Happy birthday lakshmi_priyanka_ Many many happy returns of the day. Sorry wish karne mein thoda late hogaya.😛😜

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"Will she be alright?" Gauri heard Mithila ask the doctor just as she along with Omkara walked into the lounge outside the critical care unit .

"She is okay for now but we have to keep her in the ICU for one more day. We are doing everything to get her well soon," the doctor assured.

Mithila gratefully nodded her head and the professional left the room to continue with his rounds.

"Mithila ji," Gauri called her friend gaining her attention.

"Gauri, thanks for coming. I was so worried," the elder one said rushing to her and hugged her close.

"I should have come sooner Mithila ji. How did this happen?"

"I had no idea she would resort to this Gauri," the latter explained as a tear streamed down her face.

"Did you tell Arjun sir about this?"

"God, no. I advise that you also keep this to yourself. He doesn't need more guilt trips for helping a girl."

Gauri nodded her head in agreement.

"I heard the doctor say that Himani needs to stay in the ICU. What exactly happened to her?" she asked next.

Mithila hesitantly looked at Omkara for a second or two before she spilled the truth.

"Sh...she overdosed Gauri," she said.

Omkara's heart plummeted in his chest as the meaning of the words sank in.

Did she mean...?

As the dark phase of his life flashed before him like an ugly picture, he couldn't help but feel a chill pass through him.

His bitter past, the expectations, the betrayals laughed at him while his weakness taunted him vilely.

"Overdosed?" he heard his wife's confused tone.

He knew exactly what that term meant. But will he ever be able to explain it to his wife?

Mithila sighed and shook her head.

"I did not tell you this because I thought Himani was out of it. I thought it was all in the past but she relapsed."

"I am not able to understand anything Mithila ji. What are you talking about?"

"Himani was addicted to drugs Gauri. Drugs which give you euphoria, a wrong escape from reality. Taking them is not good for health," she explained, emitting a shocked gasp from her friend.

"Oh my God," Gauri whispered.

"When I and Arjun sir first found Himani in an inebriated state in our college more than a year back, we rushed her to a hospital and got to know of her habit. She was so angry at us for breaching her privacy. She refused to talk to anybody regarding the matter."

"For some reason, Arjun sir made it his job to make her understand that she is destroying her life. I too helped him."

Gauri silently listened to the story, not once interrupting the narrator.

"It was very difficult at first but slowly she warmed up to us. We thought she was over it. From the last six months, she was clean and now this," said Mithila in utter disappointment.

"I...never knew she was going through all that," Gauri said and looked at her husband who dared not meet her eyes.

"How would you know Gauri? Not only is Himani an impulsive girl, but she is also a private person. She wouldn't have told you and I did not want you to think anything bad about her."

Gauri sighed as she rubbed her face with her hands.

"I thought she will be upset if she gets to know that we met Arjun sir's wife but I never..."

"Very true. I had my doubt but I thought she was stronger than this. When I got a call from her hostel mate who saw her unconscious in her room, I was terrified," Mithila disclosed.

"My husband went on a business tour and I couldn't reach our secretary. My driver helped me in getting to the hostel and admitting Himani but I thought I have to call somebody for help."

Gauri looked at her husband who then broke his silence.

"Please do not worry about the expenses. I will take care of it," he assured and turned around ready to flee but Mithila stopped him.

"It is taken care of Omkara. Minutes after Gauri attended my call, our secretary called me back and he arranged everything. Thank you so much for bringing Gauri here."

"That is not a problem she was worried too," he managed a cognitive reply.

"Where is Diya?" Gauri asked remembering Mithila's daughter.

"She is with her brother at home. I could not let her come to the hospital. Our nanny will take care of them for tonight."

"But I think she will ask for you Mithila ji."

Gauri saw her friend worriedly nodding her head.

"I cannot help it Gauri."

"No Mithila ji, we will take it from here. You go and rest for the night. Come in the morning."

"But Gauri Himani will not be happy if she knew that you got to know of her habit."

"She will not be awake till morning. Didn't the doctor say the same?"

"Yes, but..."

"You come early tomorrow Mithila ji. We will stay the night here. Even if she wakes up I can deal with her."

Mithila looked at Omkara who assured her of the same.

Thanking both of them, Gauri's friend left the hospital with a promise to return the next day, earliest possible.

*************************************************************************************

"Great, this is a great eye opener," Shivaay exclaimed looking at the report file from Farhaan.

"That makes things a lot easier bhaiyya," said Bhavya grinningly.

"Definitely. Trivedi and Shukla were college mates and they shared a good rapport in their university. That solves some questions."

"Yeah. Now we know that Shukla must have contacted Trivedi or it might be the other way round. Shukla must also be a source by which the Oberoi inner matters must have been leaked to Trivedi."

"And Karan talks about his father's honesty. I cannot wait to see the look on his face after he gets to know of this information," Shivaay gloated.

"Bhaiyya, now you are assuming more than that is written."

"It can be true. We never know," Shivaay pointed out and Bhavya sighed.

"Okay, what about Harsh Vardhan's wife and children? Did you manage to get the pictures as promised?"

"No, I am still on it. The system was not computerized at that time and since the fire accident destroyed the Trivedi house, what evidence remained was very minimal. I hope I get at least one photo of him with his daughters. We should know where they disappeared to."

Shivaay thought about her statement for a while.

"Did you search in only the orphanages?"

Bhavya frowned at the question.

"Where else bhaiyya?"

"This man Trivedi and Shukla combo seems to be clever. If for a moment we believe that he has been getting info from Shukla since many years, he must be very carefully planning things, kept them well covered so as to escape Bade papa's scrutiny."

"If at all that is what happened."

"Yeah, only by assumption."

"So, my point is that. If he wanted to hide his daughters, he must have planned things with perfection as well. If you get details such as his native place or something, try looking at the child homes there as well," Shivaay proposed.

"If it was an accident why will he plan to hide his daughters?"

"If Trivedi didn't plan it then Shukla must have. We know that he took away Karan from the place so he must have taken his friend's daughters as well. Don't you think?" he said and Bhavya nodded her head.

Shivaay smiled at his would be sister in law and said, "Don't you think I should be in the police force? I think my brain works that way."

Bhavya laughed and shook her head.

"Of course, you are a natural. Or better, Anika Bhabhi's serials have an influence on you."

Shivaay acted to gag making the other one giggle.

"Very funny. Where is she and your fiancé by the way? I did not see them since evening."

"They went to a movie bhaiyya. Rudy asked me but I told him that I have work with you."

"Oh, explains why I did not get her call for more than two hours."

"Liar, you miss her when she doesn't call you and when she does, you act pricey."

Shivaay smiled nodding his head.

"When does the show end? I am missing her calling me billu ji."

Bhavya looked at her watch and said, "She must be on the way home bhaiyya."

"Good, then let me make something to appease her appetite. Otherwise she might burn my kitchen saying that I ignored her today," said Shivaay and stood up from his chair.

As he walked away from her, Bhavya once again called for his attention.

"I wanted to tell you about Goenka too bhaiyya."

"Svetlana's secret friend?" Shivaay asked.

"Yes. My men are on the follow. His activities till now did not cause suspicion but if he did anything spooky, I would get my hands on him."

"Good, I think we are going in the right direction Bhavya. I only wish Karan's father wakes up and we will have all the answers we need."

*****************************************************************

"You should eat Gauri, the hospital canteen will close in some time," Omkara pleaded his wife.

Hours passed before he let his sane mind take charge of the situation. He couldn't let her know things this way.

It is not all bad... he told himself.

"I am not hungry Omkara ji."

"You might not be hungry now but you will be hungry at night. Let us go for some fresh air. You need it."

Gauri looked at her friend through the glass window of the closed door. She looked frail and ill. Her heart went out for the weak soul whose parents didn't care for her well being.

When she called them to inform them of the incident, they listened for a minute before they faked an apology for being out of state for work purposes. Asking her to take care of their child for a day or two, they ended the call with a vote of thanks.

"I talked with the doctors. They said we need not worry about Himani for the night. Everything is taken care of," said Omkara gently squeezing his wife's shoulder and she nodded her head.

As they walked to the canteen, Omkara heard Gauri talk again.

"Did you inform bade bhaiyya and maa ji about..."

"I did."

They didn't talk till they ordered food and Gauri took the first bite.

"I am sorry I made you wait till now Omkara ji. Did you even have lunch?" she asked.

When her husband gave her a gentle smile she mentally cursed herself for being so ignorant.

"I knew it. When will you have food on time?" she scolded him.

"I am not hungry Gauri. I am only worried about you."

"Kyun? I am more than fine. You should think of your health first," she argued and he sighed putting another spoon full of food into his mouth.

Over time, he learnt that when his wife argued without point, he should remain silent. Reminding her that they were veering off topic would only increase her anger. Given the circumstances, he wouldn't take a chance to fight with her.

After delivering a ten minute speech about food, time and health Gauri took a long breath. He offered her a glass of water and continued to eat wordlessly.

"Don't you have anything to say?" she asked and he shook his head in a no.

"Eat Gauri. They will be closing soon," he said and she looked around the place to see the lights dimming. The waiters hurrying around to rearrange chairs and tables so as to retire for the day.

Wasting no time, she finished her food and waited for her husband to clear the bill.

"Am I scolding you too much?" she wondered out loud making him smile at her.

"I am sorry Omkara ji," she said taking his hand and he chuckled as they walked back into the hospital.

"Why are you laughing?"

"All I had to do is remain silent. You scolded me and now you are apologizing without a reason. I think I cracked a solution to prevent a fight."

When she gave him a guilty smile he put his arm around her shoulder and they walked further.

He was afraid to brooch the subject but he had to don the role of a dutiful husband.

"She will be okay Gauri. Do not worry so much."

"I still cannot digest the fact that she attempted...."

"Shhh... stop saying it again and again. Nothing happened."

"It could have Omkara ji. What must have Arjun sir gone through had something happened to Himani. This is unacceptable."

Despite what he felt for his college mate, Omkara had to sympathize with him. What could have been a disaster was tided over by a disguised blessing.

"Talking about him, do you know anyone from your college who was Arjun sir's best friend?" she asked and he stared at her in question.

"He is the cause of all this. It seems Arjun sir helped Himani because he felt she reminded him of his best friend. Guess what, that guy doesn't even talk to him now and the poor thing misses him."

In her rambling Gauri failed to notice that her husband turned pale with shock.

"Had he not helped Himani, everything would have been good for sir," she continued.

"Don't you remember anybody?"

Not getting an answer from him, she looked at his face and frowned.

"Omkaraji?"

"W..What?"

"Aren't you listening? You were close to him right?"

"No," he said a bit loud getting away from her.

"I... need to make a call," he stuttered and without waiting for a reply turned around to get away from the place.

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Did you forget Goenka? I did too... well I will brief you in the coming updates.

Sorry for the very delayed update but I was in kind of a block. Took time to get over it.

It is good to see that the book got 5K Votes. Thanks for the love.

I hope I will update regularly from now on. Mostly on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Thanks for waiting for me whoever that is...especially when I got to know that Rikara fans are dwindling I thought people holding on to this is a big chance.

Love you all.. see you later.😍😘