Avneil FF

Chapter 45

Avni and Neil rushed to the hospital.As soon as they drew up in the parking lot, Avni almost leapt out of the car, and ran to the emergency. Neil parked and followed.Avni spotted Aman and Madhavi Tai sitting outside looking scared.

As soon as Aman saw Avni, he got up and hugged her..he was in tears.Avni- rubbed his back comfortingly.Avni- Aman, Ssh...please calm down. Sab thik hoga...Ssh...she soothed him She sat him down and brought him a glass of water.Once he was little calm, she askedAvni- doctor ne kuch kaha?Aman- nahi nothing yet. Just one nurse came and asked about her diagnosis, last chemo date, and if she was having any symptoms before collapsing....Avni- ok. How many episodes of vomiting did she have?Aman- lots...atleast 5-6 after you leftAvni- what? Why didn't you call me?Aman- voh...voh...he hesitatedShe held amans hand to comfort him and sat down beside him.Aman-in a small voice- voh maa ne kaha that it's normal. She'd be ok...n not to disturb you since you had taken some time off after so long...n I also thought that it'd settle...Avni- it's ok Aman. She comforted him.Neil watched in awe as she just took control of the situation...she was so calm and rational. She was comforting Aman too...But unknown to him Avni had multiple thoughts running through her head. She was forcing the calm exterior but she was wracked with guilt at not having been at home...Aman n Tai were not as experienced as her in taking care of Neela...she kept blaming herself for going home to relax when she should have been with her mom. She brushed aside her thoughts because she had to be strong for Aman too. After 15 minutes, the duty doctor stepped out and briefed them. She mentioned that neelamas sugar levels had been very low probably from not having eaten much and her BP had dropped too due to all the vomiting which caused her to get extremely dehydrated and collapse. Her BP had been unrecordable at presentation but after rushing some fluids it had picked up. She had been given boluses of dextrose too and her blood sugar was also up now. She'd need to be admitted for monitoring and correcting all the metabolic abnormalities.Avni heaved a sigh of relief and immediately requested if she could see her mother.Doctor- she will be shifted to the ward soon...Avni- please doctor...just very quicklyDoc- fine, but exactly 5 mins, and only one person ok.Avni immediately rushed into the room. She went up to neelama and held her hand. Neelama was still very weak but she opened her eyes and attempted to give a weak smile.Avni controlled her tears on seeing her and just held her hand.Avni- maa, aapko thodi der main ward main shift karenge ok. I can't stay here for long. I took permission to come and see you ok.Neela just nodded, since she was too weak to talk.Avni stepped out and consoled Aman that maa was ok.Aman- I'm sorry di. Main maa ka ek din bhi thik se dhyaan nahi rakh papayaAvni- nahi Aman, it's not your fault. Khud Ko blame mat karo. She'll be ok. Accha did they give you the receipt for the tests and medicines...I'll go pay and come.Aman handed her the receipt and she silently walked away.Neil had been watching closely and immediately realised that Avni was not as ok as she was behaving. After a couple of hours neelama had been shifted to the ward and was sleeping. It was the wee hours of the morning now...Avni- Aman tum ghar jao, freshen up karo aur thoda rest karo. You can come back at lunchtime. I'll stay here.Aman- Di...main bhi rukhta hoon NaAvni- nahi Aman she said firmly. Anyway they won't allow more than 1 relative at the bedside in non visiting hours. And the hospital also prefers to have a female bystander for female patients. You can come back later. Her tone and explanation left no scope for argument.Neil noticed that she hadn't said a word to him since they got to the hospital. But he said- Neil- Haan tum jao Aman, rest karke 10-11 baje tak vaapas ajaao.Aman agreed and went home. A few minutes later Neil returned with a cup of coffee for Avni.Neil- ye lo.Avni- no thanks.Neil- please pee lo...tumne thik se dinner bhi nahi Kiya. Aur ab Subah ke 4 baj rahe hai. Avni- took the cup n said- in a terse monotone voice- hmm. tum ghar jao.Tumhe kaam pe bhi jaana hai. I'll manage. She said, with no eye contact whatsoever.Neil- kaam? I'm not going anywhere Avni. Not when neelama is admitted in hospital! Avni- in a firm loud voice- maine kaha na Main hoon Yahaan pe maa ke paas...Neil- in a louder tone- aur Maine bhi kaha na main Kahi nahi jaa Raha hoon. Avni- please, behas mat karo. Neil moved to sit closer to her and went to hold her hand but she stood up suddenly jerking his hand off in the process. She moved ahead , folded her hands and started saying- Neil , please tum...She was cut off by the ringing of Neil's phoneIt was from the Khanna house.Neil stepped outside to the corridor to update his family about everything. He also messaged DD and his boss that he would be taking 2 days off work .When he got back , he saw the coffee cup with its now cold contents lying untouched on the side table.Avni had pulled up a chair next to neelamas bed and was sitting with her head down next to her, holding her hand.Neil knew she was not sleeping and he wanted to speak to her...but before he could he was interrupted by a nurse who had walked in and asked him to leave,reiterating the hospital rules about only 1 person at bedside.Neil had no option but to leave.He exchanged a few kind words with the security guard at the entrance, showed him his "police" ID and for the next 4 hours he had made regular visits to the room- just peeking from outside to check if everything was ok.In this time, the nurse had taken some blood tests, and her vital signs, a second time - the door was locked because she was being given a sponge bath and in another hour they were expecting the morning rounds of the doctor.In a this time he had noticed from outside that Avni had been pretty much unmoved from her position in the chair- sometimes she sat with her head down , sometimes leaning against it...but she didn't leave her mothers side even for a second.An hour later, Aman came back too...he was too worried to stay away from the hospital for too long. he brought with him some food, water can, a thermos flask and a the other paraphernalia that is typically needed to tend to a sick family member admitted in hospital. He convinced Avni to eat a little bit and seeing that Neil sighed in relief.Neelama also woke up and looked much better. She tried to reassure all of them that she was ok...mainly Avni. But Avni had the same stoic expression. She just asked her mother to relax and rest. The Khanna's had also spoken to Neela on the phone to enquire how she was doing. They wanted to come to hospital but Neil convinced them not to crowd around and that if they needed they could come later in the evening if she didn't get discharged.After the morning rounds were over Aman said- Di, aap aur jeeju thodi der ghar jao na. Aap bhi thoda fresh hoke vaapas ajaao. I'll stay till then. Neelama also started talking trying to convince Avni and Avni didn't want her to strain too much so she just nodded silently. She picked up her purse and said - ok. I'll be back soon. Call me if there's anything please.Avni left and Neil wordlessly followed her.He drove them home. He attempted to speak to her in the car but noticed that she was tired and answering in monosyllables so he let it slide.When they got home, she took a quick shower. Neil went into the washroom after her and when he came out he was surprised to see Avni packing her clothes into a suitcase.Neil- Avni, ye kya kare Rahi ho?Avni- packingNeil- voh dikh Raha hai. Par Kyun?Avni- till her remaining 2 chemos are over I'm moving to neelamas house. 

NOTE- I have tried to keep this update as realistic as possible.I hope it doesn't upset you guys too much. As always I'll look forward to your feedback eagerly.

 @mehak - babe you wanted an update, so I've put up one but unfortunately it's not a very happy fluffy avneilicious one coz my FF was left off at such a juncture in the previous chapter! Sorry about that! Happy graduation to you!