ArShi FF: Homebound

Chapter 14: Head to Head

"Your niece is fit and fine now, Madhumatiji. I've taken the leg braces off today, so she doesn't need to use crutches anymore. As long as she regularly keeps doing the physical therapy exercises everyday, she'll be all good," Dr. Patel wears his glasses which were hanging in from his shirt pocket, before grabbing his brief case.

"Really, Doctor Saab? She'll be able to walk without the leg braces now?" Madhumati rests a hand on top of her head.

Dr. Patel laughs reassuringly. "Of course. Why, she'll be able to run in a few weeks at this rate! Don't you worry. You're taking good care of her. I should head out now, Namaste."

Madhumati smiles back and murmurs a soft prayer to her Nandakishore as she accompanies him to the door.

---

"Jiji, please, it's okay-"

"Shush! Doctor Saab said this will help," Payal effectively quiets her sister, resuming massaging Khushi's legs with a medical balm.

Khushi finally gives up, grinning while secretly enjoying being pampered. The only positive to her accident, she muses, has been becoming the queen of the house for these past few months. Any time she needs something, it appears in front of her before she can even utter a word. 

In the beginning when she came to visit her at the hospital, her Amma would feed her with her own hands and Khushi would become eight years old again. Her Buaji would even make her breakfast in bed, even though she was capable of walking to the dining table using crutches. "No," Madhumati would say, "You need to rest in bed, Titaliya. I'll make you breakfast and garma garam chai and bring it to you!"

A lot has changed since the accident. She always knew how precious life is, but it made her realize that nothing should ever be taken for granted. What her Devi Maiyya has given her, the people in her life, the ability to laugh and cry everyday, she is grateful for it all. She still talks to herself, annoys her family with her silly antics, and sings loudly and badly in the shower, but there have been more instances of silent contemplation amidst her days than before.

She has also seen a significant shift in her Arnav ji.

Well, is he hers? She doesn't know.

But she knows that these days he rarely ever gets irritable, never raises his voice anymore, and he even smiles more often and doesn't try to hide it. It's as if the seemingly indestructible exterior she's been so used to has melted off and withered away in silence, and a brand new Arnav stands before her now, as she watches him flourish and mold into the man she's always believed him to truly be.

"Khushi, I was thinking," Payal says, breaking her reverie, "It's been a couple days since that night, and we haven't gotten a chance to speak to Anjali ji yet. I don't think we should just call, we should go to Shantivan to see her. What do you think?"

Khushi nods slowly. "Yes, Jiji. We should..." She looks off into the distance solemnly.

Payal holds her sister's chin and tilts her face towards her. "But? I can see something's bothering you. What is it?"

She holds Payal's hand. "Jiji, how can I show my face to Anjali ji? This is all because of me, I'm the reason Shyam ji-"

"Khushi, no. How are you responsible for that man's actions? You saved Anjali ji's life as well as the baby's. He's gone from their lives now, from our lives! The pain is temporary, but this was necessary for the long run, wasn't it?"

Khushi nods through her tears, knowing her sister's right. Payal pulls her into a bear hug and strokes her hair to soothe her.

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