"Montu!" Sheena had a bright smile on her face as she extended her arms towards Sidharth, climbing out of his car at his place.
"Kya bandar lag rahi hai!" He commented, pulling her into a hug. She was dressed in a casual oversized tshirt over baggy jeans while her hands were cladded with bright red chooda and henna, symbolising her newly married life.
"Toh kya bahar saree-suit pehen ke niklu?" She made a face, replying to him and walking past him towards Rita Ma.
"Aunty!" She hugged her as well.
"Look at you, kitni pyari lag rahi hai." Rita Ma smiled, welcoming her into the house.
"Aja bhai." Sidharth helped Gurjot carry bags inside.
"Kaise ho bhaiya? Oh mai lata hu na, aap chalo." Gurjot greeted him, not letting him take the bags.
"Ravi time se aa gaya tha na?" Sidharth asked him, walking after him.
"Hanji." Gurjot nodded.
Everybody settled in, the newly wedded couple freshened up and joined the family at the dinner table.
"Kaisi rahi trip?" Preeti asked them.
"Arey bohot maza aaya didi! It was just us, the beach and water. Khao, piyo, pani me khelo, that's the Maldives for you!" Sheena replied excitedly and turned to her husband.
"Ha, achi jagah hai." Gurjot spoke in her favour.
"Good for you guys! I saw the pictures as well." Preeti smiled.
"Aapne shaadi ki pictures dekhi? Maine sabko link forward ki thi." Sheena asked next.
"Ha, dekhi baba. You guys had so much fun na?! Especially the Sangeet function!?" Preeti replied, everybody who had received the link to the wedding album went through the pictures and videos that covered the entire wedding ceremonies.
"Ha didi! Pucho mat itna maza aaya tha, haina Montu!?" Sheena said, turning towards Sidharth. He smiled as he nodded along.
"Aur teri wo dost, Sana? Uske Papa thik hai abhi?" Rita Ma asked after a while.
"Nahi na Aunty. Ek toh lung infection upar se heart patient hain wo. Guru bata? Isko zyada pata hai Aunty." Sheena replied, asking her husband to elaborate.
"Aunty ji, Jagjit uncle ki family history me rahe hain kuch heart patient, uspe unko kuch saal pehle hi asthma diagnose hua tha phir Punjab ki thand me unki tabiyat naram garam chalti rehti thi. Iss saal unko kuch zyada hi cough and cold hua aur Chandigarh wale unke doctor ne pneumonia hai bola. Usi ka treatment ek mahina chala humari shaadi ke time." As Gurjot spoke, everybody listened.
"Abhi 3 din pehle Delhi aaye tabhi unko vomiting shuru ho gayi, ek baar ko toh CT scan hi raha tha tabhi wo behosh ho gaye the andar machine ke." He added.
"Arey baapre." Rita Ma was shocked and so was everybody.
"Parso admit karne bola waha ke senior doctor ne, treatment sara shuru kar diya hai filhal. Heart patient hain uncle toh ICU me rakha hua hai." He informed them.
"Ah! Reminds me of the time jab Dad admit the. Humari toh neend udi hui thi." Preeti couldn't help but recall her the time father's deteriorated health had them worried sick. She could relate to Shehnaaz's situation at the moment, almost all of her family members could.
Sidharth didn't say anything, he didn't have words to describe how it felt when he saw his father passing away in front of his eyes. Even though it had been a decade since Ashok Shukla's demise, his family and children have always felt the void a father had left behind. With time they managed to learn how to live without him and cherished his memories and belongings close to their heart when they thought of him.
The other day, Sidharth had taken it upon himself to drop off Sheena and Gurjot to the airport again.
"Dhyaan rakhna udhar sabka." He told Sheena as she came forward to hug him before it was time for her to board.
"Ha. Tu bhi dhyan rakhna." She replied.
"Update karte rehna. Idhar Mumbai me bhi bohot achi facilities hain, just lemme know if I can help." He told Gurjot as the guys shook hands together.
"Ha bilkul paji. I have your number." Gurjot nodded, he could see the concern in his eyes. Even though Shehnaaz had denied having anything that related her to Sidharth, he wasn't able to believe that these two didn't have anything in between them. The moment he had casually teased her about how she was looking at Sidharth, he also found Sidharth looking at her. He used to think that it was all inside his head but a very small part of him wanted to prove that instinct right.
Walking out of the airport, Sidharth sat inside his car and felt his phone vibrate. It was Shehnaaz. The two had been texting back and forth a little.
'Movie suggestions?' she was asking. He was a little surprised by the question, wondering if she had free time.
'Family movie batana.. Papa ko neend nahi aati toh mujhe pareshan karte hain.. ab kitni baatein karega banda..' another text arrived and it made sense now.
'Sahi hai.. sholay.. deewar.. angoor..' he replied.
'Papa ke time ki movies hai ye toh.. wo sab dekh chuke.. mujhse latest movies ke bare me puch rahe the..' she specified the kind of movies she was looking for.
'Latest toh mujhe bhi idea ni.. dekhle shayad SRK ki aayi thi ek movie abhi..' he thought about it and then texted back, put his seatbelt on and let the key hang in its place before turning on the ignition.
'Hm.. bolte toh aise.. jaise movie dekhenge din raat😂' she replied. Her father seemed a little too unbelievable for a man in the ICU, the continuous mediations, doctor check ups were making him more sick than he already was and he had been bugging his daughter to get him some Netflix available.
'Jabki cough aur badh gayi hai.. saans bhi lene me takleef hai inko.. bas dikhane ke liye thik hu bolte rahenge..' she added, slightly worried about her father and irritated by him at the same time.
'I think wo na tumlog ka mood thik karne ke liye aise karte hai..' Sidharth told her.
'Hmm.. especially Mummy ke liye.. she cries like there's no tomorrow!' she was quick to agree with him, of course she knew how and why her father was behaving like that.
'How's he doing today?' he inquired.
'I don't know.. doctor khud hi kehte ke wo sure ni hai.. patient ki body jaisa respond kare uspe depend karta hai..' she stared at his text for a while because she didn't know how to answer.
'Hmm.. wait kar.. time lagega..' he assured. He knew what it felt like to have a parent undergoing treatment in the hospital.
'Hmm.. chal bye..' she texted, once she was done with her coffee and also because she didn't have much to talk. Her mind was kind of blank, unable to keep the conversation alive and interesting like once it used to. She had a lot on her table at the moment.
'Yeah.. bye.. take care' he replied, kept his phone aside and turned the ignition on. He didn't know why did the two were not in touch for the past 10 days or so because nothing really felt awkward while texting her. Well, it was definitely not the time to flirt and joke so it was okay to have simple conversations.
About missing her, he knew where she was and what she had been through so he wasn't really missing her or expecting her texts. Their friendship wasn't based on constant contact, or maybe it was but it didn't need that constant touch to survive. They were anyway connected through Sheena so they would never technically go out of each other's sight and knowledge.
Gurjot and Sheena didn't take long to reach Delhi, they dropped their stuff at his place and made their way to the hospital.
"Aunty." Sheena saw Madhu, greeted and hugged her. The couple touched her feet.
"Jeete raho! Haaye, kinni soni lag rahi hai." Madhu smiled at her, cupping her face.
"Shaadi ke baad pehli baar mil rahe ho aur mere pass shagan bhi nahi hai dene ke liye." She was upset as she mentioned that.
"Kaisi baatein kar rahe ho aunty!? Uncle kaise hai abhi?" Gurjot chided, wrapping his arm around her.
"Vaisi hain puttar, doctor ne kehna ke BP bada fluctuate ho raha hai aaj." She replied.
"Acha. Sana kaha hai?" He asked.
"Bas apne Papa se milne gayi hai, ab wo ghar jayegi. Raat bhar ruki thi na, abhi din me meri bari hai." She replied.
"Abhi toh dophar hogyi hai, aunty! Raat se Sana yahi hai!" Sheena was stunned.
"Ha dekhna, maanti nahi hai madam, meri baat." Madhu nodded. Her daughter wouldn't care what the time was, she wanted to be close to her father all the time and watch him recover. By the time she was home, she'd cook and join her office online because she had already taken a lot of leaves so her manager didn't approve of another.
"Aa gayi." Gurjot saw Shehnaaz walking out of the ICU ward and smiling at them when she noticed that they were here.
"Kya kar rahe hain Uncle?" Sheena asked a lighter question as she took her best friend in a tight hug, feeling as if she wasn't there when Shehnaaz might have needed her.
"Bhook lag rahi bol rahe hain." Shehnaaz chuckled, hugging her friends.
"Aap jao Mummy, Papa puch rahe the." She told her mother and Madhu nodded, taking her leave.
"Aaj Mama ne bola ke bari call karenge Dr. Singh ko, lekin wo bol rahe the ke case critical hai. 70+ hain uncle, operation nahi kar sakte. Bohot risk hai." Gurjot told her.
"Hmm. Dr. Singh bhi kuch clearly nahi bol rahe upar se Inka BP fluctuate ho raha hai, treatment rokna pada." She replied.
"Aise fluctuate hota hai Sana, tension me-" He was trying to assure her when she didn't let him.
"Kitna bola maine dusre doctor ko bhi dikha lete hain, second opinion hona zaruri hai. Lekin nahi, 'mai thik hu. Mai thik hu' karte rahe!" Shehnaaz mentioned.
"Sana.." Sheena moved closer, looping an arm around her friend.
"Ek mahine se zyada! January se tabiyat zyada kharab hui aur tabse galat treatment chal raha tha. I kept asking him but he would always deny it, every time he said he was doing fine!" Shehnaaz vented out, there were no traces of tears around her eyes but her dark circles had begun to show up.
"Baith tu." Gurjot said, making her sit on the metallic chairs aligned in the hospital corridor.
"Je pehlaan Papa ne meri gal suni hudi. Chita na karo, mai theek haan. Mai theek haan." She kept talking, repeating what all her father used to say.
"Meri gal sun, iss situation hune focus kar. Tu Uncle naal lad sakdi hai, jadon oh thik ho javenge. Calm down now." He told her, taking a seat next to her, gesturing to his wife to do the same.
"Yaar Aunty aise hi pareshan hai, tu shaant reh abhi. Sara hospital ka kaam tereko sambhalna hai na. Mat bol abhi ye sab." Sheena told her, tucking her friend's hair behind her ear and setting them at the back to soothe her.
"Isliye, bas isliye chup hu." Shehnaaz mumbled.
"My baby." Sheena pulled her friend close to her chest and hugged her tight, fighting her tears. Her friend was one of the strongest girls she had ever met and her heart went out to her.
"Tujhe pata direct flight nahi mili toh hum ek night karke aaye Montu ke ghar." She told her, wanting to change the topic for now, to divert her friend's mind.
"Ha? Mumbai?" Shehnaaz didn't know that they were at Sidharth's place.
"Hana, isliye toh ek din extra laga aane me. Khair, Montu, Aunty, didi sab puch rahe the tujhe." Sheena replied.
"Acha." Shehnaaz nodded.
"You didn't know? I thought you guys were in touch." Gurjot shrugged and Shehnaaz gave him a sharp and challenging look. He dare not say it infront of Sheena.
"Matlab, tune usko birthday party me bulaya tha. Toh mujhe laga.." he shrugged, looking away. There was definitely something that he had been holding on to, he knew what his friend's angry eyes look meant.
"Guru, wo toh kitni purani baat hai." Sheena replied, rolling her eyes at her husband.
"Hm. Vaise bhi teri shaadi toh uss Dev se hogi. Tu usse touch me rehna, ha?" He told her, teasing her about the proposal.
"Chup be!" Shehnaaz spat, swatted his arm tightly and looked away irritatedly.
"Chal kuch kha ke aate hain, phir tu ghar chali jana. Mai aur Guru rukenge thodi der." Sheena suggested, tagging her friend along towards the cafeteria.
"Hmm. Nahana hai mujhe. Phir login karke behenchod mails dekhne hain, office se poori chhuti nahi mili hai." Shehnaaz sighed, she was getting exhausted while working and looking after her father simultaneously.
"Tera manager ek number ka haraamkhor hai. Meri shaadi ke time bhi leave ke liye mach mach kar raha tha." Sheena commented.
"Soch rahi thi, ye sab sort ho jata phir dekhti hu kahi aur job. 2 mahine hain contract ke, ya toh dobara interview dena hoga ya LR leke nikal jaungi." Shehnaaz told her.
"Dekh le tu. Aram se sochna is bare me, abhi toh time hai." Sheena replied, ordering sandwiches for the two of them.
"Ha pehle Papa thik ho jayein." Shehnaaz nodded, taking a seat on a small table.
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Hello everybody, I've published chapter 21 of Rab Rakha again because people were not able to see it, also because the summary was not in the right order after the 20th part. I'll be very thankful if you all could vote and comment again please. I realised later that all those would vanish if I deleted the original and posted it again 😭😭
This chapter significantly talks about one thing that I mentioned earlier that we'll also explore the importance of friendship in this story because any love story just doesn't combine two leads and their conversations. Any story has to have that base upon which the love revolves around. You need to have friends in your story.
Yeah, so anyway, anybody team Gurjot here? That man is a smart one.
How about Sidharth and Shehnaaz getting back on each other's WhatsApp?!