Part 6:
Milind was driving like there was no tomorrow. Ayesha felt like telling him to slow down, but she stayed quiet as she knew that he was not going to listen to her.
"Please let Prachi be okay. Please let her be okay," he thought anxiously in his own mind. He knew that the closest hospital in this region was Shanti Hospital, which was a 15 minute drive. So wasting no time, Milind sped to the hospital. He arrived in a rush, and quickly parked his car in the first spot he could find. Not even waiting for Ayesha to exit the car, he ran off towards the hospital entrance.
Ayesha noted to herself, that she had never seen Milind this upset for Prachi before. She knew he only got this upset for the people who were near and dear to him, like Sukriti, his Baba, and for her, Ayesha. "Why the hell is he acting like this for Prachi?" she asked herself, as she watched him run into the hospital.
Milind arrived at the front desk, and wasting no time, rushed in front of the line, paying no heed to the other people in line, and asked impatiently, "Can you please tell me where Prachi Mishra is?"
The nurse at the receptionist desk was really nice. She stared at him for a second, and then started checking her computer database. "No sir, sorry there is no Prachi Mishra listed as a patient" she answered sympathetically.
"What do you mean?" excalimed Milind, "she MUST be here. Did a women in a purple saree come in to this hospital? She has a bloody head and was bruised and scratched!!"
"Well sir, yes a woman like that just came in before you entered. But her name is not Prachi Mishra......." she stated, as she started typing in her database, "...her name on my computer is Prachi Shah, and she is up in Intensive Care in room 234, but she is not allowed to see anyone except family members because......." before the nurse could even finish her sentence, Milind rushed towards the second floor. No matter what, he had to be with Prachi right now. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms.
As soon as Milind arrived onto the second floor he rushed into room 234. He instantly saw Prachi laying motionless on the bed. Mishra Jee was sitting next to Prachi's bed in a chair, and Alaap and Saket were standing over Prachi's bed with their arms crossed. Alaap quickly saw Milind enter the room, and he wasted no time in coming up to Milind and grabbing his collar.
"YOU bas***d. WHY ARE YOU HERE?" Alaap yelled. Saket rushed in between Alaap and Milind, in an effort to break up the fight, but Alaap pushed Saket aside.
Milind was in no mood to deal with Alaap, he quickly pushed Alaap back several feet, and yelled "Alaap, get out. I need to be with my wife!"
Alaap quickly came back closer to Milind, to the point when they were nose to nose. "Your wife? Your wife, Milind? You treat her like crap. She always tries defending you to me, but I am not as innocent as her. I know that YOU are a filthy piece of shit. I am ashamed to be living under the same roof as you. You are nothing but a third class LOSER!" he yelled.
Milind had enough. He was not going to hear this from Alaap, especially when his own father was in the room. Mishra Jee tried getting up, to break up the fight. At the same time, Saket tried again to break up the two men, by putting his hand on Milind's arm. But both Saket and Mishra Jee were too late.....
Milind raised his right arm in anger, and punched Alaap hard in the face. Alaap, not expecting the harsh blow, fell down in pain. "NURSE!! NURSE!" exclaimed Milind, as a group of nurses came running in.
"Ladies, please help!" Milind stated, "My wonderful brother-in-law just hit his face in the door. Can you please bring him to the emergency room?"
The nurses looked down at Alaap, why was laying on the ground, holding his right cheek in pain and agony. Three nurses quickly picked him up, and the other nurse brought in a wheelchair. The nurses quickly placed Alaap in the wheelchair, and wheeled him off downstairs to the Emergency Room.
Milind smirked, and was about to go sit next to Prachi's bed, when he felt someone grab his left arm. He looked to his left, and saw his father trying to restrain him. "Baba? What are you doing?" he asked.
"Milind. Leave Prachi alone. Why are you hear if you yourself admitted to Ayesha, while I was standing there, that Prachi meant nothing to you. You said you were pretending to be her husband, only to keep me happy. Then why are you here?" he asked. Shit. Milind had forgotten all of what had happened before. He had only been thinking of Prachi for the last little while. He had forgotten about what had happened in the forest, until now when his Baba reminded him.
Milind was trying to say something, but Premlatha's entrance with Sukriti, Prachi's grandma, and Prachi's other siblings saved him from having to answer. Premlatha rushed to Prachi's bedside and started sobbing uncontrollably. Prachi's grandmother also had tears in her eyes.
Milind knew how much Prachi meant to everyone. His own heart was crying inside, but he did not want anyone to know.
Before anyone could say anything, a tall man came into the room, in a white coat. "What is going on here?!" he questioned. "Only ONE family member is supposed to be in here! Miss Shah needs peace and quiet. You guys do want her to get better don't you?"
"Her name is Prachi Mishra" stated Milind. He was in no mood to argue, or to fight. He just wanted to be with Prachi and he knew that the Shah family, and his own father would not let this happen. So, he decided to use a strategic tactic.
"Prachi is my wife. That means that I will be the only family member to stay in this room. Legally, she is binded to me, before she is binded to anyone else. So, you all need to leave." he stated in a true business-man-like fashion.
"Okay, that makes sense," said the doctor, "everyone else must go home. Normally, it would be okay to wait outside, but our hospital is packed to capacity, so I can only let one person stay." As soon as the doctor finished his sentence, his pager beeped, indicating that he needed to leave. The doctor wasted no time, and rushed out of the room.
Milind was prepared to have the Shah family, and his own father yell at him. Instead, Premlatha gently came up to Milind, and asked, "Why do you want to stay?"
Milind responded quietly, so only she could hear, "This is my fault. I shouldn't have treated Prachi like that. Please let me stay with her. I want her to be okay. I can't be anywhere else. I need to take care of my responsibility."
Premlatha nodded silently in agreement, with tears in her eyes. "Come on everyone. Let's leave. No arguments please. Let's go" she stated. Everyone, except Milind, silently left the room, and made their ways back to their cars.
Finally, Milind was left with Prachi. He wasted no time. He quickly sat down on the seat closest to Prachi's hospital bed. He reached out and grabbed one of her hands, and put his head on her bed. He couldn't help himself. A tear flowed down his face.
Edited by canadianbeauty - 16 years ago
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