Si - "Pakka btayegi?"
S - "Hmm..."
Si - "Baby words..."
"Pakka. Abhi chalein? Doctor k paas ho kar fir ghar Chalenge " I nod stepping back outside. I clean up the dishes calling in to the hospital to make sure we wouldn't have to wait too much. I step back into the room moving to help him with his slippers. The bandage slightly too bulky for them.
Si - "you should wear these more often baby... it suits you"
I blush slightly at the soft whisper tone he'd used. I wasnt used to him complementing me even like that, outguts like these usually resulted in a tad bit of over protection but today seemed different. We made our way back to the car driving off to the hospital. I checked in with the receptionist walking off into the room to wait for the doctor. I hoped the bandages came off without much of a problem. I smiled as the doctor walked in stepping away from where I stood beside him. I made sure to make note of everything she was saying, the medications and exercises both.
D - "Im glad you're doing so well Sidharth. The last 5 years have been high time difficult for you, I expected this one too take just as long as your last ones but surprisingly you recovered even quicker than expected."
I stood silent letting the same everyday smile play against my lips as Sidharth responded back to the next few questions. I hated hearing about his past 5 years. I hated everything about it, the suffering I'd heard about as well as the clear breakdowns he's had. Khushal had told me about the one right before the wedding. It made me wince seeing he'd cried. He never used to be able to do that in front of people. Even not myself until almost 2 years of our relationship. We walked back outside grabbing the bottles of his medicine. He was put on crutches, the hand being more than completely okay. I hesitated moving towards the little shop knowing very well that my own doctor could arrive any moment. I didn't need him to find out anything about how I'd almost suffocated myself because of panic. Especially not like this. I sneaked to the reception, getting the few medicines that were over the counter and ordering the rest. I take a deep breath stepping outside without needing much conversation. I settled the crutches into the backseat letting him get into the seat. I jumped feeling a hand against my arm. Frowning seeing the one person I didn't want to. Shreya was my best friend in the past 3 years... she was also my doctor. I'd denied letting her help me get a therapist but she still tried to do a lit of it herself.
Shr - "Sanu? Yaha aayi aur milegi bhi nhi? Itna bhi nhi dra ti vause main"
"Nhi woh... actually ghar jaana hai na jaldi. Lunch hai ghar pe" I mumble looking back to see Sidharth listening keenly.
Shr - "Hmm I see I see, I'm happy you're moving on. Woh sab ke baad yeh zaroori bhi hai, you need someone to love you out of where you've dug yourself. Panic attacks sbse best pyaar se hi handle hote hai. Aur vaise bhi now you have someone who'll keep track of where you are... you wont have to worry about being forgotten and stress yourself about it"
"Main aaungi milne tujhe kisi aur din promise. Abhi late ho raha hai." I mumble giving her a soft smile before getting into the car. Sidharth moved his focus over to the audio system acting as if he'd been focused on that the whole time. "Mujhe pta hai tu sun raha tha aur yeh woh wale button se chlta hai by the way" I chuckle watching him fumble with the system.
Si - "Agar pta hai toh explain bhi krde?"
"Kya explain karu? Kuch nhi hai Sidharth, bas panic attack huya 2-4 baar. " I say driving out of the parking.
Si - "Panic attack itna normal nhi hai, usne jo bola woh sirf panic attack nhi tha"
"Abhi nhi, jab zaroori hoga tab bolungi." I say reverting the conversation to the lunch. We drove home, the entire ride filled with smaller conversations of almost everything around. It felt good to be back home, I wanted to see my grandparents and Baaz especially. I helped him up the front stairs letting him stand as we approached the door. Dadi opened it, the smile on her face enough to put the same on both of ours. I pulled her into a hug chuckling as she ruffled my hair. She did the same to Sidharth scolding him playfully for the whole injury. He was definitely her favourite since always theyd talk about the randomest most sarcastic topics like there was no tomorrow. I walked further into the house hugging Dadu who sat in his seat chuckling feeling my arms wrap around him. Baaz jumped in a second later almost pulling me off of the floor. I let out a loud laugh smacking his shoulder slightly to out me down. He moved on helping Sidharth onto the sofa beside where dadu sat. I smiled seeing them bond again almost instantly. Dadu seemed to have forgotten the slight anger he had the moment Sidharth bent forward touching his feet. I rushed into the kitchen finding mom. I sighed seeing the unnecessary number of dishes. "Itna sab toh mere show ke baad aane pe bhi nhi hota. Aap aur maa hum dono ko trade hi krlo na?" I bicker taking a seat atop the only empty counter. She chuckled moving over with a small bowl of the kheer she was currently making. "Meetha check kr, kam hua toh sbse pehle jiske liye bnna hai usne hi aur dalne bola hai teri pasand khatir" she giggled, making me blush at the slight accuracy.
S - "Papa kidhar hai?"
SM - "Bahar gye abhi kuch laane, subah se idhar udhar bhaag rahe hai samaan k liye."
"Acha. Abhi aap toh aa jau milne? Sidharth bhi wait kr raha hoga" I mumble eating up the remaining spoonful in my bowl. She nodded switching off the stove after confirmation. I helped her put the bowls she'd filled into a tray walking outside behind her. I liked how no one was being too nosy at least yet. I didn't want this to be awkward in any way. Not exactly right now, I wanted the both of us to be completely open again. Know exactly what all had happened. Without cutting out details. I sat down in between dadu and Sidharth leaning into the back rest to make sure I didn't interrupt their news conversation.
Hours later both families sat completely stuffed and elated after the food. It was starting to get dark outside. The three little musketeers already asleep very smartly positioned around me. Raunak was in my arms while the other two lay against my legs. Very much like it used to be. Neetu and Preeti had laughed thinking about exactly how hard it was for them to get the kids to do the same around them. Baaz was back being almost a child himself, having worn himself out running around with them, now he sat a few feet away devouring a second plate of food. Sidharth seemed so much happier too, the smile almost hiding behind the down moments I'd seen the past couple of days. Mom and Maa seemed to have declared their own win, expressing the happiness of the moment a few more times than necessarily required. We left a few minutes later driving back to pick up the support bracket we'd ordered.
"Ghar jaane se pehle ek aur jagah chalegi?" He asked as I settled back into the car. I hum asking him where after a few seconds of not getting a response. He gave me an address I had absolutely no clue about yet it seemed familiar. We drove down the remaining 30 minutes down to a seemingly abandoned building near a body of water. The soft glow of the sunset was the only light keeping the place from being completely dark. I looked at him questionably as he called up Khushal who was at our car the next moment. Half of my mind was occupied thinking where he'd shown up from while the other half wondered what he had to do with this place. He led us to his own car driving it to the rooftop parking after making me blindfold myself. If it wasnt the two of them I'd definitely panic thinking I was being kidnapped from the speed we were going at. I took a few deep breaths trying my best to not let dark get to me. Sidharth seemingly noticed the same grabbing my hand in his bringing it to his lips. My mind seemed to shut down after that, the breathing relatively normal the next second. The car halted abruptly, causing me to hiss while Sidharth gave Khushal a piece of his mind for doing so. I heard Sidharths side of the door open, the clutches pulled along as he stepped out of the car. I sat waiting for my door to open like they'd said it would. I heard the slight click, moving towards it the next instant. I needed to be outside of the confined space.
K - "Good luck bhai, agar task complete nhi huya toh muh maanga Inaam chahiye mujhe yeh sab krne k liye. Subah se dr dr kr set up ki hai... conjuring 4 wala scene hogya tha mera toh"
"Hyeee mtlb?! Main dono ko maarungi agar bhoot huye yaha.... Khushal bta na Conjuring mtlb?!" I gasp hearing the words task and a horror movie together were simply not a good idea. Especially not after the halloween pranks the two of these men had done on me.
Si - "Kyun faltu mein dra raha hai usse? Bhaag abhi yaha se nhi toh isse pehle mere se paregi"
"Wah poora din mere se machine jaise kaam krvaya aur abhi thank you ki jagah maar? Tere jaise dost htoh dushman ki maar bhi feeki prh jaati hai..." Khushal murmured seemingly walking back to the car. I heard Sidharth chuckle very clearly passing him something that made him shriek. I was growing impatient by the second. The entire conversation the two of them were having sounded awfully too vague. Set up and task were the only two words theyd describe the place with. I sighed standing still until I felt Sidharths hand wrap around my waist pulling me further towards the gusts of the wind.
S - "Sidharth? Yeh khol ne de pleasee.... mera dimaag khrab ho raha hai aise-"
Si - "5 minutes baby.."
S - "Sidharthhhh..ple-"
Si - "Do you trust me?"
"Sajda tera kar na sakoon
Toh bandagi kya bandagi
Tere bina jeena pade
Toh zindagi kya zindagi
Kya rang laaya Dil ka lagaana
Kya rang laaya Dil ka lagaana
Goonje hawaa mein
Bichhde dilaan diyaan duhaiyaan
Vey badi lambiyaan si judaiyaan"
Hint - ajj ke second lyrics stanza ko thoda ache se padho;)
Chapter 32
Start from the beginning
