LOVE IS NOT BLIND Part 20

 

Part 20 Firm Arnav

Khushi went to the hospital to HEAR Arnav’s voice… the voice that made her confident… that gave her hope.

Seeing her curiosity, Garima and Akash looked at each other, who were prepared to handle the situation as Vinesh had planned.

When Khushi was supposed to enter Vinesh's room, she stopped, holding the doorknob, hearing,

“Doctor, this is not my voice. Why can’t I take my old voice? How could I talk in this voice? I don’t like this voice, doctor”

Khushi was shocked. Was that Arnav’s voice? She got in and was shocked to see him talking to the doctor in a NEW voice.

“This is not my voice doctor,” Vinesh said.

Khushi gazed at him with a mixed expression. She could not believe he was ARNAV.

“Look, you should be happy that you could talk. You met with a severe accident. You should feel lucky to have your voice back”

“This is not my voice, doctor” he again said feeling sad.

“But you are talking. That’s what matters”

“Doctor, she is my fiancé, Khushi. When she was visually impaired, we started loving each other. She could identify me with only my voice… look at her, doctor, how unbelievably she looks at me…!”  He said looking at Khushi with a miserable gaze.

Khushi diverted her eyes from him.

The doctor came to Khushi.

“Could you please come out?”

Khushi followed him.

“Ms Khushi, you should understand his condition. He is stressed like hell due to the accident he faced. Now, he will be more stressed because his voice changed. It’s not easy to survive after facing such a terrible accident Ms Khushi. By God’s grace, he survived. More than that, we thought he could not talk but he does. We should be happy about it. Please don’t feel him low…”

Khushi was silent. What could she say when she herself was not sure about her state?

“Don’t worry, doctor, my daughter is not unthankful to forget what he did for her. If Vinesh had not been there for her, she would have been blind for her whole life. She will take care of him…”

The doctor nodded yes and left the place.

Garima saw Khushi looking at her sharply.

“Why are you looking at me like this, Khushi?”

“I agree, if Arnav had not been there, I would not have gotten my vision back. But, why did you say, I would have been blind FOR MY WHOLE LIFE? Akash got a good job now. Would not he have operated my eyes if Arnav had not entered my life?” She asked.

Garima and Akash got stuck. Garima understood she overacted in the process of lifting Vinesh.

“I didn’t mean it, beta… I just said how selflessly Vinesh helped you…”

“Arnav… not Vinesh…” Khushi corrected.

Garima rolled her eyes.

“Won’t you leave the name?”

“Never… I will not leave it till my last breath… let’s go” She walked.

Garima clutched her hand and stopped.

“What are you doing, Khushi? How could we leave without seeing Vinesh?”

“I need some time to adapt to the reality that his name and voice changed…that’s why. If you want to be here… you can do it. I’m going to the temple to make my mind relaxed…”

“Khushi, you are new to Mumbai. How would you go alone?”

“There is a temple on the way to our house. Please let me go” She walked out of the hospital.

Akash punched his thigh irritatingly.

“I don’t know how we are going to handle her when she gets to know the truth”

“Let’ go…” Garima walked to Vinesh’s room.

“Where is Khushi?”

“She went to the temple because you got your voice back” Garima grinned.

“Why do I think she is upset?” Vinesh asked.

“No, no, not like that”

“I saw her face. No happiness on her face for me getting my voice back”

“She will be alright…”

“Do you think she will accept Vinesh?” Heera asked.

“She will be like this until she is married to Vinesh. If she gets married to Vinesh, she will accept him. So, we should get them married as soon as possible” Garima said.

“How could we fix the marriage urgently?” Yogesh asked.

“Fix it, Dad,” Vinesh said.

“But, Vinesh…”

“Aunty is right. If our marriage is over, Khushi will accept me even though she got to know I’m not Arnav”

Heera looked at Yogesh who nodded yes. Garima and Akash huffed in relief.

They came out of the hospital with satisfaction. At the same time, NK crossed the hospital and saw Akash getting into an auto. He called Arnav via Bluetooth and followed Akash.

Arnav attended the call.

“Haan, NK...”

“Nananv, I saw Akash. He is going somewhere in an auto. I’m following him. I will share my live location. Catch me”

“Yeah, send me”

Arnav disconnected the call and looked at Aman.

“NK has seen Akash…”

“That’s great…”

NK followed the auto closely not wanting to miss him. When they stopped at the signal, NK shared his live location with Arnav and again followed Akash.

When their auto stopped in front of a house, NK waited. Cutting the auto meter, Akash went inside the house with Garima. NK frowned. He thought Khushi would also be in the auto. She must be at home. He supposed. He waited for Arnav.

Within half an hour, Arnav reached the place with Aman.

“That house,” NK said.

Arnav marched to the house and knocked on the door. Akash opened the door and got his lifetime shock. He gulped hard to see Arnav standing with a wrathful glare.

“Ar…nav…”

“Do you remember me?”

“Arnav, actually, we came here…”

Arnav pushed Akash hard and entered.

“Khushiiii… Khushiii, come out…” Arnav shouted.

Garima came out of the room and was horror-struck seeing Arnav.

“How dare you leave Goa without a note…! Where is Khushi?”

“She is not here” Akash stammered.

“Not here means? Where is she?” he clutched his collar.

“She went to Khandala with her boyfriend” He lied with no shame.

Arnav’s grip on his collar loosened.

“Whaaaaa? What did you say? Boyfriend? Don’t you dare lie…! I know Khushi… she is not like you bloody bugger… She loves me…”

“We also thought the same but when she met a multimillionaire, she changed her mind. He is ready to do anything for her. He poured millions on her feet. We had no choice other than to listen to her” Garima said.

“How will she leave the luxurious life when it knocks on her door? He deposited a hundred crores in her name. That changed her behaviour upside down. She forced us to sell our father’s house. I still can’t believe she forgot the emotions we had for the house”

“Didn’t you advise your sister?” Aman asked.

“We did. She threatened us that she would commit suicide if we didn’t do what she said”

Aman was looking at Arnav who was looking at Akash with disbelief. Nothing seemed true to him.

“When will she come?”

“She just went… it will take four days for her”

“How did you send an unmarried girl to Khandala with her boyfriend?”

“She is not in her sense. It’s a complete waste of time to talk to her. Doesn’t she know she should not go to Khandala with her boyfriend? By the way, what will you do, meeting her, Arnav? IF HER LOVE FOR YOU IS TRUE, how will she think of committing to someone, leaving you?”

Aman and NK didn’t know what to do. They felt bad for Arnav. Akash’s sister would also be like Akash. They guessed but, there was something in Arnav’s mind. he was not ready to trust any one of Akash’s words. He didn’t want to believe him without meeting Khushi. His heart didn’t believe she would leave him, she would change her mind for money, she was committed to someone, and most probably, he didn’t believe, she went to Khandala with someone BEFORE MARRIAGE.

Without saying anything, he walked out.

“ASR, where are you going?”

“Nannav…” NK and Aman rushed behind him.

Akash hit his head, biting his teeth furiously.

“How did he come here? Isn’t he supposed to be Abroad?” Garima asked horrified.

“I don’t know how he smelled us. We should change the house”

“But, how…?”

“However, we have to do it, before Arnav finds out the truth,” Akash said.

………

Arnav came to their bikes and stopped.

“I don’t believe Akash,” he said firmly.

Aman and NK nodded yes.

“Where did you see him?” Arnav asked.

“I saw him near a hospital in Parel”

“Why did they go to the hospital? They didn’t seem ill…” Aman asked.

“Even though they are ill, why did they go to the hospital? Akash is new to Mumbai. Why did he go to the particular hospital, leaving all the hospital on the way to Parel?”

“I will find it out,” said Aman.

“At the same time, we should keep an eye on their house too. I will come tomorrow morning here again,” NK said.

Arnav nodded ok thoughtfully.

To be continued…