Arnav blew past the Raizada front door, but skidded to a halt at the end of the foyer. Seeing a trail of blood leading from the house mandir to the stairs and beyond, froze the very blood inside his veins. He was late...but no...no he couldn't think like that may be, maybe she could still be saved. Maybe she had found refuge somewhere...Khushi was good at hiding, or was she only good at hiding from him...or maybe...maybe the blood wasn't even hers, maybe she could have gotten the better of Shyam...yeah he liked that train of thought...he would very much like to spill that B*****D's blood too.
With this renewed hope, Arnav pressed on, following the line of blood, hoping, praying that it wasn't Khushi's. He ran up the steps and was nearing his room when one sound made his whole life spin around him and he was the 15 year old Arnav again...too late to save his mom...too late to save his Khushi...
The deafening gunshot sounded throughout the house but ricocheted in his head only, making him stand rooted to his spot, only a metre away from his bedroom door.
Everything was breaking inside him, his insides were melting. How could this happen...how could it happen again to him... Khu...Khu...Khu...her name was choked in his throat... he couldn't even utter it. He had lost her... how had he let this happen... why had this happened...why?
His eyes welled-up and his breathing became laboured... he wanted to move, to see his Khushi one last time before she was taken away forever...but his legs wouldn't budge.
He may have stood there for mere seconds or many hours, he didn't know as time bore no meaning to him now. But gradually he picked up on some commotion coming from his room... someone was shuffling, someone was sobbing and someone was crying in agony... but all was jumbled up and unintelligible to him. He needed to head into the room to figure out what was happening, but his legs were still glued to the spot, unable to move... not wanting to see what lay inside his room.
He heard a grunt and distinguished it to be a man's and then it was as if someone switched on a blazing red light in his head. The light of vengeance. The grunt meant only one thing... Shyam was still in his room... Arnav may have been late to save his Khushi but he wouldn't delay one second to avenge her!! With revenge pumping through his veins, Arnav completed the last two steps to his room to kill the fiend who had shot his Khushi.
As he approached his room, ready to lunge at the person with the smoking gun... he was hit by another shock that made his inside churn.
Anjali stood inches in front of him holding the smoking gun. What had Anjali done in her denial?
With this renewed hope, Arnav pressed on, following the line of blood, hoping, praying that it wasn't Khushi's. He ran up the steps and was nearing his room when one sound made his whole life spin around him and he was the 15 year old Arnav again...too late to save his mom...too late to save his Khushi...
The deafening gunshot sounded throughout the house but ricocheted in his head only, making him stand rooted to his spot, only a metre away from his bedroom door.
Everything was breaking inside him, his insides were melting. How could this happen...how could it happen again to him... Khu...Khu...Khu...her name was choked in his throat... he couldn't even utter it. He had lost her... how had he let this happen... why had this happened...why?
His eyes welled-up and his breathing became laboured... he wanted to move, to see his Khushi one last time before she was taken away forever...but his legs wouldn't budge.
He may have stood there for mere seconds or many hours, he didn't know as time bore no meaning to him now. But gradually he picked up on some commotion coming from his room... someone was shuffling, someone was sobbing and someone was crying in agony... but all was jumbled up and unintelligible to him. He needed to head into the room to figure out what was happening, but his legs were still glued to the spot, unable to move... not wanting to see what lay inside his room.
He heard a grunt and distinguished it to be a man's and then it was as if someone switched on a blazing red light in his head. The light of vengeance. The grunt meant only one thing... Shyam was still in his room... Arnav may have been late to save his Khushi but he wouldn't delay one second to avenge her!! With revenge pumping through his veins, Arnav completed the last two steps to his room to kill the fiend who had shot his Khushi.
As he approached his room, ready to lunge at the person with the smoking gun... he was hit by another shock that made his inside churn.
Anjali stood inches in front of him holding the smoking gun. What had Anjali done in her denial?
As Arnav tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing in front of him, tit-bits of Anjali's murmurs made their way to him.
'I trusted you...I lied for you...lied to my Chotey for you...and you...I didn't believe anything that happened yesterday...but today...today...'
'Rani Sahiba...'
'Don't you dare call me that!!! You filthy animal!! After what you were about to do to Khushi ji...you're...you're filth!! I can't believe you betrayed me...I who gave you soo much love...how could
you...you tried to hurt my Chotey...MY CHOTEY!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!'
'Rani Sahiba you have it wrong...'
'ENOUGH I CAN BE NAIVE BUT NOT STUPID!!! YOU REALLY THINK I WILL BELIEVE ANYTHIGN THAT COMES OUT OF THAT MOUTH OF YOURS WHEN YOU TRIED TO SLIP ME POISON!! U TRIED TO KILL YOUR OWN CHILD, WHO DOES THAT?!!!'
'Di?'
Anjali for the first time noticed Arnav had arrived. She turned to look at him, eyes filled with tears and limped towards him.
'Chotey...Chotey I'm sooo sorry...this is all my fault... Khushi ji...all my fault...you did it for me...but I lied to you and now look what has happened... Khushi ji... this is all my fault and now DM is punishing me rightly for it...all my fault for not believing you and Khushi ji... and lying to you and now I have done irreparable damage...ooo Chotey I'm sooo sorry...'
Anjali broke down while hugging him. Arnav still was unable to understand, what had happened... How? Why was Anjali here and why was she apologizing to him about some lie?
'Di...Di...please calm down and explain what's happened and why are you holding that gun?!!'
'Chotey...Chotey' Anjali sobbed, 'You know how this morning I came over to your room... I lied Chotey... I lied... I'm sooo sorry I hated to do that to you but... but he made me... and... and I believed him...' seeing that Arnav wasn't following Anjali took a gulp, swallowed her tears and explained to him.
'See Chotey...I didn't believe you and Khushi ji yesterday and so when he called this morning and told me to pretend like I didn't remember anything from yesterday I played along as he said that would lead you to bring him back... and all I wanted at that moment was him to be back Chotey... so... so I did the unthinkable Chotey, I lied to you... making you think that I had relapsed again... I'm sorry... so so so sorry...'
Understanding dawned upon Arnav, Shyam had played his moves well and he had walked right into the trap. And now Khushi had paid the price for it, for his stupidity. His and his Di's weakness, and Khushi the victim of it. How sick was that? All she had ever wanted was to keep him and Di and everyone happy and now she had paid the price for it, for people who had not even stopped for a second to listen to her, let alone believe her. He was disgusted with himself and everyone around him. How selfish they were, and how selfless had she been. That had been the quality in her that had most attracted and most irked him, her selflessness, for he could never understand it.
He pushed past his Di into the room. He wasn't angry at her, but wasn't unrelenting either. He understood why she had done what she had done, after all he had done the same; it was weakness and love mixed together. But he wasn't ready to comfort her, or console her, his eyes were looking only for one person, one person that could bring solace to his grieving heart.
As he entered the room he found Shyam sprangled on the floor writhing in pain. Blood streaming from his left thigh, where the bullet was lodged. He advanced towards him, wanting to beat him to pulp but froze as the sound of a crashing vase shifted his attention from the vermin on the floor to the ghostly figure of his angel standing a feet away from him.
He dived towards her as she swooned, catching her before she fell on the floor.
'Khu...Khushi. Khushi!! You're...you're okay... I... I didn't lose you... Khushi...' Arnav couldn't believe his eyes... she was alive... she was alive and in his arms. He pressed her limp body on his chest, and wrapped her in a tight hug, as tears began to flow from his eyes again. She was alive... his Khushi was alive and okay and in his arms... she was truly his angel... for only she had the ability to turn his hell into heaven. One look at her and he was home. He was safe. He was happy... he needed nothing else... only Khushi... his Khushi and she was here... he hadn't lost her. The Goddess had been kind and spared him today.
After what seemed like an eternity he pulled out of the hug to look at Khushi again. 'Khushi...' Arnav inquired with a smile but when she didn't answer panic began to surface again. 'Khushi? Khushi?!!!'
He shook her body, trying to get a reaction out of her but she remained limp. 'KHUSHI?!!!' he moved his hands from her waist to her face to open her eyes and that's when he saw it. His hands were covered in blood...her blood...Khushi's blood.
He looked down and saw the gaping wound in her side that had now drenched half of her clothes. The deep burgundy red on her yellow salwar suit was a striking image... it was the same yellow salwar suit that she had worn on the night of the havan... the night when Arnav had his first taste of losing her... the night he had ran in vain after the ambulance believing his Khushi to be in it... believing to have lost his Khushi... the night when Anjali's statement of him feeling like he would never be able to breathe again if he lost the woman he loved finally had made sense to him... and now it was happening all over again, Khushi was lying unconscious in his arms and he was sitting there paralyzed by the reality of having lost her yet again.
Anjali may have stopped Shyam from putting a bullet in her, but Shyam had done the damage for Khushi now lay breathing her last, feeble breaths in his arms. He looked down at her as his tears of happiness, at finding her alive, were replaced by tears of sorrow. She looked peaceful. And why wouldn't she, she was finally drifting away from the insanity of his world.
As his tears began to fall on her face, he wrapped her up in his arms again. Placing their hearts next to each other, and just stayed in that position listening to both their heartbeats, drumming in unison.
Moments, seconds, minutes passed, seeming like eons, Arnav continued on listening to their heartbeats, never letting Khushi go. At some point Aakash, Payal, NK and the whole clan arrived but he didn't budge. Not when Payal's shrill cry at finding her sister limp in Arnav's arms pierced his ears. Or when Nani and NK's sobs at the sorry scene muffled the story Anjali, sat by door, told them. Explaining to them what had happened. Arnav continued on listening to their heartbeats. Not even when Payal, finally unlocking herself from Aakash's embraee, came towards them trying to pry Khushi away from him. He just pushed her away not letting go of his Khushi. Shyam's cries of agony finally died away as he lost consciousness and Arnav continued on listening to their heartbeats, shedding the occasional tear.
The paramedics arrived (called no doubt by someone who had managed to keep it together) and wheeled Shyam out; then they came to attend to Khushi. But Arnav wouldn't comply with them. He wouldn't let her go. He couldn't. The sound of their beating hearts was his only comfort. Finally NK walked over to him, jerked Arnav, and pulled Khushi away from him. Arnav began to retaliate and fight but Aakash and NK restrained him while they talked sense into him.
'Nannav, I know you don't want to let Khushi ji go, and trust me none of us do, but if you don't let them treat her, we will end up losing her. So stop!!'
'Bhai...they are trying to save her, so stopping fighting us and them!!'
As these words seeped in, Arnav's mind finally switched on and realised how his behaviour was taking away valuable minutes of Khushi's life, minutes that would decide whether she would survive this day from hell or get carried away in it. Arnav stopped his rebellion at once and alerted his attention to what the paramedics were saying trying to decipher what they needed in order to make sure they had it pronto. No one... or a thing would stand in the way of Khushi's care.
'I trusted you...I lied for you...lied to my Chotey for you...and you...I didn't believe anything that happened yesterday...but today...today...'
'Rani Sahiba...'
'Don't you dare call me that!!! You filthy animal!! After what you were about to do to Khushi ji...you're...you're filth!! I can't believe you betrayed me...I who gave you soo much love...how could
you...you tried to hurt my Chotey...MY CHOTEY!!! HOW DARE YOU!!!'
'Rani Sahiba you have it wrong...'
'ENOUGH I CAN BE NAIVE BUT NOT STUPID!!! YOU REALLY THINK I WILL BELIEVE ANYTHIGN THAT COMES OUT OF THAT MOUTH OF YOURS WHEN YOU TRIED TO SLIP ME POISON!! U TRIED TO KILL YOUR OWN CHILD, WHO DOES THAT?!!!'
'Di?'
Anjali for the first time noticed Arnav had arrived. She turned to look at him, eyes filled with tears and limped towards him.
'Chotey...Chotey I'm sooo sorry...this is all my fault... Khushi ji...all my fault...you did it for me...but I lied to you and now look what has happened... Khushi ji... this is all my fault and now DM is punishing me rightly for it...all my fault for not believing you and Khushi ji... and lying to you and now I have done irreparable damage...ooo Chotey I'm sooo sorry...'
Anjali broke down while hugging him. Arnav still was unable to understand, what had happened... How? Why was Anjali here and why was she apologizing to him about some lie?
'Di...Di...please calm down and explain what's happened and why are you holding that gun?!!'
'Chotey...Chotey' Anjali sobbed, 'You know how this morning I came over to your room... I lied Chotey... I lied... I'm sooo sorry I hated to do that to you but... but he made me... and... and I believed him...' seeing that Arnav wasn't following Anjali took a gulp, swallowed her tears and explained to him.
'See Chotey...I didn't believe you and Khushi ji yesterday and so when he called this morning and told me to pretend like I didn't remember anything from yesterday I played along as he said that would lead you to bring him back... and all I wanted at that moment was him to be back Chotey... so... so I did the unthinkable Chotey, I lied to you... making you think that I had relapsed again... I'm sorry... so so so sorry...'
Understanding dawned upon Arnav, Shyam had played his moves well and he had walked right into the trap. And now Khushi had paid the price for it, for his stupidity. His and his Di's weakness, and Khushi the victim of it. How sick was that? All she had ever wanted was to keep him and Di and everyone happy and now she had paid the price for it, for people who had not even stopped for a second to listen to her, let alone believe her. He was disgusted with himself and everyone around him. How selfish they were, and how selfless had she been. That had been the quality in her that had most attracted and most irked him, her selflessness, for he could never understand it.
He pushed past his Di into the room. He wasn't angry at her, but wasn't unrelenting either. He understood why she had done what she had done, after all he had done the same; it was weakness and love mixed together. But he wasn't ready to comfort her, or console her, his eyes were looking only for one person, one person that could bring solace to his grieving heart.
As he entered the room he found Shyam sprangled on the floor writhing in pain. Blood streaming from his left thigh, where the bullet was lodged. He advanced towards him, wanting to beat him to pulp but froze as the sound of a crashing vase shifted his attention from the vermin on the floor to the ghostly figure of his angel standing a feet away from him.
He dived towards her as she swooned, catching her before she fell on the floor.
'Khu...Khushi. Khushi!! You're...you're okay... I... I didn't lose you... Khushi...' Arnav couldn't believe his eyes... she was alive... she was alive and in his arms. He pressed her limp body on his chest, and wrapped her in a tight hug, as tears began to flow from his eyes again. She was alive... his Khushi was alive and okay and in his arms... she was truly his angel... for only she had the ability to turn his hell into heaven. One look at her and he was home. He was safe. He was happy... he needed nothing else... only Khushi... his Khushi and she was here... he hadn't lost her. The Goddess had been kind and spared him today.
After what seemed like an eternity he pulled out of the hug to look at Khushi again. 'Khushi...' Arnav inquired with a smile but when she didn't answer panic began to surface again. 'Khushi? Khushi?!!!'
He shook her body, trying to get a reaction out of her but she remained limp. 'KHUSHI?!!!' he moved his hands from her waist to her face to open her eyes and that's when he saw it. His hands were covered in blood...her blood...Khushi's blood.
He looked down and saw the gaping wound in her side that had now drenched half of her clothes. The deep burgundy red on her yellow salwar suit was a striking image... it was the same yellow salwar suit that she had worn on the night of the havan... the night when Arnav had his first taste of losing her... the night he had ran in vain after the ambulance believing his Khushi to be in it... believing to have lost his Khushi... the night when Anjali's statement of him feeling like he would never be able to breathe again if he lost the woman he loved finally had made sense to him... and now it was happening all over again, Khushi was lying unconscious in his arms and he was sitting there paralyzed by the reality of having lost her yet again.
Anjali may have stopped Shyam from putting a bullet in her, but Shyam had done the damage for Khushi now lay breathing her last, feeble breaths in his arms. He looked down at her as his tears of happiness, at finding her alive, were replaced by tears of sorrow. She looked peaceful. And why wouldn't she, she was finally drifting away from the insanity of his world.
As his tears began to fall on her face, he wrapped her up in his arms again. Placing their hearts next to each other, and just stayed in that position listening to both their heartbeats, drumming in unison.
Moments, seconds, minutes passed, seeming like eons, Arnav continued on listening to their heartbeats, never letting Khushi go. At some point Aakash, Payal, NK and the whole clan arrived but he didn't budge. Not when Payal's shrill cry at finding her sister limp in Arnav's arms pierced his ears. Or when Nani and NK's sobs at the sorry scene muffled the story Anjali, sat by door, told them. Explaining to them what had happened. Arnav continued on listening to their heartbeats. Not even when Payal, finally unlocking herself from Aakash's embraee, came towards them trying to pry Khushi away from him. He just pushed her away not letting go of his Khushi. Shyam's cries of agony finally died away as he lost consciousness and Arnav continued on listening to their heartbeats, shedding the occasional tear.
The paramedics arrived (called no doubt by someone who had managed to keep it together) and wheeled Shyam out; then they came to attend to Khushi. But Arnav wouldn't comply with them. He wouldn't let her go. He couldn't. The sound of their beating hearts was his only comfort. Finally NK walked over to him, jerked Arnav, and pulled Khushi away from him. Arnav began to retaliate and fight but Aakash and NK restrained him while they talked sense into him.
'Nannav, I know you don't want to let Khushi ji go, and trust me none of us do, but if you don't let them treat her, we will end up losing her. So stop!!'
'Bhai...they are trying to save her, so stopping fighting us and them!!'
As these words seeped in, Arnav's mind finally switched on and realised how his behaviour was taking away valuable minutes of Khushi's life, minutes that would decide whether she would survive this day from hell or get carried away in it. Arnav stopped his rebellion at once and alerted his attention to what the paramedics were saying trying to decipher what they needed in order to make sure they had it pronto. No one... or a thing would stand in the way of Khushi's care.
*****
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