I'll Be There For You (Abhira fic)

Chapter - 8

It's been a month since Manjari's death. The family slowly starting to come to terms with her death. Shefali and Mahima took over all the responsibilities of Manjari. Akshara is not in the state to take care of the household right now whereas they had no expectations from Arohi. The family can't rely on Aarohi. She is too engrossed in her own world to look after her family's needs.

The family now understood how much they were dependent on Manjari for everything.  She takes care of everyone in the family. She knows about everyone's needs and likes. Shefali has taken a leave of absence for some time. Her year-old son and family need her more this time than her work. Parth has taken over the hospital's responsibilities to lessen Mahima's burden. Half of her patients are taken by him. Harsh also took a leave of absence for the time being. His sons and daughter need him more than ever now. He needs to be their strength. He cannot leave them on their own. This time he won't let his work take precedence over his children.

Abhi is sitting in his mother's room holding a photo in his hand. "Bhai, can you believe it?" said Neil. Abhi looked above and saw Neil standing at the door. He raised his eyebrows at him. 

Neil comes and settles beside Abhi. "Iss time pr ghar mai itni shanti hai. Koi chal pahal nhi ho rhi hai", said Neil. 

Abhi smiled a little. Neil is absolutely right. Generally, at this time, Manjari was running here and there to arrange everything for the family. Sometimes, Neil was running behind her to know where were his favourite sneakers, sometimes it was Abhi who was running behind her to sew the broken button of his shirt, sometimes it was Nishtha and sometimes it was Akshu.

"Sahi keh rha tu Neil", said Abhi solemnly.

"Bhai maa itni jaldi kyun chali gyi?" asked Neil sadly. He put his head on Abhi's shoulders.

"I don't know Neil. I don't know", said Abhi. Both the brothers sat there looking at Manjari's picture. This is their daily routine. They came to Manjari's room early in the morning to feel her presence in her room. Sometimes they talked about the cherished memories of their mother. But most of the time, they won't speak a word just sit quietly remembering their mother.

"Bhabhi kaisi hai ab?" asked Neil breaking the silence.

"She is fine now. Pichli do raato se koi nightmare nhi aya hai", said Abhi. Akshara is the most affected by this incident. She is getting nightmares regularly about this incident. It is very difficult to calm her down after the nightmare. Due to nightmares, she cannot sleep properly. Abhi is really worried about her health. She is not coping well with Manjari's death. The family tried to cheer her up but it was of no use. Even little Shivansh Birla failed to cheer his chachi. Abhi and Shefali had to coax her to eat food too.

"Yeh toh achi baat hai na bhai. Woh kal raat ko ache se soyi hogi", asked Neil.

"Haa, kl raat ko she slept well", replied Abhi. He is relieved at least for the time being.

"Bhai apko bhabhi ke pass jana chahiye. Hum abhi unko akela nhi chod sakte hai", said Neil.

"Hmm, you are right. Acha mai chalta hoon ab. Tu bhi ready ho jaa. Aaj hospital jana hai na tujhe?" asked Abhi.

"Hmm, jana hai. Mai milta hoon apse thodi der mai", said Neil. Abhi and Neil kissed Manjari's picture and went out of the room. Abhi locked the door as always and went to this room. He opened the door carefully so as not to disturb Akshara's sleep. But he was shocked when he couldn't find her anywhere in the room. Where is Akshara? He checked the balcony, and the closet area but couldn't find her. 

Finally, he checked the washroom and found Akshara lying on the floor against the cold tile.

"Akshu", shouted Abhi. He sank to his knees and looked at Akshara worriedly.

"I am fine Abhi", mumbled Akshu.

"Tum yha aise kyu leti huyi ho. Did you slip and fall down", asked Abhi worriedly.

"Nhi Abhi I didn't slip. I got sick so, I am lying down here like this because these tiles feel too good", said Akshara.

"When did you get sick?" asked Abhi.

"I don't know. Woh kya haina mai uss time ghadi dekhna bhool gyi thi", said Akshara sarcastically.

"Ohkk smartass, I get it. Do you feel sick anymore", asked Abhi.

"No, not anymore. But it feels too good", said Akshara while lying on the floor. Abhi got up and brought the wet cloth. He cleaned Akshara's face. Then, he lifted her in his arms and brought her out of the washroom.

"Hey, I can walk you know", said Akshara and hit his chest.

"I know but mujhe tumhe uthana tha toh maine tumhe utha liya", said Abhi. He carefully put her on the bed and handed her the glass of water. "Drink it slowly, ek dum se mat peena", instructs Abhi. Akshara did as she was told. After drinking more than half a glass of water, she gave it back to Abhi. She put her head back and took deep breaths.

Suddenly, she feels nauseous again. She ran to the washroom and started throwing up the water she had just drank. Abhi rushed behind her lifted her hair up in a ponytail and patted her back.

"Let it all out", said Abhi.

"Abhi, just go from here. I don't want you to look at me in this condition", said Akshara. Abhi rolled his eyes but continued to pat her back. After a few minutes of dry heaving Akshara stood up. Abhi held her up. Her back is touching his front.

"This is so tiring Abhi", murmured Akshara. Abhi kissed her temple.

"I know Akshu. I am sorry mai kuch nhi kr sakta isko lekar", said Abhi. He then helped her to brush her teeth and take her back on the bed. He gave her some saltine biscuits to settle her stomach. 

"Kitna bekar taste hai inka", said Akshara while munching her saltines. Abhi smiled looking at her cuteness. Their moment breaks with a knock on the door. 

"Aa jaiyee", said Abhi. Harsh entered the room with a glass of juice. Akshara groaned looking at the juice.

"I am not feeling good. Mujhe bahut zayada neend aa rhi hai", said Akshu. Abhi rolled his eyes. Harsh take a breath of relief. Akshara is finally behaving normally. Since the past month whenever somebody offered this juice to Akshara, she started weeping badly. She remembered Manjari, so she started weeping. Finally, after a month, Akshu gave a lame excuse. She didn't realise how much her lame excuse made Abhi and Harsh relax.

"Akshu beta, yeh juice tere liye bahut acha hai. Ise jaldi se pee le phir so jaiyoo", said Harsh. He is really concerned about her health. She has not eating properly for some days.

"Papa, I am not feeling good. Aap yeh yha rakh do mai pee loongi", said Akshara with a puppy face. Harsh looked at Abhi who nodded his head. 

"Theek hai, I am putting it here but pe zaroor lena. Abhimanyu yeh tumhari responsibility hai ki Akshu yeh juice khatam kre", said Harsh.  Abhimanyu nodded his head.

"Papa", called Akshara. Harsh stopped and looked at her.

"Kya aaj mai chilli cheese toast kha sakti hoon. Bahut man ho rha hai woh khane ka", asked Akshara.

"Bilkul kha sakti hai beta. Mai Shefali ko batata hoon. She will arrange it", said Harsh happily.

"But, tumhe yeh juice pehle khatam krna padege", said Abhi. Akshara looked at her husband and muttered "Hitler".

Harsh looked at Abhi and smiled. Finally, things are coming back to normal. It's true time heals everything.

TO BE CONTINUED