A/N: Hi guys! I’m back with another chapter. This one is an emotional rollercoaster, I hope you enjoy reading it. Do let me know what you think, I really look forward to reading all your comments 
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AbhiMaan FF || Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar || Chapter 2
This was not happening. This was not happening.
Armaan collapsed by Abhira’s body and he grasped her blood-stained dress in both hands, holding her close.
“Armaan…” she whispered, weakly. Her breathing was ragged. She was struggling to stay conscious.
Shit. She was losing a lot of blood.
He pressed his trembling hands onto her gunshot wound, right below her chest trying to apply pressure, but the blood continued to seep through his fingers, staining them crimson. With each beat of her heart, more blood welled up, and desperation clawed at him as he fought to staunch the flow, his fingers slick with her life force. Time seemed to slow as he struggled to find a way to stem the tide, his heart racing - a painful juxtaposition to the slow, faint beating of hers, each pulse a countdown to uncertainty.
He needed to call for help.
He searched his pockets for his phone but to no avail. He must’ve dropped it somewhere in her pursuit.
"Abhira… Hold on, please…” He looked at her, brushing her hair from her face tenderly.
She blinked twice, slowly. And the third time her eyes remained closed.
"No no no no-"
He was struggling to keep his composure.
"Armaan! Abhira!"
Madhav’s voice called out behind him, and he heard scrambling footsteps approaching, but he could not reply.
"Abhira, please, stay with me" he whispered, voice breaking.
"STOP!"
Madhav’s booming voice echoed through the trees, and it was only then that he realised that Yuvraj and his men were escaping. Behind Madhav, two more policemen approached quickly. They chased after Yuvraj but Madhav halted by Armaan and Abhira.
"Armaan, is she, is she-"
Madhav’s face went ashen with shock, as he turned to see… and Armaan could hear nothing more but the sounds of his own sobs as he clutched the unmoving body underneath him.
"I-I don’t-know… PLEASE CALL FOR HELP!"
Madhav was immovable at first a blank expression staring down at him, and then he broke out of his trance at Armaan’s desperate plea and reached for his phone.
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“What the hell is taking them so bloody long in there?"
Armaan paced the floor, from one end to the other, asking the same question every other minute and not receiving an answer. No one tried to stop and reassure him as everyone was sure to be thinking the same thing.
His entire family had arrived upon hearing the news. And so had the Goenkas.
Ruhi was sitting next to Manish who was clutching her hand, both their knuckles turning white from the pressure, but neither of them caring to pull their fingers apart.
While he didn't have news on Abhira’s well being, the doctor reiterated to Armaan that they had taken the bullet out, but she needed to be assessed for any further internal damage. Armaan refused a room to recover from his injuries and instead opted to wait with everyone else for more news about Abhira.
Charu, Kiara and Aryan were being comforted by Manisha whilst Dadi Sa sat across from them, staring down at her clasped hands. Krish sat next to her, his eyes trained on Armaan as he continued to pace. The mood was somber, to say the least, and the silence was doing Armaan’s head in.
They hadn't heard anything for what felt like hours, but looking at his watch for the hundredth time, Armaan saw it had only been thirty minutes. Not able to contain his nerves, Armaan wrapped her arms across his stomach and rocked in his seat, keeping his lips tightly together to stay silent. Every instinct screamed for action, urging him to leap to his feet and demand answers about Abhira's condition. He imagined storming through the hospital corridors, kicking down doors until he found her. But a voice of reason whispered in the back of his mind, reminding him to stay composed, to wait for the doctors to deliver news, something he wouldn't be able to do if he was throwing a fit and acting like a hysterical mental patient. That would only guarantee him a room on a very different floor of this hospital.
"Are you alright?" Vidya whispered to Armaan, and he jumped at her voice.
"I- I'm not sure," he whispered and let out a choked sob. He tucked his lips into his mouth to keep from making any further noise and gripped his sides harder, closing his eyes and shaking his head to clear it from the buzzing that was invading his mind, a sure sign that a full-on panic attack was just around the bend.
"I hate this, Maa," he continued, keeping his eyes shut and his voice so low that Vidya had to lean in close to hear him. "I keep thinking how I knew something didn't feel right and I couldn’t do anything. I could have prevented this. She saved my life, Maa… I don't know what I'll do if… if-"
"Here, take my hand," Vidya whispered.
He turned to Vidya who was staring him unblinking. He reached up to wipe his tears and crumbled slightly under Vidya’s unrelenting gaze and he let out a strangled gasping sob. Vidya wordlessly reached over to grab his hand from his face and squeezed firmly, her warmth helping to calm him only slightly.
"It's not your fault, Armaan," she said. Her face still looked pained and her voice shook with worry as she continued, "Please don't say that. Just… breathe. Try to stay strong for Abhira."
The door opened, revealing a middle aged, balding man with glasses askew on his face and a lab coat embroidered with the hospital logo and the name Tanmay. At the sight of him, Armaan let go of Vidya’s hand and jumped to his feet to join Dadi Sa who was already ahead of him.
"Where is she? How is she? Is she still alive? Can we see her?" Armaan started talking before anyone else could speak. Dadi Sa took his hand and Armaan took a deep breath, in order to let others speak.
"Please," Dadi Sa said as Vidya and Ruhi stood with them, surrounding the doctor. "Just tell us she’s going to be alright."
The doctor looked down at the clipboard in his hand and said in a casual tone that Armaan disliked immediately, "I assume you're speaking of Mrs. Abhira Poddar?"
"Of course we are," Armaan snapped at him. Doctor Tanmay paused to look at him over his glasses and he quickly said, "Sorry."
Doctor Tanmay dropped the clipboard down at his side and looked at Armaan. "Right. We ran some tests. Abhira has suffered many injuries, both externally and internally, and not only from the gunshot, but she is stable for now. She is unconscious, but that is mostly due to the number of medicines we had to administer to heal her body.”
"Oh, dear," Manish said, worriedly.
Doctor Tanmay peered down at the chart on his clipboard, his brow furrowing in concentration as he adjusted his glasses. Armaan fidgeted nervously, a surge of impatience coursing through him as he fought the urge to snatch the damn clipboard from the doctor's grasp and read it himself.
"Let's see… The bullet entered just below her left lung, fracturing a rib upon impact," he said matter-of-factly. "She needs plenty to rest so we have to keep her admitted for longer."
"And… internally?" Dadi Sa asked. Armaan didn't know if he wanted to hear the rest. Knowing that Abhira would be in so much pain for so long was making him feel queasy enough as it was.
Doctor Tanmay regarded his clipboard again and clicked his tongue as he flipped through the first few pages then stopped with a frown. "Well, yes... Oh, my."
"What? What is it?" Armaan shrieked. He let go of Dadi Sa’s hand and stepped forward to grab the clipboard from him, his impatience winning out. He almost had it when Vidya pulled him back at the last second.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down," the Doctor said with measured patience as if he was talking to a small child.
"Don't you-"
"Armaan, please just let him tell us what's wrong with Abhira, then we can see her," Ruhi requested.
"May I continue?"
"Yes, please," Dadi Sa said through her teeth, trying to control her temper with the Doctor.
"We did a scan of her internal organs and while her heart is intact, other tests show that the bullet tore through her diaphragm, which could lead to complications with breathing and other functions… We’ll need to perform surgery to fix it.”
Armaan closed his eyes so he didn't have to see the Doctor as he spoke, his passive face making him want to rip off his glasses and break them in half.
"When can we see her?”
“Right now, we're focusing on stabilising her and ensuring she gets the care she needs. Once she's in a more comfortable condition and our team has a solid plan in place, we'll make sure you can see her. Shouldn’t be too long.” With a reassuring nod to the family, Dr. Tanmay gently excused himself from the waiting room.
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Armaan stood in the same spot in the middle of the room, staring at the closed door for what seemed like hours. After Armaan insisted that they all go back home to rest, his family as well as the Goenkas had reluctantly agreed to return home, promising to come again in the morning to visit Abhira.
He was all alone now. He heard the swirling and humming of what sounded like a thousand bees inside his head, expanding his brain until he felt like it might ooze out of his ears. He slowly brought his hand up to his chest and felt his heart pounding rapidly; reminding him of how slow Abhira's was under his fingers just moments ago. Now she was back there somewhere, unconscious, battered and bruised, and in pain. There was nothing he could do for her but stare and let his head and heart tell him that this was real. This was actually happening.
"Armaan?"
Armaan felt a wave of guilt wash over him as he stood there, consumed by the overwhelming sense of helplessness. Abhira had taken the bullet for him. She had saved his life. She had saved his mother. She had always protected him and his family without hesitation. Now, as he stood in the hospital waiting room, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had failed her. The promise he had made to Akshara to keep Abhira safe echoed in his mind like a haunting melody, each note a reminder of his failure.
How could he face her now, knowing that he had let her down in the worst possible way?
“Armaan, are you okay?”
Armaan broke out of his trance to see his father staring at him, his eyes laden with worry.
“This is all my fault.” Armaan choked out.
"Armaan, none of this is your fault," he said firmly, his voice laced with conviction. "You did everything you could to protect Abhira, and we're all grateful for that."
Armaan's throat tightened, a lump forming as he struggled to contain the flood of emotions threatening to overwhelm him.
"We've caught Yuvraj, Armaan," he assured his son, his voice tinged with determination. "And Yuvraj's men are all now in custody too. They'll all pay for what they did to Abhira."
Yuvraj.
He had been so preoccupied with ensuring Abhira's safety, so consumed by the urgency of the moment, that he had forgotten all about him.
Armaan's eyes widened in disbelief, a flicker of hope igniting within him amidst the darkness of his despair. "You… You caught him?"
Madhav nodded, his grip on Armaan's shoulder tightening reassuringly. "Yes, son. They're all in custody, and justice will be served, I promise."
Tears pricked at the corners of Armaan's eyes as he leaned into his father's embrace, the weight of his sorrow easing ever so slightly in the warmth of his father's embrace.
“Thank you, Papa.” he whispered, his voice choked with emotion. "I'm sorry for all the things I said earlier." Madhav's arms tightened around his son.
He couldn't remember the last time he had hugged his father like this, couldn't recall a time when their relationship had felt so... normal. It felt nice – more than nice, actually – to hug his father like this, to feel his strength and his warmth, to know that despite everything, Madhav always had his back.
“Mr Armaan Poddar…?" The nurse's voice called out interrupting their moment with news that Armaan had been eagerly awaiting. "You can see Abhira now."
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Armaan walked towards the bed, repeating the same words in his head with each step he took. She isn’t dead, she’s only sleeping. She isn’t dead, she’s only sleeping…
The room was occupied with a single bed, a bedside table, one beige oversized armchair. The walls were a lifeless white shade. It was cold and dull and nothing like Abhira at all. He hated it almost instantly.
“Abhira…” He whispered gently as her form slowly came into view. He slowly walked around to the other side to stand near her head.
Armaan didn’t bother fighting the tears as he gazed down at her through blurry eyes. Her face had a few scars and abrasions from the struggle against Yuvraj. Her cheeks, usually with tinted pink by blush were now paler than ever. Her hands lay right under her chest where she was shot and though he couldn’t see the wound, he imagined the bandages wrapped tightly around her torso. His hand instinctively reached out and palmed her left cheek. It felt so cold under his hand, which made him sob even more.
“Abhira?” He whispered her name again. “Can you hear me? I-I’m right here, okay? It’s me. Your Kh-Khadoosmaan.”
He didn’t expect her to move under his touch, but he was still disappointed when she laid there, a slight frown on plastered on her face. Armaan closed his eyes and slowly lowered his forehead onto hers, now holding her face in his hands. Then he completely broke down.
“I’m so s-sorry, Abhira!” He wailed and gripped her tighter. “I should’ve been with you.” He let in a shuddering breath. "I'm never going to let anything happen to you ever again, do you hear me, Abhira?"
He didn't know how long he sat there crying like that, but a tap on his shoulder made Armaan sit up abruptly. He turned around to see a young looking nurse standing behind him, looking apologetic.
"Mr. Poddar? I'm so sorry, but I need to give Abhira her medicine." Armaan stood up clumsily from the bed and read her tag that said Nurse Farooqui.
"Oh, no, it's alright. I'm sorry," Armaan said as she wiped his face with the back of his hand. Nurse Farooqui dug into her pocket and offered Armaan a clean handkerchief, which he took gratefully. "Thank you," Armaan said after using it. “Sorry, I was just-“
"No, please," Farooqui said and held up one hand to stop Armaan from apologising. She smiled warmly at Armaan. "I think it's lovely, really. From what I just witnessed I can tell you care very deeply for her."
Armaan smiled down at Abhira and fixed her hair that he had messed up.. "Yes, I do." Then he gestured to the cart behind Farooqui that held a metal tray displaying at least a dozen bottles and tablets of different coloured medicines and asked, "Are all those just for her?"
Farooqui looked back and shook her head. "Oh, goodness no," she laughed softly. "I have to administer medicines to rest of the patients on this floor.." She moved around to the front of the cart and wheeled it to the other side of the bed.
“Your wife is very lucky to be alive," Farooqui said as she carefully measured out the medicines on the tray.
"You think she’ll have a full recovery?" Armaan asked.
"Oh, yes," Farooqui said without hesitation. "It will be a long recovery, half a year at most… she’s young and in decent health otherwise. I don't see why she wouldn't be back to normal sooner."
Armaan smiled fondly at Abhira and laughed quietly. "Abhira is anything but normal."
"That's a good thing, I suppose." Farooqui replied with a chuckle. Armaan saw her move closer with one of the injections in her hand and moved to stand up, but Farooqui stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "No need to move. It's really quick." Armaan watched as she administered the injection. “This is just for general pain. The other medicines have painful side effects, so this should help with that.”
Armaan nodded, taking a deep breath and mentally taking notes and making checklists inside his brain as he kept her eyes on Abhira and the Nurse at the same time. "Will you give me a list of the medicines and dosages?"
"Of course, Mr. Poddar. She will have to stay in hospital overnight for the next three days," Farooqui continued. "While she’s here I will be giving her medicines much more often than she will be taking them at home. So you will be seeing me again soon."
"Sure." Armaan replied.
“She should wake up any moment, do you have any other questions?"
"Not at the moment. Thank you for everything," Armaan said and gave her a small smile.
"Just doing my job," Nurse Farooqui replied. "And don't worry, she’ll be just fine." Then she was gone.
Armaan faced Abhira again. It was close and he had almost lost her. Just thinking about it hurt, but it hurt more to think of his last words to her being so spiteful, for her dying while thinking that he didn't care about her. He cared so much. As he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, he was overcome by a sense of peace.
Abhira needed him there as a friend, as he had always been. But she was so much more than that to him, wasn’t she? She was his family and he was hers. All that she had left in this world. So when she woke up, that's what he would be. He would do his best to be the Armaan she had always known, the one she could count on. He dropped his hand down to take hers, planting a soft kiss on them, and rubbing his thumb over the back as her fingers reflexively closed around his.
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