Hi All. Sorry for being MIA for such a long period. As promised here is the next update. Read On.

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Naina watched Nisha colour in the drawing pad Rishav had brought with him. She peeped in and found some cartoon characters sitting along the riverside. As she fondly watched over the two kids, a fond memory flashed by.

"Nisha! Ocean is blue not purple." Sameer said as he picked up the deep blue crayon to hand over to Nisha. Nisha frowned and held the purple crayon tighter. " Ocean is PURPLE."

"Naina!"

"MUMMA!"

"Kya hua? Khana lagaun?" Naina asked, coming from her room. Nisha quickly ran and hugged Naina by her legs. Pulling Naina by her hands, guided her mother to the painting. Sameer and Nisha had erupted into a debate competition over what colour ocean is. Naina had put the end by drawing a setting sun and colours of red and yellow spread over azure hues of the ocean. The painting had finally looked beautiful and was immediately hung on the fridge.

"That was diplomatic" Sameer had chuckled, earning a wink from Naina.

"Mumma! Wo Sun ka colours draw karlo na. Please." Nisha asked as she huddled over the couch in the cabin. Naina looked at the painting, finding the waters coloured deep blue and not purple.

"Nisha! Aaj Ocean Purple nahin kiya?"

"Mumma! Papa ne computer pe

kitne saare paintings dikhaye the ki Ocean is deep blue. Phir bole the ki hum jab next trip pe jaayenge toh sachi wala ocean dekhenge..." Nisha clamped her mouth, widening the eyes. "Yeh secret tha, Papa se promise kiye the."

Naina wearily smiled and pulled Nisha to a hug. To hell with Vikram for putting them through these man-made hardships. She wasn't sure how a vile person like Vikram would end up in some literal hell, but a metaphorical hell was her only reassurance for the time being. There were so many promises, so many plans pipelined, damn, she even had planned a housewarming party of their flat. Everything.. everything has now just reduced to crisscrossed tubes and beeping monitors. What's worst? Brief minutes of the whole 24 hours, when she was allowed to just hold his cold hand and fail in her each day resolve of not shedding few tears.

Naina wakes to the feeling of someone carding their fingers through her hair. She sighs softly, slowly opening her eyes to see Nirupama kneeling beside her bed, smiling at her gently, the smile of reassurances.

"Sorry! Tumhein jagane ka plan nahin tha." Nirupama whispers like afraid she has broken some sweet dreams filled slumber of Naina. The dreams were peaceful contrary to the chaos of reality.

It must be twilight because the room is going dark other than the soft glow created by the few bulbs from the hallway. Nirupama looks all ready, with her hairs pulled into a ponytail, to retire for the day and go back home with Rishav in tow. "Jaa rahi ho?" Naina mumbles sleepily, blinking a few times in an attempt to wake up. She felt incredibly fatigued and easily tired.

"Haan. Raat ka khana banana hai. Nisha ne aloo parathe khane ka request ki hai. Toh ab banayein , tabhi Raunak ke haath bhej sakein jaldi." Nirupama replies softly, almost in an audible whisper; careful not to wake Nisha, who is still asleep.

Naina smiles back tiredly. "Thank you."

"Kal milte hein, okay?" Nirupama says. "Aaram karlo".

***********

Naina didn't know why she exactly woke up during that fateful time. Maybe because nurses were scurrying past the cabin or she felt the vibrations of the din 'Code White' that threw everyone into an organized frenzy.

Maybe she woke up because Raunak shook her to reality. She would never remember.

She would only remember the nurse looking at her sympathetically. Nisha looking utterly clueless. The vivid of all, Sameer being transferred onto a stretcher, rolled down to the OT, down the hallway.

"Unko Delhi shift kar rahein after few procedures. Keh rahein hein emergency hai.". Raunak had informed before walking away.

Naina had never felt so empty ever before. Not even when she was bulldozed by fate to lose something or the other since her birth. Perhaps, she had her Chachaji, Chachiji, Arjun Bhaiya, and most importantly Preeti to hold her strong and be the rock support in the eye of the storm.

"Preeti!" Naina hiccuped as something ached in her heart.

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"Kahan the tum? Sham se dhund rahi hun. Hadd hai." Preeti's bloodshot eyes were enough to shoo away all the jest out of Pandit. "Wo.. Parathe khane gaye the. Itna bada paratha toh humare Ahmedabad mein na milta. Bhai! Delhi ki baat ki kuch aur hai."

"Acha! Parathe hi khane hein tumko toh resignation de do aur wo jo aaj kal ban rahe na Food Blogger ban jao. Kam se kam authority mera bheja fry nahin karenge kyunki tum meeting mein nahin aaye." Preeti was upset more than angry. The grandeur of the planning for the fest was not helping her a bit. On top of the misery, she didn't even have her lunch.

" Ek baat bole Preeti! Not everything is worth here. Ek meeting hi toh hai aur ek festival hi. Aise kitne fest dekhe hein jismein gadbad toh kaafi hoti hai lekin end mein ' Wow! This event was a grand success' bolke sab nikal jaate hein. Seniors ko milta hai promotion aur humko 2 din ki chutti."

"Par..Work ethics.." Preeti protested.

" Jaanta hun. Tum bhi sahi ho. Lekin yeh tumse jyada important nahin hai.Lunch nahin kiya na? Yeh lo Parathe.Pehle kuch kha lo phir Naina bhabhi ki tarah Sipahi bante rehna." Preeti's ears almost perked up with the mention of 'Naina Bhabhi'. Before she could clarify, he had walked into the rehearsal room, laughing over some 'institute insider jokes' with the students.

Preeti looked at the paratha rolled over in a newspaper, the ghee starting to sip through folds. She would have let herself enjoy the food, that tasted nothing less than heaven, after the frugal breakfast of some toasted bread sandwiches. But something caught her eye and her breath hitched.

"Current Dean of MFRT, Sameer Maheshwari, attacked in hills."

Preeti hastily pulled a tissue paper and dabbed away the grease of ghee, but the article was far from being readable. The reporting was clubbed in few lines and sounded very vague. With much effort, the only fact that Preeti could find was some assailants attacked and gravely injured him. The family sustained minor injuries.

She exhales shakily, as she tries to remain calm. Should she inform Pandit? Or does Pandit know? The second question was unlikely. Being in Delhi, how come they were unaware of something big like this? Few things didn't make any coherent sense.

                                                                                     *********

It's all painful, numbing, and excruciatingly slow. They were supposed to return as soon as Sameer recovered. Were supposed to celebrate the arrival of the tiny human being, they lovingly created. Sameer wasn't supposed to deteriorate this quickly. They were supposed to have years together. The jinxed ' Happily Ever After'. Now, she feels like all of that is slipping away like fine sand past her fingers.

The doctor sees Naina leaning on a glass door, she paused and walked over to her. " His breathing sounds wet, and I'm worried he might have something that is causing him to bleed internally. Dr. Mukesh has documented potential growths in his chart, so we're taking him to get more scans and try to figure out what exactly is causing this.May be the septicemia went worse. I will come get you as soon as we know more. Take Care."

Naina nods, not knowing what else to do. So that's how she finds herself sitting in one of the chairs with her knees drawn to her chest. Waiting, what felt like an eternity, to hear he would survive this. They would soon be okay.

She knows she should call Chachaji, Chachiji, Nisha but she can't bring herself to move even an inch. She feels rooted to the chair and is afraid if she uncurls her legs from her chest, she might fall apart altogether. She didn't want another emergency.

She's not sure how long she's been sitting there when someone hugged her tight.

"PREETI!" Naina yelped and lurched into the tight hug. It was all she needed. Questions were for later.

They were not meant to meet this way. Not in the waiting room of the hospital, seeing the other crumble into a mess.

Flashback

"PREETI!" Pandit knocked on the door so hard, Preeti feared he would bleed if she takes a minute more. Throwing a jacket over her disheveled sweatshirt, she opened the door.

"Chalo." Pandit held her wrist and yanked away.

"Kahan? Kapde toh change karlun." Preeti tried freeing her wrist from the tightest grip. "What's wrong?"

"Everything. Bhabhi akeli hai." Preeti gave up the fight to free herself and withdrew the urge to flood Pandit with curses of not being clear and dragging her god knows where.

It is at the hospital, she realized Pandit must have been informed by someone about Sameer and that his wife needs support may be. In another context, she would have been angry over Sameer forsaking and betraying Naina and then get married to someone other. Before she could judge Pandit for dragging her into the awkwardness of meeting a stranger and consoling her with numerous assurances, her eyes landed over a familiar figure in the waiting room.

Bonded at heart, separated by years yet pulled together like puppets, the 'Bhabhi' of Pandit, the family of Sameer was none other than her NAINA.

Eventually, we all end up where we need to be, with what we are meant to be with and doing what we should be doing.

(To be continued)

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Please let me know your feedback. Not to worry. It will get better soon. :)