When you say Nothing at All

Chapter 24

Khushi handed him his coffee and sat on the bed. Aranv took the file with him and sat next to Khushi.

"Have your coffee before it gets cold Arnav"

"Khushi this file, is it true?"

"The coffee Arnav"

"To hell with this coffee Khushi, answer me, is this true?"

"Yes"

"Why didn't you.... oh well I did..... I ... I... I am sorry Khushi. I am your culprit"

Khushi took the file away from him and looked at it. This was the file Khushi vowed never to look at. She never thought she would read this file with Arnav sitting beside her.

"What happened and how?"

"I moved to Pune with Payal and NK. They had their house over there so I moved to that house. I was planning on raising this kid by myself...."

Khushi started explaining to Arnav how she and Anjali started the writing studio, how Payal also moved back to Pune, and how they started a new life there.

"Didi got pregnant at the same time and we both were each other's support system. Shyam Jiju found a new job and he got paid well initially. But with each passing his financial contribution to Didi started decreasing. Since I was living with my parents I had my salary saved up. So we used that money to buy this studio in Delhi so that Didi has something for herself here"

"But how did this happen?"

"It was the worst possible day in my life. Didi was in Pune too. My water broke in the middle of the day so didi went to call us a taxi to go to the hospital...."

Then Khushi explained how Anjali fell down and how Khushi injured herself while trying to save Anjali.

"Didi is my next of kin but she was also unconscious when they bought us to the hospital. They took both of us to emergency surgery. Shyam Jiju was my second contact. So they contacted him when the doctors found out it is either going to be me or the baby. They couldn't save both of us and since I am sitting here right now, we both know who they saved"

Arnav turned toward Khushi and pulled her and hugged her tightly. Tears started coming down from his eyes.

"I killed our baby Khushi. If I took a second to listen to you that day or even tried harder to look for you after that our lives would have been different"

"You have no idea how many times I felt that way, Arnav"

Khushi hugged him back and all that frustration and anger she had started coming via her tears"

"You killed us all, Arnav"

"I am so sorry Khushi. I feel ashamed of myself. While I was celebrating my success over here, you went through all this alone"

"Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to look at Ahaan? I didn't meet him for three months. I felt jealous of my own sister. We both were expecting and she gave birth to a living child while I gave birth to a dead one"

"Don't blame yourself, Khushi. It was not your fault. I am to be blamed for everything. My impulsive decision has ruined us all. I am a murderer Khushi. I don't deserve anything"

"Please Arnav, blaming yourself wouldn't bring him back"

"Him?"

"Yes, we were going to have a baby boy"

"My son?"

"Yes Arnav"

He pulled her back in for another hug. They both cried their hearts out. After all these years spent apart from each other, going through their own demons and finally, they found solace in each other.