Dhruv woke up in the hospital bed, in pain but his first instinct was to find his best friend. As he hurried towards the ICU where Vikram was, he saw Vikram's parents and Saanvi waiting outside, looking worried. Virat was standing at a distance with his arms around the shoulders of a girl, who was crying, and he was consoling her. Though he could not see the girl properly, Dhruv's heart sank. He knew that Nidhi was not his, still he did not want to see her upset. He fastened his pace and ended up stumbling. Just as he was about to fall, someone caught his shirt from behind and stopped his fall. He turned to find Nidhi looking at him with utmost concern.
As she made him sit down on nearby chair, Dhruv's first question was "Is Vikram okay?"
Nidhi replied "It was a bit of touch and go, he was hurt bad and went into critical state. But now he is pulling through. He should be okay."
Dhruv gave a sigh of relief and only after that, did he remember the girl next to Virat.
Confused he asked, "Who is the girl with Virat?"
Nidhi responded, "It is Aadhya." Looking at the puzzled look on Dhruv's face, she explained "Virat fell in love with her while taking her for check-ups and also helping her with her kid. Finally he managed to convince her to marry him."
Realisation dawned on Dhruv about his terrible mistake. He cursed himself for ever doubting Nidhi and Virat. Especially Virat whom he had always regarded as brat, who was now marrying a widow and being a father for Suraj's son.
He told Nidhi apologetically "Nidhi, will you forgive me for being a jerk?"
When Nidhi nodded with a small smile as she replied, "On one condition, do you promise to break coconuts whenever we go to a temple?"
He winked, "Also at our home when you make coconut chutney for me."
Nidhi blushed as she sat next to him. Dhruv held her hands tightly determined to never let go.
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It had been a few weeks since the events, and Vikram had returned to Bangalore to recover, with along Saanvi. One fine day, Vikram had insisted to take Saanvi out for a long drive in the night. Just as he expected, as soon she got into the car, she put on her favourite song – Dooke Chinuka from Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty on loop and fell asleep halfway through the journey.
Whether it was the song or the effect of being in love, the lyrics touched a chord in his heart.
"Arey Arey Enti Gaaradi
Ganta Kshanamauthunnadhi
Alaa Alaa Jantai Saagithe
Mailu Adugauthunnadhi"
Looking at Saanvi's peaceful face while she was sleeping, he felt the same emotions. Hours felt like seconds and miles seemed like steps when she was with him.
As the beautiful colours heralded the arrival of the master of light - Sun, Vikram smiled. They were just in time. He stopped the car and looked at Saanvi, who was still deep asleep. He still could not believe that when he first met her, he was so against love, marriage, and now he could not even imagine what his life would be without her.
He gently woke her up and led her out to his favourite place, while covering her eyes. When he uncovered her eyes, she was welcomed by the sight of the sunrise at the Malpe beach. Her face lit up with joy as she took in the sky which looked like it was decorated for a festival and the reflection in the ocean took her breath away.
Vikram watched in delight as she ran towards the water exclaiming "This is so beautiful! I have never seen a sun rise at a beach before."
He walked up to her as she stood playing in the water. He stood silently with his hands in his pockets, watching her enjoy to the fullest. As the sun made his way up the sky, lighting them up with radiance, she stood silently next to him watching the sunrise.
She took a deep breath, enjoying the ocean breeze and said "Beautiful!"
His smile widened looking at her happiness.
But then his face turned serious and said in a solemn tone "Saanvi, I need to report to duty next week."
Her face fell. "But you just recovered."
"Abhay Sir has finally woken up from his coma. But he is still not fit to come back to active duty. I need to go back."
When she remained silent, he turned to her "Saanvi, I need to tell you something and then ask you something as well."
He continued "I know that you were always worried who would take care of your dad. Now with Nidhi's marriage also fixed, I thought if your dad can stay with my parents, then our families can take good care of each other. You don't need to worry about him from now on."
She was constantly worrying about her father, but never told him about it. But still he had already found a solution for her. Her eyes welled up looking at his consideration.
She mumbled in a teary voice "Thanks. I will never forget this favour."
He replied earnestly "What favour? Shiv uncle is my family. This is just my duty. Don't be absurd."
When he saw her tears threatening to drop any minute, he quickly changed track.
He switched to a jovial voice as he continued "By the way, you should also know that I don't have any savings. I have spent all of it. I am pretty much broke right now."
It was her turn to smile "I know that you spent it all on getting prosthetic limbs for the people who need it."
Before he could utter anything else, she continued "I am going to open a trust with my mother's inheritance money and dedicate it to helping people with prosthetic limbs."
Overwhelmed with her kind gesture, he said softly "Saanvi..."
She put a finger on his lips and replied, "Whatever it is, whether it is your job, your passion, your cause, I will support you always."
His heart filled with gratitude and love. He knew he was tremendously blessed to have her in his life.
He said, "Coming to the question that I wanted to ask you?"
She waited with bated breath as the waves slowly touched their legs. Everything around her seemed to blur as her eyes sought only his eyes.
He held her hands as he looked at her intently. His eyes twinkling "Can I be the father of your children?"
She exclaimed in shock "What????"
"Just say Yes or Yeah."
She narrowed her eyes as she retorted "What kind of proposal is this?"
He looked hurt "Hey! I was trying something different. Fine. You want a proper proposal?"
He came close and cupped her face in his hands "Saanvi, thank you for coming into my life. You make me complete. I promise I will be there for you whether you need me or not. I know that I will never love any other girl as much as I love you. Unless of course we have a daughter."
Her eyes glistened with tears hearing his words. His eyes held her captive as he continued "Will you make me the luckiest guy in the world by making me a part of your life? As your life partner?"
She tilted her head as she naughtily asked "What if I said No."
Without a moment's hesitation, he replied with a mischievous grin "Well, I still have Shrushti in my speed dial."
As she playfully hit him, he put up his hands to defend himself. He said "Hold on. Let me complete. I wanted to say that I would have called her to ask for her help. Moreover, she is getting married in 3 months. I promised her that I will attend her wedding with my..."
When Saanvi stopped hitting him to let him continue, he playfully said "my pregnant wife."
She lifted her hands to start hitting him again when he held her hands and pulled her into a tight embrace. Nestled against his warm chest, Saanvi hugged him back.
She whispered, "I love you!"
He replied, "I love you too, Sweety!"
It felt like paradise had descended on earth, as their silhouettes were highlighted against the beach. They say that everything is fair in love and war. But this Love had won fair and square against the war and everything else, forging an unshakeable bond, an unbreakable promise. A promise to stand by each other together forever.
picture courtesy: Instagram - pranushka fan