Roohdaariyan - Abhira OS and short stories

Blood is thicker than water 3

4 months later

Abhimanyu paced the room back and forth while he waited for Akshara who was inside the bathroom. She had been inside for more than 15 minutes, and the manual (which came along with the kit, which he had already read more than 10 times) said that the results would be seen after 5 minutes. What was taking her so long? Was she okay in there? Should he go and knock ?

Suddenly the door opened and Akshara rushed outside, "I-I can't look, I'm too scared, wha-what if I'm not?"

Abhimanyu took the pregnancy kit from her hands only to look down and see two pink lines.

Pregnant. Akshara was pregnant.

"Positive" He whispered, his eyes filling up with tears.

Akshara's head snapped up, eyes wide with shock, "Wh-What? I'm pregnant?"

He nodded, tears trailing down his cheeks, the past couple of months had been the most difficult months for the both of them. After he had tested negative as a potential donor, they had spent weeks looking for potential bone marrow donors for Abhir, only to be faced with negative results each time.

Abhir was responding well to the chemotherapy, and his health was much better now but for his son to be in complete remission, a bone marrow transplant needed to be done. After contemplating and discussing and searching high and low for other alternatives, both of them agreed that a saviour sibling was Abhir's best hope.

Akshara had been terrified that the IVF would not be successful considering her past injury and traumatic pregnancy, but here they were staring at the 2 pink lines, 2 weeks after the embryo transfer.

Before he knew it, Akshara was hugging him. He felt his heart stop, his senses being engulfed by her scent,the scent of lavender and vanilla. "I'm pregnant Abhi, we are going to be parents again, our little methidana" Akshara mumbled into his shoulders, her tears wetting his shirt.

He gently wrapped his arms around her and squeezed, the whole world falling silent around them. This here, this was his heaven, with Akshara (and their baby) in his arms.

Akshara suddenly stumbled back, her eyes dropping to the floor, "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."
And the hope that had started blooming in his chest deflated like a balloon.

Things were better between them now, after telling Abhir the truth, they had decided to go for family counselling together, it was pertinent that they address their issues and fears and solve them, especially considering they were bringing another child into the world.

As the days passed, he couldn't curb his hopes, Akshara was slowly warming up to him again, her walls occasionally slipping allowing him a peek into his old Akshu, but those moments were far and few and before he knew it, her barriers were back up and she was pulling away and freezing him out.

He knew he deserved it, he knew he had hurt her, broken her trust but he also knew that she loved him, he just needed one chance and he would make it up to her, he would spend the rest of his life making it up to his Akshu, he would win her back, he would bring his old Akshu back.

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6 months later

Abhimanyu woke up startled, the sounds of cupboards being slammed echoing from the kitchen.

He rose from the sofa he had accidentally fallen asleep in and padded to the kitchen, only to find Akshara in tears.

"Akshu-Akshara what happened? Why are you crying? Is something wrong? Is the baby okay?" Abhimanyu frantically asked.