Musafir

--sixth--

"Aur ho.. Aur ho

Saans ka shor ho aanch ki aur badhe

Aur ho.. Aur ho
Saans ka shor ho taap ki aur chadhe
Aur ho.. Aur ho
Aur mile hum more bhi jal jaaye"

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(to the storm that has invaded the hearts of everyone in this chapter for its not just one person who has suffered the consequences)

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(word count - 3140)

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It took around 20 minutes to bring Ojasvi's vitals back to normal. Almost half of her oxygen supply had been cut. A few minutes more and she would have died, is what the doctors informed them.

In those 20 minutes, it had been so difficult to manage Neetika who had started getting a panic attack that she had to be injected with sedatives to put her to sleep. Her aunt was too shocked by the turn of events.

First Ojasvi's accident, then Neetika's state had been too much for her to digest, and to top it all, she had heard what Neetika was mumbling about Ojasvi.

She started questioning herself now. Was it her mistake that neither of the two girls could be comforted? She did her best to be a mother figure in Ojasvi's life but that journey was perhaps the most difficult one for her. That little girl had lost an important part of herself at the most crucial age. Getting her out of that trauma and not letting her feel lonely had been her first priority. It took more than a year to bring Ojasvi out of that darkness and then finally when she turned 17 did she start acknowledging the presence of her new mother and very gradually started growing warm to her family. But a few months back, as per what Neetika had told them that day, the mother in her had felt defeated again. This was the very reason why she and her husband had been a little more strict with Ojasvi, not being able to trust her words or listen to her explanations. As parents, it was their duty to get her out of the troubles she had landed herself into.

And then there was Neetika. She had raised that girl like her own child because she knew the hell she had lived in for so many years. Over the years she had felt that Neetika was getting better and had got a family in the face of her husband and Ojasvi. Never in her wildest dreams had she ever thought that her Neeti would have kept so much hate and pain in her heart for someone. A tear slipped down her eyes as she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Connecting all the information regarding Rishit and then what she heard from Neetika and Maahir, she sensed that something was gravely wrong and she had to set them right. A hand encircled her shoulders. She looked up to find her husband staring down at her, with a similar pained smile on her face. They blinked their eyes, assuring each other that they will set things right now.

Walking towards Ojasvi's room, they found Maahir's father standing outside.

2 days and so many revelations later, both sets of parents felt tired; tired of knowing how unaware they were of their children's lives and sorrows.

They felt helpless on realizing that they couldn't be there for their child when needed and now, when things had taken such a worse turn, there was still nothing much that they could do to comfort their children.

Each parent, guilty at heart, couldn't do much than just extend unsaid support to each other and pray for the situation to get any better.

Inside the room, Maahir sat in a corner, his gaze unmoving from Ojasvi's face. Tears dried up now, his face was strained with them. He wanted to go near her, hold her hand, kiss her forehead, and assure her that just like all obstacles, this too shall pass. He wanted to caress her hair and relieve her from all the discomfort, to be beside her and talk while she listens, and to sing her those songs in his not-so-musical voice like he did every time she was in a dull mood. She always complained about how his singing sounded like a croaking frog but nonetheless, it made her smile. He never let out the secret of how he deliberately sang the wrong lyrics so that she could tap his forehead playfully and correct him.