One More Time

17

Mita and Sumita were worried seeing Koustav returning home alone....Titli was already asleep in Ria's room....Binni informed them Namit had come to meet them.....on the dining table Namit told them how Koustav reacted while his wife created a scene, and Ria went to her parents....Namit was upset, he drove home after sometime....

Mita tried calling Ria but found her phone was switched off. Koustav did not come for dinner too....her husband was blaming himself for sending them to Namit's home. In just a few days Mita  had grown great affection with Ria...lying sleeplessly she prayed for the night to pass....

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The next day:

The doorbell rang and Mita was alarmed.....these days either her husband or Ria used to open the door...mostly Ria used to prepare the morning tea. Today Sumit was still sleeping too, it was 8 am already, so she hurried....opening the door, she found Binni standing there.....Mita went upstairs to check on Koustav and Titli as Binni would handle the household works......

Koustav's room was messed up.....he was getting ready, Mita asked him to come downstairs and left to see Titli....
Mita opened the door, found Titli sleeping on one side of the bed,clutching her cover tightly around her body....she walked towards her, tried patting on her shoulder and realised Titli had high fever.....She saw her husband from the balcony, called him to come upstairs, Sumit sat near Titli while Mita went downstairs to make something for Titli and serve  Koustav.....

Koustav was sitting, waiting for anyone to serve him food.......Binni was cleaning the rooms, his mother and Ria were nowhere to be seen....He saw his mother walking towards kitchen, re heating some left-overs from last night. She came and served it to him.....and kept a prescription in front of him, seeing that he frowned at her.....

Mita: Why are you frowning at me?

Koustav: What has happened to whom? Already I am getting late ma!! I will bring these medicines while returning home.

Mita: These medicines are for Titli...she is having high fever, go and fetch these before going office....everyone is busy......

Koustav: Tell your daughter to go.....Where is she? Left for her university leaving her duties?

Mita: I should be the one asking you about where she is Koustav!! Since she left this house with you yesterday. And you returned home alone last night.

Koustav( in a low voice): Had she not returned home yet?

Mita replied a no informing she had gone near her parents after he left and went to make something for Titli.....Koustav walked towards her, but could not say anything.....he left for a nearby medicine shop and kept on the kitchen counter and started for office grabbing his bag....

He was entering his cab, and turned his eyes towards her house.....today no one was standing there too....He was irritated and sleepy, cursed himself for his own mess of life.....

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Ria woke up hearing her phone ringing...her MIL was calling, her throat was aching, it was 11 am...she slept quite long and there was no scope of going university as her things were at the other house.......sighing,she answered the call.Mita informed that Titli was down with high fever, medicine was not working.....Ria was worried for her, but she remained silent, Mita ended the call after saying her to take care of herself....

When she came out of her room, Tuhin was not seen anywhere.....Soma was getting ready to go somewhere, she saw  Ria standing there ,watching her blankly.....she asked her to come for grocery shopping......

Ria took an auto with her mother, Soma  was seeing her through the mirror,said ," Ria,what have you done to yourself? You don't even look like a newly wed bride! Don't Mita di asks  you to put a little vermillion too? You were not like this before"....Ria just smiled looking towards her, she herself was in doubt about her marriage,so what was the reason behind putting on those bangles and vermillion....

Reaching there, Soma made both of them busy with shopping groceries, she had a long list of things to buy.....Ria kept dragging the trolley cart and following her mother......completing shopping, Soma took Ria to grab something to eat and then to their family jeweller, she wanted to gift a pair of bangles to Nabila for the engagement.....Ria helped her mother in choosing the design of perfect piece for Nabila.....They returned home around 5 pm......

Ria made tea and came to hall to have it  with others....mostly her phone was in silent mode....she saw the number of missed calls growing, but did not checked who called.....she said to herself ,"I know that I need to close the door of my heart and accept that my love was not appreciated. Not because it was wrong, but I gave it to someone who could not give me....one more chance...."

Suddenly they heard an ambulence blaring its siren around their locality......Ria reached to her balcony to see a worried Sumit sitting in his car with Mita....Koustav was telling something to the ambulance driver, Titli was in the stretcher, helpers were getting her inside the ambulance.....

Hurriedly Ria took her purse and phone and ran towards them....she entered the ambulance and sat beside Titli, Koustav sat beside and the ambulance started........Ria touched Titli's forehead, she was burning...Ria felt ashamed....the thought was bugging her that how could she forgot of Titli's condition....Koustav sat looking how Ria was crying caressing Titli's hairs, he could not muster any courage to say anything to her...

Soon they reached the hospital, they started to take Titli out of the ambulance....Ria went with them. Koustav and his father went for the admission formalities......They were lucky to get the admission fast....Titli was taken inside a room for checkup....Four of them were in the waiting area, Mita sat beside Ria.....Mita could see her condition was not also well....she started to have hiccups, Koustav was going to bring some water....suddenly Ria said," Stop!" and stood up slowly and went herself to the cafeteria.....her head was feeling heavy and dizzy like the last night...she sipped the water slowly.....and started going back....

The doctor was already out when she came back.....they were suspecting Dengue or lung infection...they were waiting for the test results.....

One by one everyone went to see Titli, her sense was back....she was doing better, there was no need to be in the hospital anymore....Four of them sat in the car and Sumit started the car.....as the car entered the way towards the locality.....Ria said,"Will you please stop the car here Baba( father)? It will be easier for me to reach home!" Three pairs of eyes turned towards her at that instant.....Sumit stopped the car, Ria got out of car ,telling her MIL to call her back in the morning next day.....Koustav silently watched her crossing the road and entering her mother's home....

And he was irritated again,cursing himself for not saying anything to her...

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