Betrayal and tears(Season 1) | ✔

Chapter One

"Khu-khushi..ah.."

Arnav's whisper broke as he groaned, feeling the pain of his injuries all coming into his conscious as he started waking up from his long sleep. However, his voice was loud enough to break the vague sleep Anjali was slipping into and she jerked from her place, gasped, then reached to cup his face.

"Chotte? Chotte?" She called, encouraging him to wake up, then smiled though tears when his eyes fluttered open. Nevertheless, her smile dimmed into disappointment as the next words rolled out of Arnav's wobbly tongue.

"Di, di, Khushi? Khushi kahan hai? (Where is Khushi?)" Arnav asked then gulped to moisten his throat which went parched from breathing through mouth.

Anjali swallowed, dissolving the bitter taste Khushi's mention brought to her mouth and gripped his hand, ignoring his question.

"Chotte, chotte look, it's di, your di. C'mon wake up, c'mon look it's di!" She mumbled, this time using her tears as an excuse to distract him from remembering Khushi. She doesn't want her anywhere near her brother, not now and if she could, not ever again either.

And her pretense worked to some extent as Arnav reached to clasp her hands in a loose grip, tightening them as much as the drip attached to the back of his hand allowed.

"I'm fine." He said, his scrunched eyes conveying the otherwise as he jerked his hand, feeling a stabbing pain there when Anjali tried to hold him.

"Sorry sorry sorry! Chotte, are you alright?" Anjali asked, alarmed by his wincing.

"I'm okay." He managed to stabilize his tone and looked ahead when the door opened, his expectant eyes dimming into disappointment when everyone, except Khushi entered the ward.

"Nani, where is Khushi?" He said, without giving the teary elderly lady to express her laments at her his this condition. 

Devyani took a step back, eyes suddenly heavy with guilt at his question. She glanced at her granddaughter and daughter-in-law with a suppressed anger for putting her in such situation.

"Where is Khushi?"

She looked up, to see her grandson's irritated face and sighed to herself.

"She has been praying for you, since last night." She said flashing one look to Anjali who tried to intervene and proceeded to caress Arnav's bandaged head, moisture brimming into her tired eyes.

"Wait a minute. I will send her to you right away."

Arnav nodded, finally relaxing as everyone started dispersing outside his ward upon Nani's command. He drifted back against his pillow, looking up at the ceiling with bated breaths, wanting nothing but to see her, hug her, reassure her that he was fine, for he knew she must be devastated by the turn of events.

He flinched, remembering the look of horror and pain in her eyes right before he closed his eyes completely whilst laying limp on the stretcher, and teared his eyes from the ceiling, now staring at the door, waiting for her arrival.

Minutes passed, before the door finally swung open and as expected, she was more disheveled than him. His heart squeezed painfully as he ran his gaze all over her. Her hair was a crazy mess, visibly tangled due to the lack of care and extreme racking done through them. Her face was blotched and swollen, the minimum amount of mascara and eyeliner she usually applies had all been washed off by the waterfall she shed, their tiny little black traces still lingering around her worn out eyes and on her red cheeks. And as he took his gaze away from her orbs, he noted that she was rooted to her spot, trembling and visibly tormented.