Chap-8 Tragic Past
Shefali was away on a pre-planned trip to Pune so Ananya was feeling lonely in the hospital although she knew that Kunal would meet up as and when he could take a break from work. She also was aware that Shefali was upset about her decision to forgive Akash and not take the matter to higher authorities but she was sure that her best buddy would soon understand her point of view and relent. She as of now needed to wait till she was back from the hospital and they could have a heart to heart talk. She was pretty surprised when Akash walked in early morning carrying white and lavender orchids, her favorite flowers. Looking at the expression on her face, Akash joked "What did you think I will not bug you anymore. I guess I have to make the presentation again and for that I will need to have you back up and healthy soon so decided to do that with personal supervision".Ananya smiled and asked if he was not reporting to the labs today or he would go in late and was surprised to know that he had taken a 3 day off to be with her. She was also surprised to know that he had figured out Shefali is out of town so obviously nobody would be around so he had decided to take care of her. Ananya wanted to object but Akash had just ignored her complaints and told her to let know if she feels bored in his company. Only Ananya knew how much she was bored and how Akash was like a breath of fresh air as he kept her in good humor with his stupid jokes that he shared from his mobile. As they spoke Ananya tried to change her posture so she could pull herself up and Akash immediately leapt to her side taking the remote, aligning the bed and then held Ananya by her shoulders to finally make her comfortable .As Akash tried to align Ananya her gold chain got entangled with Akash's shirt's button and as he untied it the heart shaped locket opened up in Ananya's chain revealing a couple's photo embedded in it. As Akash looked at them curiously Ananya said "Its my Mom and Dad" and Akash was astonished and seeing his face Ananya replied "I was not left in an orphanage at birth, I had very loving parents but fate took a turn for the worst and I became an orphan". She lovingly caressed the photograph of her parents and started recalling her past.
Ananya's father(Jeetendra Rawat) was a IIHM (Indian Institute of Hotel Management) graduate and he worked in one of the famous branded hotels in Shimla. Ananya's mother (Radha Rawat) was a famous Kathak dancer and they had met during one such performance of hers in the hotel. It was love at first sight and they had got married soon after but the Rawat family never accepted their marriage so her parents had moved to Manali to stay away from the family. After working in many famed hotels, her father had started a restaurant of his own and Manali being a tourist destination, it had really done well. Radha had opened up a dance training school and also continued performing in stage shows. Three years after their marriage Ananya was born to make them complete and they had a beautiful and peaceful life of their own when fate had taken an ugly turn. When Ananya was 10 years old her father was detected with lung cancer and due to wrong treatment and medication the detection was pretty late in the cycle. The family had flown to Mumbai to the Tata Cancer Research Center and the doctor had broken the news that his cancer was in the final stages but there were some treatments available to contain the spread but they were pretty expensive. At that point of time Ananya's mother was pregnant with their second child but both parents had mutually decided and aborted the child to focus on the treatment. They had to sell off their restaurant to take care of the expenses and also Ananya's dad was not in a position to run it as his health was failing .To maintain the household expenses Ananya's mother had taken up lots of assignments and was toiling day and night. Just 10 year old Ananya was that time capable of running the household and taking care of her sick father. She had to miss an year as her attendance in school had dropped drastically.1 year later after Ananya turned 11 , her father passed away and Ananya had felt relieved because she was unable to tolerate the pain that her father was going through. She saw her mother returning tired and exhausted every day and often she used to complain of joint pain because of too much dancing that she was doing. After her father's death the assignments of her mother became less but her health never improved and finally the doctor gave the verdict that her mother was also in last stages of bone cancer and it had aggravated over the year due to excessive exertion. Ananya's mother being a strong woman had taken her and handed her over to Sister Saraswati (as she was called in Manali) to keep her in the orphanage since she had life left only for few months. Ananya insisted on being on her mother's side till her last breath and just before Ananya turned 12 her mother also left for the heavenly abode. During her mother's death Mother Saraswati was not in town and she had spent whole week holed up in the house alone facing rain, thunder, darkness, hunger before the kind lady came and picked her up and took her to the orphanage.
As Ananya finished her story both she and Akash had tears in their eyes and Ananya let her tears flow freely which she had held up for years and somehow she felt lighter sharing it with Akash today. Akash was on the other hand was feeling horrible hearing what Ananya had been through and at the moment he felt like enveloping her in his strong arms and protecting her from all troubles and that's what he did. He wiped away her tears and Ananya could not control herself anymore and crashed into his chest weeping and he wrapped his arms around her soothing her back and held her tight .Akash promised himself that day that he will see to it that this pure soul is never hurt and he would see to it that she never has tears in her eyes. She had seen enough and been through enough for one lifetime and he will ensure that she gets nothing but happiness. As they both wrapped their arms around each other holding tight they felt a warmth creep in into their heart which they had never felt before. As Ananya stopped crying , she realized that she was in a very awkward position and immediately she shifted in Akash arms and he also realized that he was holding her like she was fragile and letting her loose she will drift away. Immediately Akash also released her and both started looking at everything else but themselves and were trying to understand what had transpired between them. Akash was the first one who tried to make it normal and said "Its ok, its normal..sometimes happens,afterall we work together for so many hours , we are good friends and colleagues so its ok to seek comfort and share, by the way I did not know that this Ms.Chashmish was so brave to be alone for a week" At this Ananya smiled and taking the cue Akash started again some stupid jokes to cool down the atmosphere. Finally after having lunch Ananya had some medicines and soon she was dropping off to sleep. Akash made her comfortable and soon she was fast asleep and he had his lunch and came back to find Ananya still sleeping peacefully. He looked at her and observed how different she looked sleeping, the smooth planes of her cheek, her thin pink lips , her long eyelashes , the beautiful black hair , the strands of which sometimes fell on her face and made her look more enchanting.
He smiled at her and thought he was changing and he knew Ananya was changing him and he felt it was for good as he could hear his heart talking to him in a long long time. He felt good to have her as a friend and immediately he found his heart asking "Friend are u sure" but he for now ignored the question.
Upcoming: Togetherness
Originally posted by: akyalove0896
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