Abhira 3.0 - Healing

SS - Abhi ki Akshu (2)

The family had taken Abhimanyu to the hospital, leaving Abhinav behind to bring Akshara.

"Mumma", Abhir called out. "I want to come too. I want to see DocMan."

Abhinav tried to refuse, saying kids couldn't come, but Akshara surprisingly agreed. "Okay, you can come, but you have to be a good boy and listen to mumma, okay?" Abhir nodded.

Abhinav looked at her in disbelief, but she paid no heed. Something had tugged at Akshara's heartstrings with what had just happened. She didn't want Abhir to be away from her. She even picked him up, denying Abhinav as she took him to the car.

At the hospital, Mahima and Rohan took charge in trying to stabilize Abhimanyu, while the family waited outside. Abhinav, Akshara and Abhir also made it there, with Akshara still holding onto Abhir tightly. Holding onto him was her way of keeping sane, helping her to brush aside any bad thoughts or feelings she had. They stood to the side, watching Abhimanyu get treated inside.

A nurse walked up to Manjari to hand her Abhimanyu's belongings. Manjari saw the blood on his watch and phone and sat down with a thud. Staring at blood and her son lying through the window gave her vivid memories of 6 years prior. With trembling hands, she wiped the blood off the phone. It turned on and her eyes went to the call log. She blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. 10 calls to Akshara, that too, right before the accident? Not one had been received. Why? Did Akshara have anything to do with her Abhi being here? She saw red, not realizing that this was neither the time nor place for a fight.

Akshara consoled Abhir, reassuring him that the doctors in the room were going to fix his DocMan. Abhir was still reeling from the initial shock, but nodded at his mumma, confirming he understood. He wanted to ask Shivji to heal his DocMan soon, as he felt sad and hurt seeing him like this. His mumma was also feeling sad it seemed, her eyes had turned red from crying, and she wouldn't put him down. She held him tighter than ever before, and though Abhir couldn't understand why, he didn't force her to put him down. Instead, he clung onto his mumma with one hand, while gently stroking her back with the other.

Akshara smiled at her betu's concern, but felt as if she was being glared at. Turning, she saw Manjari holding the phone and staring her down. Akshara could see what might be forthcoming. Not wanting Abhir to witness anything, she reluctantly put him down, and asked him to go with Muskaan to get some water. Abhir was confused with her behavior, but abided nonetheless. Just as he left, she turned to come face to face with Manjari.

"How could you, Akshara? My son is in there fighting for his life, because of you. You're responsible! I knew you didn't care for him, you proved that by not answering his calls." She accused. Everyone stood around stunned. Abhimanyu had called Akshara? Akshara instinctively looked down, trying to avoid everyone's questioning gazes. She didn't know why he had called, and why she hadn't picked up.

"He called you 10 times, and you never picked up once. It's clear you didn't want to talk to him, then why did you go running to him after his accident? After all these years, what do you want? You've moved on in life, then why can't you let him live peacefully?" She spat venom, taking out all her frustrations.

Akshara stood frozen, not knowing what to say. She herself didn't have an answer as to why she had ran. She just knew in some corner of her heart that she had to.

Abhinav too was shocked by Akshara's actions. He didn't know what to say in her defense. It was as if he didn't even know who this Akshara was, so how could he stand up for her? She had perplexed him with her odd behavior, so much so, that he ended up becoming a mere spectator.

"You stole my one son years ago, and now you're doing the same with my Abhi? When will you rest, once you've killed him too??" Manjari grabbed her arm and shook her.

Akshara's blood ran cold. Kill. Abhimanyu. Something that was her worst nightmare had now been twisted to make it look like she'd hurt him. Even after all these years, after all the hurt, she could never imagine that for him.

No one dared to utter anything against Manjari, even years later. They all just watched as she continued to berate Akshara. Akshara wasn't shocked, to be honest. She didn't have any hopes left of her family ever standing up for her. She just stood there, shattering again bit by bit.

"You're that bad omen that just keeps on taking and taking. Why don't you just leave us alone? Why did you come back into our lives? Why??"

She stood lifeless. This wasn't the first time Akshara had heard this. It had gotten to a point that she herself had started believing everyone was better off without her. That she was the problem, but that didn't stop it from hurting any less. As always, her family just stood around, heads hung in...shame? Regret? Acceptance? Maybe they also agreed with Manjari, and that's why no one was correcting her.

Before Manjari could continue her taunts further however, her hand was pried away from Akshara's by two small, yet mighty hands.

A tiny frame came in the form of a shield in front of Akshara, taking her breath away and terrifying her at the same time.

"Stop! Get away from my mumma! Why are you shouting her? Look how much she's crying." Abhir, the child that was terrified a while ago now stood firm, protecting his mother from anyone that dared to make her cry.

Akshara looked at him and then at the window where Abhimanyu was visible. The same demeanor, the same fierce protectiveness.

In the truest sense, Abhimanyu's Junior.

~*~

A/n: So, Abhir has come to protect his mumma ❤️ Any guesses for what will happen next?

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