Written in stars (Discontinued)

My tiny

Arnav listened to Rakesh as he spoke with other doctors,''call the full panel now, arrange for web session if it can't be arranged and brief them with all the details''.

Rakesh turned to Arnav,''Come with me.''

He took Arnav to his office and after both of them sat down and said,'' She has three blood clots in her lungs, two are small and one is large, they are causing difficulty for her in breathing and causing the black outs. We are keeping her unconscious now because movement can be very dangerous for her.''

Arnav heard it his face white,''Will she be able to recover?''

Rakesh,'' Right now we cannot say anything, we have two options, one is to perform surgery and second is to treat her with medicine. I have called in meeting, we will choose which is the best option for her.''

Arnav, ''But how did it happen?''

Rakesh,''There can be number of reasons, do you have any family history of blood clots?''

Arnav,''She is adopted,so I don't know.''

Rakesh nodded,''did she took any long flight?'

Arnav,'' She lives in Delhi and mostly comes here on weekend. Also, recently, she had a depression episode, she is a very lively person but she behaved totally unlike herself, I took her to a doctor and many tests were taken, all reports came clear and since she was having exams, doctor said it could be because of it.''

Rakesh thought for a moment and then said,'' She is married?''

Arnav nodded, ''Yes to my son.''

Rakesh,'' Do you know if she is taking any birth control pills.''

Arnav,'' I don't know but I will ask Advay.''

There was a knock on the door and a doctor came in,'' Sir, everyone is in meeting room.''

Rakesh got up,'' Ok Arnav I will meet you after meeting, you can stay here in my office if you want.''

Arnav didn't want to ,he wanted to go back in the emergency ward, ''No, I will go and stay with Chandhini.''

Rakesh patted him on shoulder,'' everything will be fine.''

Arnav went down the corridor toward the ward in which Chandhini was when Advay, Khushi and Veer came there.

All three of them surrounded him asking him if he was fine.Arnav nodded unable to say anything, his throat closed, he wanted to tell them but he was unable to do it. So, he simply went inside the ward and stood outside the room in which Chandhini was being treated.

He sat down in one of the chair lined against the wall opposite to the glass window.

Khushi, Veer and Advay followed him and then, it was sudden silence none of them said even a single word. Then, Khushi started crying, Arnav didn't have the will power to get up, Veer supported Khushi and made her walk and sit in the seat.

Tears in Veer's own eyes, he looked at Arnav for an explanation.

...

Silently Advay watched her through the window glass.Her face was so pale that the makeup on her face contrasted sharply with it. Her eyes were closed the mascara still dark on her lashes.

He could hear Khushi still crying. Veer trying to comfort her. baba was talking with the doctors again.

One of the doctors inserted another tube in her arm trying to keep her alive. Another needle inside her tiny body. He felt strangely detached from the world, his whole world zeroed on what was happening in that room.

After the doctors were gone,and he was allowed inside, his went closer to her. He sat on bed beside her. Usually when he came closer to her, he smelled the scent of strawberry, her favourite body wash and shampoo since she was a baby. He had memories of luring her to bath with her favourite toys and that shampoo. she had loved to grab the bottle and empty it all in water, then she would proudly present the empty bottle to him.

And when she grew up, she coated herself with strawberry body butters. Every day he watched as she methodically poured it and rubbed it all over her arms and legs.

But today the scent of hospital marked her, and made him want to take her away from here. He gently grabbed her hand and brought it closer and sniffed it, there it was but so light, just like her heart beat. He didn't let go of her hand, it was so delicate, she was so tiny, so tiny, his heart broke a little,his tiny..a drop of water fell down on his hand. Another one followed.

He kissed her hand as he cried and held her hand to his heart.

...

Advay stood with baba and rakesh as the later told him about the side effect of the contraceptive pills Chandhini was taking. Chandhini should have taken a blood test to make sure, she could use it safely but she didn't know. It was almost a miracle that they had a visiting specialist in the hospital at the moment, who had been able to remove the clots successfully.

Advay heard it and felt a wave of self loathing hit himself, he had made her take those pills. Then, he had never bothered to take her to a doctor to make sure it was safe, never bothered to check. Blind in his need for revenge, he had tried to deprive her of all that which any women can wish for, he had hurt her so badly.

After watching her in hospital he realized that no matter how much he hated her, still she was a part of him and his life and the thought of losing her had scared him so badly. It didn't matter what she did in past, he just knew he had behaved worse. He had hurt his tiny.

He listened to the instructions carefully. They needed to take make sure that Chandhini didn't exert herself, approximate time she needed to stay in hospital and then the  therapy she would need afterwards along with the possible depression which will be the side effect of the drugs she will need to take for few months to ensure that she remained stable.

They were going to wake her today. He felt anxious, she was going to be fine but still he was scared, what if she didn't wake up? 

...

Advay and everyone was waiting outside for Chandhini to wake up. Ayi was doing some jaap sitting beside Arnav on chair, while Veer was pacing the corridor, Sheekha was standing with him looking through glass window. kavya was with Shekha's parents.

Advay was staring at her eyes, and he saw the moment her eye lashes moved a bit, she opened her eyes, she stared at ceiling her face showing confusion, she tried to get up but one of the nurse stopped her. He saw doctor saying something to her. They talked, doctor was doing some sort of test holding his fingers in front of her eyes, asking her something, after sometime doctor said something to the nurse and the nurse came out to call all of them in.

Advay entered last, his legs feeling like they were made of lead. He remembered how he had been angry at her in office. But he wanted to hear her voice and see for himself that she was fine.

Chandhini looked at Arnav and smiled, her voice was hoarse due to lack of use as she called him baba. Arnav gave her one arm hug mindful of the tubes attached to her arm. Khushi bent and kissed her on cheek crying. Chandhini held her hand but didn't say anything. She looked at Sheekha and smiled. Then, she looked at Veer and Advay and her smile dimmed and then slid off her face.