Heir Of Darkness

The Comeback

" DOCTOR! Lavanya, go call the doctor, Beta!" My mother's excited and emotional voice greeted my ears as the first thing after regaining my control over all my senses.

Life's beautiful...

That was the thought which struck me as I eyed my mother crying out in happiness ceaselessly and Arnav looked as if he would break down right there. I wonder what was the reason behind such deep feelings for a neighbor who wouldn't have spoken more than what can be could be counted on one's fingers.

" Maa..."

My first words left the mouth after a great struggle as it felt like I was being choked with something extremely dry down by throat and letting in air through the esophagus didn't seem like the best action in that scenario as it felt excruciating.

My mother dipped down to hug my face to her bosom, to her warmth which I missed. Maybe if I had found her warmth when I was about to commit suicide, I would have never committed. But life was not about what I wanted, life was about what it gave me.

" Khushi...Khushi..Meri Bachchi.."

Hearing my name in her affectionate voice was no less than an ambrosia to my fatally wounded heart. Her motherly gestures reminded me that I was mother myself now. My hands instinctively yet weakly moved towards my abdomen. The action seemed to be more difficult than I had fathomed but I was determined that I would feel my baby. Feel that it was alive and I had not killed a part of myself in my foolishness.

A sudden warmth erupted throughout my body as my hand linked itself to my abdomen. The bump was hardly visible but I could feel it.

I could feel my baby...

Tears of happiness, tears of ecstasy, tears of gratitude to the Almighty and tears of mental struggle which melted down finally, escaped my weak eyes. Everything uttered by the doctor went unheard, because all I cared at that moment was my baby. Reluctantly, I thanked Arnav Malhotra because without that jerk of a person, I wouldn't be able to enjoy this bliss of being a mother. No matter how many scars he left on me, this one would leave a beautiful scar which I wouldn't want to get rid of. And I am thankful for that.

The name 'Arnav' made me recollect about the man without whom this moment would not have been possible and maybe if afterlife existed I would regretted my suicide so badly.

" Th--tha--nks, Ar-Mr.Ra---iza-da."

Arnav, who had moved himself away from me as soon as I regained my consciousness, took a step towards me and whispered,

" Don't, Khushi."

This Arnav uttering my name had a wholly new essence. Being an actress, I had developed the ability to understand tones and I could recognize his tone of respect and concern unlike the sickly sweet tone of Mr.Malhotra. I wondered at the game of God who chose two people with the same name to play two contrasting roles in my life.

When had someone understood this game of God? He was the master puppeteer and we were merely his puppets. And now I neither had the strength to analyze this game nor play against the Almighty.

Suddenly the thought of my father struck me. He was not here? Maybe he was out to take rest. He was not a vocal person so I wouldn't recognize his presence and I had felt someone sit along with me throughout the nights I spent here, maybe it was my father.

" Paapaa.."

I could see my mother getting uncomfortable and Lavanya's smile fading out but what shocked me was the glint of unknown emotion in Arnav's eyes. He had not come?

NO...

He wouldn't care about the society more than me. He wouldn't think I am impure because I was in a live-in relationship. Only if I knew hopes were devastating and it was a sin to hope.

" He didn't come, Beta."

Was there a limit to test one's endurance?

--------