Fanaa- Until The End❤

.12.

Chapter-12
The one with shocks.

"Anjali!" Rahul shouted again as he turned the torch's direction to the opposite side. It was more than 30 minutes since he started searching for her. Right now, he felt how big an idiot he was, to leave her all alone and prank her. He felt so stupid.

"S**t!" He muttered as his phone began ringing again. There were almost 20 missed calls from both the families and his bestfriend. He was tired of being worried about her.

In the meanwhile, our drama queen Anjali was following him since he came to the place where he left him. She kept giggling and laughing as he frantically searched for her.

Then she decided it was too much. So she lied in one corner near a huge tree and acted as if she was shivering, though she wore a thick woolen sweater. Infact, Rahul was barely even covered with a thin shirt and t-shirt on him.

"Anjali!" Rahul shouted again. This time she tried to cooperate.
"Rahul." She meekly whispered. His head immediately turned towards her. As soon as he heard her voice, he ran and crouched himself so that he could hug her. Feel her. Anjali was startled by his sudden affection. No regrets, but she felt complete as he embraced her.

"I'm so so sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't think once. I'm-"
"Take me home. Please." Now Anjali pleaded truly. Though internally she was smirking that she won, the worry in his eyes made her feel guilty about the stunt that she pulled. He really did care. Then why was he acting like a jerk!

"Yeah. Can you walk?" He asked and she shivered again. The proximity between them made her nothing but blush.
"Here, take it." Immediately removing the shirt that he wore, he put it around her shoulder and she relaxed a bit.
"I can't walk. My legs are numb." She said deliberately.

"Hang on." He immediately lifted her in his arms. She felt a thousand butterflies inside her stomach as he carried her towards the jeep. Rahul's state was no less. Having her so close after years, stirred something inside him. He felt his heartbeat quicken like it used to whenever he would be near her.

But now, only her health and safety was his concern. He didn't waste time as he dumped her in the front seat and covered the jeep so that the air couldn't seep in. Bringing the jeep to life, he started driving to home.

"Call Maa and say that we were late because tire had to be replaced." He casually gave the phone to her. She opened the contacts and quickly called Ranjani.

"Oh my god Anju! Where are you both?" Ranjani frantically asked.
"We're near Maa. The tire got punctured. And we had to repair it. So it became late." She lied effectively.
"Okay. Could you come to the hospital directly?" She said with worry laced in her voice.

"Maa? What happened?" Anjali asked hurriedly.
"Anuradha got a mild stroke." She said and that's it, Anjali's heart stopped beating.
"What!" She shouted as tears pooled in her eyes. If she had not played along with him and just stayed back, she'd be with her mother. Her mother wouldn't be in hospital right now.

"Rahul." She said sobbing.
"Maa-" She broke down in his arms as he gave her a confused look.
"Baccha, come to the hospital." Ranjani informed him as he drove there.

Both internally prayed all the gods to keep their mother/aunty safe.

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Simultaneously when Rahul was searching for Anjali

"Anant! What are you saying?" Ranjani gasped. She couldn't believe what the kid was saying.
"Yes aunty. Rahul left Anjali that day. They wanted to sort out and resume their relationship. They wanted to be happy." He said.

"Why did you let him leave?" Akshaya asked with her elbows rested on her knees. Ranjani looked around and lowered her gaze.
"Because of me." Anuradha said crying.
"Aunty?" Riya asked perplexed. How could she possibly loose her whole childhood in Mumbai because of Anuradha!

"I was the one who asked Ranjani to send Rahul and Riya away." She said more loudly now.
"Why?" Was all Anant asked.
"For your safety." Ranjani said.
"Safety?" Anant scoffed.
"Hear me out beta-"
"No!" He roared.

Anant was the same as his father. Short tempered and stubborn. He wouldn't listen to anyone when he was angry.
"You sent them away? Couldn't you see your daughter suffering! Couldn't you see her dying from inside! Why couldn't you understand your daughter?" Now Anant was fuming like a bull. Akshaya put her hand on his shoulder.

"And you called your son again for what! To make her suffer more?" He asked.
"My brother is also suffering Anant! It's not their fault that they didn't know our sibling's love story! They weren't wrong because they are our parents. They know better than us so shut your filthy mouth or else I'll plaster it!" Riya shouted and he turned silent.

Akshaya fervently gazed at her brother. He never calmed down unless it was Anjali who made him subside. But one word from the girl he loved, he became mute. She looked at them with adoration as he sat down with a thud.

"I'm sorry Anant. I was a bad mother. To save you from the wrath of a monster, I hid the truth from you." Anuradha cried as Ranjani held her arm to sooth her down.
"Anu, I'm the one who has to apologise. I'm sorry kids." She said.

At the same time, Anuradha clutched her chest with her hand as it started paining. Then she blacked out making everyone worried and Ranjani immediately took her to the hospital.

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Anjali and Rahul rushed towards the ICU with their hearts thudding louder with each step they took.
"Where's she?" She asked a distraught Anant. As soon as he saw the person standing behind her, his eyes grew more soft.

"She's been in there for more than an hour. I don't know what's happening." He whispered.
"Its just a mild stroke Di. Maa will be fine." Akshaya said and sighed.
"I'm sorry akki. I wasn't here." Anjali hugged her sister. She didn't wanted them to think over another patient. She was enough headache for them already.

"Shh. Aunty went to check on another emergency patient. She'll come soon. You can talk to her." She soothed. Anjali released her and bobbed her head.
"Where's Aarna?" She looked around.
"She's at home with Riya. She doesn't know any of these." Anant said.

"What happened?" Rahul spoke for the first time. He was just staring at them from a distance.
"A lot." Akshaya sighed and looked at her brother in disappointment.
"What?" Anjali quizzically asked.
"Lets go home with her. We'll discuss it all later." She said rubbing her temples.

"Bhaiyya?" Anjali was startled to hear Anant talk to Rahul. She thought he despised him.
"You're talking to me?" Rahul himself was shocked. He knew the kid had a certain vengeance towards him because of his issue with Anjali. But now why'd he wanted to talk?

"Can we get a tea? My head is aching." He asked.
"Yeah sure." Rahul followed him as they went out.
"Is Anant okay?" Anjali asked to her again.

"As I said, a lot happened." She replied.

To be continued