The Rest is Unwritten AR FF Pt19 Pg 26 3/11 - Page 15

                                                Chapter 17: Rabba Ve

Riddhima's eyes widened as she stared at the man in front of her. Her heart skipped a beat and time stopped for a moment as her gaze stuck upon those gorgeous blue eyes that evaded her dreams for the past one month, it was those very blue eyes her heart was yearning for and the very blue eyes that had left her all alone.  Armaan stared back at her, lost in those green hues like he always was, from the moment he laid his eyes on her. He stared at the million questions bubbling in her eyes, the disappointment, the pain and most of love for which had overridden all other emotions. He moved a step forward unable to control himself, seeing her after such a long time his heart leapt in joy. "Basket", he whispered stepping in front of her and her eyes closed as she heard his voice after so long. She opened her eyes again when she felt him caress her cheek with his fingers. "kaise ho", he asked after another moment of silence, but she just stared at him, unable to reply and unable to process the fact that he was actually standing in front of her. "You won't say anything", he asked her looking at her hollow eyes. And for the first time, she was able to see through the mask in his eyes  and see the pain in his eyes, she could see the same love she saw in his eyes the night before he left. She reached out to touch his hand on her cheek and placed her palm on his. He turned his hand away from her cheek and held her hand, gripping it tightly and it felt so good for the both of them. It felt like they were both protected and loved in that hold, like nothing bad could ever happen as long as they held on to each other. A tear drop rolled down Riddhima's cheek as she remembered all the times they've spent together and then she remembered that he left her alone. "He left you", her mind screamed at her and she pulled her hand away at once, stepping away from him. Armaan, who was so lost in the moment was startled for a moment as she pulled herself away from him.  "Basket…", he called out but she just stepped back a little as silent tears gushed down her face. His heart ached at the fact she was crying and she just stared at him with a painful expression and wiped her tears. As she turned her gaze away from his face, she saw that his other arm was drenched in blood, it had a light cotton wrap around it but you could tell it was a deep wound. She panicked and step forward to take care of it, but before she could do anything, she heard, "Who is banging the door at one in the night. Arre Riddhima, what are you doing downstairs and who is the man with you", she rambled as she came downstairs, but as the man turned towards her, "ARMAAN!", she screamed as tears formed in her eyes. Armaan stepped forward and moved towards dadi as she hugged him tightly. "Dadi", he said hugging her tightly as she shed a few tears on his shoulder. "Mera bacha! Mere Ammy, kaisa hai tu? Ha, you grew up and got busy with work so you forgot me? Dadi ko bul gaya tu", she hit him in the back as she tried to hold back her tears. "Tujhe teri Dadi ki yaad bhi nahi aayi. Kitni dino baad tu wapaas lut aaya", she cried in joy. Armaan smiled at his grandmother and pulled out wiping her tears on her face, "I'm sorry dadi! I can never forget you dadi. Your such an important person in my world. Please forgive me, Iss baar sacchi mein kaam bahut tha", he said holding his ears. "Pagal, mein tumse kabhi bhi dair thak angry ho saktha hain kya aur yeh kya hain kya hua tumhari hath ko, show me!", she panicked as she pulled his hand closer for a closer look. "dadi, kuch nahi hain. Who Ship mein lagayi thi. I already got first aid. Don't worry", he convinced. "Acche chalo, you're so drenched. Go and change into some clothes. I'll get you something to eat. Jao warna sardi lag jayiga." "Dadi, it's okay I'm not hungry. I've already eaten. Don't worry, go back to sleep", he tried to convince. "Kya don't worry, huh? I'm not going to listen to you. Go to your room and get dried. I'll bring food for you. That's Final", she said sternly and he couldn't protest to that. He sighed and looked at Riddhima who had an unreadable expression on her face. He didn't want to leave her alone. Dadi saw Armaan stalling and looked at him, there was something weird hollowness in his eyes today, his blue eyes that always shined had dimmed down a lot. She turned her gaze to what he was looking at and saw Riddhima, who she forgot about in all the excitement of getting her grandson back. "Arre Riddhima, I completely forgot. This is my grandson Armaan. And Armaan, this is Riddhima, she's here for a medical camp for the next two weeks", she introduced both of them to each other. "dadi, I-", he was cut off by her when she said, "Nice to meet you Armaan", she said with a forced smile on her face. Armaan was completely shocked at the way she disowned to knowing him, but he couldn't really blame her. He was the one who had left her without even saying a word, but his heart twitched at the same time, the way that she was so formal with him after all that they've been through. "Same here Riddhima", he said, looking straight into her eyes so that she could understand what he really meant. "acha Let's Talk more tomorrow. Armaan, go upstairs and change, I'll get you some food. Riddhima, tum bhi soo jaa. You've to get up early tomorrow too", she said as they both started to go up the stairs. Dadi looked at the way they behaved with each other and for some reason she found the way they were staring at each other strange, it was as if they were having a mind conversation, which was weird for two people meeting for the first time. She brushed off the thoughts as she warmed up some food for Armaan.

Armaan walked upstairs stealing glances at Riddhima, who was staring straightly ahead. Afetre her cold demeanor, he didn't have the nerve or heart to say anything to her. She turned off to go to one of the guest rooms, not even sparing him a glance. He stared at her back and sighed. She was really hurting, he could tell, he wished life wasn't so complicated as it was for him right now. He stepped into his room, which looked exactly the same way it did when he last left it. Dadi must of have regularly gotten it cleaned for it to look like that. And that made him feel guilty, he missed Dadi so much but couldn't visit her often She was the one who had stood by for him, after Nikki when he decided to leave his family to become an FBI officer. She was the one who gave him courage and support and made him what he was today and he felt rotten to haven't even seen her in two and a half years. He quickly went to change in the bathroom and when he came out, his favorite coconut dessert was on the side table of the bed. "Thanks so much dadi! I love your coconut dessert", he said gulping it down hungrily. "I know you do! I'm not hungry kahika! Look at how hungry you are! Accha go back to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow", she said as she lovingly placed a kiss on his forhead and went to go to bed. Armaan sighed and got into bed, but his arm was really bothering him now. He had gotten hurt in the ship when he was trying to climb onto an already moving ship. He made a last minute decision to come see Dadi after Muskaan left, as he had about two weeks before he had to resume work in New York. Little did he know, he'd come across his life when he came here. Speaking of which, what was she doing here? From the way it looked, it seemed like Dadi and her knew each other well. And as he thought of her, his hand burned again with the pain, the nail on the ship had pierced him strongly and now his entire arm was hurting. He wondered if nani had any pain killers in the house, but then asking her any pain killer would get her all panicked so it'd be better if he stayed quiet. So he tossed and turned and finally fell into a deep slumber. He woke up again to his hand being rubbed by something. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see Riddhima sitting on the bed with her back turned towards him, rubbing some ointment on his wounds and dressing it with a cotton wrap. His heart swelled up with love at how she came to nurse his wounds despite being mad at him, at how she knew that he was in pain. Riddhima turned back to look at him, when she felt him move and Armaan immediately closed his eyes, pretending to sleep and taking in steady breaths. She turned back to his hand and finished wrapping it with a fresh cotton wrap. She put a pillow under the hand and got up to leave, but before she could leave she turned around to look at him. He looked so thin and there were dark circles under his eyes and she hated him for doing this to himself. And she hated him for making her feel this way again, when she decided she was going to ignore him. The moment she realized what he had done, she decided to ignore him, show hima a piece of his own medicine, let him feel what it was like to be ignored. But how could she sleep through knowing he was hurting like that, so she snuck out of her room with the first aid that was available with her and nursed his wounds. She reached out her hand to caress his face but stopped, lest she woke him up again. She stared at him for another a few minutes and sighed, going back to her room. It was almost four in the morning and she had to report for the camp at ten o'clock. So she snuck back into her room and tried to sleep, trying hard to leave him out of her thoughts. And it worked, she fell asleep only to find out that he had returned in her dreams. And Armaan opened his eyes after she left and his face broke into a small smile as he looked at the hand she just dressed. "She still cares for me", he said smiling a little. Maybe there was hope after all.