Part 45
As soon as Ranbir opened the door and they entered the suite, Prachi sneezed loudly and Ranbir turned to her with a see-what-happened-now look.
Prachi offered a sheepish smile but this time her smile did not distract him. In fact his frown grew deeper. He walked over to her.
"This is what I was talking about. I warned you that you will catch cold. But do you ever listen to me? No. Never. I only talk nonsense, don't I? Now, see what happened." Ranbir glared at her.
"Ranbir! Calm down! It's just a sneeze. It's not as if I am running a fever. You are overreacting, you know." Prachi rolled her eyes.
"No I am not. You just...." Ranbir couldn't complete what he was about to say as a soft palm covered his mouth, cutting the flow of his words effectively.
"I am in a very good mood today. Please don't spoil it by scolding me." Prachi made a puppy face.
As usual her one gesture was enough to melt his resolve. He sighed, then kissed the palm that was covering his mouth. Prachi took her hand back, blushing.
"Okay. You go and freshen up and I will order our dinner." Ranbir smiled.
Prachi smiled back and tottered off while Ranbir picked the cordless receiver up.
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Prachi was toweling her hair dry as she sauntered out of the washroom. Out of the blue, she sneezed again. She glanced around hastily but to her good fortune, Ranbir was not in their bedroom at the moment. He was taking shower in the washroom of the other bedroom. Prachi sighed in relief. She didn't want him to know that she had felt even the hot water a bit cold. Probably she was running a light fever. It wouldn't be a problem surely. She was sure it would soon wear off.
She chose an elegant and stylish outfit for the outing.
No sooner did she get herself dressed in her chosen outfit than Ranbir sauntered into the room, clad in a smart winter outfit himself.
Ranbir walked over to her and placed his hands on her waist, pulling her closer.
"You want the guys to kill each other?" Ranbir raised his brows, his eyes glinting with a playful smile.
"Why?" Prachi stared at him in innocent confusion.
"Well, obviously, if you will look so gorgeous, the guys will fight each other for you." Ranbir smirked.
"Ranbir! You are incorrigible. And if that is the case, then I will have to fight girls off, you are looking that handsome." Prachi giggled.
Ranbir chuckled while Prachi laughed. He was about to touch his forehead to her when Prachi recalled suddenly that she she was probably running a temperature and Ranbir will blow a gasket if he would come to know about it. He would probably admit her to a hospital. Sometimes his overprotective nature could be a pain in the neck.
Instantly, Prachi moved back, making Ranbir frown.
"What happened?" Ranbir raised a brow.
"We are getting late. Let's go." Prachi grabbed his hands over his coat and dragged him away.
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They visited a famous mall of the place. They shopped for themselves as well as for their family and friends. As they were passing by a shop, something caught Ranbir's attention. Asking her to wait for a while, he disappeared in the shop. Several minutes ticked by and Prachi was growing impatient. Just when she decided to enter the shop in search of him, something cold slid down her neck and came to rest halfway down her neck. Bemused, she looked down and holding the object raised it to eye level for better observation. The confusion in her eyes was replaced by awe and her lips curved into a sweet smile. She was holding a beautiful pendent. Like her it was also simple yet elegantly beautiful. It was in perfect harmony with her nature.
Prachi whirled around to see a smiling Ranbir, with a happy glint in her eyes.
"How is it?" Ranbir inquired.
"It's beautiful." Prachi beamed.
"Not more than you." Ranbir smiled.
They both laughed softly. Ranbir extended his arm and she entwined his arm around his and together walked away to check some other shops.
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They had been roaming around for about one and a half hour, when Prachi began to feel dizzy. She began to shiver a little. Probably the fever was gaining strength.
"Prachi! What's wrong? Are you alright?" Ranbir looked at her concernedly.
"Yes, yes. I am fine. " Prachi was quick to assure him.
"Then why were you shivering?" Ranbir frowned.
"Just the chilly winds." Prachi forced a smile.
"Sure?" Ranbir raised his brows.
"Yeah." Prachi forced another smile.
Ranbir was still suspicious that somewhere, something was not right but didn't put much objection when she urged him to keep walking.
After a while, another bout of dizziness attacked Prachi and this time she failed to control herself. Darkness sucked her in. She toppled over but Ranbir managed to hold her in his arms. He looked down at her worriedly, patting her cheeks, again and again.
"Prachi! Prachi! Wake up, please." Ranbir looked around frantically.
Someone placed a hand over Ranbir's shoulder. Ranbir turned his head to see a pretty woman in her late twenties and clad in a smart black suit was staring at him worriedly.
"May I check her? I am a doctor." She introduced herself.
"Doctor? Yes. Please. Thank you." Ranbir spluttered.
"The pleasure is absolutely mine." The woman knelt down beside Prachi and began to check her.
Ranbir looked on anxiously. After few moments of hiatus, the newcomer looked up and met his eyes with a benevolent smile.
"Don't worry. She is just running a fever. Nothing to worry about. I will give her medicines for fever and it will go down. But my medicine bag is at my home. So, if you have no objections, you can come with her to my home. Here is my ID. Who is she to you?" The lady handed over the ID proof that identifies her as doctor.
"She is my wife. Okay, we will come to your home. Thank you for taking so much trouble for us." Ranbir expressed his gratitude.
"Oh, your wife? Okay. And like I have already said, the pleasure is absolutely mine. Come, let's go." The doctor walked away.
Ranbir picked Prachi up in his arms and walked over to the lady's car as he had let the cab they had arrived at the mall in, go. He settled on the back seat with Prachi while the lady settled down in the driver's seat. Soon, the car pulled away.
After about half an hour, they reached a beautiful bungalow in a picturesque locality. A small orchard fenced on all sides encompassed the bungalow. The fences on either side met the medium sized iron gate that guarded the entrance to the winded pathway that led to the bungalow through the orchard.
The car came to a halt and the woman fished out a remote from her purse. She pressed a button and unlocked the gate. She restarted the car and drove through the pathway leading to the bungalow.
They disembarked from the car and Ranbir picked Prachi up in his arms again. The lady unlocked the door and entered the house. Ranbir followed her with Prachi in his arms.
On the lady's instructions, he laid Prachi on the couch in the living room. The woman trotted off and after a while brought her medicine bag.
She injected medicine into Prachi's body. After a few minutes, Prachi's eyes fluttered and opened finally. After regaining consciousness, she looked around blearily. Confusion clouded her visage as she encountered an unknown surrounding. However, as Ranbir knelt down beside her and caught hold of her hand, relief filtered into her eyes.
"You had fainted in the mall. How are you feeling now? Why didn't you tell me that you are running a fever? Do you know how worried I was?" Ranbir continued without a break.
"I am feeling much better now. Take a breath atleast." Prachi giggled weakly.
"You shouldn't have neglected your fever." The doctor smiled amiably.
Prachi's confusion as she stared at the doctor reminded Ranbir that he had forgotten to introduce them in his worry for Prachi.
"Right. Prachi, she is the doctor who saved you. Dr...." Ranbir looked at the woman.
He had only just realized that he had completely forgotten to ask the doctor's name who had helped them so much.
"Kiara. Kiara Khurana." The woman smiled.
Prachi turned towards the woman with a jerk. Ranbir, who was unaware of the reason of his wife's anxiety, smiled back at Kiara.
"Kiara?" Prachi mumbled.
"Thank you, Dr. Kiara. Thank you so much. By saving Prachi's life you have actually saved mine." Ranbir expressed his gratitude.
"You really love her very much, don't you?" Kiara smiled.
"I do." Ranbir nodded.
Kiara bent down and placed a hand over Prachi's head, caressing her hair lovingly.
"I don't know why, but I am feeling a deep bond with you, Prachi. Tomorrow is my 2nd wedding anniversary. Why don't you two join us? We can get to know each other better and you can meet my husband too." Kiara suggested.
"I have a same feeling. I feel a deep connection to you in spite of the fact that we are strangers. We would love to come." Prachi smiled.
Ranbir smiled and nodded his consent as both Prachi and Kiara looked at him. After a little chit chat over coffee for Kiara and Ranbir and warm milk for Prachi, when Prachi began to feel much better, Pranbir took Kiara's leave and left the bungalow. They had already booked a cab over the phone which was waiting at the gate. Kiara escorted them to the cab and waved at them while they got into the cab. They waved back at her and soon the car pulled away.
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Next day
A party was going on in full swing in the Khurana House. Waiters were moving about with trays of delicacies and both soft and hard drinks. Kiara was mixing with her guests when she came across a couple entering the living room and her lips curved into a welcoming smile.
Kiara instantly began to walk towards them. As she reached them, she and Prachi hugged and greeted each other and then Kiara and Ranbir greeted each other.
"Come, you two, let me introduce you with my husband, Kabir." Kiara clasped Prachi's hands and took them to a man who was facing away from them, engrossed in conversation with a group of men.
"Kabir" Kiara called out.
Kabir Khurana turned around and smiled seeing them. They greeted each other.
"Since last evening, she is talking about you. She talked about you so much that I feel I already known you without even seeing you." Kabir chuckled.
All four of them were engrossed in conversation when a mishap took place. A waiter, who was making rounds with a trays full of soft drinks, accidentally bumped into Prachi and spilled orange juice over her dress.
"I am so sorry, madam. Please. I am very sorry." The waiter began to apologize profusely.
"It's okay. I know it was not intentional. Accidents happen. Please calm down and carry on your job." Prachi reassured him.
"Prachi, you are such a sweet girl." Kabir smiled.
"Thank you, Mr. Khurana." Prachi smiled.
"You can call me Kabir bhai. You remind me of the little sister I never had." Kabir explained.
"Okay, Kabir Bhai." Prachi chirped.
Both Ranbir and Kiara beamed at the adorable brother and sister.
"Prachi, I think you should go and clean this up. Otherwise the stain will become hard to remove. You can use the washroom in our bedroom. It's right there." Kiara suggested and gestured towards the room at the right.
"Okay, di. I can call you di na?" Prachi asked.
"Sure you can." Kiara replied.
Prachi trotted off.
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As she entered the room, Prachi went straight towards the washroom and cleaned up the mess. As she sauntered out of the washroom, the first thing to catch her eye was a huge photo frame featuring a girl of about seven or eight years and a boy of about ten or eleven years. To say that she was shocked was an understatement, she was flabbergasted more like. It was the picture of her elder sister, Kiara. The niggling doubt that had taken root in her mind began to gain strength. She called Ranbir and asked her to bring Kiara and Kabir to the room. After a while, as all three of them entered the room, they found Prachi staring unblinkingly at the portrait.
"Prachi! what's wrong?" Ranbir looked at her worriedly.
"Nothing is wrong. In fact I think everything is about to turn right. Whose picture is that?" Prachi was still staring at the picture.
Kiara and Kabir followed her gaze and looked at the picture and then at each other, bemused.
"That's me and Kabir. Why?" Kiara replied, nonplussed.
"Di, you are alive!" Prachi walked over to Kiara and hugged a stunned Kiara.
"What do you mean? Who are you?" Kiara asked after coming out of the hug.
"I am your younger sister, Prachi, daughter of Abhishek and Pragya Mehra, your parents who still shed tears thinking about you whom they think to be dead." Prachi revealed.
Tears welled up in Kiara's eyes as she stared at the girl in front of her incredulously. A sudden quiet had taken over the ambience within the room.
"You are one of the twins?" Kiara asked in a tear clogged voice.
"Yes, di. I am the elder twin. But di, if you are alive then why didn't you let ma and papa know? Do you know how much grief they are in after losing you? They smile and be playful but the deep sadness can still be seen in their eyes." Prachi walked over to Kiara and the sisters held each other's hands.
"I can understand. But I had no other option. After falling into the water, I was unconscious. I was rescued by Kabir's dad who had gone for a picnic with family on the banks of the river. I was unconscious for six months. Kabir's dad was a doctor too. He treated me and I regained consciousness after six months. I told them about mama and papa and they took me to our home. But they had shifted from that house and I had no idea where they had gone. Then Kabir's parents took me away with them and I found parents' in them and a best friend in Kabir. As we grew up, friendship blossomed into love and mom and dad got us married. But even they left us alone a year ago. They died in a plane crash last year. But now that God has given me another opportunity to get my parents' back, I will not lose it." Kiara squeezed her eyes shut as tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Yes, di. Ma and Papa will be ecstatic to see their daughter, their first born back. We are leaving for India after some days. You can come with us. Till then you can wrap up your pending works and commitments here." Prachi suggested.
"Yes. Yes, I will do just that. I, too, can't wait to meet my family again." Kiara smiled through tears.
The sisters hugged each other while Ranbir and Kabir smiled affectionately at them.
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The rest few days went in fun and frolic and a lot of romance for Prachi and Ranbir and finally it was time for them to return home. Kiara and Kabir joined them in the airport. After hours, the plane landed on the soil of India.
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Mehra and Kohli Mansion
Everyone had gathered in the living room and had been engrossed in conversation about the double weddings as they had decided to keep both the weddings and all the rituals on same dates.
"Ma, Papa." Prachi, who had sauntered into the living room along with Ranbir, called out.
"Prachi! You are back." Pragya smiled and got to her feet, followed by Abhishek.
Others followed suit too.
"Yes. And I have brought a very precious gift for both of you. Can you recognize who she is?" Prachi gestured to Ranbir and both moved away in either side, leaving Kiara to the full view of their parents.
Let's end it here. ;) Hope you all like the part.
Precap– A major twist in the tale
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