The Promise (23 page)

Smiling for the world, living despite grief, bouncing back every time life tries to pull one down-if only it were as easily done as said. The most painful is to see those give up, who had never let anything pull them down before, no matter what they are faced with.

Sometimes, for finding the sunlight, we need to go through the densest and darkest of the forests. Sometimes, we seek sunshine, not for ourselves, but only for the ones we love.

Running away from our responsibilities only makes it more difficult to handle when we eventually decide to come back.

do not want to listen to anything you have to say. Why is that so difficult to understand?' Arjun thundered over phone. It was not the first time Faisal had called him to talk about Shambhavi. He regretted his decision of letting him know where he was going and how to contact him. But he had thought that if he had to disappear, at least his assistant needed to know where he was, in case there was an emergency at work.

His regret began from the very first call he received from Faisal, telling him there was something urgent he needed to know about Shambhavi-the woman he was trying so hard to forget.

He had told Faisal that he did not want to know anything at all and hung up. Since then, Faisal had called twice. It was really infuriating and he was about to lose his lid.

'But sir, this is important. I assure you it is,' he tried again desperately.

'It sure must be. But I just want to be left alone. Could you not just give me a little peace?' he said, teeth clenched in fury.

'Sure, sir. But first you need to listen to -'

'I DO NOT WANT TO. I've told you this a zillion times, and I am not about to tell you again. One more time you call me for this, and you are fired.'

'Then fired I will get, happily. BUT YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME,' Faisal suddenly shouted. It made Arjun pause. It was the first time he had heard Faisal raise his voice with him. 'I cannot let this happen, when I can see it in front of my eyeshow unfair this is. You might think that we, your employees, are blind, but we really are not. We see things and we hear things.'

'What is that supposed to mean?'

'That means that I have heard from the older employees what happened between you and that girl-Prehal. And then I saw what happened between you and Shambhavi.'

'How does any of this concern you? Do you realize how close you are to getting fired?' Arjun snapped angrily.

'I am considering myself fired already. So I have nothing to lose. Just listen-you remember the cheque you had me hand over to her? I gave it to her, but Shambhavi never took the money. That is what I have been trying to tell you all along.'

'What bullshit? I have the document with her signature on it, which says she received the cheque. I know she got it.'

'Yes, she took the cheque from me and she signed the documents along with The Green Meadow invoice,' Faisal tried to explain desperately. 'But she never cashed it. I found out last week, while going through the company's expenses, and called you to ask what I should do, but you didn't listen to me.'

Arjun was no longer listening to him even then. A thought took birth in his brain. Shambhavi.

All this while, he had thought that she had accepted his cheque, just as he had expected. But it turned out that she had never taken his money. And she had never tried to contact him either. That meant she was not after his wealth, after all. He felt strangely elated. As if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulder. He was seeing Shambhavi in a new light. She was not the woman he had accused her of being. She was different. She had loved him truly with no pretence and definitely not for money.

And then he was hit by the horrible things he had said to her before leaving her, abandoning her, with a child on the way

It had been-he mentally calculated-over four months. That meant that their baby was in the seventh month. Thirty weeks, he estimated, from the day the baby was conceived- 5th January 2011. The thought took him back to the time he had asked Shambhavi who the father of her unborn child was.

He felt terrible. He had accused her of horrible things and had abandoned her at a time she needed him the most. He cursed himself over and over again for being so blind ... for not recognizing love when it stared him in the face. Maybe it was too late to go back ...

Maybe she would not want to see him. It would be justified. He did not deserve to be allowed within twenty feet of her, but he had to try. He had to go back to her and try to explain to her about what had made him do what he did. He would try to tell her that, and then he would accept whatever decision she took.

'Sir? Are you there? Hello?' Faisal's voice pierced through his thought-cloud.

'Yes, yes, I am listening,' Arjun lied.

'I was saying-I could not let you continue doing this. I had to tell you. I am sorry for being so out of line. But you have to understand that I could not live with knowing so much and doing nothing about it.'

'It's okay, Faisal. I am grateful to you for forcing it on me,' Arjun said. He added thoughtfully, 'Actually, do you have any idea where I might find Shambhavi?'

'Yes, I do. They are at Aurobindo Hopsital.'

'What? Why?'

'Weren't you listening? There has been an accident. That is why I had to make a last-ditch effort to inform you, even though you told me you didn't want to hear a word about Shambhavi,' Faisal said.

'What the ... What kind of accident? What are you talking about?' Arjun freaked out instantaneously.

'She fell from the stairs last night. Apparently, she was trying to save her father. Her father did not make it; passed away on the way to the hospital ...'

'And Shambhavi? The baby?'

'I do not know much, the doctors aren't telling yet. Tutul told me about it just this morning and I called you immediately, hoping you would listen to me for once,' Faisal explained.

'But they are ... they are ... alive, aren't they?'

'Yes, critical, both of them, but alive.'

'Oh, thank God,' Arjun exhaled. 'How critical?'

'Very critical. She was in the seventh month of her pregnancy. They fell from a height, so the impact was hard. And I don't think whether I should say this or not, but Tutul said that a baby delivered in its seventh month rarely survives.'

Arjun stopped listening at that point. His brain was numb; his mind frozen. He could not believe all of this was happening. To think that such horrific things had happened to Shambhavi ... and their baby ... and he had been too late. He had never given her a chance to explain; now he might never get a chance to explain.

He had run away from his responsibility and abandoned her to die. She might actually do that. He felt short of breath, as he tried desperately to gather his thoughts together. Worrying about the future was pointless. He needed to do something about the present. He needed to get to the hospital she was in and be of any kind of help he could provide. He knew she would not want to talk to him, if and when she gained consciousness. She would want him out of his life, because he was an animal. He had not thought of her even once. He had not stopped to think what she must have been going through before pushing her out of his life. Not once had he thought about her and their baby, and how they were doing without him.

His biggest regret was not being there with her to prevent the fall. He should have been there to take care of her, since she was pregnant, and he was the father of the child. He should have been there every step along the way and pampered her silly. She should not have needed to do anything on her own. She should not have needed to go near the stairs at all. He should have been there to do everything for her.

But he had not been.

He rushed out of his personal hellhole-the underground cabin beneath the factory, where he had been hiding since the last four months -and rushed towards the hospital they were admitted in. He asked about her at the reception and reached the floor she was being operated in. As soon as he got out of the elevator, he saw Tutul -and one other girl who he assumed was Mili-there. They did not spare him a second glance. He did not mind. He did not need second glances. All he needed was to find Shambhavi and take care of her. To tell her what a terrible mistake he had made and how miserable he was, knowing what had happened behind his back. He wanted to apologize for being absent, in the most crucial time of her life.

He had expected her to be lying unconscious in the hospital bed, too hurt to move. But he was in for a surprise. She was up and walking. As he made his way to the ward the receptionist had directed him to, he saw her coming out of it.

He would never be able to erase the image from his head.

Shambhavi, dressed in the light green hospital gown which reached her knees, rushing out of the ward. She looked frail underneath the gown, her bones were sticking out. It seemed like she had lost a lot of weight since he had last seen her. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way round, during pregnancy? Her stomach looked caved in, where the baby should have been. She had bandages covering a lot of herher forehead, right arm and right leg. There were little wounds all over her body, dressed up with gauze. Her right arm was in a cast.

There was no muscle on her body-just skin on bones. Her eyes looked sunk in, her cheeks were hollow. There was no twinkle in those once-bright eyes. Instead, they were surrounded by dark circles. Her skin was an unhealthy shade of yellow, very pale. But the fire inside her was still burningshe was shouting at the hospital attendants, forcing them to let her go.

'DON'T TOUCH ME. Stay away. AWAY,' she yelled, as one of the nurses tried to take her back to the ward.

Mili and Tutul got up and ran towards Shambhavi. Arjun stood where he was. Frozen.

'Shambhavi ...' Mili said. 'Relax. Come back to bed. You need to rest ...'

'I will NOT rest. My child needs me; Pari needs me. I have to GO,' Shambhavi shrieked again.

'But you are in no condition to be out of bed. Please come back,' Mili pleaded and Tutul held Shambhavi from the other side.

'LET ME GO. STOP IT. DON'T YOU SEE? MY BABY NEEDS ME.'

'You cannot do anything to help her. The doctors are trying their best ... Tutul said.