After the whole fiasco happened, Shanu went and stood near the door , peering through the glass partition. Her friends thought of letting her be alone for sometime and thus retreated back to their seats.

Shanu placed a tender hand on the glass partition and whispered,

Shanu: Please..... please Sahil... don't do this. Don't do this to me... please.

The nurse who was passing by, looked at her and asked,

Nurse: Is that your friend?

Shanu nodded without looking at the nurse.

Nurse: You know you can go in if you want. Many times it happens that patiens respond to the call of their dear ones.

Shanu turned to look at her. The nurse gave her an assuring smile and pushed the door to let her in.

Shanu stepped in to the room and sat next to Sahil's bed. A tear rolled down her cheek seeing his condition.

How could life be so unpredictable? Only this evening he had complimented her and joked with her and now he lied in a hospital bed with no assurance as to whether he'll survive or not.

Shanu placed a tender hand on his hand and said,

Shanu: Sahil.....I know you're mad at me. You should be. I should've told you the truth. I shouldn't have kept that secret. But I did. And I'm...... I'm really sorry for that. But you've got to know that I had my reasons..... when Kavya told me about.... you.... I didn't know how to react. I was scared that I might lose you if I told you the truth......... Sahil.... you were just getting better at it....your self confidence was back and I didn't want to ruin it all for you. I cared about you too much to do this to you.

She choked on a sob and said,

Shanu: I'm not justifying my actions...... I just want you to know that I never..... ever wanted to hurt you..... I love you Sahil.... I could never even think of hurting you. I.... just wanted to....

She was cut off mid-sentence by a loud beeping noise coming from one of the machines that was attached to Sahil. In a matter of a few minutes, Sahil's body started shaking vigorously. Shanu, panicking , got up and rushed outside to call the doctor. The doctor came in a few seconds and attended to Sahil, practically pushing the others away.

Mitali: Shanu... what's going on?! What happened?

Shanu: I don't know.... I.. I was just talking to him and he suddenly started shaking....and..

Ruhaan: Shanu....breathe, okay? Calm down....the doctor's here. He's attending to him, okay? Don't worry.

Shanu gulped and nodded slightly.

After some agonizing minutes, the doctor came out of the O.T. Everyone rushed up to him. Nandini asked,

Nandini: Doctor, how's..... how's my Sahil?

Doc: Your son has regained consciousness, Mrs. Maheshwari.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief hearing those words.

Shanu: What happened then? Why was his body..... shaking like that?

Doc: It happens sometimes when the patient tries to regain his consciousness.

Jai: Can we meet him?

Doc: You can but a little while later. He has just regained consciousness and is very weak. We'll give him some medicines and once that is done.... you can go and meet him.

Before leaving, the doctor looked at Shanu and said,

Doc: Ms. Basu..... whatever you did or said to him.....did work a miracle, I guess.

Shanu sighed softly.

Everyone hugged each other and went back to waiting.

The clock struck 3 as the doctor finally came out of the O.T. He gestured them to come with him. Pushing the door open, Nandini and Jai entered the room.

They found Sahil staring at the ceiling , a blank expression rested on his face. The doctor left the family to privacy and exited. Nandini took the chair beside Sahil's bed while Jai stood next to her.

Her voice quivered as she spoke,

Nandini: Sahil.....beta...

Sahil acknowledged her voice but remained silent.

Nandini: Sahil...... Please say something... anything.

Jai: Bro.... please.... you don't know how worried we were the whole night. Mom fainted twice.

Sahil blinked but still did not utter a word.

Nandini: I know that you are mad at me,.... Sahil.... but you have to understand my reasons too. I couldn't tell you.....it was just too overwhelming as a thought.... I didn't know how you'd react. I did think of telling you but everytime my courage failed me.

Sahil: Stop talking.

Jai and Nandini looked at him in surprise. He was still looking towards the ceiling but his eyes reflected a much more destructive storm within him.

Jai: Sahil...

Sahil: You can't just drop this big bomb on me and then not take any responsibility.

His eyes shifted towards Nandini. He spoke in a passive voice,

Sahil: You witnessed the torture I went through. You both saw the way he treated me. And did nothing. You never even stood up for me, mom , not even once. Because you were too scared. Not of me finding out the truth, no. You were scared of losing your image in my eyes. You were scared that if I knew the truth, I would look at you differently. As a cheater, to be precise.

His words felt like sharp edgy knives, piercing right where it would hurt her. Nandini felt herself sinking in the deep oceans of truth that each and every word of Sahil contained.

Jai: Sahil... you can't talk to ma like this!

Nandini: No Jai.

Jai looked at his mother questioningly.

Nandini: He's right. I deserve this. Don't stop him. Let him let it out.

Sahil stared at her for a while and said,

Sahil: If you were here to ask for forgiveness, then I'm sorry ma, I can't forgive,...not yet atleast.

Nandini hung her head as a lone tear escaped her eyes. She had anticipated a somewhat similar response from him. But not this brutal.

She stood up and went to the door, with Jai behind her, when Sahil called,

Sahil: If Shanu's outside,...... please tell her to come in. I have something to tell her too.

Nandini nodded and went out. After a while, Shanu made her way in and sat next to his bed like earlier. For a while none of them said anything. Shanu was just too overwhelmed by the fact that he was fine and out of danger and failed to blurt anything out.

Sahil deciding to break the silence said,

Sahil: I'll be honest with you.

Shanu gulped in anticipation.

Sahil: When I found out that you knew about this...... I was mad at you..... really mad. I felt betrayed. And that too by the person whom I love more than my life.

Shanu's heart lifted hearing that.

Sahil: It wouldn't have hurt if it were somebody else. But guess as they say, the worst thing about betrayal is that it never comes from strangers. It's always the ones we adore the most.

A tear stained her porcelain skin as she heard that.

Sahil: But then...... I..... realized something..... You may have kept a secret from me but I couldn't really blame you. I mean, you've been friends with me for like what? A year? When the people who have known me for my whole life..... betrayed me, how can I expect you to....

Shanu: No...Sahil.... that's not what it is.

Sahil: You can assure me that you couldn't tell me because you were afraid I might lose my self confidence. But Shanu,..... how can I have a self confidence if I didn't even know about my existence?

Shanu eyes brimmed with tears.

Sahil: I know you had your reasons. So did my mom. And so did my brother and his wife. But that doesn't change the fact that you all decieved me from my real identity.

Shanu: Sahil please.....

Sahil: I'm not mad at you like I am at them, Shanu. No,... I haven't forgiven you.... but I figured that you were only partially at fault. Kavya told you to keep this a secret...... and so you did. It's just that....right now... I really need to not be with you. Until I can fully trust you again.

Shanu's heart splattered in pieces as the words framed out of Sahil's mouth. Her face dangled with soft charcoal as her eyes failed her.

Sahil didn't glance at her even for a split second, fearing he would succumb if he saw her tears. He focused his eyes at the small black dot on the ceiling that had been a friend for about a while.

And before he could decipher , Shanu had long left the room.

Ananya and Mitali sat puzzled after a hysterical Shanu had ran out of Sahil's room, saying she needed some fresh air and left immediately. Adi and Daksh had volunteered to follow her, just in case, since the girls looked pretty exhausted.Ruhaan sat next to Jai and Kavya and tried to figure out what had gone down between the family a few minutes back.

As Mitali's eye lids lowered with sleep, her phone suddenly buzzed. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the number.

'Dadi calling'

The message flashed on the screen. 'At this hour?', she questioned herself,' Why is
dadi calling at this hour?'

She figured it best to pick up and doing the same, she said

Mitali: Dadi, iss waqt phone kyu kar rahi ho?

In response, all she heard was muffled voice and hysterical cries. For a moment, a fearful dread filled her mind.

Did something bad happen? Was dadi okay?

She hysterically asked,

Mitali: Dadi?! Dadi! Talk to me! Say something!

Everyone around her turned their attention to her.

Mitali: Dadi?

A meek honey coated voice answered in a hushed tone,

Voice: Mitali di.....

Mitali immediately recognising the voice,said,

Mitali: Payal?! Payal? What is going on? Why do you have dadi's phone?

Payal: Mitali di.....voh.....dadi....ki tabiyat bohot kharab hai..... She's really serious.

Mitali: What?! Kyu? Kaise? Kya hua hai unhe?

Payal cried even more and said,

Payal: She..... had... a stroke.....di.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys! So here's an update! I know I'm posting really late and I'm really sorry about that. I had a major writer's block. Also , next chapter is going to be a blast as some new characters are going to enter the arena! So stay tuned!

Anyways, if you liked the chapter please drop a 'VOTE' and do leave me your views 😊❤️

Love you loads,
Bosedisha