Chapter 22:
Uncertain Future
Past...
Maan effortlessly
lifted her and ran towards his car while shouting at Vicky to follow him. Vicky
blindly ran behind Maan and they rushed to the nearest hospital with the
unconscious Geet.
Arjun heard people
shouting and running hither thither but couldn't clearly see what was
happening. He caught hold of a passerby and asked him what was going on. The
man said that a goon attacked somebody and some gentleman had rushed her off to
the hospital. Arjun panicked for a second and decided to probe the man further.
He asked for the details of the person attacked, what she wore, etc, the man
said it was young girl probably in her 20s but couldn't see her face clearly.
Arjun was shocked as his fears were confirmed; he cursed himself for letting
her go on her own. He dropped all the bags and ran towards the sight of assault
to catch a glimpse of the person rushing Geet to the hospital but failed to see
any trace of him. He stamped his foot and pushed his hair back in frustration. The
only possible way left was to check out the nearest hospital, with that thought
he drove to the nearest hospitals around chandni chowk.
Meanwhile Maan managed
to reach the hospital but at the loss of lot of blood from Geet. His shirt and
hands were soaked in her blood; he tried waking her up, but with no use. Time
to time he checked for her heartbeat that was very faint. Tears had clouded his
eyes and for the first time he prayed that she be alright. He ran into the
hospital with unconscious Geet in his arms, shouting for immediate medical
attention. On the other hand Vicky went to park the car.
Nurses rushed to the
scene with calling to get a stretcher for Geet. Maan carefully laid Geet on the
stretcher while doctors came running to attend the patient. They examined Geet
and found a deep gash on her shoulder and looked up at Maan. "Sir, yeh kaise
hua?" the doctor nearby asked.
"Voh chandni chowk
mein someone stabbed her. I saw it and immediately brought her here," Maan said
sounding tensed.
"Oh I see, then this
is a police case sir. We have to wait until the police arrive," the doctor
said.
"What?" Maan shouted.
"Sir, please don't
shout. This is police case, so I cannot proceed until complaint is filed," the
doctor shrugged.
Maan held the doctor's
collar and shook him violently, "What the hell are you saying doctor, in the
next few seconds if she is not treated then you shall be very sorry," he spat
furiously.
"But sir," the doctor
tried to argue.
"Just do it damn it!"
Maan declared jerking his hands away from the collar.
"Sir, rules are
rules," the doctor said callously.
"Tum Maan Singh
Khurana ko rules ke bare mein lecture dega?" he asked gritting his teeth.
The doctor was taken
aback by the name, "Sssir, aap Maan Singh Khurana hai?" he faltered. By the time
Vicky had arrived to the scene and overheard the dialogue. He knew messing
around with his Veerji's anger was like playing with fire. Before the volcano
erupted, he rushed to his brother's side and placed a soothing hand on his
Maan's shoulder and looked annoyed at the doctor's refusal.
"Haan doctor, the Maan
Singh Khurana. Ab aap please rush the lady for immediate medical attention," he
said sternly.
Without another word
the doctor and the nurses rushed Geet into the operation theater. Maan ran his
hands through his hair unable to fathom the situation. Who would have wanted to
harm her, he thought. Vicky saw his brother nervously pacing up and down the
hallway and was puzzled with his jittery behavior.
"Veerji, it's alright
us ladki ko kuch nahi hogi. Aap inta pareshan mat hoyiyega," Vicky assured.
"Nahi Vicky, I am
really scared for Geet," Maan said rubbing his temples.
"Geet?" he asked with
bewilderment, "aapko use pata hai?"
"Haan Vicky she works
in our office," Maan said.
An employee, Vicky
concluded. But he was surprised that Maan Veerji took an employee so seriously.
Of course he was concerned with his employee's well-being, but he had never
seen his Veerji fret over anyone like this. Maan Singh Khurana faced every
problem in his life like a challenge and never broke down, but here he was
pacing around anxiously for a employee. His chain of thoughts was broken when the
doctor walked out morosely. Maan rushed to his side asking if everything was
fine.
"She has had a huge
loss of blood as the stab is very deep. Aur hume abhi blood transfusion ke liye
tayyar karne padegi," the doctor stated gravely.
"Toh what is the
problem please make the necessary arrangements," Maan urged.
"Mr. Khurana the
problem is that she is O- and I have contacted the blood banks but they don't
have it; that means finding a donor soon is very difficult."
"I am O- you can certainly take my
blood," he said without second thought. Immediately the doctor called the nurse
and asked her to do the necessary procedures for blood transfusion.
Arjun again walked out
of another hospital dejectedly. This was the third hospital yet he failed to
find Geet. His hands shivered at the thought of Geet in danger and he angrily
wiped down the tears that effortlessly rolled down. He had let her walk away
from him, and now the consequences were taking a toll on his Geet's life. Sitting
in the car he lost all hopes and clutched the steering wheel tightly making
turning his knuckles white. The receptionist had said there was another
hospital nearby, Jain Bird Hospital, and had told him to check there. He sped
to his last and final destination praying that Geet be there.
Arjun reached the
hospital mentioned by the receptionist and without caring that he parked the
car in front of the hospital, he ran inside to the reception desk asking
whether any patient named Geet was admitted. The receptionist was checking
through the logbook to find the name, Geet. And after what seemed like
eternity, she looked up to confirm indeed a patient named Geet was admitted
into the operation theater. Confirming the directions to the OT Arjun ran.
"Geet!" Arjun screamed through the glass
window at Geet who was struggling for her life. He cursed himself for letting
her go on her own. He promised not to spare those people because of whom Geet
fighting for her life. Vicky looked up at the mention of the name, his brother
talked about few minutes ago. He went to the gentleman standing by the door and
tapped his shoulder to gain his attention.
"Aap Geet ko jaante
ho?" Vicky asked.
"Haan, aur aap?" Arjun
hesitated.
"Main Vicky, aap
befikar rahiye, mere Veerji ne Geet ko yahan layein hai, aur abhi khoon dene
keliye gaye hain," he assured with a warm smile.
Arjun was still unsure
about the happenings; he didn't know whether to thank the person for giving his
blood or the fact that Geet was still fighting for her life. He smiled weakly
at Vicky and tried to look through the window.
"Yeh hai mere Veerji,"
Vicky said pointing to Maan who came out of the room adjusting his sleeves.
Arjun saw tall,
dark-haired man, his shirt covered in blood walk towards him with a tensed
face.
"Veerji!" Vicky called
causing Maan to look up. "Veerji, he has come for Geet," he said pointing to
Arjun.
"Thanks so much for
bringing Geet here, it was my mistake I let her out of my sight for a few
minutes," Arjun said breaking down.
"Nahi don't be sorry,
the incident that happened was totally out of the blue have faith, everything
will be alright," Vicky pitched in when Maan failed to speak anything. "Aap dono
please sit down," he gestured to the bench nearby. "By the way aap ne aapka
naam nahi bataya," he said looking at Arjun.
"Arjun, Arjun
Singhania."
Moments passed slowly
and they heard no news of Geet. Doctors and nurses rushed in and out of the OT
hurriedly. Finally the doctor walked out of the OT, "it's good news, she is out
of danger."
Arjun and Maan stood
up thanking the heavens and rushed to thank the doctor for his timely help. The
doctor told Arjun to thank Maan for donating blood at the crucial moment. Arjun
turned towards Maan and hugged him letting out his anguish through his tears.
Maan's eyes too were brimmed with tears but he pat Arjun that Geet was a
fighter afterall.
The hug was broken
with the doctor's words that Geet was still unconscious and would be wake up in
a few hours, before that they would shift her the ICU and keep her under
observation.
Arjun excused himself
to make a phone call to let Geet's parents know her present condition. He was
initially hesitant on confronting Anu ma as he had promised to take good care
of Geet and here he was calling them about her attack due to his carelessness.
Anuradha and Arvind were initially shocked at the news and broke down but Arjun
assured them she was alright now. They decided to take the next flight to Delhi
and reach there as soon as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Present...
Geet woke up and tried to stretch herself but found it hard
to do so. She saw Kritika tightly holding on to her and slept peacefully with a
cute smile on her face. The weekend, she had enjoyed to the fullest with
Kritika and Arjun. Forgetting all her sorrow she let herself be carried away by
the joys of happiness. It was good to have Arjun back after his long business
trip for he always made her smile even during her darkest phases of life. She
sighed deeply before undoing Kritika's grip on her neck and slowly crept out of
bed, as she had to get ready for office.
It was Monday morning, and the streets of New York were
buzzing with activity. She gathered her tresses in a bun before heading to the
bathroom for a shower. Reality came crashing to her when she gathered her bag.
This Friday was the conference and still she had not found a good reason to
back out of it. Today she had to somehow manage to cook up a reason to not
attend it, she thought woefully. The offer to see him was too tempting but
thinking about the consequences scared her, thus separation was indeed called
for.
Soon Kritika and Geet left to their respective places. She
knocked on Arjun's door, that was adjacent to her apartment to let him know his
breakfast and lunch was ready on the table.
Geet reached her office deep in thought but the work in the
office diverted her attention. By lunchtime, JP came to check on the latest
developments and was happy to see the latest project completed well on target.
He was full praise of Geet for her hard work on the project designs. Geet just
smiled at his compliments for really these praises' real owner was someone
else. He had taught her how to create unique designs under bare minimum
circumstances. She had of course topped her architecture course at college but
he was the one who put her book knowledge to practical use. He had guided her,
supported her throughout her struggling days in Khurana Construction. Her
nervous breakdowns before presentations, while preparing designs had given way
to her frustration and poor quality of her work yet Maan had patiently walked
with her guiding her every step.
JP casually reminded her about the upcoming conference and
added that her presence was absolutely necessary for the company. Geet tried
protesting and finding an excuse to not attend the conference but each excuse
was brushed away by JP and at each mention of Maan's name her resolve to not
attend became weaker. And at one point her thoughts on Maan was overwhelming
that she didn't realize she consented to accompany JP. Her boss' joy knew no
bounds, he jumped in joy as though a child had got his favorite candy and ran
out of the room before
Geet changed her decision. Geet soon realized her folly and
hit her forehead cursing the name that created magic on her. She had just
consented to go and if she again came up with an excuse she would look too
silly and unprofessional. She decided the best way was to attend the conference
and silently slip out complaining of headache before she got a chance to meet
Maan. It would make JD happy that she attended the conference and she would be relieved
from meeting Maan.
Geet sat on the dinner table fiddling her food on the plate
while Arjun and Kritika were happily chatting away. Arjun noticed Geet lost in
thoughts and nudged her, but found no response.
"Ammulu, you okay there?" he asked waving his hands in front
of her.
"Huh? Haan I am fine," she faked a smile.
"That is a clear I am not fine reply. So please grace me
with the problem."
It was hard to fool Arjun, for he knew too much about Geet.
So she tell him the ongoing events and that she had to attend the annual
conference. Arjun stiffened at the mention of the conference. He couldn't let
her walk into her own grave.
"Geet you are in no way going to that conference," he stated
sternly.
"Arjun, please don't overreact. I cannot refuse my boss,"
she frowned.
Arjun and Geet went on back and forth arguing about
attending the conference. Arjun was determined not to let her go and hurt
herself in that man's presence. But Geet assured she would safely walk out
without Maan's knowledge. The back-and-forth confrontation turned into a
serious argument. In the midst of Arjun and Geet talk, Kritika silently walked
off knowing it would take hours before her Maams and mom end the talks. Arjun
started reminding her that he cannot trust Maan around her. Geet had heard
enough of anti-Maan talks and was fed up of arguing with Arjun about whose
mistake it was.
"Oh stop it Arjun. I have heard enough of talks against Maan.
I am not going to take one more word against him. You and I very well know what
happened, it was I who fell in love with him. What was his mistake in it if I failed?"
she spat in anger. "Stop blaming him. Agar tumne ek aur baar Maan ke khilaaf
kaha toh mujhse bura koi nahi hoga, do you understand?"
"But," Arjun protested.
"Enough! I am going to that conference and I know how to
take care of myself. Main koi choti bacchi nahi hoon," she said with annoyance.
Arjun was taken aback by her sudden outburst. He didn't want
Geet to get hurt when she faced Maan. Old unhealed memories would re-emerge
with his presence and he didn't want that to happen. "Of course Geet you are no
child. And you can absolutely take care of yourself," his voice reflecting deep
ache. He walked away silently.
Precap:
"Friends?"
"Friends? My foot!"
"Once offer gone, it's gone forever!"
here is the next update... hope u like it... i am sorry i have been unable to individually reply back to all those lovely people who took their time to hit the like button n comment luv ya all ❤️ have been a busy lately so couldnt find the time to thank everyone individually. hope u guys understand that i read every single comment n thats what keeps me writing so please dont stop doing so questions comments or concerns please feel free to ask away 😊 n oh ya its a good that priya (thnx darling 🤗) brought this issue up AB+ is indeed a universal recipient but there are cases during blood transfusions that only AB+ is needed for the patient. since i didnt expand on she specifically needed AB+ n left it as a loophole i have changed the blood group to O- just to clear off confusions for current n future readers 😉
dont forget to hit the LIKE button 😉
Edited by Maaneet_09 - 12 years ago
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