Tere Liye | ✔

Chapter Four - A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed

Earlier comments on this chapter has been deleted as they would not make any sense with the revised version of 'Tere Liye'. Just a note to old readers, those comments are still very special for me and I have them stored with me to cherish forever. I just don't want any confusion for new readers.

Hope you enjoy! :)

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The engine of the car snarled obnoxiously as Arnav drove briskly on the road. His mind has as if forgotten the very definition of safety as he navigated recklessly, hearing simply one thing being repeated in his ears -

Khushi was in hospital. She met with an accident.

The sheer panic that had gripped his being the second his brain registered this information, was indescribable. His heart had dropped, literally down the deepest valley of fear and he seriously wished it were a joke but as he checked his phone which had been on silence since his last meeting, and saw the hundreds missed calls from each one of his family members, he knew it wasn't.

Tears clouded his vision as he came to a screeching halt in the hospital compound. He sprinted inside to find the ward number Di had told him when he called her not long ago - just to ask the hospital name and the ward number before he hung up - and sped towards his destination.

Di, Nani, Akash and almost everyone were sitting outside the ward as he hurried forward, eyeing the door that read 51.

"Chotte!"

Di exclaimed upon seeing him coming and he could see her eyes flashing anger when he took a brief look at her but ignoring her bickering over him not picking his phone, he strode right inside the room. The door slammed shut behind him due to the force he pushed it open with.

And that was when he was finally able to breathe.

His right shoulder pressed against the wall as he drifted in relief, looking at Khushi who was sitting upright on the hospital bed in her full consciousness.

A smile was on her face but it couldn't overpower her pale skin that was slightly scrunched up into pain. He guessed that had to do with the bandage she had around her head and right wrist. The sight made him wince inwardly and he clenched his jaw, feeling utterly disgruntled to see her like that.

Next to Khushi sat Payal and NK who after sharing a look with a visibly shaken Arnav, deemed it right to give the couple some privacy.

Arnav shifted his eyes, watching the duo close the door behind them, before breathing out another puff of air.

"Ar-arnavji?"

He lifted his face, to see his wife's distressed one. He knew this contortion was not because of her pain anymore but because of his rattled self.

So he eased up a little bit and walked towards her, slowly, until he reached the side of her bed.

Khushi held his hand and tugged him down to sit next to her. 

"I'm fine." She said, gulping hard when she saw his eyes up-close - eyes that were so red it scared her.

Arnav did not give any response. Instead, he freed his hand from Khushi's hold and cupped her face.

"Can't you take care of yourself?" He asked in a whisper, eyeing her bandaged forehead. His voice was a low hiss and moisture finally sprang in his eyes as he added,

"Why is that so hard for you to do, dammit?"

"Arnavji-"

"How did this happen, Khushi?"