Sh_aarohi there you are as promised your update

She didn't know what to do as she stepped into the ambulance and it sped towards the hospital.

Tears finally made their way down as the ward boys pushed the stretcher into the Operation Theatre

Gauri didn't know what to do, just a while ago where her life was going so good and now sitting outside the operation theatre not knowing what to do. Why did she have to be the reason behind everyone's miseries. Just then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Seeing Omkara sitting next to her, Gauri immediately hugged him. "Why do I create havoc in everybody's life?" she sniffed as he silently rubbed her shoulder to calm her as they sat waiting for the doctors to come out

He felt bad for her. To have a family where almost nobody wished for your welfare and rather tried to ambush the people who gave you emotional strength to deal with life was painful.

It all started when Gauri's cousin sister, Monali had come to stay with her(Gauri's) mother given that she had landed in India instead of staying with her in-laws. Gauri knew that neither Monali nor Ragini who was also her first cousin liked Tanya but never in her wildest dreams had she thought that Monali would stoop down to pushing Tanya down a flight of stairs just because she got angry. The anger that Gauri bonded with her than her and Ragini therefore she enjoyed more 'benefits', whatever that may mean

"Can I see her doctor?" Gauri asked as the doctor came out of the OT and ran to ICU where Tanya had been shifted to while Omkara went into the doctor's cabin

"Mr. Oberoi" he let out a sigh. "Your friend fell on her head, and she broken her right arm" he explained "She is stable now but we'll have to monitor the patient for the next 48 hours. If she does not respond there are high stakes that she might slip into coma"

Omkara didn't know how to react. How was he supposed to tell this to Gauri? He looked through the glass of the door of the ICU, Gauri sitting next to Tanya on the stool as the latter lay almost lifeless in the blue hospital gown with a ventilator and other tubes attached to her left hand and right hand plastered

"What did the doctor say?" she asked coming out of the ICU

"She has to be kept under observation" he sighed, leaving out the coma part of it

_________

A day had passed, Gauri and Omkara had stayed in the hospital overnight but Tanya showed no progress. Dadi, Jhanvi and Anika had come in the morning and Anika had stayed back with Gauri sending Omkara back home to freshen up with the ladies. At noon, Namrata(Gauri's mother) brought her lunch but she didn't touch a morsel and only changed her clothes. Somewhere it hurt Omkara to see her like this. So emotionless, so drained.

"This is the easiest and shortest way out Mr. Oberoi" the doctor had told him

"Gauri, come with me, we'll go home so you can freshen up" he said putting his arm around her

"No. She'll need me when she gets up" she repeated what she had been saying for the last two days the next day

"Gauri... Shivaay, Rudy and Anika bhabhi are here. They'll ring up if she does get up okay" he said softly understanding her trauma slowly pulling her up and out of the hospital

He drove her to her mother's place since it was closer to the hospital. The elevator stopped on the last floor and opened up into the pent house.

Seeing Gauri, the blood from the faces of the servants drained not knowing how she would react seeing Monali still in the house. They disliked the woman for the way she treated them but after what she did they hate her and their reluctance in her serving her had turned to also defying Namrata's orders when it came to doing anything regarding her.

For the first time in the last two days, Gauri's eyes had unshed tears as she climbed up the stairs thinking how unlucky she was for the people she loved

Omkara took her to the study and had her sit down on the as the servants brought in food for her. Sitting beside her he folded the sleeves of his shirt as he began feeding her and reluctantly she did eat

"Gauri I need to tell you something" he said with a sigh placing the empty on the tea table

"The other day..., after the surgery, the doctor told me something" he said still contemplating whether he should tell it to her as he got up to wash his hands

"The doctor said that she had to be kept under observation for 48 hours" Gauri knew that but the indecisiveness that was plastered across his face was screaming that there was more than just that so she kept quiet and nodded

"If she doesn't respond there are chances that she might slip into coma" he said holding her, looking into her eyes

He could feel goosebumps rising on her skin and her eyes turn red as tears ran down the bags under her eyes "How could I have let this happen. She doesn't deserve this" she mumbled as more tears flowed. Omkara wanted to wipe them off and comfort her, tell her not to cry, that Tanya would be fine but how could he when not even the doctor's could guarantee that she'd get up and recover

Things were bad then but to make it worse Monali barged into the study.

"Gauri listen I'm sorry about Thursday" she said taking one step forward towards the two of them. Omkara could feel shaking in anger that was being fueled by the pain she was going through

"Ragini and I were upset about the fact that at the wedding she did the rituals that we are supposed to do and then seeing her flapping around our house like it were hers irritated me so when she crossed paths I got angry but still I asked her very calmly why did she do the rituals and sideline us but she said it was you. i mean can you believe it. She was blaming you for it." Monali spoke her hands flying randomly in gestures as she tried explaining her actions

"I didn't mean to push her that hard. it was more meant to be a slight push for her to stay away from me" she said stepping more forward feeling confident that Gauri had bought all that she had said

"Stay away from me" Gauri screamed as her hands flew to her ears shutting them. "Go away" she screamed "Leave" . Her decibel levels making the woman to stumble back and attract people to see what was happening outside the room

Monali scurried out of the room. If the humiliation wasn't enough already, there was a clique of housekeeping staff outside. She fumed as she walked past them. Gauri had humiliated her once again for some random daughter of a cop. How she wished she could have done more things to that scourge Tanya

_____________

Gauri was crying in Omkara's arms in the study.

"I was the one who asked her to do the rituals Omkara. What wrong did she do to deal with this? Why do they hate her so much? Why do they want to exercise their rights on me when I have everything when they absconded away when I needed someone, when I needed a shoulder to cry upon" she weeped hiding her face in his chest

It was a while before she stopped weeping and went into slumber after being physically and emotionally for two days, resting her head on his shoulder

Around two hours later Shivaay called up Omkara and informed that Tanya had regained consciousness and doctors were examining her forcing him to wake up Gauri which was another task in itself given that she was sleep deprived for the last two days

"Gauri... Gauri?" he called out patting her cheeks. "Tanya is asking for you. She got up"

"Tanya...? Me...?" she mumbled still sleepy. "Yeah... she's responding to the doctors now. We need to go" he affirmed as her eyelids flew wide open

___________

Tanya was safe now. Though she was pinned down by the tubes and the cast on her right hand and leg where the doctors figured that she had hurt after she got up and of course the helmet as Rudy called the cast around her head, she was back to her chirpy self.

All the Oberois liked her too in just 5 days. One, because she was gauri's best friend, two, because she was as simple and sweet as Gauri and three, most important of all, Gauri had begun opening up around her

"Gauri..." she said sweetly while Gauri was going through the minutes of the meeting that was held the previous day since she hadn't gone to office over the last five days

"Yesss..." Gauri drawled seeing her friend was going to demand something she wouldn't be interested in, opening the sandwich that Omkara just handed her before plopping down on the couch next to her

"Can we please watch a movie?" she asked with a toothy grin

Gauri whipped out her laptop and opened Netflix

"Which one?"

"Of course To All the Boys I've Loved Before" making Gauri grunt as her friend looked like a love-sick puppy

"Did someone tell you that Peter Pevensie is so much better than Peter Kavinsky?" she grumbled

"Peter Pevensie? Who's that?" Omkara asked confused to get shocked expressions. Gauri still looked just shocked kinda shocked but Tanya's jaw dropped as she turned towards Gauri and then back to him

"Wait oh I know!" Omkara declared. "It's from Harry Potter right!?" while Tanya gaped, Gauri looked away

"Chronicles of Narnia you clot" Tanya kicking the pillow next to her foot which was next to her foot which Omkara easily ducked but their banter did make Gauri smile. He was the only one other than her mother Tanya opened up to

"But I like Harry Potter better" he said with an innocent expression on his face earning another kick from his wife's friend

"Then you should know that Peter Pevensie doesn't deserve to be a part of Harry Potter" she said scrunching her nose

"Both of you continue watching I have to take this call" Gauri said as her phone began buzzing

As soon as Gauri was out of sight and earshot Tanya paused the movie

"Why are you doing this Omkara?" she asked and was she being really serious

"Doing what?" he asked casually

"Why are you taking care of me? You are not bound to do anything for me" she said

"Is Gauri important to you? And are you important to her" he asked understanding where the conversation was headed to

"Very much. But listen you don't have to spend so much of your time taking care of me just because I was stupid enough to lose my balance on the stairs"

"Tanya... Let me honest with you. I don't love Gauri. Nobody can. We barely know each other so I can't expect her to fall for me or fall for her myself but I want to get to know her. I respect her a lot and trust her too"

"She trusts you too" Tanya said that somewhere, Gauri's mother had been right about choosing an amicable man like Omkara for her daughter. "She's just scared of stepping forward"

"I know. And I also know that when I get to know her fully I will be able to love her. We will be able to love each other. One sided relationships never work. She knows that. I can see that though it isn't necessarily voluntary she trusts me enough to cry over my shoulder, to tell me about Abhimanyu Raheja. I can see what she's bearing all her life and so when someone is important to her I'm sure that person should be extremely special. probably I can also earn a place amongst those limited people" he said with a smile making her smile too

__________

Tanya didn't realize when she fell asleep drooling over Noah Centineo after that serious discussion with Omkara but it was almost dinner time and Omkara was gone and Gauri was sitting on the couch reading a book

"Gauri..." Tanya called as she beckoned her to sit next to her

"What happened? You want something?" she asked sitting next her

"No. I wanted to asking you something. How're things with Omkara?"

"Good. Why?" Gauri said uncomfortably

"Who are you lying to? Without you telling I can tell you both haven't even kissed"

"Did he tell you that? Or did you ask him"

"Neither but it is true" Tanya said looking displeased

"But he knows about Abhimanyu Raheja" she said shrugging getting uncomfortable in a conversation like this

"And what about your family?"

"I didn't but Monali was stupid enough to come and start talking shit in front of him"

"Gauri stop please! Omkara is a nice guy. Can you not let you past stop you from moving forward in life. I know there are these people you consider family including me and are very protective of all of us but listen you can't always shield us alright. Everyone needs support in their life. What will you do if tomorrow I'm not there and Namrata aunty is also not there?" Tanya said irritated while Gauri reeled back to the time when she was crying holding onto Omkara like her life depended on it

"You can't always be the shield in a relationship Gauri. You need to allow people to shield you as well. Give him a chance man. Your my best friend Gauri please listen to me once. Give your relationship a shot and properly. He and his family genuinely care for you else they wouldn't be hanging around here for more than a day. You're getting what you always wanted, a family that loves you for you rather than how healthy your bank balance is. There's no wrong in taking a leap of faith Gauri"

Yo people! How was that!? How about some sizzlers in the next update
Tell me how this one was

And yeah, the Mighty Target: 75+ (it has 2300+ words)
☮️