The Intern

Part 28

This is a mature story. Only read if you are comfortable.

Abhimanyu Birla:

It had been over a week and Akshu was not any better. Every time her medications will wear off and she will wake up, she will start screaming and panicking not at all aware of what was around her nor could she see or hear Abhi telling her that everything was okay. The doctor then having no choice but to sedate her again. It was unbearable for Abhi to see his girl in such a state and he mostly blamed himself, a little more each day. As he spent more time with Aarav at home, he wondered why he was so against having kids in the first place? He still wasn't that fond of kids but it was not as bad as he thought. Aarav wasn't so bad and he was so much like his Akshu. Like the way his tongue will stick out when he was concentrating on something or when he smiled. Oh especially when he was angry, then he was just like Akshu. It amused yet scared Abhi when Aarav got angry. Just like how it amused and scared Abhi whenever Akshu got angry. Also, he kind of enjoyed sitting there building legos or watching a superhero movie with the kid. Well, it did get kind of annoying to watch Black Panther 8 times in 4 days and it did hurt to walk on a piece of Lego at 3 am. But otherwise it wasn't so bad. Abhi didn't know about other kids but he decided that his son wasn't so bad, after all.

Sitting in Akshu's hospital room, Abhi also had come to realize exactly how manipulative he used to be. He met Akshu when she was barely 20 years old. Sweet, innocent, untouched, pure and sheltered. She had barely seen what the real world was like. He knew all that and took advantage of it to manipulate her to be with him for his own lust. He made her so dependent on him that she never did anything without his approval and went to all lengths to please him. His girl always truly loved him but it was him that didn't realize his feelings until it was too late. Maybe if instead of making her be dependent on him, he had taught her to be more confident, she would have stood her ground to have Aarav instead of running away. He could sit and blame everyone else all day long but he was Akshu's real culprit.

He looked at his watch and realized it was around the time Akshu usually woke up. He decided to call the nurse just in case she got hyper again. Just then, Akshu slowly opened her eyes and looked around. "Abhi?"
"Hi baby! I'm right here." He kissed her head, smiling at her. "How do you feel now?" Akshu looked around.
"Abhi? Where are we? We were on the beach...Aarav!" Akshu tried to get up and started to panic.
"Aarav is fine. He's waiting for you to come home. He misses you so much." Abhi softly spoke to her as if she was a child.
"Where am I? Who is with him at home? Where's my baby?" Akshu's voice got louder with each question. "Court! Bhaiya is going to court!"
"We are in Mumbai, baby and..and please calm down. Aarav is in Mumbai as well. You wanted us to come here, na? Nobody can take him from you now." Abhi caressed Akshu's head. Akshu's closed her eyes as her breathing slowly returned to normal.
"Please take me to him." Akshu said softly with her eyes still closed.
"I will, sweetheart. Just get better first." Abhi promised her. "Please just get better." Abhi knew he could fix anything as long his precious girl was okay.

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Akshara Goenka:

Akshu sat on her hospital bed deep in thought. She was much better and was definitely ready to go home and see Aarav. Aarav. Her Aarav. She loved him so much. More than life itself. She would do anything to keep him with her always. She knew she couldn't live without him. But what if she was doing an injustice to him? What if she was causing him pain by taking him away from the people who he thinks are his parents? No, he was still little. He would forget them with time. But what if he didn't? What if he grew up to resent Akshu? What if he never accepted her as his mother? Was she being selfish thinking about herself only? As a mother, she needed to put Aarav first. Also, what about Anisha? Could Akshu really cause the same pain to another mother?  Yet, she couldn't give up Aarav. She couldn't live without him. But he was so distressed the last time she saw him...her head started to spin. What should she do?

____________________

Abhi held her hand as they got out of the lift and walked toward the penthouse. The last time Akshu was there was 5 years ago. When she left to give her baby a chance to live. So much had changed. The penthouse was the first place that ever felt like her own. Now she was going back. She looked up at Abhi and he smiled at her. "This place missed you, baby. I missed having you here." Abhi kissed the top of her head. Abhi took out his key and opened the door.
"Bua!!!" Aarav ran to the door as soon as it opened and Akshu got on her knees to hug him. Her beautiful perfect baby. She missed him so much when she was in the hospital for the past few days. "I missed you, Bua!"
"My Chanda! My baby! I missed you so much!" Akshu kissed him all over his face. "Mera beta, meri zindagi!" Akshu hugged him crying.
"Eww Bua! You are giving me sloppy kisses and squishing me!" Aarav complained. That made Akshu laugh.
"Okay! Let's go inside now." Abhi helped Akshu get up and Akshu held Aarav's hand and walked inside. She looked around the penthouse and almost laughed. What was once a pretty cool looking, impeccably decorated, extremely clean place was now filled with toys and books and legos. The bookshelf which used to have all of Abhi's books had superhero figures lined up, hiding all the books behind. There was a kiddie painting canvas where Abhi had his exercise bike. The table in the living room where Abhi hated putting anything on now was covered with lego pieces. "This is all a courtesy of your son." Abhi said as if he could read Akshu's mind. Akshu got scared and tried to see if he was annoyed but she noticed he had a small smile on his face. Akshu relaxed.
"Aarav has now turned this penthouse to a home. Right, beta?" Manjiri laughed. "Before I felt like I was at a museum and was scared to touch anything."
"Bua! Look what Abhi got for me!" Aarav showed Akshu some kind of toy sword.
"Chanda, it's not nice to call a grown-up by just their name." Akshu gently chided him.
"It's okay, Bua! Me and Abhi are friends. Right, Abhi?"
Abhi sat down next to Akshu. "That's right! Don't worry, Bud! Your Bua is not cool like us." Aarav laughed and hugged Abhi. Akshu looked at them in shock. She couldn't believe her eyes. When did that happen? Abhi and Aarav? So comfortable with each other? Abhi actually having a bond with Aarav? Was she dreaming?
Akshu tried not to cry though her eyes were filled with tears. "Abhi? When did this...thank you! Thank you for taking such good care of Aarav and making an effort wit.."
"Excuse me. I think you are forgetting he's my son too. You don't need to thank me for taking care of our son, baby." Abhi said wiping her tear. "You are not alone, my love. He's our son and he will stay with both of us."

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