Adhya POV:
As I woke up, I found Anandh holding my hand. I moved a little, but my body felt like it went over a thousand trucks. Then I recalled what happened; I was hit by a truck. Oh my God, I was hit by a truck! How is Maan? Is he fine? He's here. Then where is he? My mind raced with a thousand thoughts as Anandh noticed me waking. He crushed me into a bone-breaking hug, saying, "Oh my God, Di, you're finally awake. We were worried that you were still asleep beyond the time."
I asked, "Kiddo, where is Maan?" He said, "He is talking to the doctor, Di. Wait, I will call him." I stopped him, asking what happened after I was hit by a truck. He said, "Di, we will talk later. Now I will call the doctor." I suddenly had this mischievous thought. I don't know whether it was because I was still on a drug dosage or something else. I wanted to do this.
I said to Anandh with a creepy smile, "Anandh, will you please cooperate with me?" He said, "Di, what are you going to do? Your leg is not fine; please don't play." I put on my puppy dog eyes as I asked him, "What, kiddo? Won't you do it for your Di, huh? I am hurt." He said, "Okay, fine, tell me what it is."
I said, "I don't know who Maan is." He raised his eyebrow, asking, "What do you mean you dont know him?" I replied, "Well, I don't remember him." He got the plan as he said, "No, no, Di, it's not gonna happen. If we get caught, he is going to kill me first." I pouted, saying, "Please, kiddo, please. It is our birthday in 5 days. Until then, please help me."
He sighed, saying, "Di, you really are going to get me killed. Fine, what do you want me to do?" I said, "Say this to all our family, and the remaining plan, I will tell you when we get home." He nodded, asking, "How will you manage the doctor?" I replied, "What are you there for? Go talk to him." He came closer to me, placing his hands on my neck. He said, "Di, you just woke up, and you're already planning ways to kill me. Wow, I am really lucky to have you, huh?" I smirked. "Go, kiddo." He went.
As Abhi barged in, he came to me, hugging tightly as he asked, "Angel, angel, are you fine? I was damn worried." As he pulled me out of his embrace because I didn't hug him back, it took all my strength not to hug him back, but I had to do this not just because I wanted to tease him, but because I wanted to know one thing.
He raised his eyebrow as I asked, "Who are you?" putting on my best acting skills. He asked, "What? You don't know who I am, Angel? Stop playing games." I asked again, "Who are you, and why are you calling me Angel?" He had tears in his eyes as he asked, "You really don't remember me?" I internally scolded myself for doing this but acted along, saying, "Why are you crying? Who are you to me?" He asked, "Do you remember who you are?" I nodded, saying, "Yes, I am Aradhya."
He asked, "Then do you know why you are here?" I nodded, saying, "I was hit by a truck while I went to buy ice cream." He looked at me with a hurt and pained expression. He said, "I was the one who bought you ice cream." I shook my head, saying, "This is the first time I am seeing you. What is your name?" I asked. He stood up, going back, and said to himself, "No, no, this can't be happening." He shouted, "Doctor!" as the doctor and Anandh came in. Anandh shot me a thumbs up, and I smiled back at him before putting on my acting face as I turned to Anandh, asking, "Kiddo, who is he?"
Anandh came to me, and he said, "Di, he is Abhi bhai. Why are you asking me as if you don't know him?" I appreciated his acting as I looked at Abhi and back at him. I said, "No, I don't know him. Why are you acting like I am so close to him?" Anandh turned to the doctor, and the doctor said, "You both, please wait outside." The doctor came to me, saying, "Do you really want to do this?" I nodded.
He said, "Well then, I will help you, but please take care of yourself." I nodded, saying, "Don't worry, doc. The man outside will make sure to take care of me no matter what situation we are in." The doctor nodded, saying, "I know. I saw it in his eyes."
I smiled as the doctor called them both and said to Abhi, "Can I talk to you for a sec?" He nodded, moving a little far, but I heard them. The doctor said, "Well, look, Abhi, she is suffering from temporary memory loss, amnesia. So, she forgot her most loved one, which is you. This happens in a very rare condition, but I am really sorry." Abhi looked so broken as he asked, "Will she be able to recall anything, doc?" He nodded, saying, "There is a high chance for that. You can talk to her about the past, your memories, and you can take her to places where you both spent time." He nodded, saying, "Thank you, doc."
*I know it is medically impossible but who cares, this is our fictional world everything works here!*
The doctor left as Abhi looked at Anandh and said, "Let's go home." I asked, "Will you also come home?" Anandh said, "Di, well, lets get you home first, and I will explain everything to you." Abhi looked at Anandh and nodded at me. I asked, "Okay, but what should I call you?" He said, "Maan. You can call me Maan." I said, "But he called you Abhi." He shook his head, saying, "You can call me Maan," in a very cold tone. I know I am touching his last patience bars, so I just nodded.
Abhi lifted me as I squirmed, saying, "You can use a wheelchair." He didn't answer me anything as he placed me in the car. We went home, and again, Abhi carried me in. I asked again, "Why don't you just use a goddamn wheelchair? Why are you carrying me around like this?" Again, the same silence as Anandh was laughing behind us. I glared at him.
Both Maa and Priya Maa gave me aarathi, welcoming me home. As Abhi straightly took me to my room, I asked him, "How do you know the way to my room?" He looked into my eyes and said, "Angel, I know everything about you." I didn't argue back anything as I noticed the photos in my room had been removed, which had me and Abhi.
He looked at me, glancing around, and asked, "Do you remember anything?" I shook my head as he asked again, "Do you remember what used to be here?" I said, "Yes, my photos used to be there. I don't know who removed them." He sighed as all my family came in to greet me. I smiled at everyone as they hugged me one by one.
Papa asked me, "How are you, princess?" I replied, "I am very good, Papa, except my leg is hurting a little." Dad said, "Call us if you need anything, princess." I nodded, saying, "Okay, Baba." Sid asked, "Di, do you remember me?" I nodded, asking, "What are you talking about, bhai?" He shook his head, saying, "Nothing. I am happy that you're back." I smiled as Akkash asked, "Di, then do you remember my dad?" I stiffened at his thought. Rohan bhai hit his head, saying, "Enough, everyone. Let her rest." He patted my head and pushed everyone out of the room.
Abhi noticed my shift as he came to my side, rubbing his hands on my back. He asked, "What happened?" I said, "Akkash mentioned Rudra Chachu. Why?" He said, "I don't know." I nodded, saying, "Can I talk to my brother alone, please?" He nodded, asking, "Who should I call?" I said, "I will talk to them. You can also go and rest. Do you know the way around here?" He nodded, saying, "I stay in opposite room, just think of me and I will be there at your service." I rolled my eyes saying "Very funny, you can leave now."
I called Rohan bhai, and he came, asking, "Princess, what is wrong?" I asked, worried, "Bhai, is Rudra Chachu related to my accident?" He hesitated, and I said, "Bhai, please tell me." He said, "Yes, princess. He wanted to kill Abhi, but you came in between." My heart broke as I had tears in my eyes. After everything happened, I thought he would leave us alone. I hugged Rohan bhai as I asked, "Did you catch him?" He nodded, saying, "Abhi caught him today morning, but none of us went to visit. He is in Abhi's office basement."
I looked wide-eyed, asking, "Basement?" He nodded, 'That basement Abhi uses for punishing. I've only seen people going in there and never coming back.' I shivered as I asked, "Bhai, will Maan kill him?" Bhai said, patting my head, "We didn't discuss anything about this, princess, but I am sure he will wait until you recover." I nodded as he said, "Aren't you going too far, princess, by acting?" I shook my head, saying, "I know, bhai. I am hurting him, and you know if he is hurt, I will hurt a thousand times more than him."
He asked, "Then why are you doing this?" I said, "Bhai, I gave him enough time to propose to me, but he didn't. I think he is backing off, so I wanted him to know how it would be if he let me go." He sighed, saying, "Princess, you are becoming evil these days." I smiled, saying, "Don't worry, bhai. Only five days. I will propose to him." He nodded, saying, "Don't worry about anything else. Recover fast." I nodded as I slept.
After waking up, I wanted to go to the bathroom. As I was got up, my leg was paining and I was about to fall. I shouted, "Maan!" He caught me, saying, "I am here, angel." I smiled at him as he looked at me suspiciously, asking, "You called me Maan?" I nodded, saying, "Well, you asked me to." He shook his head, saying, "No, it came out naturally." I asked, "What do you mean?" He said, "Whenever you are in danger, you call my name out naturally, since we were kids. You called me like that now. So, do you remember?"
I shook my head negatively, asking, "What do you mean, since we were kids? I just met you this morning, and I called you because you stay opposite to my room." He looked away, asking, "Okay, fine. Why did you get up?" I said, "I want to use the bathroom." He nodded, taking me there. I asked, "What? will you take me there?" He nodded, asking, "Is there any problem?" I nodded, saying, "Clearly, there is a problem. I just met you today, and you think I will allow you to take me there? What are you, my husband?"
He looked at me with dark eyes, and I stared back, saying, "Call my mom or Priya Maa." He shook his head, saying, "They are busy. Don't worry, I won't look unless you want me to." I scowled as I said, "I will go by myself then." He clutched my hand tight, saying, "You are not leaving anywhere out of my sight. I don't want to lose you again, do you understand?" He shouted.
This was the second time he shouted at me, and I had tears in my eyes as I said, "Who are you to shout at me? Let me go." I removed my hand, and he wiped my tears, saying, "Sorry, angel. I just lost control." I said, "Stop calling me angel." He said, "Okay, my queen." I glared at him. He took me to the bathroom and turned his back. I smiled as it was fun teasing him, but my heart ached seeing him like this, not being in his arms.
He bought me food to the room and fed me. I said, "I hurt my leg, not my hand. I can eat by myself." He said, "No, I will feed you." I replied, "You really frustrate me, you know?" He nodded, saying, "Well, even you are making me angry."
I looked into his eyes and asked, "What did I do to make you angry?" He said, "You were the one who pushed me and got hit by a truck yourself. You were the one who forgot me. You are the one hurting me with your words. You are the one not taking care of yourself properly even after you got hurt." He lashed out, and I was happy that he let out all his feelings.
I sighed and said, "Look, I understand your situation. My brother told me that you are very important to me, but I really can't remember you. I am sorry for that, but I am trying." He shook his head, saying, "I am sorry I lashed out." I replied, "It's fine." He fed me, even though I kept telling him not to, feeding me more than I eat every day.
I asked, "Did you love me?" He looked taken aback, gazing into my eyes, and said, "I loved you back then. I love you now, and I love you till death departs us." Tears welled up in his eyes as I pressed further, "Then why didn't you marry me back then if you loved me?" Cupping my face, he replied, "We will talk about this after you regain your memory, okay?"
I insisted, "No, I want to know the reason, or I won't allow you into my room anymore." He sighed, pleading, "Angel, please, you need to rest." Unyielding, I questioned, "So you're not telling me, are you?" He sighed again and asked, "Okay, I will tell you, but tell me, why do you want to know when you don't even remember me?" I replied, "Well, I don't know; I just thought, why didn't you marry me if you loved me." He inquired, "Really?" I looked away and affirmed, "Yes, I want to know why."
He then said, "Okay, come with me," lifting me up. He took me to the balcony, placing me on the couch, and knelt down in front of me. Looking into my eyes, he asked, "Do you remember the time we spent here?" I shook my head, replying, "No." He sighed and moved to the railing, tears welling up in his eyes.
He said, "You know, when we were kids, you used to run around me. One day, you fell and got hurt on your knee. You cried so much and said you won't follow me anymore. So, I made a promise to you that whenever you are about to fall, I will always be there to make sure you won't fall. So you made a promise to follow me until death; It was your promise, my first love's promise. I didn't know back then what love meant; I just didn't want to see you cry. And when I grew up, I realized the weight of the promise we both made. I knew you wanted me to propose back then, but I held back. Only I know how much it hurt me not to propose to you, but I felt I wasn't worth enough for you."
He continued, "You did everything you could to protect this family, to protect me. You stood beside me when others accused me, you trusted me when nobody did, you comforted me from my nightmares. You are my calm, my peace, my home, my angel, my queen. I wanted to be the same for you; I wanted to protect you and erase all the troubles away. We did it together, but there was one more thing left to handle, so I waited. I couldn't risk losing you. The fear of losing you, the love I have for you, and the guilt that I couldn't protect you the first time made me hold back. I couldn't bring myself to propose because I wanted to ensure your safety and happiness first. I didn't want anything to come between us. So, I decided to wait, to make things right before taking that step."
Tears rolled down my cheek at his confession. I thought 'he didn't love me enough to marry me, but I didn't know that he loved me so much that he held back himself to ensure my safety. How in the world did I have this man?' He came to me, wiping my tears away, and said, "Angel, you know my heart breaks every time you cry, so please stop crying, baby." I stopped crying as I thought, 'I will give you the best proposal you deserve, Maan. I will show you how much you mean to me.'
He asked, looking at me with hope, "So, do you remember anything?" I wanted to hug him then and there and tell him that I love him, but I held myself back and said, "No, Maan. I am sorry, but I promise I will try everything in my might to remember." He pressed a kiss on my forehead and said, "Don't pressure yourself, Angel. It's fine." I nodded as he lifted me again, saying, "You need to sleep now." I nodded as he placed me on my bed and was about to leave. So, I caught his hand, asking, "Can you please stay?" He nodded, smiling, as he sat beside me, soothing my hair. I slept, and before I fell asleep, I heard him say, "I lobe you, baby." I smiled as I whispered, "I lobe you too, Maan."
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I hope you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was a bit long and boring. Don't worry; the upcoming chapters will be filled with love, No more drama, so stay tuned for more! Your support means the world to me.