Paradise ~ A Devdutt Padikkal Story

22.

His feet remained glued to the ground on seeing his mother on the hospital bed. An oxygen mask covered half of her face and her eyes were shut. The monitor on the side displayed a steady heart rate that fluctuated slightly.
Dev's heart lurched on seeing a saline needle pierced through her soft skin.

The sight infront of him drained him emotionally. Dev had never seen his mother like this and it made it all the more harder to accept. He walked to her bedside, sitting by the chair beside the bed.
"Amma!" Dev's voice broke.
He held her hand tightly in his palm and caressed the pale skin.
"Amma, what is this? Ek week ke liye mein bahar gaya and ye aapko kya hogaya?" His lips wobbled.
"Wakeup na! Who will make me chicken curry if not you? You're making me cry now!" The last thread snapped and Dev covered his mouth with his hand to suppress the whimper.
"You don't like it when I cry na? Your dearest Chandu is also crying out there, bass karo ab." Tears continued to flow down his eyes as he pleaded his mother to answer him.
"Chandu is getting married now, aur meri bhi toh shaadi baki hai na? Amma, who's going to pamper my future wife if not you?" He requested heart-feltly, tightening his hold on his mother's palm.

Dev kept on caressing her skin with his thumb until a sudden movement alerted him. He felt a slight tremble of his mother's fingers in his hold.
Without wasting a second, Dev pressed the help button on the bed frame.
A minute later, a group of doctors and nurses arrived and Dev explained the development to them.
The doctor asked him to wait outside the room and Dev muttered a quick prayer before exiting the room.

"Congratulations! She has regained consciousness. We will soon conduct an MRI and other tests for the diagnosis."
The doctor informed the Padikkals as they awaited a news.
All of their faces broke into a smile. Chandni embraced her father who had tears in his eyes.
"Can we meet her?" She asked the doctor.
"Not immediately, in an hour or so you will be granted permission to visit her." The doctor answered and went away.

"Vedangi, go and have something. You've not eaten since yesterday night." Chandni's voice displayed care. Dev looked at his watch to see that it was five in the morning. He had completely lost track of time.
He also wanted to thank Vedangi for her promptness of admitting his mother to the hospital.
"It's fine, I'm okay." Vedangi dismissed her suggestion.
Grabbing the opportunity of having a genuine conversation with Vedangi, Dev suggested "Come we'll have coffee. It's almost morning."
"Yes both of you go eat something, I'm here." Chandni encouraged and they got up to go to the canteen.

They walked parallel to each other in silence. Vedangi was firm on her resolve to maintain her distance from him for her own sake. She refused to look him in the eye fearing herself hoping to see a hint of affection.
Back there, she couldn't bear seeing Dev so broken. It felt personal and she knew how miserable it was to lose your loved ones.
Through her peripheral vision, Vedangi noticed his steps slowing down but  continued to walk. She had only taken three steps ahead when a hand gripped her wrist.
Vedangi cursed her fate for it let moments like this happen, making her resolve weak. His grip was soft and lingered even after she turned around to look at him with a question on her face.

"Vedangi." Her name rolled out on his tongue and she fumbled with her tshirt hem.
"What?" Vedangi questioned.
"I wanted to say.." He paused for a second. Vedangi raised her eyebrows at his weird demeanor.
Before she could say anything more, his arms wrapped around her body making her shift on her feet.
His large frame covered her form entirely. Vedangi sniffed the woody, pleasantly rainy scent of his hoodie, feeling his chin over her head. As if on queue, she wrapped her arms around his torso and both of them would be lying if they said they did not feel homely in that hug.
"Thankyou, thankyou so much. Amma is conscious only because of the promptness you showed and also for the encouragement." His words got lost in her hair, making his voice appear muffled.
"Achan is slightly disoriented due to his age but you took quick actions because of which they could treat her at the earliest. I'll be grateful to you forever." He genuinely thanked her.
Dev could smell her flowery shampoo which was addictive. The scent was sensual and so were the silky tresses touching his fingers.
"Are you mad Devdutt? They're family to me. They made me feel at home in a complete foreign city. I can see my Maa and Papa in them and it is a natural instinct that makes me care for them. What I can't do for my parents, I want to do for yours. That is the only way my guilt would subside a few centimeters." Vedangi's voice quivered as she pictured her parents.

The guilt of not being there for them when they need her around disturbed Vedangi to a great extent. Her parents were in their early sixties and they kept on ensuring her about being absolutely fit. Even then she couldn't deny the possibility of a sudden medical emergency concerning her parents and the probability of someone helping them urgently.
"You can call me Dev." He muttered leading to her letting out a small laugh.

He slowly loosened his hold amd pulled back slightly. In the process, his arm brushed against her hair making them fall on her face. Dev looked down at her and could not resist the urge to lean in for a kiss. Vedangi looked up at him, surprisingly finding an appreciative and admiring expression on his face.
He slowly leaned in, making her breathe unevenly. Vedangi felt his face comparatively closer, eliciting a seed of hope in her mind.
Before she could act on the situation, a loud sound interrupted the moment, startling both of them. A large vessel had fallen to the ground in the canteen's kitchen.

To ease the awkwardness, Dev coughed.
"C'mon, I'm hungry!" He exclaimed.
"Ha ha chalo!" Vedangi practically ran to the canteen.

Was he finally over Disha? Why was he not able to resist the urge to kiss Vedangi? Was he falling in love with her?
Whatever she did was raw and genuine. Not an ounce of feigning or pretentiousness. She was real and she had started occupying his thoughts.

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Dev is so embarrassing here, honestly.
Also he got a new car and that's surely commendable but what's with boys buying cars worth crores? 😭
Something I'll never understand.