Secrets & Lies *ON HOLD*

1. She's back!

The man seated on the floor, continued to stare at the figure lying on the hospital bed, with lifeless eyes. Once again, life had put him on crossroads and yet again, he had made the wrong choice. Had he not walked out on her that day, she would have been right by his side, eating his head. But here she was, as pale as a doll as her body stayed motionless while the machine connected to her via multiple tubes, barely beeped.

One week back, he and Guddan had gone to lay the foundation stone for their new restaurant in Mumbai. Everything was going well when mistakenly, Guddan ended up breaking Antara's photo and all hell broke loose. Enraged and helpless, as he rushed out of the venue, Guddan followed after him, trying to apologise and explain but to no avail. He had been so far gone in his anger that he refused to pay heed to her and she had no clue about the truck that was approaching. It all transpired so quickly that he could hardly comprehend it. One second, Guddan was calling after him and another, a chilling shriek echoed through his ears and when he had turned around, his entire world had come crashing...

"Wake up, Guddan! Fight me! Annoy me! But please don't be so silent! This silence is unbearable!" AJ whispered, helplessly.

The family members looked at AJ's pitiful state but could do nothing. Since the past 6 days, he hadn't left Guddan's side. They had volunteered to keep Guddan company but to no avail, he was hell bent on being by her side. After all he believed, he was the reason why Guddan was in such a state.

Sleep had just ensnared a tired AJ when the machine beeped violently. As the beeping continued, the man woke up from his slumber and turned towards the sleeping figure, with a ray of hope alit in his tired eyes.

And as the figure's naked eyes fluttered open, he scrambled from his position on the floor and clasping her slender fingers in his, caressed her hairs affectionately.

Guddan rolled her eyes around, almost warily and as her browns met his black, a relieved smile broke across his lips as he parted them to call out her name. "Guddan! Maa! Guddan is up!!"

Guddan continued to stare at Akshat quizzically and as she rolled her eyeballs to see her hands clasped in his, an unpleasant look dawned in her eyes and she snatched her hand away.

"My head!" Guddan groaned, as she pressed her forefinger against her temple and then rubbed her eyes to ward the blurriness off.

As she tried to sit up, AJ rushed to her aid and supporting her elbows, helped her sit up. Once he had her back supported against the pillow, Guddan flexed her neck from left to right and massaged her stiff shoulders. "The hell! Why am I so stiff!?" Guddan cursed in annoyance, totally unaware of her surroundings.

"Guddan, are you fine!?" As a huge palm covered her hand that was kept over her right shoulder, she moved her head to see a man with spectacles staring down at her.

"This stiffness must be because you've been asleep for quite a few days...but tumhe sahi dekhkar, mujhe...I am...Guddan..." Akshat was scrambling for words when Guddan caught his palm with her left hand and with a weird look pasted across her face, moved his palm off her shoulders.

"And who are you!" She asked, quizzically.

For a second, Akshat stilled and then started chuckling, "You started with your jokes right after coming to your senses! You are never going to change, are you Mrs Guddan Akshat Jindal?!"

"First of all, who is this Guddan Akshat Jindal?! And secondly, I don't have spare words and time to jest with you...Mr...?!" Guddan trailed, raising her brows.

"Beta! What are you saying!? You are Guddan, my bahu! And this is your husband, Akshat! AJ! Tera uncle!" Dadi came to the forefront and cupped Guddan's cheeks.