Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-44: Campfire Gone Wrong.

Abhira was in deep sleep that morning but the sound of someone gasping for air pulled her out of her sleep. Since there were not enough rooms for everyone, Abhira had to share her room with Ranav. As kids, Ranav and Abhira had bunk beds for them and Abhira used to seep on the top but after she left, the bed was cut and remodelled so the top bed now fits under the bottom bed, where you can slide it under and pull it out as a separate floor bed when needed. Or the mattress can be removed and the wooden holder can be used to store things like suitcases and be slid under the bed. Ranav chose the slide-in bed as she slept on the other one. In the dark, she could not understand what was happening as she realized the gasping sound was actually coming from Ranav. He must be having nightmares, she thought.

"Maya?!" Ranav says in his sleep. Abhira looks at his silhouette in the dark. Her mind was cleared of the sleepiness as it was clouded with questions. She stayed awake since then, watching Ranav as he woke up from the nightmare, covered in sweat. He took deep breaths as he gathered his surroundings and left to get ready for the day. She stayed awake as she watched him act normal in front of everyone. It was not just a name she heard, it was a plea with such desperation in his voice that she heard. The curiosity made her ask Aksahra if she knew someone of that name because she knew Ranav would always share everything with Akshara, but she chose not to enquire any further when Akshara looked at her cluelessly. She doesn't want to make anything of what her brother said in his sleep when she doesn't know the whole story so she remains silent as she observes him from afar.

***

"You're leaving already?" Abhinav asks Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu told everyone that he had to leave the next day as he had to work at the hospital. 

"I have to, Abhinav Ji. It was not a planned visit this time, so there was so much left at work that I needed to handle. It was only recently that the camp ended and now we need to work on the new hospital equipment." Abhimanyu turns towards Ranav. "What about you?" Ranav initially told Abhimanyu that he would leave with him.

"Oh, I didn't think you would leave so early. I'll stay a few days, Docman." Abhimanyu nods even though he doesn't like the idea one bit. What if he doesn't want to come back? After all, he chose to live in Kasauli as a kid. Abhimanyu thought.

"OK. I'll pack my stuff then." Abhimanyu says half-heartedly.

"I'll come with you," Ruhi says from where she sits on the sofa in the living room space. Ranav looks at her for a second with no expression before he speaks with a jovial tone.

"If you are also going to leave, where can we get our own daily dose of wildlife experience?" Ruhi glares at him for insulting her in front of everyone.

"Stop comparing me to animals. If I am a monkey, then you are a donkey. Don't forget how you used to kick me out of bed as a kid, Donkey." 

"I didn't mention monkey at all. So, you accept you are a monkey." Ranav laughs out loud as everyone breaks into chuckles. Ruhi folds her hands in annoyance.

***

Abhira stood before the piled-up wood in front of her, proud of her work. Since Abhimanyu and Ruhi are leaving the next day and the Goenka family also plans to leave in the next few days, Abhira decides she should surprise them with a campfire. She has arranged for everything that they would need such as make-shift wooden stools, a lot of marshmallows and some rugs. Since the summer just ended and the cold seeped into Kasauli early, this is just the time to have a campfire. Kasauli doesn't have hot summers but the summers are still quite warm, so the end of this summer must be celebrated with the family. The reason she decided to do this is partly because of how unfamiliar she was with these new people. The tension between her and Ranav seemed to seep into hostility towards the other family members. She takes out a lighter and starts the fire. Then she proceeds to poke the marshmallows into the sticks. She goes in to bring drinks for everyone. Now all that's left is to get everyone there. Since it wouldn't take any time to get the people in the house out, she instead went to Muskan's house to get Akhilesh, Surekha, Kairav, Ruhi and Arohi first and then planned to call out the rest.

By the time she got back, what she faced was not what she had planned. All she saw was Ranav was on the floor, eyes wide open in what seemed like fear as he panted for air. Abhimanyu was helping Ranav while Abhinav gently rubbed his back in assurance. Meanwhile, Akshara emerges from the house with a glass of water and a small white box. Abhira also rushed to Ranav, completely appalled at the scene in front of her. As soon as Ranav calms down a little, Akshara takes out a medical capsule and gives him along with a glass of water. After taking the medicine, his condition got better pretty quickly.

"Who did this?" Abhinav asks, frowning in worry.

"I did," Abhira answered. Abhinav looked at her speechless of what to say as his face turned blank. "Why? What happened?"

"ARE YOU STUPID?" Abhimanyu booms at Abhira, unable to contain his anger. Abhira sprung back in fear as she flinched at every word that came out of Abhimanyu's mouth. "DON'T YOU KNOW, RANAV HAS PYROPHOBIA?"

"What?" Abhira doesn't know what it is let alone that Ranav has it.

"Fear of fire!" It dawns on Abhira that what she witnessed right now is the reaction to the fire. "Do you think you are still a kid? To pull these childish tactics on someone who would be affected by this?"

"I- I didn't know."

"How? He is your supposed brother and you say, you don't know of his condition? Fine, let's say you did not know, okay? But you must know about his heart condition, right? He got a heart surgery as a kid. You not only set fire in front of the house but added regular gasoline to it. Do you know the smoke emitted is not good for his heart?" Abhira stood there in silence having nothing to say. She didn't mean for this to happen. "Why would you do something YOU CAN'T BE RESPONSIBLE FOR?"

"That's it!" Ranav speaks up for the first time since he almost choked himself in fear. "I don't understand, why you are raining down on her for it?" Ranav's tone surprised everyone, including Abhira. Was Ranav protecting Abhira? 

"But look at what she did. What if something happened to you today? You got into a fire accident just a month ago and it has heightened your fear more which means exposure to fear from now could cause severe problems."

"Yes, but that does not give you any right to reprimand her?" Ranav says as he stands between Abhimanyu and Abhira. "You have every right to worry for me because I am your son, but you don't hold any rights on Abhira. Even for namesake, she is Abhinav Papa and Akshara Ma's daughter, who are also equally responsible for my safety so the one who has the right to discipline should be them as well." Abhimanyu blinks in surprise. It was the first time in a very long time, that Ranav addressed himself to be Abhimanyu's son, but he couldn't decide if he should consider this a good thing or not. "And for the least, I am the one who should be venting my anger on her because she caused me discomfort and moreover, she is my sister." Everyone was left shocked as Ranav rushed back into the house. Akshara took Abhira in as the Goenkas did the same. Abhinav stayed by Abhimanyu's side.

"Was I really that harsh?" Abhimanyu asked. Abhinav pursed his lips, finding appropriate words to put into a sentence.

"Let's just say, it was out of character for you to randomly shout at someone. I know you have been quite the angry man which has caused you great damage in the past, but today's anger came out of nowhere. Your anger was directed at Abhira, but it was not meant for her. Is something bothering you, Bhai Ji?" Abhimanyu looked at a concerned Abhinav as he felt guilty over his own insecurity.

Yes, something has been deeply bothering Abhimanyu, and that something was the undeniable bond that Abhinav seemed to share with Ranav that Abhimanyu no longer has with his son. It was not like Ranav was always this hostile, so it became a bigger question as to where things actually went wrong in the past 18 years. Abhimanyu was sure that it was not that Ranav held any bitter feelings about Abhinnav's accident because despite how angry he was at the time, it didn't create such distance between them. Where did things go so wrong?

***

Hello readers, since you managed to pull through so many episodes, Leave a vote for support and some comments if you can. See you later in the next chapter....

***