Hey guys😊😊 Missed me😄 I m sure you did😉So here I am with the next update 😊 Hoping you like it😊😍Sorry for making you guys wait so long 😘

Note this part is a continuation in the flashback. It is a continuation of the part where AP had requested Ragu- Laksh for a child and Swara had informed Suju that she and Sanskar were planning for a child.

Dialogues in bold
Thoughts in Italics
Narration in normal font
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Sanskar sighed as he tried to focus on the presentation for the third time that day. No matter what he did, he couldn't concentrate on the task at hand. His thoughts kept going back to the incidents over the past few days.

He was unable to sleep because of the conversation he had had with Swara and his mom that day regarding the child. The incessant teasing by the family members, the expectant eyes of his mother, the nonchalant attitude of Swara towards having a proper discussion with him irritated him to no end. Plus he hadn't spoken to Ragini for the past few days and he was getting restless. He was missing her light-hearted yet insightful talks. She always helped him gain a perspective on the situation. But he wondered if she could help him clear his thoughts on the current situation. She seemed distressed the past couple of days.
Ever since that night, he had seen Ragini lost in thought whenever he saw her. It was as though she was battling an inner dilemma. And the behaviour of the family towards her was baffling to say the least.
He had seen the way Annapurna's eyes lit up as Ragini entered the room and also how her gaze used to make Ragini uncomfortable. He was meaning to speak to her about it but he had been so busy.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the sound of his cellphone ringing. He quickly picked up his phone and spoke to the person on the other line.

"Yes Mr Chatterjee. Yeah I have the details. Okay. Will meet you at the venue in half an hour." Sanskar politely replied as he cut the call.

He quickly shut his laptop and kept his belongings with him. He had to be at the meeting in half an hour.

He strove towards his car with a determined face. He had to secure the contract as both he and Ragini had worked day and night for this project and given it their all and he wasn't going to let their efforts go down the drain just because his personal life had been stressed.

Their efforts would prove fruitful and he would speak to her today after the meeting. He smiled at the last thought and quickly put his belongings in the car and drove off.

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Ragini stared at the file lost in thoughts. Her head had been aching and it was almost as if whatever words she was reading, were not registering in her mind.

She was supposed to review the tender details and send it by evening but it was as though her mind was in no mood to cooperate. She signed as she rubbed her fingers at her forehead in an attempt to release the tension.

The last week was stressful to say the least. With the incessant fights she had been having with Laksh, with Laksh having stormed out of each one, it was getting difficult to keep her emotions in check and concentrate.
Laksh was in no mood to listen to her thoughts regarding the child. He had assumed her reluctance was on account of her career and was too stubborn to listen while she was getting fed up of trying to explain things to him. Added to that, the expectant eyes of her mother in law and other family members made her uncomfortable. She had tried speaking to Swara about the matter but Swara had snubbed it off as her insecurity and had supported Laksh's stance on the matter.

To say she was shocked at Swara's behaviour would be an understatement. She had expected Swara to atleast listen to her point of view clearly if not support her as her sister. But her behaviour made Ragini almost regret her decision of speaking to her.

To top it all, she hadn't spoken to Sanskar in the past week and she missed his teasing and deep talks. He always found a way to make her feel at ease.

She also knew the only person who would be able to understand her and allow her to rant her feelings would be Sanskar. He had always understood her distress but she wondered if she could speak to him regarding this issue. She wasnt bothered about him judging her. That was one thing he could never do. But she was worried about his reaction when he would know how Laksh and Swara had reacted. He had been very perturbed and agitated the last time Laksh had misbehaved with her. She didnt want to give him a reason to worry again because of her. He already seemed stressed when he had seen him last week. He was always working on some file or presentation.

Presentation ! Oh shucks ! Ragini stood up with a start.

She was supposed to go for the meeting today with Sanskar. She checked her wrist watch. Oh God ! She was late.

She was frantically looking for her cellphone and her papers when she got a message from Sanskar.

"Before you break into a panic attack, let me just inform you that the meeting went well and we secured the contract. Will meet you in an hour 😊 "

She smiled and was about to bang her head against the desk when she got another message

"Also please do not destroy my office furniture by banging your head against it. My furniture is difficult to replace😄 - Sanskar" She laughed heartily at that last message.

Trust Sanskar to always make her laugh. She smiled cheekily and proceeded with her work.

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Few hours later.

Sanskar had just parked his car in the basement. He moved to the reception and was waiting for the lift. He checked his pockets for his cellphone when he realized he had forgotten his phone in the car. He moved out of the lobby and was just about to go to the basement when smelt something burning. He paused and looked around to locate the source of the burning smell.

Soon the fire alarm had been rung and Sanskar realized that the building was under fire. He looked up to see fumes emanating from the sixth floor. There was a cloud of smoke originating from the corner room on the sixth floor

That was where Ragini's cabin was situated !

Sanskar rushed towards the second set of stairs adjoining the fire escape and ran up panting. He was huffing and puffing for breath when he reached the sixth floor.

He ran towards her cabin. He could see a heavy puff of smoke around her cabin. He coughed hard and ran inside. To his dismay, she was not inside.

"Ragini ! Ragini " He yelled but she was not inside the washroom also. He checked the adjoining cabins but she was nowhere to be found.

He ran towards Laksh's cabin. But she was not there either.

He knew she had to be in the building as he had not seen her rush down the fire escape when he was coming up. He just wished that she should be safe wherever she may be.

He checked the entire floor but she was nowhere to be found. He moved down and scanned the other floors.

It had been forty minutes and there was still no sign of Ragini. The excessive smoke around was making it difficult for him to breathe and had slowed down his search. He was feeling restless by every minute and there was this uneasy feeling in his heart that something had happened to her. He decided to ignore the feeling and continued his search. He just remembered that he had not checked Swara's cabin yet which was overlooking the garden. There was a chance Ragini might have gone there.

'Ragini ! Ragini !'

Sanskar's scream reverberated around the premises. He scanned the entire premises but he couldn't locate her. The rubble and destruction around was making it harder for him to spot her.

He finally reached Swara's cabin and glanced over the room. He was feeling weak and light headed but he had to make sure she was okay. His posture stilled for a minute as he spotted a female figure lying down unconscious by the table. He quickly reached the spot and turned her face. A wave of relief rushed over him as he recognised her to be Ragini. But soon this relief was replaced by panic as he realised that she must have been lying there unconscious for a long time. He needed to get her out of this atmosphere as she had already been exposed to danger.

"Ragini. Open your eyes Ragini." He tapped her cheeks but got no response.

"Ragini" He tried again but got no response. This feeling of helplessness which engulfed Sanskar was indescribable.

Meanwhile the fumes had gotten excessive and he was having great difficulty in breathing. He coughed repeatedly and then proceeded to pick her up in his arms.
He put an arm under her knees and supported her shoulders with the other arm and moved out. Her head lay nestled at his chest as he moved ahead.

He held her frail body in her arms and moved out thinking the next course of action.
He decided to move towards the balcony overlooking the main road. He had heard the sirens of the firetruck around the premises. He knew that the best option was to stay close to the balcony as he would be close to the reach of firefighters and the faster they could be located, the faster Ragini would get medical assistance.

He stood at the balcony waiting for the firefighters to arrive. He knew it would be stupid to jump off the fourth floor of the building. Especially when he had an unconscious Ragini to tend to.
He was thankful that the firefighters had already reached the balcony and had spotted him. Soon they were brought down safely by the firefighters.

Both Ragini and Sanskar were shifted into the ambulance where they were inspected by a group of doctors. They were soon shifted to the nearby hospital.

Ragini was put on a oxygen support to assist in breathing while Sanskar had been given some medicines by the doctor after a preliminary check up.

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Meanwhile the Maheshwari men had reached the spot. DP and Ram had gone out of town for some days but had rushed back as soon as they heard the news of fire. DP was speaking to the female inspector who was briefing him about the situation.

The female inspector had rushed to the site as soon as she had seen the fire break out and was trying to clear the crowd for the firetrucks to arrive. She had been busy instructing the public to clear the road and had ensured the firetrucks entered the premises.

She was speaking to DP when she saw a woman suddenly appear out of nowhere trying to create a commotion by trying to enter the building.

"My sister is inside. I need to go save her" Swara's cries were met by resistance by the lady police officers who held her by her shoulders.

"Let me go you fools. My sister is inside" She yelled

"Are you mad young woman?"The female inspector yelled at Swara.

"You think this is a joke. Here we are trying our best to keep casualties minimum and save people and you want to increase our burden by deciding to enter the dangerous premises." She chided her.

Swara was beyond enraged. She was about to give this inspector a piece of her mind when she was interrupted by DP.

"Please forgive her madam. She did not want to cause you any trouble. It is just that my daughter in law is selfless and often put her own life at stake for others." DP apologized to the inspector.
Hiss heart filled with pride seeing Swara's actions and he thanked the gods that Swara was his daughter in law.

Swara smirked seeing his response.
The inspector nodded half-heartedly and left the matter


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Sanskar had called DP to inform him about Ragini and was speaking to him when his conversation was interrupted with Swara's cries.
He was sure that he had Swara in the background. From what he could hear, she was trying to enter the building. But he was beyond perplexed as to why she would do that when he had already informed her about him and Ragini being safe.
Before he could ask his BadePapa about Swara, DP cut the call.

Talk about Strange family members. He could not be more baffled. But he didn't have time to be bothered or perplexed by her behaviour as he had to worry about Ragini's health.

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Sanskar picked up a stool and sat beside Ragini's bed. He had finally finished making calls to inform the family about Ragini. He felt strange when he was talking to BadiMaa about Ragini. He was not sure but he had detected a hint of excitement in Annapoorna's tone when she had learnt that Ragini had fainted. He could not decipher the meaning behind his Badimaa's strange response. But he would worry about that later.

He looked at Ragini lying there peacefully in deep sleep. Strangely enough her face held a sense of calm that had been missing on her face for the past week. He had messaged her that he would be meeting her today but he had never expected to see her in such circumstances.

The fear and restlessness which had engulfed him today when he could not locate her made him feel unnerved. He had not experienced fear so intense ever since that time when he had almost lost Kavita to death. And he could not understand why the feeling was so intense.

His train of thoughts was broken by Ragini's movements.

He noticed her fingers twitch and it was soon accompanied by Ragini opening her eyes.

She slowly opened her eyes to see Sanskar staring at her. She smiled seeing the concern in his eyes.

"Feeling better?" Sanskar questioned her apprehensively.
Ragini gave a nod and Sanskar breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you"She said . He just smiled and nodded in response.

He helped her sit up and made her drink a glass of water. He was about to go call the doctor when she held his arm. He looked at her hand and looked up questioningly.

"You are always saving my life Sanskar" She replied with a gratitude filled smile

"Well somebody has got to" He replied cheekily.

She smiled and closed her eyes while he left to call the doctor.

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Sanskar had just collected his phone from the driver in the lobby and had just reached upstairs to see Annapoorna step out of the doctor's cabin. Her face held a grim almost disappointed expression. Had Ragini's condition worsened?

He was just about to approach her when he heard his mother speak to her.

"Kya hua Jiji? Why are you so upset?" Sujata voiced Sanskar's question

"I just had a chat with the doctor Sujata, about Ragini. He told me that she had fainted because of the gas poisoning and no other health problems." Annapoorna replied in a sad voice.

"You should be happy Jiji. Why do you look so disheartened?" She asked

"I thought Ragini had fainted because she was pregnant. But it turns out she wasn't. All my hopes have gone down the drain. "Annapoorna spoke with a morose voice.

Sujata consoled her while her face mirrored AP's expression.

Sanskar clenched his fingers to control the raging storm inside his body. He decided to go to Ragini's ward before he would lose control and say something to his Mom and BadiMaa.

He entered her ward and sat on the sofa as he tried to reel in his anger. He was beyond furious. He could not believe his ears. Instead of being happy and grateful that their daughter in law had survived a fire, these ladies here were disappointed because their daughter in law was not pregnant.

He was fidgeting with his phone and trying his best to distract his mind when a thought struck him. Where was Laksh?

He checked his phone for any calls or messages by Laksh but there were none. He had messaged him about Ragini's condition but Laksh had not called back.
It had been hours and Laksh had not yet come to check in on his wife at the hospital. Was Laksh even bothered about his wife?

To top it all, Swara had not come to see them in the hospital though it had been hours since he had informed her and hours since her drama at the office. Where was she?

His mind was boggling with questions and he did not seem to have an answer for any of them. Feeling drained after the day's struggle, he finally fell asleep on the sofa.

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So this is it for this part today. This part was stretching a bit long so have divided the part into two updates😊

Chalo I can finally have my dinner 😁 likhne mein itna magn thi ki dinner Karna bhool gayi🙈

Hoping it was worth the wait 😊😊As always waiting for your feedback 😘😘

Love you and thank you for your appreciation 😊

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Especially tagging you guys since you were waiting so eagerly

Here you go😊