One Shots #VariaSquad

Accidents and Scares

I'd been in the hospital for over three hours when Varun showed up. He was pushing a sleeping Kavya's pram with one hand and the other was being firmly held by Anjali. I relaxed a little as I saw that the doctors hadn't been lying and that Anjali was actually completely fine. She looked at me for a second before turning back to Varun. 'Papa, what happened to mummy's arm?' she asked.

'It's broken, angel, so it's got to stay in a cast for a while.' he explained.

'Your arms broken? Does that mean it's going to have to go in the bin like my old toys?' she questioned, turning back to me, eyes wide. Me and Varun both laughed and I shook my head.

'No baby. My arm will get better but I have to keep very still so that it can fix itself properly.'

'Ohhhhh. So do you have to stay in the hospital while it gets fixed?'

'No, but I can't use my arm until it's fixed.' I told her.

'You can't hold Kavya then?' I hadn't realised that.

'I guess not. But it's only for a little while, just till the cast comes off.' I assured.

'Oh, that's okay then.' I laughed at the way she sounded like she was giving me her approval.

'Anju, we're going to have to leave soon. It's getting late, you and Kavya haven't had dinner yet and mummy needs some sleep.' Varun said, making me aware of the time.

'No! I want to stay with mummy!' Anjali exclaimed, talking back to Varun for the first time in her life.

'Anju, you can't stay with mummy. Mummy has to stay at the hospital tonight.' Varun told her, staying calm despite the fact that there was a seven year old throwing a tantrum.

'But I want to stay with mummy.' she whined.

'Anjali, listen to Papa.' I said.

'It's not fair mummy! You always stay with me!'

'I know, Anju, but I need you to go home with Papa and help him look after Kavya. Can you do that for me?' I asked her. Her face lit up and she nodded excitedly. 'Okay. Now give me a hug and then go home.' She came and gave me a quick hug and then ran back to Varun, tugging his hand to try and get him to leave.

'Hold on angel.' he laughed. 'Let me say bye to mummy as well.' Anjali gave a slightly annoyed look and sighed but let go of his hand and stood by the door, already covering her eyes with her hands because, to us Shraddha's words, even Anjali knows that we're a very affectionate peoples. 'Alright, I'll see you tomorrow jaan.' he told me, giving me a quick kiss before leaving.

Varun P.O.V.

Anjali and Kavya were both complete angels all evening. They both ate without complaint and Kavya even took her bath without throwing a tantrum for once. By half eight, they were both fast asleep in their own beds.

The house was quiet, my two girls were sleeping but sleep evaded me. I stayed awake all night thinking about the fact that I had been told that Alia might have died today and the last thing I had told her was that I didn't want to talk to her. She could've died thinking I was still mad at her, the last words I would have said to her wouldn't have been 'I love you' or even something similar. Plus the bed felt way too big without Alia next to me.

By the time the girls woke up, I'd had eight cups of tea and three cups of coffee. I was wired but emotionally exhausted. After dropping Anjali off to school, I called bhaiya to see if he'd be able to keep Kavya for the day. He asked me half a million questions but eventually agreed so I took Kavya to my brother's house then headed to the hospital.