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“Deepak, are you here on business again?” Akash asked Deepak. They strived to get as much information from him as they could before they revealed Roshni’s accident.
“Yes and no! Yes, because I will be here for some time working with our client in Bangalore. More importantly, I wanted to spend some quality time with Roshni. This worked in my favor because Roshni is also in Bangalore.”
“Deepak, why don’t you freshen up? Kusum will have dinner ready for you, and we can talk during dinner,” said Sashank.
Kusum found some leftovers that Kaki had left in the refrigerator. There was very little rice left, so she asked Deepak if he could wait for fifteen minutes for her to make fresh rice. But Deepak was thrilled to be there, and the lack of rice didn’t matter; the chapthis, curry and dal were more than enough.
Deepak took his luggage to his room. He looked around, and of course, the room was empty without Roshni. She hadn’t planned to come back to this house, so in preparation, she had taken most of her stuff. Babuji’s picture was missing, the closet was empty – everything that belonged to Deepak was there, but everything that belonged to her was gone. Something of her absence struck his heart – he was not able to express it, but knew he missed her. He could sense the other family members also missed her. He quickly had a wash and changed into his pyjamas and came down to have dinner.
While Deepak was in his room, Sashank, Kusum and Akash understood that Deepak had no clue of what had happened to Roshni. They agreed to tell him during dinner.
Kusum warmed up the dal, curry and chapathis and served him. While Deepak ate, Sashank and Akash joined him at the table. Deepak was so elated to see this change around the house; all thanks to Roshni, he thought. He enjoyed the meal and chatted very casually with Kusum bhabhi about Roshni, her stay in Bangalore, her roommate, etc. Sashank waited until Deepak had finished most of his dinner before he talked about Roshni.
“Deepak, have you talked to Roshni recently?” asked Sashank.
“I talked to her last weekend. You remember, I called you as well because she was very troubled. I haven’t talked to her since then. I wanted to surprise her too!”
“Oh!” Deepak, you have a bigger surprise, my brother! thought Sashank and Akash as they glanced at each other.
Everybody was quiet for a few minutes.
Deepak noticed this silence and was worried, and he looked at Sashank. “What happened, Sashank bhaiya? You’re all so quiet. Is everything all right?”
Sashank looked very seriously at Deepak. “I’m not sure how to tell you this, Deepak. We’ve been trying to contact you for the last couple of days–”
Deepak interrupted. “What happened?”
Akash and Kusum waited for Sashank to break the news to Deepak.
Sashank continued, “Deepak, Akash just returned from Bangalore–”
Deepak stood up instantly and interrupted Sashank, “Bhaiya, what happened to Roshni?”
“Roshni beti met with an accident on Sunday evening!”
Deepak just froze. He stood staring at Sashank bhaiya, unable to believe what he’d just heard. After a few minutes, Sashank held Deepak’s hand and shook him, and Akash went over to Deepak and made him sit on the chair and gave him some water to drink.
“Deepak, she’s in the hospital. It was a major accident,” Sashank continued.
Deepak was in complet
e shock. “B-b-but…but when did this happen? And…and…wh-who was with her at the time? Is…is she…I mean, is she conscious? Can somebody give me more details?”
Sashank placed his hand on Deepak’s shoulder. “Deepak, go and wash your hands; then we’ll talk. Akash just got back from seeing her, and he can add more details.”
Deepak rushed to the sink to clean his hands and in no time came back to join the family. Kusum cleaned the dining table while Sashank and Akash moved to the family room. Deepak joined them. He was restless and worried for Roshni. He looked at Sashank and Akash. “Can you please give me the details? I’m really worried.”
Since he was the one who had visited Roshni, Akash began, “I came back yesterday, Deepak. It was indeed a serious accident. Fortunately, her roommate, Sheetal ji, was with her, so she was taken to the hospital immediately.”
Deepak was impatient and wanted to know everything right now. He interrupted Akash, “But how did this happen? Why didn’t anyone tell me immediately?”
“Deepak, calm down. See, this is the reason we didn’t inform you right away! Also, we had very few details until Akash went there and saw for himself the magnitude of the accident. And with you being alone in the US – anyway, that is the reason we delayed, and then we tried to reach you, but didn’t get any response. We were going to contact Vivek tomorrow so he could help us locate you,” Sashank added.
Kusum joined them. She sat next to Deepak on the sofa and held his hand. “Deepak, please calm down. I know this was a major accident, and unfortunately, she is away from all of us, but let’s be thankful Sheetal was with her and took her to the hospital immediately. Based on what I understand from Akash, things are under control now. She is in good hands – a good hospital and good doctor,” Kusum assured him.
“I can’t believe this. Nobody even cared to tell me! After all, I am her husband! Anyway, Akash bhaiya, please give me the details: where was she, how did this happen, is she conscious?” He went on and on with questions for Akash.
Akash sighed and narrated all the details to Deepak: how she met with the accident, the impact, her bleeding, fractures, injuries – everything. Deepak listened and just could not believe it; he was dumbfounded!
