Fates

Part 16- Concern

Pragya was on edge the whole day, about her daughter, Abhi, and Riya.
Pragya did not know how her daughter was doing, or how she was recovering after her accident. Pragya did not know what Abhi thought after she ran out of the hospital, did he think she didn't care about her daughter? Did he wonder where she could've gone? Did he even care? Lastly, Pragya did not how Riya was doing, did she patch up things with her dad, and why hadn't she been at school for 2 days in a row?

Pragya wasn't at school yesterday but she had heard from other students that Riya wasn't at school either yesterday. And yet again, she wasn't here today because as Pragya did roll call for her 5th-period class, Riya wasn't there.

As the day progressed, Pragya started to get more and more worried about her daughter, Abhi, and Riya. Pragya had no way to find out how Abhi and her daughter were doing, but she could talk to Riya to ask her how she was doing. So after walking home alone, while Prachi and Shahana went to their job, the first thing Pragya did was call Riya.

Riya who was sitting up on her bed, alone now because her booji had called Aryan for something, picked up the phone at the first ring because she had nothing better to do. Her dad had commanded her to do nothing else but rest.

"Hello, Riya how are you?" Pragya said instantly when Riya picked up the phone.

"Oh, hi Auntie! I'm good, how are you?" Riya said eagerly, happy to have human interaction with someone who wasn't her Dad, Aryan, Booji, or Purab chaacho for the first time this day. Even though Ranbir had come to visit her after hearing from Vikram that she had been in an accident, he only stayed for a little while because he didn't want his parents to find out that he was cutting class.

"I'm fine. Are you okay? Because you haven't been at college for 2 days. I called because I was worried." Pragya elaborated, concerned.

"Uh, yeah I'm okay, just taking some time off to spend time with my Dad after our fight and talking things through." Riya lied because for some reason she knew that auntie would be mad if she found out that Riya had gotten hit by a car because she was out alone at night. Riya had gotten an earful from her dad, where he lectured her about the dangers of going out alone at night, she didn't want the same from Auntie. Plus it wasn't a complete lie, she was spending time with her dad, and they were talking about things, Abhi had promised to never raise his hand in anger, while Riya had promised to never talk bad about her mom without having proof.

Pragya didn't quite believe what Riya was saying, she felt as though something was off because unbeknownst to Pragya she was talking to her daughter, and a mother always knew when her children were lying to her. But Pragya left it alone because if Riya was not telling her something, she probably had a reason for it.

"That's good, beta. You should talk about your problems and work on them. So will you be at school tomorrow?" Pragya asked curiously.

"Yeah, Auntie I- will be there." Riya said yawning in mid-sentence, even though Riya had been resting all day, the accident and the painkillers she was taking for her injuries had drained her.

Pragya who heard the yawn over the phone giggled.

"Okay, beta. I think you should go to sleep now. You seem very tired." Pragya said lovingly.

Riya laughed embarrassedly at that.

"Okay, goodnight Auntie." Riya said with a smile.

Pragya- "Goodnight, beta." Pragya said cutting the call, with a smile too.

After talking to Riya, Pragya felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest. Hearing Riya's energetic voice and her laugh Pragya felt her heart settle. But still, Pragya was not at ease, and spent another sleepless night, thinking about Abhi, the daughter she never knew, and the daughter stolen from her.

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