Raghav woke up early the next morning. Hi head was throbbing, he had barely slept, and he'd had a few too many drinks last night. He saw Pallavi sleeping peacefully and remembered Mandaar's face, also asleep peacefully, at the hospital. He had to figure something out, he couldn't let Pallavi leave him. But even if he hid the truth of Mandaar from Pallavi, even if Mandaar never woke up from his coma...would he be able to spend his life lying to the woman he loved? If he did, he might never be able to look at himself in the mirror again.
When he went downstairs he saw Farhad waiting for him. Farhad had been working for Raghav for years, so he could tell immediately when something was bothering Anna.
"What's happened Anna? Is everyone okay? Akka?"
"Everything is...not okay."
Farhad looked questioningly at Raghav.
Raghav took a deep breath, "come with me, we have to go to the hospital."
Thirty minutes later, Farhad and Raghav were standing outside of Mandaar's room, the doctor had said there had been no change since yesterday, but he was hopeful.
Farhad looked at Raghav, he had never seen him this distraught in his life, even when Amma and Keerthi had been avoiding him.
"Anna—"
"Don't you dare give me some crap about how this is Allah's will or that everything happens for a reason. This is literal proof that God not only pays attention to me, but has an active interest in bringing me misery."
"Anna, calm down. Technically, Mandaar was declared dead two years ago, so this does not automatically have any effect on you and Pallavi, right? It's not true that she'll go back to the Deshmukhs, she wouldn't—"
"Of course she will. I don't know how much she loves me Farhad, but I know that she loves her family more than her own life, including Mandaar. He was her first love, even if their marriage lasted less than a day, the happiness Pallavi got from that house is ten times what I can give her, no matter how many diamonds I smuggle into this country. That Saanki Baba will do whatever it takes to get his daughter back. So even if Pallavi loves me, my family, our life more than Mandaar and the Deshmukhs, her being the honest and self-sacrificing woman she is, will accept."
Raghav punched the wall, drawing odd looks from passing by nurses. As he slid onto the ground, his back against the wall, his head in his hands, he couldn't get the image of Pallavi's smile out his head. The way she laughed, how she took care of Amma and Keerthi, and him. The way her brows furrowed and nose scrunched up when she was angry at him. He silly sense of humor. He smiled and looked up.
"God forgive me, but I'm going to take the path of self-interest. I love her. I can't let her go."
