?"
"We can expect him to gain consciousness within tomorrow morning", the doctor gave a small smile before continuing, "He's responding very well to the medicines."
A broad grin broke on her face as a huge burden of fear lifted off her heart. Not believing her voice anymore, she nodded to the doctor who smiled and left her alone in response.
...
Watching Jodha run away towards the ICU, Moti hurriedly followed her.
Reaching there, the sight which welcomed her, she was sure she wouldn't forget that in her life. Jodha's carefree laughter gave her heart a little twitch. Moti remembered how many times she has prayed to the deity to make her friend laugh and tonight, amidst the most uncomfortable situation, her prayers were answered. Moti couldn't help as two tears slipped off from their abode.
...
He woke up with a bitter pain in his left shoulder. Feeling soft mattress under him, Jalal opened his eyes. He was in his home, in his own bedroom.
How did I come here? I was in the backyard...
The happenings of the previous night registered in his brain as the shroud of sleep slowly left him. The treachery of the woman he believed to be his best friend, the pain of the woman whom he had forced out of his life a decade ago, the condition of his son...
Suddenly a violent rage gripped him as his eyes caught the photo frame containing Ruquaiya's photo. Forgetting the pain in his left shoulder, he left the bed and in a fit of rage snatched the photo from the wall and threw it on the floor. The glass frame broke into several small pieces while some pierced his skin too. Small droplets of blood came out from the injured feet, but Jalal was unknown to the pain.
In a matter of fifteen more minutes, the other photos of Ruquaiya also received the same treatment. Satisfied with breaking all pictures of his once best friend, Jalal went on to remove her dresses from the almirah and her other accessories from her room.
Taking everything with him, he went inside the kitchen in an attempt to burn away the darkest chapter of his thirty six years life...
...
Jodha stirred a bit in her chair as she felt some disturbance in her hand. Shrugging away the disturbance from the vicinity of herself, she tried to hold onto the last fragments of sleep with all her might. A very low yelp disturbed her this time shooing away the last hint of sleep from her eyes. Hurriedly sitting up in chair, she looked for the source of disturbance.
The disturbing element instead of making her angry, made her heart light. It was Salim's little finger which was showing little movements.
He is coming to his senses... What will I do now?, along with the happiness that her son was finally coming back to the conscious world, an unknown fear also managed to grip her heart. The fear of a mother facing her son for the first time, the fear of her son's rejection, the fear of losing everything once again made her eyes tear up.
Another small and almost mute yelp broke her reverie. Running to the door, she opened it and called the nurse posted outside the ICU.
Her sudden call broke Moti's sleep and she rushed along with the nurse inside the ICU, closely followed by the doctor.
Inside the ICU as Salim came back to his slowly, the environment changed accordingly.
Smile captured the lips of all others present in the room except that of the mother lost in her own world.
A pain of getting rejected by her own blood, was slowly gripping her heart. For a fleeting second, for her own selfish reasons, she wished Salim had not come to his senses so soon. At least she would not have to face the torment of getting rejected by her son so soon. But as soon as she understood what her heart was praying for, she nipped the thought before it sprouted its roots.
Slowly, as the first rays of the sun graced the land with its soothing rays, Salim's eyes opened which for an unknown reason both soothed and terrorized Jodha's heart. The mother's heart present in her wanted to rush out to her son, to grip the happiness that was waiting for her but the heart which had suffered previously, refused to accept that from the fear of facing that pain again.
...
The high waves crashed on the shore once again, wetting his legs in the process. Left alone on the beach, he roamed his eyes frantically all around the place, for a sign of a known face, but all he could see was the rocky sea shore. The big boulders tumbled slightly as the waves from the Arabian continued to crash on them. The sands continued to slip out from under his feet as the warm ocean water receded. Trying to find a known face in this unknown dangerous world, he looked around himself again, but to no avail, as the desolate beach remained desolate.
He missed his footing as a large wave crashed on him, soaking him till his neck. Stumbling slightly after the violent wave passed, he tried to maintain his balance as a second one, as large as the previous one hit him again, this time drenching him completely. Unable to control himself, this time he fell down as the world blinded in front of his eyes. The salty water of the Arabian gushed in his stomach, making him want to throw out. Trying to grasp something to stop himself from being devoured by the wild sea, he stretched his hands, but all that came within his reach was the golden yellow sand...
"Salim", a musical sound reached him just before the sea water engulfed him...
...
The eyelids felt heavy as he tried to open them. Fingers felt heavy as he tried to move them. He felt as if weights were kept in every part of his body. As he tried to talk, his voice refused to come out.
Floating in a world unknown to him, he again tried to part the lids. This time he achieved success as a ray of light blinded him momentarily. Slowly, his ears started to function as light whispers hit his eardrum. Trying again he opened his lids again but this time slowly to adjust with the brightness outside the closed lids.
At first nothing registered in his numb little brain, but as he slowly opened the lids, the first thing that hit him was he was in an unknown world, in midst of unknown people..
That means that incident was true... Was he truly taken away by the sea?
But if that was so why would he wake up on a room full of people?
Slowly trying to shift his head, to find his Dad, he met with a violent pain in his temple.
"Urghh", a gasp escaped his lips as soon as the pain shot through his temple, making his movements halt midway.
"Salim", he saw an unknown lady coming running towards him uttering his name in her mouth.
"Don't move son", Jodha tried to sooth her child's pain as soon as she heard his soft sigh of agony.
"Maa", a soft almost unheard whisper left his lips before his eyes closed again...
...
"Maa", the three lettered word, unheard by the other occupants of the room, magically took away the apprehension of not being accepted by her son from Jodha's heart.
It has been three hours that he's sleeping from the effect of all the painkillers and sedatives given to him but to Jodha it seemed a yearhas passed in the last three hours. Sitting outside his cabin and looking at the closed metal door for any sign of the nurse posted inside the ICU, her eyes started hurting. Though the doctor has pronounced that Salim is absolutely fine, still the mother's heart was overcome with worries.
"Jo", Moti occupied the seat beside her, "Come have something to eat".
"No Moti", Jodha looked up to find her friend's searching gaze, "What?"
"What happened yester night?", Moti finally asked the question which had been there in her mind ever since Jalal took Jodha out of the hospital the previous night.
A little hope had raised it's head in Moti's heart seeing Jalal's care for Jodha. But she knew her friend, she knew whatever it was now again brewing between the two, it will have to undergo a lot of tests in the future. Knowing her friend very well, she knew this time the road which Jalal have to cross to get Jodha back again won't be easy at all.
Seeing her friend quiet, Moti asked again, "What happened Jo? Where were both of you last night? And why is Jalal still not here?"
Moti's questions brought back the memory of last night in front of Jodha. The truth getting revealed followed by Jalal's breakdown again replayed in front of her eyes.
Last night's missed call from Arnav had given her peace that jalal was in the safe confinement of his home but his absence from the hospital, today, tensed her.
"It's a long story Moti... Will tell you later", Jodha shrugged away her discomfort on answering Moti's questions, "Now I've to go to the mandir. My salim is fine."
"Okay. Tell me when you want, but first go to the apartment and change into fresh clothes", Moti smiled a little, "Come I'll go with you".
Smiling at Moti, Jodha got up from the bench, her mind still reeling on the fact that Salim had called her "Maa".
Why did he call me "Maa"? He knows Ruquaiya is his mother.. Isn't it?
Making a point in her mind to have a talk with Jalal on this matter, she leaded Moti out of the hospital gates after informing the doctor of their leaving.
...
This much for now..
Read and comment and do hit likes..
All I could manage was this much.. Really sorry for this short update..
Those who have ressed the previous chapter please unres them soon..
I don't want long paragraphs of praise, but a simple one line about the update is also very encouraging..
You all are free to criticize but remember, I told everyone at the very beginning, that this story will not have much romance content but is gonna be one full of emotions..
So please stay patient, I'll surely complete this story..
A note for silent readers...
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