Chapter 8

Arnav looked at his clock and looking at it he understood that the time period for her medicine might be over and so, he got up to go to her cabin and check her once. As he was about to leave, a ward came and informed me of emergency and he instantly left for ICU

Khushi was sitting on the bed and was reading a book. It was 'Mills and boons'. This was the first time ever that she was reading any other book, something not related to her studies with such concentration.  She was busy reading but then all of a sudden she saw her hands starting to shake and within few minutes the book fell on her lap and she was not able to feel her hands again. She looked at the clock and saw that  still 1 hour was left for the effect of the  medicine to get over. She tried to understand what's happening but before she could, she saw her amma entering the room and instead of creating a scene and  giving her more tension, she decided to hide it and said,

"Amma mujhe bohut neend arahi hai… Mai thodi der  k liye sona chahti hu.. Ap thodi madat karo please"

[Amma I am really sleepy so want to sleep… So please come and help me a bit]

And Garima nodded her  head  and  helped  Khushi in lying down.

It was about 9 at night when she woke up and as expected, her amma helped her in sitting up.  Khushi saw Dr. payal checking the other guy and the guy looking a bit nervous. As her eyes met with Dr payal's, she smiled at her and Khushi too smiled at her in return. Meanwhile her amma came back with her dinner and started feeding khushi. Khushi was not at all in mood to eat but then she knew that the sooner she finished her dinner the sooner her amma will go back to her "hai re Nandkishore" buaji's house. After all at last she was able to convince her amma to go back and  sleep in her buaji's place for the night. So without wasting time she started gobbling down her food as fast as possible.

Her amma while feeding her was busy talking about all the things in the world  and khushi, no she was not paying any attention to it but she was lost somewhere else. She was trying to find out the reason behind that less effect of the medicine. But a single name brought her back from her own world to the present and it was her amma saying something about 'Dr. Arnav'. She looked at her amma and  asked,

"Apne abhi kya bola?" [What did you just say? ]

Gareema feeding her said,

Yehi kit u jab so rahi thi Dr. Arnav tuujhe dekhne aye the.. [Just that when you were sleeping, Dr. Arnav had come to check you.]

"Kyaa.." she almost shouted and continued, "Aur apne mujhe jagaya tak nehin..amma apne mujhe uthaya kyun nehin? "

[And you didn't wake me up.. Amma why didn't you wake me up?]

"Khushi beta shant ho jao.. wo toh Dr. ne he kahan ki jagane ki zarurat nehin hai. Wo raatko dekhne ayega..aur maine use kahan bhi k mai raatko nehin rahungi..and usne mujhe ye kahan ki chinta karne ki koi baat nehin hai. You'll be fine".

[Khushi calm down. Dr. only told me not to wake you up. And he said that he would come to check you at night. I even told him that I will not be here at night and he said that it is okay. Nothing will happen to you.]

Khushi smiled hearing the last para and said,

 "Amma maine apko kahan than na k ap aram se ja sakti ho..Mai bilkul thik rahungi.. Ab toh bishwas ho gaya na..and now even I have finished my dinner. You can go home and come in the morning.."

[Amma I have told you na. There is nothing to worry now you can go home peacefully. I will be fine here]

Garima smiled at her daughter and nodded her head.. That's when payal  came  to her bedside and asked,

"How're you khushi?"

Khushi smiled and nodded her head. Payal said,

"Dr. Arnav ne tumhara report dekh liya hoga..Woh raatko ayenge. .. Okay? … now meri shift over hone wali hai… so mai chalti hu…. Good night.."

[I guess Dr. Arnav has already seen your report. He will come at night. Now my shift is almost over. I have to go.]

Khushi smiled at this beautiful friendly Dr and said,

"Good night, Dr. Payal."

Payal nodded and left for downstairs.

Akash was lying on  his bed and was looking at Payal leaving and he remembered what she had said to him few minutes back.

"Akash, I am sorry but I had to  do it…. Maine aaj tumhare ghar call kiya tha.. aur maine tumhare momse baat ki..And I had to tell her about you and your condition..Aur who log kal subah tak yahan pauch jayenge…  "

[I called your home, talked with your mom and told her about your condition. They will be coming here by tomorrow moring..]

He looked at the ceiling and tried to remember his parents' face whom he had seen 2 years back, the last time he had visited home. He easily remembered his mother's face but for his father he didn't want to remember his face and those old days. He never wanted them to know about his condition, specially his father as he was not sure how he will react. But then it looks like his condition is really very bad that's why Dr. Payal had to call his mom.

He closed his eyes and thought what led to this… 6 years ago.. yes, it was 6 years ago, after he completed his 12^th board exam he sat for AIECC and other competitive examinations, but the year proved bad for him, his ranks were really poor and so he dropped a year. Next year he tried again and this time he got admitted in a really good college. Yes, IIT Delhi. He was from Haryana so he shifted to the college campus hostel and started the 2^nd phase of his life. One should always choose  his/her friend with great care  but probably something went wrong for Akash. His friends were good in one sense, like they never betrayed him, always took his side. But they had bad habits which entered into Akash and he too started Drinking. Occasional boozing converted into drinking and soon he became alcoholic as well as a drug addict too.

He knew that drinking alcohol in regular basis in heavy dose can kill him and today he was the best example of it. He  remembered how  his mother in her soft  , calm voice always used to warn him, plead with him to leave drinking but he didn't listen to her and as a result today he was lying here almost  at the verge of death. He remembered his mother's face and then came to his mind,  'HER' and he instantly opened his sighing, turned towards the other side and closed his eyes to get some sleep and prepare himself for the upcoming day and its events.

Payal before leaving entered Arnav's cabin and then said,

"Dr. maine Akash k family ko inform kar diya hai… and khushi bhi jag gayi hai.."

[I have informed Akash's family and khushi too has woke up..]

Arnav who was lost somewhere looked at her blankly for once and then nodded his head and payal wishing his good night left for her house.