So this short story is based when Devi and Tej still had not accepted Anokhi.
They were all having breakfast.
Devi-Yeh Anokhi aur Shaurya ab tak aaye nhi? Yeh had hai. Aaj breakfast baneygi laga tha but aaj bhi late. Ab toh uske exams bhi nhi hai toh fir yeh laparwahi. Shaurya ko samjhana padega ki woh Anokhi ko samjhaye. Shaurya ka breakfast room mein de aati hoon aur baat bhi kar lungi. Bechara kaam karke thak gya hoga isliye nhi aaya. (Hope readers see the double standards.)
She takes the breakfast to their room to find the door open and Anokhi sitting by the bed applying cold patches on Shaurya's forehead.
Devi-Kya hua usse?
Anokhi-Bukhar hua hai badi maa unhe. Kal raat se hai. Abhi tak bas thoda hi utara hai.
Devi-Aur tumne batana zaroori nhi samjha?
Anokhi-Ji aap so rhe hoge toh. Maine doctor ko call kia aur dawaiyan di.
Devi-Kaunsi dawai?
Anokhi-Woh "_____" dawai batayi thi doctor ne.
Devi-Anokhi! Dawai toh thi hi nhi ghar pe fir?
Anokhi-Bahar se layi. Raat ko Jake layi.
Devi-Ab hato mujhe dekhne do.
Anokhi-Nhi. Mein rahungi. Unhe zaroorat hai meri.
Devi-Shaurya ko mein dekh lungi.
Shaurya whispers Anokhi.
Shaurya-Anokhi. Hey! Paas rho naa.
Anokhi-Mein yhi hoon. Shaurya dekho badi maa bhi hai yahan. Woh aayi hai tumse milne. Sab theekh ho jayega.
Anokhi takes Badi maa by her shoulder and makes her sit by Shaurya. She goes and sits on the other side.
Devi-Beta mein yhi hoon.
Shaurya-Badi maa aap mat socho. Mein theekh... (Coughs)...Hoon.
Devi-Bas beta. Tum rest Karo. Mein aur Anokhi dono yhi hai.
Shaurya purrs contentedly and dozes off.
Devi observes Anokhi who was teary eyed throughout. She was putting cold patches, carressing his forehead, gently massaging his temples whenever he would sigh or hold his forehead and whispering something. After sometime Shaurya opens his eyes.
Shaurya-Anokhi college? Tumhara favourite guest lecture tha aur tumhe prize milne wala tha.
Anokhi-No prize is important Shaurya. You are.
Devi looks at her in shock.
Anokhi-Badi maa aap rukiye inke paas mein inke liye kuch lati hoon khane ke liye.
Devi-Nhi. Mein lati hoon. Tum rehne do. Pata nhi kya banogi uske liye. Pehle se hi beemar hai.
In reality Devi was hiding the fact that she will do the job of cooking so that Anokhi need not have to do work.
As Devi walked with the breakfast into the room she saw Anokhi helping Shaurya to walk from the washroom to the bed gently and covering him up with such softness. She was so delicate with him as if he were a doll that could break. Shaurya was getting shivers and chills. So she covered him up and held his hand, trying to warm it up by rubbing her palms on it gently. She would stabilize him by holding on to him. Shaurya clearly had body pains and so she would do everything gently not allowing any sudden jerks to happen or not touch him suddenly. She would ask him about the pillow height and adjust it accordingly. She would keep extra rugs around him. She would place the softest pillows under his feet. Devi noticed that he had changed into a softer cotton shirt instead of the one he had been wearing at night. That means Anokhi must have washed it and dried it in the night as that was in the laundry yesterday. After this there was no way Devi could question Anokhi's love. Maybe Devi can question whether Anokhi fits as a bahu but there was no doubt that she had fitted as Shaurya's wife. She remembered Shagun who had known Shaurya was sick but still had not even dropped to check on him. Sabbarwals may not like Anokhi but she was good for Shaurya.
Devi-Shaurya yeh lo breakfast. Mein tumhe khila deti hoon. Anokhi tum bhi issi me se khalo. Fir kitchen jaogi aur pata nhi kaunsa cheez kahan rakh dogi.
(Devi did not want to openly offer breakfast.)
Anokhi takes some bites.
Devi-Anokhi fir se beemar pad jaogi. Theekh se Khao. Tum beemar padegi toh expect mat karna koi khayal rakhega. Logon ko aur bhi kaam hai.
Shaurya-Wifey kabhi nhi beemar padegi jab tak Shaurya hai. Har beemari ko mujhse guzarna hoga. Aur beemar padi bhi toh uska Shaurya kafi hai. Agar aap Anokhi ko paraya samjhte ho toh mein bhi toh hoon. Mere liye bhi kyu kar rhe ho aap. Anokhi hai.
Anokhi-Shaurya mein aapki wife banene ke liye aayi thi bas. Aur kuch expect nhi kia. Bas tum ho mere liye kafi hai. I don't expect you to go away from those you love for me. Live and let live policy hai meri.
Devi-Doctor saab ko call kia. Woh aa jayenge.
Shaurya-Hmmmm.
Devi-Shaurya tum stress mat lo. Tum beemar ho. Abhi Anokhi se jhagda karke tumhari takleef nhi badhaoongi.
Shaurya-Badi maa. Mein thak gya hoon. Mujhe aapko kyu convince karna pad rha hai.
As he shouted his head started to throb and he was feeling dizzy.
Anokhi-Hey! Just relax. Aapki wifey bol rhi hai. Aise behave karoge toh hum dono ko hurt hoga. Mujhe bhi. Ki mere wajah se aap rest nhi le paa rhe ho. Isliye no.
Shaurya-Ok! Ok!
Shaurya lies down and slowly goes to sleep. By now Anokhi was exhausted but Devi was blind to it. Devi never actually ever saw Anokhi. Even now she saw Anokhi as someone who took good care of Shaurya not as another human who needed to rest. But Anokhi stays with Shaurya all the while. She had her book in front of her doing some assignment now that his fever had dropped and cold patches weren't required. She would still check him every fifteen minutes but she got fifteen minutes to study.
Devi-Jaake padh lo. Wohi important hai naa tere liye.
(This was Devi letting Anokhi go to do her stuff by again hiding it by misogynistic words.)
Anokhi-Nhi. I told you right. I will stay with Shaurya. So will you.
It's lunch time. Shaurya was not hungry at all.
Devi-Please kha lo bacha. Dekho favourite banaya hai.
But before he can take the spoon in his hand he feels nauseous. He rushes to the washroom. Devi and Anokhi follow him.
Anokhi rubs his back and keeps talking to him. She gets him cleaned up. Anokhi was actually crying. She couldn't see Shaurya like this. She helps him till the bed. Shaurya was too weak to notice her tears. Devi places a hand on Anokhi's shoulders.
Devi-Shaurya theekh ho jayega. Tu ghabra mat. Mein hoon naa.
Do comment. Hope you enjoyed it. Boring tha kya yeh part? I am planning another part for this. If people are interested I will post more parts and how long to make the continuation of this. Stay tuned.
