The next 24 hours were as short as the same number of minutes for Sana who was constantly on her feet. She had directly rushed to the hospital to find her father dozing off in the waiting room outside the ICU. Her numerous apologies to him came from the bottom of her heart seeing him worry-stricken and exhausted.
"Ki hoya? Pagal ho gayi hai tu?", Her father laughed as she sobbed in his arms. They went off to the hospital canteen to have a cup of tea and got to know that her Dadaji had developed high fever due to her Daddi's attack. He was 15 years older to her and loved her dearly. Her mother and the extended family were at Amritsar at their home, with him while Shehbaaz was shuttling between the cities as frequently as he could.
Dadi was, on the other hand, stable and under observation and was going to be shifted to a private ward today after which, if things went right, she would be discharged the next day. Once the visiting hours began and the doctors had given a go ahead for her to be shifted out of the ICU, she ran to meet her Daddi.
Dadi's eyes grew big in surprise seeing her favorite grandchild in flesh. However, the oxygen mask did not let her talk much and Sana put it back as her Dadi tried taking it off.
"Ye sab taarein-toorein nikal jayegi tab maarna gappein...daddiii...." She sat down and hugged her plump but frail grandmother attached to a lot of machines.
Soon, she was shifted to a private ward and the machines were detached. Her Dadi showered a string on blessings on her while her father quietly watched from the outside.
"Aao jap...main hun yahan...ghar jaake aaram karo....Dadda ko dekho", Sana assured her father.
"Tu abhi toh aayi hai...", He resisted.
"Maine toh hilna nahi hai yahan se...Baaz toh aayega na din me...aap jaake so jao thoda der...baaz aayega toh phir main ghar aa jaungi...aap niklo", she literally pushed her father out.
His sunken eyes made her realize how he had aged over these years when she was gone to find herself. Those creases on his forehead perhaps emerged one at a time in all those months when she was in Beas, avoiding his phone calls or when she was in the Bigg Boss house, trying to make the most of the opportunity she had?
"Ok ji...", her gather resigned and left but not before leaving some sandwiched and packaged juice from the hospital canteen.
"Daddddddiiiiii...haye, dara dia aapne", she went back to her grandmother, who was now mostly wire-free and smiling at her. She opened her arms and have a weak but warm hug to her favorite granddaughter.
Sana settled down on a chair, leaning on Dadi's bed. The two of them talked. Dadi narrated the episode of her illness in a light-hearted way to take away the worry on her child's face, while Sana giggled. She realized how her Dadi was being brave at the moment, to underplay what she had been feeling. She kissed her hand, caressing it lightly, listening to her Dadi speak, when her phone rang aloud.
"Kaun hoga...", she announced. The settings of her phone were such that it would notify her of messaged or calls either from the Gills, the Shuklas or Kaushal. Her face lit up when she read the name flashing on the phone.
"Haan...Darling...sab theek hai na wahan?...tune pochne wale text ke baad call bhi nahi kia..everything okay there?", Sidharth sounded worried but the moment Shehnaaz heard him speak, something healed inside of her. All these hours, in all honesty, she hadn't thought of him. Her heart and mind were engrossed in the situation here and her family. But hearing him, she got what she needed, though she had not been asking for it in the moment.
"Haan..sab accha hai. Daddi ko general ward me shift kar dia...kal ghar le jayenge...", she informed him happily looking at her Dadi who was smiling with closed eyes.
YOU ARE READING
Perfect Mismatch
FanfictionSidharth and Shehnaaz were destined to meet on the stage that day but little did they know what future held for them.
