I'm really sorry for the delay...I hope you enjoy...remember that anything is bold happens in the present/ and anything not is a flashback...make sure to leave your fb...gotta to head back to DTM and Mehrya's last night together in Orlando...need to make sure a little black dress is ready to be worn... hope to see you there in a day or so

Kelly

Chapter#3

Rushing out of the examination room, Mehek hardly acknowledged him, other than the slight grimace that came to her lips when her eyes touched on him in her search for something. He got up from the bench he had been waiting on, alarmed and about to chase after her when a touch from behind stopped him. "Mr. Khanna, wait."

His head swung around and then back in the direction Mehek had gone. "Aacha,' he whispered, relieved that it was only the closest restroom that had precipitated her hurry. He faced Dr. Arora again.

"I'm about to go and cancel the next scan," Sareena advised before he could speak. "At this point, she continued as she withdrew something out of a manila envelope she held and handed it to him, "I think you would agree that safety must outweigh the risks, the additional procedure may pose now. Congratulations Mr. Khanna. I expect we may have a few minutes yet, if you wish to review the scan, but the technician has confirmed both your wife's pregnancy and the most likely date of conception based on the development of the foetus. " She pointed out the dates noted on the film. "The window for conception, and here, her due date. This date may change as additional testing is done, but I expect very little. Developmentally-wise all appears to be progressing normally: everything that is normally tested at this stage has checked out fine." She smiled when the man turned the image on end. "I know to the inexperienced eye this is a little difficult to make heads or tails out of, but I can assure you that is indeed a child. You will definitely note the difference on the next." 

"So, any testing to confirm the extent of an injury that could have resulted in her memory loss is out of the question." He hadn't asked; merely stated a fact, understanding that he wouldn't subject his child to any possible danger.

"Definitely not a CAT scan; a MRI, which unfortunately this facility does not have access to, would be the way to go. Aside from that we can explore alternative avenues; other non-invasive testing to confirm her overall health, and then, if it is viable, a consultation with a professional who specializes in mental health. Considering her episode last night, that may not be a bad idea at any rate."

Shaurya nodded. "But, even in that there is no guarantee of a recovery."

For the first time, a hesitant look crossed the physician's face. Shaurya Khanna was very astute in grasping the extent of the situation facing him. "Nahi." She looked as if she wished to say more, however, before she could, she spied her patient returning. Thankfully with the man's back to his wife, she was able to retrieve the scan and pack it away before Mehek reached them. " However, the first thing we need to focus on is breaking this news to Mehek. She needs to know."

******

He had found her.

But now a greater fear than the realization that his wife had gone missing from his suite now faced him. Keeping a watchful eye on her, Shaurya messaged Hina to inform her that he had located Mehek, so that she could call back the search team he had hastily put together, and then he continued along the riverbank, approaching Mehek as sedately as possible as not to startle her and cause the mishap she was one step away from.  It was a forced action, when all he had wanted was to rush forward and scream at her for scaring the life out of him.

"Do you believe that emersion in the river will truly erase one's sins?"

He had no idea, how with her back to him, she had been aware of his presence, and  had her position at the edge of the dangerous body of water not been his priority he may have focused more on the fact.

The question: posed when she turned around to reveal her ashen face, was the first thing Mehek had uttered in the hours since she had been informed of her condition; that the test she had undergone was to verify more than her general health. Not waiting for an answer, she again gave him her back, and if he was not mistaken, took a step closer to the shoreline edge.  Mere feet away from where she stood, the current seemed to swirl dangerously near. Shaurya's imagination ran wild as he envisioned the menacing stream coming closer, seeking to reclaim what it had almost had before. He couldn't take it. His heart pounding in his chest, he hurried forward reaching for her, lest she stumble and be lost once more. She didn't fight him; didn't even appear surprised when he grabbed her to him, and forced her backwards, away from peril. She would have to be devoid of all senses not to notice how tense he was right then, but when he spun her around in his arms, it looked as his condition was secondary to the overwhelming emotions she was caught up in.

"Do you Shaurya? Or if not cleansing your sins, then eradicating a sin done onto you?" She shook her head as her eyes welled with tears. "Maybe you should have left me to find out; I think, all things considered, it may have been for the best."

"Are you crazy," he asked, tightening his hold on her out of sheer fear. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had no idea where her mind was; but couldn't comprehend that she would consider such a drastic step...unless...

"I-I'm pregnant," she announced suddenly. "I don't how, but somehow I am." She turned her head into his chest, unable to keep her tears at bay any longer. In a complete about-face, it was now she who held him tightly. "I have no idea who has done this to me... if I was willing or if it has been conceived through violence. I just don't know." she sobbed pitifully in his arms "Shaurya, I'm so scared."

He swallowed hard, before shutting his eyes and enveloping her in his embrace. The situation as it stood was completely untenable, yet he feared the uncertainty disclosing the truth would have. He offered the only thing her could, hoping it would reach through her fear. "You've nothing to be afraid of... I've got you. Just breathe..."

********

"Breathe Jaan, just breathe, thik hai...I've got you."

His words had been a comfort to her from the first time he had said them to her, but only today did she understand why this particular phrasing had such an effect on her. At first, she believed that it was the comfort his words had on her and God knew over the past months she had given him ample opportunity to repeat them- but today she was finally able to put two and two together to understand that it wasn't merely the words that had made everything alright, but Shaurya, himself.

She loved him.

Even as her pain subsided long enough for her to catch her breath a bit, the revelation of the depth of her feelings for the man who carried her, hit her so hard that she gasped audibly. Shaurya looked to her, his worry plain for her to see. She shook her head, and gave him a weak smile to assure him that another wave of pain hadn't crested so soon. Despite the desire to speak to him, she took advantage of the ebb of her contraction to begin the breathing practices that had gone completely out the window when that first hard pain struck her. She found her focus, the one that she had secretly kept to herself from the time she had learnt the technique and began. By the time they reached their destination she was much more in control; enough in fact to question why they had come here. When he swept her into the suite that she hadn't visited in months, she found an immediate answer as they were met by a medical team and were led into the bedroom that was now fully equipped for the task at hand.

"Shaurya: what...how..."

"Later Jaan," he said as he set her down on the newly installed delivery bed. "I will answer any question you have afterwards, but you and baby must come first now. Dr. Luthra and her team will take good care of you, thik hai?"

"You're leaving," she asked, panic-stricken that he could be deserting her when she most needed him.

"Never, Jaan, I am just going to step outside while you get settled, and then I will be right back, ok?" He turned his head and motioned Hina to him. Meera watched the woman approach, noting that the dynamic between the two had abruptly changed. While a nurse took her temperature, and checked her blood pressure, she attentively listened to their conversation.

"Do you have them online?"

"Ji Sir, they are anxiously waiting."

Shaurya had nodded, and glanced back in her direction.  He must have sensed her uneasiness in being left with a group unknown to her. "Hina will remain with you until I return, and I will be just on the other side of the door in the next room... a few steps away if you need me."

********

Meera looked around the room. Not that she had much experience in this regard, she still suspected that it was far more luxurious than the spartan staff-quarters the usual employee could expect to have. "It's very nice, Ma'am."

Hina nodded. She had given up trying to get her to address her by her name, and was just going with the flow for now, as directed by her boss. Now was not the time for any undue stress to be placed on her; so, if Mehek chose to believe otherwise of her, then the PA was quite willing to continue the pretense.

"Actually, this building block consists of the most recently decommissioned rooms here at the resort. The furnishings were still in good shape, so it was a wise business decision to keep them for our staffing needs."

"And the door," Meera asked, pointing at what looked to be an access to the adjacent room.

"A connecting door; locked at all times until specifically requested by both room occupants," Hina explained.

Almost on cue, a knock was heard, not from the door in question, but a result of the figure filling the space of the still opened main door, who had rapped on the doorframe.

Shaurya.

"Namaste," he greeted them both. "I heard my new neighbor was moving in today and wanted to be the first to welcome her home."

With her back to Mehek, Hina sent a smile to her employer and nodded, prepared to leave the man with his wife to get her settled. "Excellent timing, Shaurya. I have a lot on my plate today, so I will leave you to take over. See to it that Miss Sharma gets settled and has something to eat, perhaps a tour around the grounds would be nice."

"Ji Hina Ma'am; whatever you say," he groveled watching as his employee beat a hasty retreat with a mortified expression on her face. He suspected that his deferential behavior was not as well accepted as Mehek's.

Across the room Meera took a deep breath. It had been a few days since she had seen him, and until that moment she hadn't realized how dreadful it had been not to have. For some reason his presence immediately centered her; the unmanageable now seemed otherwise.

********

Despite averting what they had thought the worst crisis: Shaurya's intervention near the river, as Mehek had contemplated the unthinkable, it wasn't long before another predicament presented itself that had him again fearing her loss. She had wanted to run: afraid of the fallout of her condition and how others would perceive her as an unwed woman who would bear an illegitimate child in their midst. While on one hand he was grateful that once Dr. Arora had assured her that she had found no evidence of abuse meted upon her, that Mehek seemed slightly less frantic over her situation, it wasn't until she had disclosed to Hina that she would not take up the chef's position with the hotel she had been offered, did Shaurya come to know of her intention. And this was in addition to the matter of her continued nightmares.  He was left with no choice but to rush to devise a plan to address everything they had to face.

Without any logical explanation for him constantly being at her side, particularly with him on leave from his "job" due to his injury, it was only late at night that he could be with her; although to his knowledge, she remained completely unaware of it. However, considering her unconscious need to have him close then, it was undoubtedly something he needed to incorporate in the solution he would come up with.  While he fine-tuned his plan, he had no alternative but to rely on others: Hina to convince Mehek to stay in the first instance, and Dr. Arora, whose vacation he had totally ruined, to see to her health concerns. Only now, with her right where he needed her to be had he felt better. Everything had checked out: both the audio and video equipment he had installed in her room was working perfectly in the next room, and the key he had for the interconnecting room was ready to be used tonight itself. Until she made the decision that she wanted no barrier between them, then he would give her the perception of complete privacy. He felt ready for whatever he had to do now.

"I would have brought over something sweet to greet you with, but I don't think that in your condition, confections are the best choice right now."

She blushed, more so from the memory of how she had hysterically thrown herself at him a few days ago, rather than his casual mentioning of her pregnancy. She looked away and nervously tucked her hair back behind her ear before facing him again. "You are my neighbor, Shaurya," she queried.

 "Ji," he responded with a gentle smile. "I'm just on the other side of the door... a few steps away if you ever need me Miss Sharma."

*********

He had tried to keep the video-call as short as possible, but knew it to be a necessity: he would have been a world of trouble if he had not personally spoken to them. Still, ten minutes later when Shaurya returned to the bedroom, he was fortified in the knowledge that the prayers of both families were firmly with him and Mehek.  In the time that he had been gone Mehek had been changed into a gown and was now settled in the hospital bed. She was doing her breathing exercises while focusing squarely on the door. Beside her the doctor checked the monitor which was recording the strength of the contraction she was clearly experiencing.  The kind physician, looked up and smiled as the device noted the end of the clenching action that signified the pending birth of their child.

"You did wonderfully, beta. How did that one compare to the last?"

"About the same in intensity, but a little longer I think," Mehek answered.

Shaurya smiled at her as he took his place at her side. He took her closest hand into both of his.

"How are they doing, Doctor?"

The physician spoke to encompass both husband and wife. "We are definitely in the early stage of labour, there has been some dilation, but there is still a long way to go. There is absolutely no sign of distress in the baby, which is the most important thing. You are doing everything you need to right now, all that you can. If you feel the need to get up and take a walk around you may. The monitor should stay on of course, but there is enough leeway to allow you to, thik hai." She smiled at the pair, and then spoke directly to the mother-to-be. "I will leave you now and come back in a bit to reexamine you. You are in very safe hands."

As soon as the door closed behind them medical staff, Shaurya took Mehek's hand and brought it up to his lips. "Are you okay Jaan?" The next kiss was to her forehead after she nodded. "Thik hai, I guess we should prepare to bring this little angel into our lives."

"You will stay with me, Shaurya," she asked.

"Nothing will tear me from your side, meri jaan."

Chapter 4

[NOCOPY]

crtkelly2017-12-12 23:52:37