"Kya baat hai Sana?" Anju woke up when she heard people outside her room early in the morning.

"Aunty, Papa ko thodi vomiting ho rahi hai." Shehnaaz replied. Along with her family, they arrived in Delhi a few days ago and were staying with the Agrawals.

"Arey? Kaise?" Anju asked worriedly.

"Pata nahi aunty. Abhi thode thik hain, khaas rahe the toh mai peeni ka pani garam karne aayi thi." Shehnaaz replied, walking into the kitchen to find Anju following her.

"Kal raat ki sabji digest nahi hui bhaisaab ko? Maine zyada hi masaledar bana di thi?" Anju asked, wondering what went wrong.

"Arey nahi Aunty, aisi sabji toh humare ghar bhi banti hai!" Shehnaaz immediately corrected her.

"Ha pani leke ja. Mai Rajiv ko utha ti hu, hospital jane ke liye." Anju suggested, making her way back to her bedroom.

"Ha." Shehnaaz nodded, lost in thoughts since she saw blood in the sink while her father was vomiting.

"Ab thik lag raha hai Papa?" She asked her father, caressing his back while he sipped the lukewarm water slowly. She had booked her father an appointment for the other day in Fortis. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to prepone it for the present day now that the pulmonologist was so busy.

He nodded, taking a deep breath and returning the glass to his daughter. He puked a few times and was exhausted already. He began to feel drowsy and light headed as well.

"Thodi der aaram kar leta hu." He told them.

"Nahi, hospital chaliye. Uncle gadi nikal rahe honge." She mentioned.

"Arey, unko kyu pareshan kiya? Kal hi toh hai appointment apni!" Jagjit replied with a frown.

"Are you serious right now? Chup chap karke chalo Papa, I'm not in the mood to talk now." She argued, turning to her mother for help. Madhu was about to speak but her husband spoke first.

"Arey mujhe thoda chakkar-chakkar sa lag raha hai! Kuch der toh ruk jao." He told them. She sighed, nodded and left the room to inform Rajiv about the same.

He was a pneumonia patient, even though his health had improved but his lungs were still somewhere infected. That was a reason he suggested they stayed in a hotel and not with the Agrawals to avoid the risk of infection but Anju just wouldn't let them stay anywhere else. She had made arrangements for Jagjit as per his condition.

Talking about his condition, his lung tissues were infected and that was the reason he was having trouble breathing and had a cough and fever along with occasional chest pain, now vomiting.

"As per the symptoms, pneumonia toh hai sir aapko. Including the blood traces. I suggest you get some of these scans done for clearer picture." The doctor suggested. Rajiv took them to a nearby hospital for now since they already had an appointment with a specialist the other day.

"Ikko gal bar bar kehnde rende.." Jagjit mumbled incoherently because he was so not ready to go for those scans again because the machines felt so claustrophobic.

"Zyada time nahi lagega Jagjit, scans karwa lete hain. Aise bhi aapki reports ek mahine pehle ki hain, Fortis wala doctor pakka bolta in sab ke liye." Rajiv suggested.

"Ha Papa." Shehnaaz added and smiled when her father gave in.

"Aram se." She helped him lay down, now that Jagjit had to get into a machine for a PET CT scan, he was skeptical about laying down and letting the stretcher move in.

"Sir, yeh lijiye." The instructor gave Jagjit a yellow smiley-face squeeze ball to help him calm down while getting the scan started. Jagjit immediately began to squeeze the ball in order to distract himself.

Shehnaaz was right in front of the machine all the time, so as to ensure her father that she was there for as long as the machine ran. She was a little surprised and impressed how her father remained calm this time unlike how he had reacted back in Chandigarh.

"I think sir so gaye." The instructor informed her once he stopped the machine after running the test.

"Utho Papa. You did a good job today!" She chuckled, patting his shoulders but her father didn't move.

"Papa! Papa, utho!" She panicked a little when he wouldn't respond.

"Sir?" The instructor was quick to get that the patient must have fainted and sprinkled a few drops of water in Jagjit's face.

"Papa! Hey waheguru!" Shehnaaz had almost lost it until her father stirred opened his eyes. She helped him in getting up and walking out of the room.

"Thik ho?" She slowly asked him and he nodded, trying to take a deep breath without coughing but wasn't really able to.

Passing the rest of the day felt like a task in itself when they didn't really have anything to do but to wait until it was time for them to see Dr. Singh at Fortis the other day.

"Hm. No wonder 2 months ki medications se bhi koi asar nahi hua. Aap ne humesha ek hi doctor se treatment karwaya?" Dr. Singh asked Jagjit.

"Hanji sir, multi-speciality hospital hai bada sa. Zarurat nahi lagi. Anything wrong?" Jagjit replied.

"Aapka case pulmonary embolism ka hai and not pneumonia. PE is the most serious condition that is misdiagnosed as pneumonia. As such, it is more likely to be misdiagnosed in patients with lung infections." Dr. Singh answered.

"Doctor ab?" Shehnaaz asked worriedly.

"Treatment immediately chalu karna hoga, I'm afraid pichle treatment me kafi time ja chuka hai. We'll begin with an anticoagulant for now." Dr. Singh answered and wrote down something on a piece of paper before calling one of his staff in intercom and handing it to them.

"Sir, aap jitni jaldi ho sake admit ho jaye. I'd suggest aaj shaam tak." The doctor added and it left the patient and his family members shocked.

Sidharth on the other hand was having lunch with Vardhan and Meera in the office again, at times the wife would join them and bring them something good to eat.

"Sid, tumhe pata hai? Coming weekend ek art exhibition hone wala hai. You should come." Meera told him.

"Art exhibition me mai?" He asked her.

"Ha? Inspiration ke liye aao, tum logo ka toh vaise bhi itna creative line of work hai. You should join us, mere sare friends waha honge." She replied.

"I'll check with my schedule." He nodded.

"Vardhan toh ja raha hai mere sath. That definitely means there is nothing special in the schedule for Friday. Tum aana nahi chahte toh bata do." Meera shrugged, focusing on her plate, it made her husband eye her with suspension.

"I'll be there." Sidharth rolled his eyes at her.

"Good. Aise bhi you have been to our place so many times that some of my friends ask when you're not there." She told him.

"And by some friends, do you, by any chance mean Ishani?" He promptly asked her.

"Oooh! Do you, by any chance, want to know if Ishani is interested?" She excitedly chuckled.

"Babe? You think we're stupid to not notice you're trying to set Sid up with Ishani?" Vardhan asked her, bursting her bubble.

"Then what are you waiting for, if it's that obvious Sid?" She replied, simultaneously looking at the guys.

"I haven't thought of her in that way." Sidharth replied.

"Yet na? Aage soch lo?!" She suggested.

"Sid, ek baat sunlo meri. Ishani. She's just like you. So sorted!" She told him.

"I mean, just like you know what you wanna do and what not, right? Wo bhi aisi hai, calm and composed. You remind me of her, tum dono ki personalities ekdum ek jaisi hai sach kahu toh." She further elaborated.

He nodded with a smile for all that explanation. Meera became one of his good friends once she married Vardhan and the three of them used to hangout together a lot. So he understood what she meant by that, her intentions were good and he appreciated that.

"Meera, I don't know what I'm looking for.." He replied, focusing on his food to let her know that was all she was going to get from him.

"Take your time. I'll leave it to you. Give it a try, I promise you won't regret it! She's just so sweet and mature and a very good friend of mine." She further added and nudged her husband to say something.

"Mai kya bolu? Teri friend hai? Tu uski guarantee le rahi hai, mai iski (Sidharth) guarantee nahi lunga." Vardhan replied.

"Tumhara best friend hai yeh!?" She argued, why would her husband not back up for Sidharth being a good guy to date and at least try getting along with her friend.

"Yeh shakal se hi calm and composed dikhta hai, kaam ulte hi karta hai. Meri ek advice nahi leta, tujhe lagta teri baat manega?" He shrugged as he asked his wife, Sidharth had a small smile on his face when his friend said that.

"You're trying to say he's not interested in Ishani? These two were talking for about an hour at our place!" She emphasized on the time period.

"Toh? Sirf baat hi toh ki? And above all he seems to have changed since he's come back from his week long leave." Vardhan had casually mentioned and it had Sidharth surprised.

"I'm right in front of you guys! Mujhse hi puch lo mai kya karunga?!?!" Sidharth finally interrupted the couple.

"Tujhe puchunga, toh tu batayega kya kaand karke aaya hai?" Vardhan asked and it was difficult to lie to a friend who could read you like a book.

"Abe bhagg be!" Sidharth shook his head, wiping his hands with a tissue and gulping down a glass full of water.

"Acha, meri baat manoge?" Meera asked.

"I won't promise you anything Meera. Sorry darling." He replied apologetically.

"It's okay sweetie, I just want the best for you either way." She replied with a smile.

"Art exhibition me toh aoge na?" She asked him.

"Of course." He nodded, wrapping up his box once he was done with his meal to get back to his work.

Was he ready to date people? He didn't know. There had been relationships that didn't let him believe in the forever kind of concept and had taken a break from the market. Complicated. With Shehnaaz, it was unexpectedly different yet consensual. It was a no strings attached situation with someone he was connected through as a family friend. Again complicated. About Ishani, all he knew was that she was a nice person and being friends with Meera, he didn't want to take things ahead afraid that it might end up something that happened between Shehnaaz and him.

Although he was insanely attracted to Shehnaaz back then and that wasn't the case here but he was just not ready to do anything now.

Later in the night while he was having dinner, he received a call from Sheena surprisingly.

"Hi Montu, free hai tu?" Sheena asked. She sounded so straight forward and serious that he felt strange.

"Ha bolna, bas khana kha raha hu." He answered.

"Actually, mai aur Guru kal ki flight se wapas aa rahe hain. Kal sirf Mumbai tak ki flight mili toh ek night stay karenge tere ghar soch rahi hu mai, next day Delhi ki book kar lenge phir. Chalega?" She told him.

"Ha thik hai na, aaja. All okay? You don't sound good." He replied, getting a little concerned.

"Arey Sana ke Papa admit hain Fortis me. Jitna Mummy ne bataya, he's not doing well at all. Chandigarh me pneumonia bolke galat treatment karte rahe doctors. Yaha aake alag hi lung disease pata chali. Everybody is so tensed right now isliye hum bhi ghar ja rahe." She told him and it was the least to say that he was taken aback. He had almost forgotten about Shehnaaz's father.

"Oh God! Kabse admit hain uncle? Teri baat hui Shehnaaz se?" He further asked.

"Kal se admit hain uncle, treatment chalu toh hua hai lekin kuch complications hain. Sana ko call kiya tha maine lekin uski aur Guru ki zyada baat hui. Iske Mama ke pehchan ke doctors hain na Fortis me toh Sana ne isko bataya kal raat. She was so worried." She answered.

"Okay." He was still registering what all he heard just now.

"Ha, chal thik hai. Rakhti hu." She said.

"Apni flight ki details bhej dena, I'll send my driver." He told her.

"Okay, will do." She replied.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." He said and hung up.

He could recall how concerned Shehnaaz had been about her father but back then he was told it was a mild case of pneumonia and that's why she was able to let her mother take care of her father while she attended her best friend's wedding.

He immediately picked up his phone and texted her.

'Mickey told me about uncle.. let's hope and pray it will not be lengthy.. and that he will recover soon'

He noticed that she had received the texts but she wasn't online. Not that he was expecting her to be, he knew she'd be busy and simply wanted to drop a few texts.

Shehnaaz was feeding her father, she was staying with him during the night while Madhu used to be there in the morning. Even though she didn't really have much during the day, she wasn't hungry during the night either. She simply sighed, sipping her coffee in the cafeteria all by herself. To pass some time, she fished out her phone from her pocket and saw Sidharth's texts. There was a faint smile on her face, she did manage to make a good friends with him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello all! Kya haal chaal?

Here's the latest chapter! How's it?

Well, what do you think about Shehnaaz's situation?

How about Sidharth giving a thought about relationships?

Kya lagta hai? Aage kya hoga?