IshRa SS - Crossroads Chapter 15 Pg 88 *CONCLUDED* - Page 6

Originally posted by: swathin

Superb...

Originally posted by: nitii

Nice one..continue soon..

your writing is so clean👏..i enjoyed reading it..

Originally posted by: ..Mehak..

Their cute little moments in the bus was cute. OMG, can't wait to know what will happen in the next update. The accident was unexpected.

Originally posted by: Missy-rc

Lovely story x

Originally posted by: chandu1234

Very nice...first they kissed nd nw travlng togethr...subbu dnt pick the calls...ishita is nly fr raman

Originally posted by: rufana10

hi Neethi!
read chapter 2 and 3 together
u write both parts very nicely 👍🏼
at first that unexpected kiss 😳
and after that this accident 😲
looking forward to read more
thank u for pm😊

Originally posted by: sireesha76

Interesting

Loved it

Originally posted by: mayraa

Amazing story...

Read all three part in one go...

Can't wait to read more...

Please do pm me when you update...

Hello,

Sorry for keeping you guys hanging😆

Here's the next update. No cliff-hangers in this one😃

Hope you like it!

"I love you Ashok," she crooned, and threw herself into his waiting arms, as Raman watched them from afar. Thunder roared above them, and the sky was as dark as ever. And as she stood on tip-toe and leaned against him to kiss him, Raman turned away in disgust. He felt his breath constrict in his chest, and ran in the opposite direction with his eyes closed, to get as far away from them as possible.

His footsteps came to a halt as he felt a sudden change in the air, and opened his eyes to find himself in a paddy field that stretched as far as his eyes could see. The place seemed familiar to him, somehow, but he couldn't remember exactly where he had seen it before. Sunlight was streaming through the clouds into the meadow, adding a golden hue to the surroundings, and the plants danced merrily in the gentle breeze. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he spotted something - no, someone - in the distance. He stepped further into the field, and saw that it was a woman, standing amidst the sea of gold with her back to him, her long, raven black hair glistening in the sunlight. An inexplicable feeling of warmth spread through his heart, as he stepped closer, eager to see her face. He placed a hand over her shoulder, and waited for her to look back at him, but just as she turned, he was jolted by a loud, blaring noise in the distance..

He woke to the sounds of sirens, and sat upright, feeling disoriented for a few seconds. The sudden movement had made him dizzy, and he winced as a sharp pain shot through his head. He looked around, and saw that he was lying inside a makeshift tent, and suddenly, memories of the accident flashed through his mind. He got up and bolted outside to find the bus flipped on its side and a horde of people gathered around it. A few policemen were hurrying about, helping the injured and leading them to an ambulance nearby.

He scanned through all the faces in the crowd, to see if he could spot her among them. Darkness had settled in and it was still raining, though not as much as before, and he strained his eyes through the blackness, looking around, hoping against hope that she was alright. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration when he didn't see her anywhere, and wondered how he would find her, as he realized, regretfully, that he didn't even know her name.

2 hours earlier..

Ishita jumped out through the emergency exit at the backside of the bus along with her belongings with the help of a few men who had gathered at the spot where the bus had overturned. Breathing heavily, she looked around trying to process what had occurred. The bus was lying on its side, plumes of smoke billowing through its engines. The number of vehicles stopping by at the scene were increasing by the minute, and several people rushed forward to help the victims.

For a few moments, she stood by watching, as her fellow passengers were pulled out of the wreck one by one. She saw a few people hug each other out of sheer relief that they had survived, while some others were weeping uncontrollably, visibly distraught and traumatized.

"Somebody call an ambulance!" She heard someone scream and was snapped out of her thoughts. She ran towards the spot and froze when she saw Raman, lying on the ground, a few feet away from the bus, unconscious. She knelt beside him, and shook him lightly, trying to revive him.

"He was just lying here. Must have fallen out through one of the windows! Do you think he's dead?"

Ishita glared at the stranger, and placed her fingers around Raman's wrist. She sent up a silent prayer of gratitude as she felt a pulse, and patted his cheeks a few times, trying to bring him back to consciousness. Spotting his phone and wallet on the ground beside him, she picked them up, and stuffed them into her purse for the time being..

"Madam, do you know him? He seems hurt, but I see no blood. Ye aapke saath hain kya? What should we do? Should we call for a doctor?"

"Arey bhai!" she exclaimed in annoyance at the pesky stranger. "Haan ye mere saath hain. Now will you please help me take him someplace dry? We need to get him out of the rain."

To her relief, she saw a couple of police jeeps arrive along with an ambulance just then. With the help of the stranger, she picked Raman up, and together, they carried him over to where the ambulance had parked. The policemen and the doctors had immediately sprung into action, and worked in tandem to handle the chaotic situation. Stretchers were brought out and tarpaulin tents were erected within minutes to treat those who needed immediate medical attention. Ishita hobbled along with Raman straight into one of the tents. She laid out a plastic sheet that was lying inside the tent and placing him on it, ran out in search of a doctor.

"He seems fine to me. There are no visible external injuries." said the doctor to Ishita, as he checked Raman thoroughly. "But we can't be sure until we get him to the hospital along with the others."

Ishita sighed, relieved that his injury wasn't as serious as she'd feared it to be.

"Doctor.." called out a man who had come running into their tent, "we just pulled out the driver. He's in bad shape. We need you there."

The doctor hesitated for a moment, and turned to Ishita.

"Look, miss..", she heard the doctor address her.

"Ishita!" She supplied.

"Didn't you say you're a doctor?"

"I'm a dentist," she corrected him.

"Yes, well, we could use some help here. There are around thirty-forty people injured here, and I have only two attendants with me. Our hospital is at an hour's drive from here, and we need to provide urgent first aid to all of them before we can take them there. So will you please help us?"

"But.." she hesitated, glancing at Raman's unconscious form. The young man who had helped her with him had also gone away. How would she leave him alone in such a state?

"He'll be fine. Right now, there are many people out there who are more in need of our aid."

Ishita looked around at all the tents that had been set up. She realized that the doctor was right. There were several people who were hurt, and she couldn't turn her back on them. So she accompanied the doctor outside, and began assisting him, but at the same time tried to stay as close to Raman as possible, so that she could keep a watch over him.

A while had passed, and Ishita had been hurrying from one injured person to another, trying her best to follow the doctor's instructions. She was suddenly distracted by a vibration in her purse, and looked inside to find that Raman's phone was ringing.

"Mihir calling.." flashed across the screen, and she debated whether to pick the call.

What if he's family? The thought occurred to her, and immediately answered it.

"Hello.." she spoke into the phone, hesitantly.

"Who's this?" she heard the man on the other end ask her.

"Umm..Mr.Mihir? There's been an accident and.." she couldn't complete her sentence, as he heard Mihir scream at her the next instant.

"What? Where's Bhai? Is he alright? I need to speak to him right now."

She pulled out Raman's wallet from her bag, and hastily opened it. On the right side, was a picture of a pretty woman, while on the left side was a driving license with the name Raman Kumar Bhalla on it.

"Mr.Bhalla is fine. But he's unconscious."

"Fine? Look, ma'am, I need all the details I can get so that I can come and get him. I have a whole family here to answer to. Please tell me what has happened!"

Her heart went out to him as she sensed the panic in his voice.

"Mihir, I'm Dr.Ishita Iyer, and you have to trust me when I say that your Bhai is here, and he's safe. A doctor has already checked him and there seems to be nothing wrong with him."

Her words calmed him to an extent, but he still needed to hear Raman's voice to make sure that he was alright.

"Mihir," she continued when he kept silent. "I'll ask him to call you back, and I promise you that he'll be with you by tomorrow."

She managed to pacify him for the moment, and hung up.

"Nice going, Ishu" she muttered to herself. "First you leave him alone while he's still unconscious, and then you make tall promises to his brother!"

She decided that this time she wouldn't leave his side until she was able to revive him, and walked quickly towards his tent, only to find it empty!

She had noticed that the police, along with a few volunteers had managed to arrange for a few cabs to take all the passengers either to the hospital, or back to Delhi, as the need may be, and she wondered if he had already left. She turned to enquire with one of the policemen when, to her relief, she saw him standing a few feet away from her. He seemed lost, scanning the entire area, as if looking for something.

"Mr.Bhalla?"

He spun around as soon as he heard her voice.

There she was! He had been so anxious, having observed the entire scene the past few minutes, that he had feared the worst for her. A sigh escaped him now that he knew she was alright. Well, not completely alright', he thought to himself as he looked her over, taking in her appearance. She was completely drenched; her hair, now tied into a bun, with a few wet strands plastered to her face. She looked worn out, and she had a few purple bruises on her arm.

"Raman," he uttered, "You can call me Raman."

"Okay, Raman, I'm Ishita. How are you feeling? Does your head hurt?"

"My head? No, I'm fine!" he said, coming back to his senses. "Can you tell me what just happened here?"

"Don't ask!" She replied, wearily, "The bus overturned and they've only just managed to rescue everyone. Thankfully, there were no casualties. The driver was seriously injured, but he's been taken to the hospital already. Now, all we need to do is look for a vehicle that'll get us back to Delhi. Oh! I almost forgot!" She fished into her purse, and removed his wallet and phone from inside.

"You need to call Mihir.."

He frowned as he heard Mihir's name.

"You told Mihir? What were you thinking? Do you even know how worried he must be?" He asked, raising his voice at her in anger.

"Yes, he was worried. He probably still is, which is why you should call him and let him know that you're fine!" she retorted.

"Look, I don't have the time for another fight. You need to sit in one place and take care of that head of yours. Go back inside, and yes, do give Mihir a call. I'll wrap up a few things and come back, alright?" She huffed at him, and walked away before he could reply to her. It all seemed strange to her, the way she was addressing them as if she'd known them from before. Hadn't she only met him this morning?

He ignored her for the moment, and quickly called Mihir, and after speaking to him for several minutes, managed to assure him, with great difficulty, that he was unhurt and that he was planning to return to Delhi for now. He wasn't going to risk travelling by road all the way to Mumbai. He decided that it would be safer to return to Delhi, and then properly plan his journey to Mumbai again, preferably by flight, no, definitely by flight!. He remembered that Ishita had said something about finding a vehicle to get back. That, in turn, reminded him of how rude she had been to him. Who did she think she was, ordering him like that? And what was she doing running around the place, anyway?

"Arey, sir, you woke up!" Raman turned to find the young man from the bus behind him.

"Hey, aren't you the UPSC guy?" He addressed him remembering how he had expressed his wish to the astrologer.

"I sure hope to be someday!" The guy laughed and continued, "By the way, sir, glad to see that you're fine. All thanks to that madam, I assume." He pointed to Ishita who was busy bandaging someone's hand in the nearby tent. "I helped her out a little, you know. But, I must say, she really cares a lot about you. Just the way the astrologer sir had said. True love!" He patted Raman's shoulder and walked away, leaving Raman surprised.

He walked towards her, and stood outside, watching her. A few moments later, a doctor entered the tent and began speaking to her.

"Dr. Ishita, we finally have everything under control. And I can't thank you enough for it. We wouldn't have been able to manage here without your help. It's only because of citizens like you that we're able to perform our duties better."

"Doctor, you're embarrassing me now! I'm just glad I could be of some use."

"No no, Ishita, credit goes where credit is due!" The doctor said to her, with a smile.

Raman gazed at her, amazed to learn that the fiery woman that he had known her to be also had such a kind soul.

She saw Raman outside, as the doctor left the tent.

"You're unbelievably stubborn, you know that?" She said to him, and pulled him inside, making him sit on one of the chairs nearby. "Didn't I tell you that you're hurt and that you should be resting?"

To his surprise, she stepped closer to him, and began threading her fingers through his hair.

"I don't feel any swelling," she muttered, and that is when he realized that she was searching for a bump on his head.

"She's a doctor. She's only checking for a wound!" He kept chanting to himself. But he couldn't help relishing the feeling, and closed his eyes as her fingers explored his scalp until...

"Ouch!"

"Does it hurt?" She asked him worriedly.

"No, I scream for fun! Of course it hurts!" he shot back at her, as he clutched his head where it pained him.

She held back a giggle, and spoke up, "It looks superficial. But the doctor had said that we should get it checked at the hospital nearby."

"No thanks! I need to get to Delhi first! Everything else can wait."

"Fine!" She shrugged. "But as per my opinion, there is something wrong, for sure. You really need to get your head examined."

He got worried for a moment before he looked up at her, and noticed her expression.

She twirled her index finger next to her head, elaborating what she meant.

"Ha ha.. very funny!" He screwed his eyes at her furiously.

She let out a giggle at that which made him stare at her.

Clearing his throat, he said, "You need to take a look at your bruises, too." He pointed to her arm.

"Oh, this is nothing," she brushed him off. "At least it won't affect my sanity!" She said to him and laughed. He looked at her again as he heard her musical laughter. It was probably the sweetest sound that he had ever heard.

"Sir..madam.." called out a policeman who had entered their tent. "There are only a few of you remaining to be taken back now. A truck driver has volunteered to drive you to Delhi. You'll probably reach there early morning. Will it be alright for you both?"

They jumped at the opportunity and hurried behind the policeman as he led them towards the truck.

They looked undecidedly at each other as they stared into the backside of the truck. There were boxes piled up inside which left little space for the five of them who were to journey together, to sit in comfortably. Moreover, they could see that the floor was hard and cold, and wondered how they would survive the night on it.

"You're very lucky sir!" said the policeman, "Usually it's very difficult to get a ride this late!"

"Yup, luckiest day of my life!" Raman muttered under his breath.

He heard Ishita giggle again behind him and sighed.

Oh yes, that was definitely a sound he would cherish for a long time to come.