A Change of Heart

Part 3

The remaining part of the day passed in silence. Prerna's silence pierced Rishabh's heart as he thought that she must be thinking of Anurag and Sneha as she always did. Prerna herself was in a thoughtful mood as her mind processed the happenings of the morning. She realised that she had wrapped herself in her sorrows so much that she never saw anything beyond her pain. She had never spared a thought for what Rishabh must be going through. Rishabh on the hand had exerted too much today and had developed high fever.

It was evening and the fever had still not come down, Prerna was getting worried. She decided to find something to occupy her mind while Rishabh was asleep.

She called the staff and asked about the room which was locked. They kept mum but when she insisted, the staff told her that no one knew much about this room expect that it was cleaned from time to time by the head butler himself. She usually did not intrude in Rishabh's matters, but she somehow felt it was important for her to know this. Prerna called for the butler to open the room and went upstairs to wait for him. The butler was quite nervous and told her that Mr Bajaj would be very angry but Prerna insisted, "Main unki fiancee hoon aur yeh ghar unhone mere liye banwaya hai. To aap yeh darwaza kholiye. Wo aapko kuch nahin kahenge."

He gave her a pleading look but she stood firm and he finally opened it. She gasped as she saw a beautifully decorated child's room. Before she could say anything, the butler said something which just turned Prerna's life upside down. Butler, "Ma'am, yeh Sir ke swargiye bete, Prem ka kamra hain. Wo yaha kissi ko aane nahin dete." Prerna looked at him and before the tears could fall, she told the butler to leave.

Prerna just sat on the floor with Prem's photo which was kept on the side table and cried her heart out. First it was the loss of her son which pierced her heart, then the grief that engulfed her life for past 9 years...she had been so engrossed in her pain and her hatred for Anurag that she had ignored the people around her. She had not been able to see Mr Bajaj or his absolute love for her. Here was one man who had whole heartedly accepted her and her children even though she herself had not accepted his love; son and there was that man who claimed to love her but did not accept his own daughter.

For a very long time, Prerna kept sitting on the floor, lost in her thoughts. When she looked up she saw the evening had set. She washed her face and kissed the photograph and kept it back. She closed the room and felt as if she was closing part of her past wounds. She went down and the nurse told her that Rishabh was better but still had fever. She gave nurse a break and told her to rest tonight. The nurse tried protesting but Prerna told her firmly that she can take care of her fiancée and she will call her, if need be. Prerna did not leave that room that night; the entire night she monitored his fever and sat by his side.

The morning sun woke Rishabh up. He felt much better after resting the entire day yesterday. As he turned he realised his hand was covered by another hand. He sharply removed his hand thinking it must be the nurse. But he was surprised to see Prerna's face. She was sitting on a chair next to his bed, sleeping peacefully with her face resting on the bed. Just then the nurse entered; Rishabh signalled her not to disturb Prerna. She told him that Prerna had insisted on being by his side entire night and she only took care of him. Rishabh dismissed the nurse after the check-up.

Rishabh gazed loving at the sleeping Prerna and could not stop himself from keeping his hand over head and stroking it. She woke up with a start and looked at him, involuntarily her hand went to his forehead, checking for fever. He kept his hand over hers; their eyes locked for what felt like an eternity. He looked into her eyes, and he saw something which he had not seen before. But he did not trust his heart. She could see what his eyes were searching for. She had really thought hard about this, entire night which was unlike her. She knew that he would not believe till she said something. She did something which was totally unlike her but she knew she had to take the first step...for him, for them! Not breaking eye contact with him, Prerna took his hand in her, intertwining their fingers and bent forward, pecking him on the cheek!