Journey towards Love

Chapter 23

Arnav struggled to reach the Gupta Mansion within fifteen minutes, the fastest he ever drove, his mind clouded with Khushi. His heart had been hinting him that something bad was about to happen, but never in his dreams did he relate it to Khushi. The last time he felt the same anxiety was during his visit to his brother, Shyam.

Lavanya approached him as she saw him coming, 'Jeeju, thank god. You are here. Di.. Di fell unconscious in the study. Naina Di is checking upon her'. She spoke hurriedly, whilst her tears refused to stop.

Arnav felt as if his life was sucked away, as his breaths halted. His heart raced in pace, anxiety and fear gripping his veins.

'Is.. is she alright?' He enquired, struggling to form coherent words.

Just then, they noticed Naina coming out of the room, after checking Khushi. Without any delay, he ran towards her and asked, 'Is she okay?'

The desperate eyes of Khushi's husband did not go unnoticed. Though she did not want to worry him, she could not stop herself from saying the fact. After all, he could be the only one who would get Khushi out of her misery.

'It seems like a panic attack. But we will get to confirm it only when she gets back to consciousness, which might take some time. I have given her some tranquilizers', Naina explained.

'Panic attack?' Arnav frowned, surprised and confused.

'She had no history of these in the past, I am sure. That makes me worry more. There is some stress upon her that led her to this state, and we need to find that out', Naina said.

'Yeah, she broke down yesterday. Its her father's death anniversary!' Arnav tried to help her.

'She goes through that every year', Buaji, who till now remained silent, spoke. 'But never did she fall unconscious'. She stated her concern.

'Buaji is right. There is something else, Arnav', Naina said and then turned towards Buaji and asked, 'Did anything unusual happen today?' Buaji nodded a clear no and the three dispersed, leaving Arnav alone with his wife.

Arnav walked into Khushi's room, to find her sleeping, her face pale and the regular glow on her skin, no longer visible. Her lifeless form created a pang in his heart, petrifying him. It was so unlike of her! He just wanted her to open her eyes and give that radiant smile of hers, that had the power to brighten him up. He wanted her to wake up and have a fight with him, which drastically reduced recently.

Sitting next to her on the bed, he tucked her hair that disturbed him from admiring her face, and slowly caressed her hairs. His eyes wandered over her face, studying every detail of it, before resting upon her cheek, where he found tear strains.

He frowned, his thoughts trying to contemplate, when his gaze landed on a diary, that laid next to her. Picking it up gently, so as not to disturb her, he opened it.

'Shashi Gupta' read the first page with his signature at the bottom.

Arnav pondered for a while, whether to go ahead with his personal diary or not, but he had an intuition that, it had the answers for Khushi's miserable state.

Turning to the next page, he started reading.

He found diary entries of his father-in-law, on different dates.

19 October 1991

Amma and Babuji forced me to accompany them to their friend's house. I had no interest though. I was sure, we were going there to see some girl for my marriage. I just did not want to get married. As every other time, I decided to say a No, but destiny had other plans!