The Business Trip (Arshi FF)

Hospital anxiety

Arnav dropped his bags and the bouquet of flowers and rushed to the floor seeing Khushi passed out, with drops of blood from her head.

In his moment of panic, he failed to see a posted brown envelope with multiple pictures not far from her frame.

"Khushi! Khushi!", he repeated multiple times in desperation, tapping her cheek for her to wake up. He began to panic, fumbling while searching for his phone before calling emergency services for an ambulance. He asked them how soon they could come and they assured him that an ambulance had already been dispatched and was on its way. Those 4 minutes and 18 seconds felt like the longest of his life, feeling helpless staring at his wife while she lay there practically lifeless.

He held her close to his chest while he waited, her blood stains going all over his white shirt, hoping and praying that he wouldn't lose her. "Khushi stay with me, please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. Just don't go anywhere, ok?", he kept telling her frantically.

Arnav's heart clenched in pain when the paramedics came and took her from him to complete their check up before bringing out the stretcher to put her in the ambulance. Despite his panic driven state, he spoke firmly to the paramedics when they got inside, insisting they take her to Galaxy Hospital. It was the best private medical hospital in Delhi, one where his father had once been a trustee and the only one he trusted when it came to the wellbeing of his wife.

From the moment Arnav got in to the ambulance, to the moment Khushi was rolled away to the ICU, the whole thing was a haze. Once the ICU doors closed, Arnav slumped to the ground. They say that when you're about to die, your life flashes before your eyes. That is exactly how Arnav felt at this point. For him, his whole life was Khushi and he knew if anything were to happen to her, his life would be over.

All sorts of thoughts began to run through his mind at this point. What if he didn't come back home that night? Who would've found her? Had he been too late in getting to her? What caused her head injury, was she safe in their house on her own? Had there been an intruder? Did she have any underlying health issues? Arnav was drowning in guilt as realisation dawned on him that this entire situation could have been avoided if they hadn't been arguing for so long. If anything happened to Khushi, it would be entirely his fault. He hadn't checked in on her and he felt entirely responsible, praying for his wife's wellbeing. He had lost too many people in his life, his mother, his father, and he would not be able to handle the loss of another.

While lost in his thoughts, a nurse taps him on his shoulder, with a cup of coffee and a sound piece of advice. "Sir, I'd suggest you go home, take a shower and come back with a change of clothes.", she said looking at his blood stained shirt. Arnav takes the coffee, however, wasn't going anywhere until he heard some news on Khushi. The nurse shakes her head, "If you'd like, sir, we have private shower rooms available for relatives of the patient. I can pick up a t-shirt and hoodie for you from our gift shop." He nodded, mumbling a thank you, not wanting Khushi to see him in his dishevelled state once she woke up. "Great Sir, I'll just add it to the hospital tab.", the nurse chirped.

When Arnav was found hours later, his head was between his knees, with red eyes, with both his arms crossed. Dr. Khosla informed him that Khushi was suffering from severe exhaustion and dehydration, but that the fainting could also have been brought on by a form of trauma. He continued, informing him that the good news was that the head injury didn't look like a form of attack, but like she had potentially hit her head against something while passing out. The Doctor concluded, "We've put her on an IV drip to help with the dehydration and she's had stitches for her head injury, but she should make a full recovery."

Arnav let out a massive sigh of relief, unaware that he had been holding his breath for that long. "Thank you so much, Doctor! Thank you so, so much.", a teary eyed Arnav thanked him earnestly. Dr. Khosla smiled, "That's what we're here for. Now take good care of her, won't you? My only suggestion is that she be under our watch for the next 2-3 days at the minimum so we can check everything is normal before letting her go. She's unconscious at the minute but you can go in and see her now.", he informed. Arnav thanked him profusely again before rushing inside to see Khushi.