Yo! Back with another chapter. Hope you like!

Anyways, Onwards!!!

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

Chapter 3 - Friends Again

Ragini woke up groggily and looked at the time. '7 am already? I must leave soon!' She got up and hurried to the washroom to get ready.

The moment she gained consciousness the previous day, she wanted to go visit Sanskar. However, her family members wanted her to rest. She eventually relented and decided to go to the hospital the next morning.

After sometime...

Parvati saw Ragini rush out of her room and head for the gate. "Ladoo! Wait a minute."

Ragini paused and waited for Parvati to come closer.

"You're going to the hospital, right? Take this to Sanskar. Its prasad from the temple."

"Thank you Dadi. I'll try to make him eat it."

"Hahaha... He will eat it on his own now ladoo. Durgaprasad called this morning and said that Sanskar has become normal again."

Ragini's eyes widened and she broke out into a smile.

"Then I must leave soon to meet him!" Ragini was about to leave, but a thought struck her "Dadi, I know that he is normal again and he has his family to take care of him. But I...I want to help him. I kind of feel responsible for his accident."

"I thought you would say that." Parvati said with a smile "But don't worry, I won't stop you. Sanskar saved my precious granddaughter. There is nothing more important than you for me. For that, I would never stop you from meeting him."

Ragini gave her a hug."Thank you Dadi!"

#City Hospital#

Sanskar was bored, bored and bored of being bored in the gloomy hospital room.

Only Annapurna and Adarsh were at the hospital now, as Laksh had left early for home. Sanskar never liked hospitals and even now, he was whining to go home. The doctors told them that he could be taken home, but full care should be taken of him. Adarsh went with the doctor to deal with the formalities.

Sanskar looked up from his conversation with Annapurna when he heard a knock on the door.

"May I come in?" Sanskar recognized it as Ragini's voice.

"Sure."

Ragini entered the room and gave Sanskar a bright smile. Her smile dimmed when she saw him lying on the hospital bed. She couldn't help but feel that it was somewhat her fault.

She went near him and spoke gently. "Sanskar, is it true that-"

Sanskar gave her a smile and nodded "Yes, I'm back to normal Ragini."

Ragini came forward and gave him a hug.

"Thank you for saving me dost." She broke the hug and glared at him "But never do that again! What if something had happened to you? Don't you ever think before doing anything?"

"I did think. It was the thought that I had to save you somehow. And I did just that. Wasn't it heroic?" He said with an arrogant smirk.

"Heroic? You could have got terribly hurt! It's a relief that its nothing serious. But what if something had happened, huh?" She looked at him with concern.

Sanskar held Ragini's hands in his."Ragini, stop thinking about the past alright? The only thing that matters is that I'm alright now. So stop giving me that frown and smile. Otherwise your face might stick that way and no boy would look at you." He teased.

Ragini glared at him and hit him playfully on the arm.

"Ow! I'm an injured man lying on the bed and you're hitting me? You're so cruel Ragini. Badi Maa, look how she is treating me."

"Hahaha...You were the one teasing her Sanskar."

Sanskar put a hand over his heart dramatically. "I get it now. No one loves me. Oh this cruel, cruel world!" He cried out, faking sorrow.

Ragini and Annapurna looked at each other and giggled at his antics.

"Sanskar, feeling better?" uttered Adarsh, as he came in. When Sanskar nodded, he turned to Annapurna "Maa, there are some medical papers that need your signature. Please come with me." Annapurna nodded and moved out with him.

Ragini and Sanskar were the only ones left in the room.

"So? What punishment have you decided for Laksh?"

"It wasn't his fault Sanskar. It was the circumstances that made him take those decisions."

"I understand that the circumstances were difficult. But that is no excuse for what he did! Laksh isn't a little boy. He is a grown adult. He should be able to judge what is right and what is wrong! You forgive too easily Ragini."

"I'm not forgiving him for himself, but I am doing it for myself." on seeing Sanskar's confused look, she explained "Sanskar, I just want to forget everything like a bad dream and start a new. I...I want to start over like a new person. And this time, I want to live the way I want."

She placed her hand on Sanskar's "You made me realize that I was living the way others wanted, always listening and never expressing what I want, always living to please others. But now...now I want to live my own life my way, make my own choices. I don't care if I mess it up, but at least I would be happy knowing that I'm the one in control of my own life. That is why I want to forget everything and start a new. But I can't move forward if I keep holding onto past grudges. For that, I need to forgive both Laksh and Swara."

Sanskar kept looking intently at her. Finally he smiled and nodded "I'm glad you've decided to change things. Its time you realized your own value." He put forward his hand. "And remember, this dost of yours is always with you in every step. I'll help you, like you helped me."

Ragini smiled and placed her hand on his. "Thank you dost."

Sanskar's mood suddenly became gloom, which Ragini noticed. "Is something wrong Sanskar?"

Sanskar sighed "Its...it's just that now that I'm back to being the old me, you need not come to the Maheshwari Mansion. I wish you would still come visit me everyday."

Ragini smiled "If you're worried about that, then your worries are useless."

Sanskar looked at her confused. "What do you mean?" 😕

"Because I would be visiting you everyday and taking care of you till you are completely fine. Even Dadi allowed it." 😁

"Eh? You don't need to do that Ragini. That is unnecessary."

"Yes, I need to do that since you did so much for me. You saved me Sanskar."

"Yes, you already thanked me for saving your life an-" He paused when he saw Ragini shake her head.

"Not only that Sanskar. You saved me from being broken emotionally. You were the one who made me realize that what I felt for Laksh was not true love, but an illusion. Although you didn't do it on purpose, you made me see the truth." She held Sanskar's hands in hers "If you hadn't made me realize,then maybe....maybe I wouldn't have been able to handle Laksh's rejection. I would have kept thinking that I was rejected by the one I love and I would have no doubt harmed myself or maybe....maybe chosen a wrong path."

"You are a good person Ragini. There is no way that you could become evil!"

"Never say never Sanskar. You don't know how deep my obsession for Laksh was. What if I plotted against Laksh and Swara. What if I harmed Swara out of jealousy? What if I harmed you, or your family?!"

Sanskar held her by the shoulders and made her look into his eyes "Hey, listen to me. The only thing that matters is that you got out of your obsession. You realized the truth and even if something bad was to happen, it won't happen now, alright? So leave the sad face and give me a bright smile, will you?"

Ragini gave him wide smile, and he smiled back. Suddenly, Swara burst into the room.

"Ragini? Maa said you wanted to talk to me?" Swara asked hopefully, smiling widely. Ragini had not talked to her after finding out the truth. Swara tried to talk to her at home, but Ragini would not respond. When her Maa told her that Ragini wanted to talk to her, she was overwhelmed with happiness. She couldn't wait and went in search of Ragini. Her Dida told her Ragini was at the hospital and so she rushed to the hospital as fast as she could. She was about to speak again, when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Swara?" she turned to find it was Laksh. At once her smile disappeared and she looked at him with hatred.

"Keep my name out of your mouth! Didn't I tell you not to show your face to me?"

Laksh looked at her confused "But Swara, one of your friends called when I had just reached the hospital. She told me that you wanted to meet me at the old factory. However, I saw you enter the hospital and so I followed you here. Why are you behaving like you don't know anything?"

"Enough Laksh! There is a limit to lying! I never called you. How could you lie about it!?"

"But Swara I-"

"Laksh isn't lying Swara." they both turned to Ragini as she spoke. "It is I who called you to the old factory Laksh. I was about to take Swara there too, because I wanted to talk to both of you together. Since you both are here now, I might as well talk to you now."

"Hello Ragini. Good morning. How are you today?" asked Laksh. Sanskar noted that Laksh was trying to be extra nice to Ragini.

'Oh, so that's it! He's trying to mend his friendship with Ragini again. I bet it's probably because he wants to look good in front of Swara. He knows that Swara would never accept him if Ragini hates him.' Sanskar thought in anger.

"How do you think I will be Laksh? After everything you and Swara did? After you lied about such a thing." Swara and Laksh looked down in shame.

"You and Swara hurt me, betrayed my trust, played with my feelings." Ragini spoke with a soft voice, but its effects on Laksh and Swara were devastating.

"Ragini please listen to me. I-"

"Not this time Swara. Today, you will listen while I speak. Besides, I've always lived listening. I always listened and obeyed what others told me. Dadi told me that Laksh was my love, my future husband, and so....so I started dreaming of having a future with Laksh. But what did I get in return?"

Swara was in tears, while Laksh began apologizing "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry Ragini. I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted to hurt you. I'm really very sorry."

Sanskar glared at him. His Badi Maa told him everything that happened after he came out of the house to find Ragini. 'You think you can make everything right again just by saying a little sorry to Ragini? You think a simple apology would be the solution to all her problems!? I understand that you were in a difficult position, but that doesn't mean that you should have played with her life like that. If I was in your place, I would have also agreed to marry Ragini to save you. But I would have fully given her the right of a wife and wouldn't have betrayed her. If she was the means of saving you, then I would have been forever grateful to her and repayed her by being a good husband.'

Ragini gave Laksh a wry smile "You always do this Laksh. You keep making mistakes and then apologize to me. And I... I forgive you everytime. Even this time I would forgive you. But would this change the fact that you used me Laksh?"

Sanskar looked at Ragini. She was barely holding back her tears. He took her hand and squeezed it. When she looked at him, he nodded and encouraged her to go on. He tried to express his thoughts to her through his eyes 'Your dost is right here. Speak what you need to. Don't hold back!'

Ragini gave him a grateful look and firmly gripped his hand. She took a deep breath and continued "But in a way, what you did Laksh, made me realize that I can't keep living like this. All this pain needs to end. And I know how to end it." She stood up "From today, I want to begin a new chapter of my life and forget whatever happened. I won't be able to erase those memories...that pain, as it has already been written in ink in my life. But what I can do is flip a page and turn to the next page, to write a new chapter. That is why....that is why I want to forgive you and Swara. I don't want to hold any grudges. And I also do not want both of you to feel guilty anymore. Just forget everything and lets start as friends again, shall we?" she spoke with a smile.

Swara was crying profusely and rushed forward to pull Ragini into a hug. "Ragini....Ragini please forgive me. I swear I would never lie to you again. I'm sorry for thinking that you were weak and wouldn't be able to handle the truth. But I promise I'll make things right from now on. Never again will I disappoint you or hide anything from you. Thank you for giving me another chance."

Sanskar was happy that Ragini was finally able to speak out her heart and finally let it all out. Now, he knew that she was truly ready to start over.

"I'll go home and make halwa. I know how much you much you like it! Come home soon!" saying that, Swara moved out of there, without a glance at Laksh. She was still pissed at him.

Laksh looked at her go in disappointment and turned to Ragini "Thank you for forgiving me Ragini. You are truly an amazing person."

Sanskar glared at Laksh 'Unbelievable! You still don't realize the depth of your actions, do you? Disgusting!' 😡

"Um..bhai, why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?" 😓

"Yes. Your face is what is wrong Lucky. I think it would look better with a black eye." 😡

Ragini and Laksh looked at him wide-eyed. 😨

Sanskar mentally smacked himself 'Damn! I think I spoke that out loud. Time to do some damage control.' 😅

"Hahaha... Why are you both looking at me like that. I was just joking Lucky. Hahaha..."

Ragini chuckled and turned to Laksh "He has been acting like this since I came. I think the morphine that the doctors gave him are making him act so out of character."

Laksh nodded in understanding and checked his watch. "I better go and get the car ready. I will soon get you home bhai. See ya later Ragini, Sanky."

Once Laksh left, Ragini turned to Sanskar "Alright, you can't fool me. You really meant it when you said that you wanted to hit Laksh, didn't you?" 😂

"Its not like he didn't deserve it!" 😔

"Then you should get well soon if you want to punch him so much. Because in this state, he will be the one to give you a black eye." Ragini joked.

"Huh! As if! I can beat him even in this state. In my college days, I used to beat up five goons together to save my girl!" 😉

"Oh? and who is this lucky girl?" Ragini asked with a smile.

At once Sanskar's smile disappeared. Ragini noticed this and realized that something bad must have happened to her.

"I'm sorry Sanskar. I shouldn't have asked. I-"

"Its okay Ragini. You don't need to apologize. You don't know what happened."

Ragini hesitated, but slowly she spoke up "Would you...would you share it with me?"

Sanskar shook his head "I can't tell you now Ragini. The wound is still raw. Talking about her only brings back pain and hurt. Let the wound heal and maybe....maybe one day I'll tell you."

"Okay Sanskar. But remember, friendship is a two way relationship. You helped me when I needed help and you should also let me help you. I'm always there for you dost."

Both smiled at each other and started chatting about mundane things.

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To be continued...