I will win you Back ( Currently Being Rewritten)

Guilt

Arnav stood at the edge of his office overlooking the staff, but he neither paid attention to the subtle gossip between the desks, or the knocking at the door by Aman. His entire mind was on what was going at Shantivan. He never thought the news of his sister's pregnancy would bring so many tragic news' along. 

"Sir?"

Aman was finally successful in bringing his boss out of his trance.

"Yeah Aman."

The man in question released the breath he was holding, afraid that ASR might lash out at him for entering without prior permission.

"ASR actually I had to inform you that  both your meetings after lunch have been postponed due to the traffic jam near the Delhi-Haryana border. And both clients were coming from that side, so they just called to inform that they wouldn't be able to make it."

Thinking about the morning incident, a sudden thought entered Arnav's mind.

" If both those meetings are cancelled   then is there anything else today that cannot be pushed to tomorrow?"

Aman did a quick check before nodding his head in negation.

" Then I'm leaving. You're dismissed."

With the 2 quick sentences, his boss was out the door leaving Aman flabbergasted.

As he got into the car, Arnav quickly dialed the family doctor which was on his speed dial.

"Hello Dr. Grover, this is Arnav Singh Raizada on the line. I was informed that you recommended my sister a gynaecologist. I needed to speak to her urgently. I want her number immediately."

But what he heard from the other side had him almost stop the car in the middle of the road and turn back.

Payal sat near her sister almost in tears as Anjali comforted her lightly patting her shoulders.

Seeing the doctor come in with NK, Anjsli quickly moved aside giving way to Dr. Grover.

Arnav too reached the house just as Dr.Grover finished checking up on his wife. As soon as Om Prakash unfolded the door, he pushed the door, almost m
giving the poor man a heart attack. Running up the stairs at record speed, he entered the room just as the doctor opened his mouth to speak.

"From my experience, all I can say is she caught a fever due to cold and emotional stress. She's probably sensitive to climate change and caught a cold because of that. There are light dark circles under her eyes, so seems that she's not getting enough sleep which just worsened her condition further. I'm prescribing a few OTC medications. Make sure she stays hydrated, takes her meals regularly and keep her away from stress. Keep checking her temperature at regular intervals and worst case scenario,  if her fever doesn't go down by tomorrow or increases beyond 105°F tonight, please take her to the hospital immediately. But right now, there's absolutely no reason to worry. She'll be completely fine soon. "

While everyone else took a sigh of relief hearing that Khushi's condition wasn't as serious as they'd thought and that she would be fine soon, Arnav's mind lingered on his initial diagnoses as his heart filled with guilt.
She had fallen sick because of the stress from the past week first, about him and Lavanya, and later about the reason for thier marraige and then........

NK's offer to accompany Dr. Grover to the door brought him out of his guilt-trip and he remembered his reason for contacting the latter.

"It's okay NK. I'll drop Dr. Grover. You go and get the medicines"

After getting a nod from his cousin he proceeded with the task.

" Oh yeah ASR, I almost forgot. You had asked me for Dr. Rastogi's number, right? She's the one I recommended to Mrs Jha. She's one of the top gynaecologists in the country. I have it in my office. I'll text it to you as soon as I got there."

Nodding at the information, he handed the bag back to the doctor when the latter suddenly cut him off as he opened his mouth to relay his gratitude.

" But Dr. Rastogi is on leave right now. She'll be back in two days. I only have her office number, so I don't think you can get in touch with her anytime before that but if it's an emergency, I can reccom...."

He was prevented from speaking further as Arnav let out a frustrated sigh at this new development. He had really hoped that once he had got Anjali's reports, he could use them to convince Khushi and Shyam. But now that had to be delayed.

Just as he was leaving, Dr. Grover suddenly turned back and held Arnav's shoulders in paternal consolation.

" Don't worry ASR, I'm sure both your sister and wife will be absolutely fine soon enough. I didn't want to mention it in front of the family but I think that stress was a major contributor to your wife's condition. You being her husband are most close to her, so I want to specifically advice you to take care of her. Newlywed girls are often stressed. It's there husbands job to take care of them. I'll take your leave now. Take care."

Arnav just stood there staring onto the driveway as the doctor's car left the compound, the guilt he'd barely forgotten now consuming his conscience again.
Closing the door, he leaned his head against it, his brain replaying the horrific moment when he'd heard the doctor saying he was coming over to Shantivan at Payal's call to check on an unconscious Khushi with a fever of 104°F. He recalled his heart rate dropping at the sudden news, he hadn't even registered how he had made an abrupt U-turn and sped all the way to Shantivan.

Going up the stairs, towards his room, mid way,  he saw JP going to his room with a tray of water and a cloth as his sister came out

Looking at his sullen face, she couldn't help but go to her brother and give him assurance in the form of a light squeeze on his shoulder.

" Fikar mat karo Chotte, Khushiji ttheek hai. Yeh toh bas mausam ki wajah se tha. Kal raat baarish aayi thi na toh ussi ki wajah se shayad Khushiji ko sardi lag gayi. Magar chinta ki koi baat nahi hai. Woh toh hum sab Khushiji ko behosh dekhkar dar gaye thhey."

( Don't worry, Chotte , Khushi is fine. This was just due to the weather. Actually last night it had rained, so maybe because of that Khushi caught a cold. But there's no need to be tensed. All of us just freaked out seeing her unconscious.)

He just smiled to show her that he understood, too afraid that if he opened his mouth, he might not be able to conceal his feelings.

Anjali patted his cheek and left, but then remembered something and turned around to convey her confusion.

" But chotte, how did you know about Khushiji?"

Hearing her question, he suddenly froze, unable to remember coherent words but her next words got him out of the situation.

" Your work must've gotten over early, right? Actually chotte, can you let Akash come home early. Actually Payal was really terrified seeing Khushi's condition. So if he comes, he might be able to console her. "

He just nods and proceeds to take his phone out to complete the task hand while she goes down, wondering about her husband.

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So today's question is how do you feel about the development in Arnav's character.
To those who followed the previous version of the story, I guess I've now started to side with grey characters a lot.

Any new guesses on who was the mysterious eavesdropp in the last chapter? Comment both your previous and new guess here.
If you answer correctly, the revelation chapter will be dedicated to you.
And remember, 3 correct guesses means a permanent follow from both my accounts.

Next update- Monday or Tuesday.