Chapter 14

chalo dinner and then he missed a step...she saw him fall straight down just as she put her

arm out to hold him but he was already down on the floor.

DAD she heard herself call out and started climbing down in a hurry when she tripped

and skidded down a few steps, she clutched the railing in one hand slowing down the

speed but still fell on her back on the floor..close to where reys dad had fallen down ,

now lying without any movement

Her breath struck in her throat, she tried to move to him but stopped forced to hold

her hip on one side due to a sudden shearing pain

DAD she screamed hoping he would just wake up , brush his dress and say kya hua taani

but he didnt respond...she pushed herself towards him sitting and then shook his

shoulders trying to wake him up , calling him continuously and then felt her vision

blurring... krishnaji please , kuch mat hone dena...and felt tears falling down her cheeks.

..she wiped her eyes vigorously ..these stupid tears...mera mobile, oh no room mein hain

and then picked her father in laws mobile out, her hands shaking...REY ...she scrolled

and then stopped

Rey yahaan nahin aasakthe abhi ke abhi taani, tum...haan ...first hospital...ambulance

and ...and then with a sinking feeling as she looked at him called the driver...and then

sunithi...and phir kisko ...mom? She hesitated and placed a hand on her father in laws

forehead again , no response and felt her eyes fill up...NOT AGAIN!

Something felt familiar but then... she dialled his assistant and briefed him

Her hand shook contnuously but her voice was clear , her eyes kept filling up as she held

his hand confused..pulse? Kaise check karthe hain?...and looked at his chest , still

moving...krishnaji please please ...and she heard the door open as sunithi walked in

with the driver both looking scared...she felt slightly relieved that there was someone

else around and started giving instructions...to get the ambulance and get the car ready

and to sunithi to get her stuff mobile and purse

They both ran and she again held his hand looking at his chest moving slowly...bell rang

and they all came ...the driver, sunithi ambulance ppl and activity started

As sunithi helped her stand up, she felt the shearing pain in the back and hip again and

held sunithi s shoulder tightly, her eyes filling up in pain her face twisted up...and heard

sunithi say...didi, khoon! And looked down at her dress stained with blood and didnt

hear half of what sunithi kept blabbering in fright but walked out leaning on her

thinking mera bleeding hain? And placed a hand on her tummy, nothing...she felt a

sudden dread inside and looked as the ambulance ppl lifted her father in law and

place him on the stretcher and remembered

MAA...maa ko bhi aise hi leke gaye the hospital from the accident site...she had sudden

flashback of the scene...she had stood watching till taayji had hugged her and brought

her home to her naanimaa..but maa hadnt come back home

Her heart constricted and she felt her head spin and she instinctively held her tummy ..

.the baby hadnt moved ...please please kuch baat karo as she walked out leaning on

sunithi and sat in the car telling sunithi, tum ghar mein raho. Main hospital mein doctor

ko dikhaadonngi and catching sight of her teary face patted her cheek and said

kuch nahin hoga her own eyes watering as she held her bag that sunithi gave her tightly

and placed a hand on the baby...looking for some relief of his/her movement

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Hospital...an hour later

Taani lying down on a bed , next to some monitoring equipments...looking scared, not

crying but her face looking dull and swollen

Her mobile rang, the assisitant, she recieved and listened and said ok tho main...mom

ko aur rey ko call karlethi hoon aap tickets bhejdena unhe ..thanks...nahin abhi dad ko

ICU mein rakha hain , kuch tests kuch chal rahaan hain..jab unhe hosh aayega main ...

and stopped her voice stuck in her throat..he nodded on the other end and said

kuch chahiye tho let me know taani and disconnected

And then steeling herself dialled her mom in law...

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An hour later...same place...taani fidgeting on the bed and telling the nurse but mujhe

apne father in law ko dekhna hain

Nurse sighed please lie down atleast doctor ke aane tak .i ll call her and went out

Taani looked at the time, did a mental calculation and ok, ab performance khatam hua

hoga and dialled rey...it kept ringing and ringing...and then getting irritated left him a

msg...why the hell doesnt he recieve? And then dialled swayam s number...swayam

recieved on the third ring

Hi taani, itni raat ko? Wahaan tho ab...

Bhai wo...and told him about her father in law adding rey hain kya unka ...

Wo kuch logon ko interview de rahaan hain, i ll get him to call. Tum rakho...she sighed...

.aur taani, tum...u take care ...dont get scared okay...sab kuch teek hoga okay?

She smiled slightly and disconnected just as two doctors came in

Doctor mujhe apni...

Her doctor asked cutting her off, babys moving?looking at the monitoring

She shook her head, her face falling and eyes scared, the doctor turned to her and said..

but its okay inside taani, dont get scared. Just that you have had bleeding and pain girne

ke baad tho atleast subah tak observation mein rehna hain...

Abhi pain nahin hain taani protested the other doctor said

Your father in law is in the ICU Mrs SInghania, unhe aap waise bhi nahin milsakhogi

abhikeliye..and jab tak unko hosh nahin aajaatha tab tak kuch bhi kehna mushkil hain..

Wo tests?

They were okay, not bad but till 48 hours kuch kehnahin sakthe...head injury hua hoga

girne se...tho aap yahaan raho ya ICU ke baahar ek hi baat hain

Taani wiped her eyes looking at her own doctor who said aur i ll make sure ki tumhe

update miltha rahe ...teek hain? And smiled supportively..now take rest. We have given

you medicines

And they left leaving taani alone to her own thoughts and fears ...please krishnaji dad

ko teek rakhna...and her hand on her tummy...aur isko bhi...agar isko kuch hogaya tho,

nahin taani doctor ne kahaan ki everythings okay, tum zyaada mat socho...par dad!

And had a glimpse of his smiling at her in some office meeting

Maa bhi aise hi...mat socho mat socho taani...sojao...just sleep...and forcibly closed her

eyes...rey...aap kahaan ho? Call bhi nahin kiya and looked at the clock...atleast mom

yahaan hothi tho...maine dher tho nahin ki na dad ko shift karwaane mein?! Pata nahin

mom pe kya baath rahin hogi...just hope ki jab tak wo aaye dad ko hosh aagaya hoga

and had a clear picture of reys parents in all smiles ...her eyes filled up and she placed

her head on the pillow, her tears flowing down the side of her eyes and wetting the

pillow...phir se aise mat hone dena krishnaji...her hand stroked her tummy softly ...

atleast aap tho baat karo mujhse ...there was no kick, no movement... Just bhi fine...

and it went on till she dozed off because of tiredness

Sometime later the mobile rang , she recieved it REY? Sleepily and felt her heart leap up

TAANI ! Kya hua?

And all her fears came right upto her throat, she mumbled in hurry rey aap jaldi aajao,

aapko ticket mila? Dad ...dad...

Reys voice sounded distant and scared as well, Haan hum airport main hain..hz dad?

And she told him what had happened tumbling over her words

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Next morning, taani outside ICU reys mom came towards her looking worried, eyes

swollen, taani looked at her and before she knew it , she was hugging her and her eyes

still full asked hz he?

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After a while

In visitors lounge... Both ladies waiting and talking

Oh no taani , i had a meeting scheduled today. I should inform them..mom suddenly said

Maine inform kardiya hain, dont worry. Ive told the office ki hum sab yahaan hain aur..

..and please ab aap khaalo kuch pushing a plate in front of her

Mom gave half a smile and said, tumne khaaya? Taani nodded and placed a hand on her

tummy , there was a small kick...she sighed in relief..thank you krishnaji

reys mom replied, i dont know beta. Mujhe nahin chahiye...but how on earth could he

jus fall like that? Looking lost i was worrying that you would fall down..taani s hand

stroked her tummy

Mom doctors r saying he ll be fine..taani repeated but her eyes filling up mom got up

and went out..taani sat knowing that she would go see him once more and come back

She looked at the clock thinking shaam tak maybe rey ll reach here...krishnaji jaise aapne

mere bachhe ko bachaaya dad ko bhi bachaalena

reys mom s mobile ringing..taani saw and recieved it hello uncle..wo mom dad ke paas

gayi hain tho..

It was one of longtime associates of reys parents and a friend whom taani had been

working with

Hello taani..hows he? And taani gave him a detailed explanation...ummm..i was just

leaving for the hospital when these guys here told me about the problem in that project,

aaj meeting tha na uska...apparently us ABC guy wants to have the meeting today only

kyunki wo kal kahin abroad jaarahan hain and ...hes just trying to push our hands as

your father in laws not around..maine soch ki main ek baar ...

But uncle mom abhi bohot upset hain aur phir unko kuch khaas pata nahin iske baare

mein...cant we just refuse ? Taani frowned abhi team mein kisika mann nahin hoga

kaam karne mein

He laughed , haan but he will use the opportunity to get stuff his way bas...but i guess

you re right ...i ll tell them to cancel it, mera bhi mann nahin tha ..chalo i ll see you there

in some time..keep me informed and disconnected

Taani felt anger well up inside her, she knew they had all struggled to get through with

the project , some ppl were disgusting...no dad aap galat the us aadmi ke baare mein,

wo dekho cheat tho karrahaan hain but hum kyun chup rahe? she picked and dialled

again uncle, meeting cancel mat keejiye..lets go ahead and just finish it off..

No taani we ll do more mistakes when we are tensed

Haan uncle but yeh bhi galat hain ki saara credit kisi aur ko mile, jo hoga dekha jaayega ..

.yeh kya blackmail hain? Lets just do it...shaam ko main bhi aathi hoon...tab tak mere

khayal se saare team ko ek aur alternative ke baare mein sochna chahiye..we have

almost six hours more

Alternative? But im sure ur father in law wont agree..this is more profitable.

He sounded surprised

Yes, i know he might not agree but...she hesitated..but lets atleast think. Abhi decide

karna nahin hain , jab dad waapas office aayenge tab decide karenge and stopped

what if dad didnt...? she shook her head and continued...uncle? Hello

Haan taani just thinking...okay...we ll start looking at options...tum...i ll try not to disturb

you but just keep me posted teek hain?She nodded and if theres a meeting i ll let you know and disconnected

She stared at the mobile and tried reys number, it wasnt going through...damn the

network and turned to see reys mom standing behind her her afce in a small smile

Kya hua mom kaise hain?

Hes same which according to doctors is good news but they are hoping ki shaam tak

unko hosh aajaayega and sat down and then said tum us meeting attend karsakthi ho

if you want to go and smiled slightly again.

Taani realised she had overheard everything

Momleaning back on the chair and closing her eyes he says you have a good business

instinct because you come froma family of business men, so i guess what you decide

will be fine...

Haan ghar mein sab business karthe hain she smiled thoughtfully except bhai and ...

meri maa.my maa was a housewife.

Mom opened her eyes and turned to her ...nurse came in at that time calling

Mrs Singhania...both of them turned ...aapko doctor bhulaarahe hain. ...both of them

got up and went running behind her

please krishnaji! Her hands clutching her purse

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Later in the night

Taani in the car, talking over the mobile looking exhausted but relieved

Haan bhai hes fine...still in ICU but hosh aagaya hain and tests normal hain but hes ...

koi ...darr ki baat nahin hain...no abhi mili nahin hoon, wo jab rey hospital pahunche tab

main office mein thi ..abhi ghar jaarahin hoon, wo wahin hain...

Taani tum aaj bhi office gayi thi? Swayam asked surprised

Kuch last minute meeting aagaya tha...tho shaam ko gayi thi bhai...tho ab main rakhoo?

Ya okay, im sorry we rnt there...yahaan..

Its okay bhai, i know aapki last show teen din mein hain, im just glad rey s back she said

leaning on the back and trying to stretch her legs, it pained ...the back..it ached but the

baby kicked

You take care taani, apne dhyan rakhna ..i mean tum bhi ... She smiled at his concern

Haan bhai, ab rey aagaye hain tho i ll be fine...swayam nodded and disconnected.

Driver saw her from the rearview mirror and asked didi, aapko chodke mujhe rey sir

ko hospital chodna hain? she nodded ...

he hesitated for a second and said didi, aap teek ho? She nodded and smiled,

sir teek haina...she nodded again..

Haan thanks agar aap time pe nahin aathe tho...

Kya didi... kal raat ko tho bohot darr laggaya ,aap itni himmat dikhaarahin thi dekhhe

himmat aagayi warna mujhe tho bohot darr lagaatha sir ko aise dekhkhe his voice

showing lot of respect

Darr tho mujhe bhi lagaa tha! She thought and then mobile rang again...haan uncle kya hua?

Aaj ke liye beta bohot kuch hogaya...thank god ki ab sab teek hua...bas yeh kehna tha ki

aaj ki meeting ki points bhejdiya hain Natasha ne , tum jab bhi dekhogi tab ...well

sochke batao ki kya karna hain

Ji uncle she replied and got down from the car waving a bye to the driver , her mind

already switched off from the exhaustion and walked towards the door slowly her back

paining more now

aaj nahin..i know you r tired and taani, im glad i spoke to you today he added ...

she nodded and disconnected her mind thinking only of REY...all that she wanted was to

run and hide in his arms.

She walked to the stairs and was about to climb up when for a second she looked at the

palce where she had fallen down and where dad had fallen down..she shuddered and

placed a hand on her tummy...the baby kicked again...thank you krishnaji...yeh rey

kahaan gaye? And steeling herself without looking down again climbed up holding the

railing carefully , her back beginning to pain again

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TR room

Taani entered the room calling REY and stopped ...rey was sitting on the bed , his head

in his hands staring staright ahead at nothing and his elbows on his thighs ...she moved

to him rey...he turned to her as she came nearer and held his hand out to her ...