Siya was lying with her eyes closed.

"Jaaan."

She opened her eyes and smiled seeing Raghav.

R~kya hua meri jaan ko? Gir gayi thi? (Siya nodded sadly) sorry, maine tumhe giraya na? Maine tumhe daraya na hota toh tum girti bhi nahi, sorry

S~Raghav? Ek second, tum ne kab daraya mujhe? Kab giraya? Kya keh rahay ho? Aap mujhe kabhi gira he nahi saktay, mujhe dara he nahi saktay

Raghav smiled sadly.

R~ek he toh meri jaan hai, and I hurt you always

S~mujhe kuchh nahi yaad Raghav, ye bhi nahi yaad ke kab accident hua aur mujhe kaise chot ayi. (she got triggered by fleeting images in her head) bohat dhundla dhundla kuchh nazar aa raha hai, bohat daraavna sa

R~achha tum na ziada mat socho, okay jaan? (she nodded) my baby

She smiled. Anupama entered along with Pallavi, Nilamma, Risha, Tusshar and Rashmi.

An~kya hua Siya? Tu hass kiun rahi hai?

S~kuchh nahi maa, main toh bas Raghav ko dekh kar hass rahi thi

Anupama became silent recalling Raghav's death.

P~Siya, (she looked at her) beta tu theek hai na?

S~haan lekin aap kaun hain aunty? Maine pehchana nahi

P~main wo nurse hoom tumhari

S~(chuckled) phir aap mujh se beta beta keh kar kiun baat kar rahi thi?

P~bas aise he, apni beti se bhi aise he baat karti hoon na, tum bhi meri beti jaisi ho isliye keh diya

Siya just smiled.

N~Siya, beta dekh, abhi tujhe discharge mil jaaye ga, tu humare saath rahay gi, maine is nurse se keh kar na sara samaan pack kara diya hai

S~dadi, I understand aap ko meri fikr hai, lekin main wahan reh loon gi, Raghav hai na mera khayaal rakh saktay hain? Hai na Raghav?

N~beta dekh, kuchh din ke liye maayke mein reh le, Raghav maan chuka hai

S~Raghav aap maan gaye? Seriously? Is ki kya zaroorat thi?

R~jaan, its okay, tum wahan reh sakti ho, mujhe koi problem nahi

Everyone looked on as she stared into the blank space with a smile and nodded.

S~theek hai, aaj ka ek din rahoon gi apne maayke mein, kal wapis Jindal House apne Raghav ke paas

Everyone nodded sadly.

Ri~jee bhabhi, aap wahan aa jana, wo ghar aap ka bhi toh ghar hai

S~bhabhi?

Ri~oops, sorry mere munh se nikal gaya, meri bhabhi ka bhi naam Siya hai na, isliye

S~okay

T~waise di, aap nahi hotay na wahan, toh ghar soona sa lagta hai, thore din aur reh lo na

S~tere paas Rashmi hai na, tum dono ko toh dushman ki bhi zaroorat nahi, tum dono aapas mein he itna lartay ho, mere din toh wahan tum log ki laraai solve karne mein he nikal jaye gi

She said and laughed.

Rm~di, main na bohat kam larti hoon, ye ziada larta hai mujh se

T~chal jhooti, tu ziada larti hai

S~achha bas, dono he ziada lartay ho. (she turned to Raghav) Aap sach mein mere bagair...

R~jaaan, its okay, main he thori na koi tumhari poori family hoon, ye sab bhi tumhari family hai, tum of course in ke saath reh sakti ho

Siya was surprised by his reply, everyone looked on silently.

S~pakka Raghav?

R~pakka

They smiled, everyone remained quiet.

 ****

Siya was brought home by everyone and she was made to rest.

T~dadi, ye di ko toh jagah Raghav he nazar aa raha hai, marr ke bhi peechha nahi chhora hai di ka us ne, pehle itna torture kiya, aur ab, marr ke bhi Siya didi ke aagay peechhe aise ghoom raha hai jaise ke bari fikr thi usay meri behn ki

Rm~aray lekin kal di wapis jaane ki zid kar rahi hain, kya karein gay? Wahan jayengi toh toh aur memories trigger hongi, agar maamla aur bigad gaya phir?

N~humein toh usay wahan jaane he nahi dena chahiye, bahana bana kar

An~wo nahi rukay gi, ja kar rahay gi wahan

T~toh kya karein? Unhein wahan jaane dein gay toh maamla bohat bigad jaaye ga

Rm~par kiun aur kaise unhein Raghav nazar aa raha hai? Kya sach mein un ka bhoot hai?

N~pehle wo mujhe dikhaai de raha tha jo ke dikhna banta bhi tha, kiun ke humare andar us ka khawf tha, Siya ko jis tarah wo nazar aa raha hai wo khawf se nahi, pyaar ki wajah se nazar aa raha hai, Siya bechari kitna pyaar karti thi Raghav se, aur us ne usay itna torture kiya, jab usay yaad aaye ga ke apne aakhri palo'n mein us ne usay maarne ki koshish ki thi, toh pata nahi usay kaisa lagay ga

They all became quiet. Khushi came inside with Viraj.

Kh~dadi, aunty, maasi kaisi hain?

N~theek hai beta, hum usay yahan le aaye hain, abhi so rahi hai

An~lekin beta jab tu us se baat karay toh zara khayaal karna haan, kiun ke wo ye baat bhool chuki hai ke Raghav mar chuka hai

Khushi was shocked.

Kh~kya? Toh phir unho'n ne evil uncle ke baare mein toh poochha ho ga na, aap log ne kya kaha?

N~hum kya he kehte, doctor ne kuchh bhi kehne se mana kiya hai

V~ek second, aap log sab kisi aur bhi baat se pareshaan lag rahay hain, kya hua hai? Bataiye mujhe?

N~Siya ko Raghav nazar aa raha hai

V~what? Magar ye kaise ho sakta hai? Wo toh mar chuka hai na?

N~yahi toh samajh nahi aa raha

V~nahi, she's hallucinating, meri maaniye toh usay psychiatrist ke paas le jaiye, usay best treatment dijiye, reality face karaiye, this is not right, seriously

Kh~papa, (Viraj looked at her) maasi theek toh ho jayengi na? Maine apni mumma ko kho diya, lekin main maasi ko nahi kho sakti

V~beta wo bilkul theek ho jayengi relax

Kh~papa, mujhe aaj raat un ke saath rukna hai

V~okay little jaan, ruk jao

Khushi left. Viraj also left.

 ***

Viraj talked to Janvi's photo.

V~na toh main achha pati ban saka aur na he ek achha dost, main toh ek achha pita bhi nahi ban paaya, humara bacha is dunia mein aane se pehle he mar gaya meri wajah se Janvi, Krishna mar gaya. (he cried) Phir mujhe pata chala ke uss miscarriage ke baad se Janvi maa ban he nahi sakti thi jis ke kaaran us ne Raghavendra se shahdi ke baad ek bachi surrogacy ke zariye paida ki, lekin mujhe is baat ki koi khabar nahi thi, Raghavendra ki accident mein death ke baad mujhe ye sab pata laga, phir Janvi mar gayi mere he kaaran, mujhe jail ho gayi, us bachi Khushi ko kisi aur ne adopt kar liya lekin phir wo mere paas aa he gayi, kiun ke agar us mein Janvi ka khoon hai, toh wo meri bhi bachi hai, main Janvi ka khayaal toh rakh nahi paaya, lekin Khushi ka khayaal rakhne mein main koi kasar nahi chhorun ga

He hugged Janvi's photograph.

****

 At night, Siya dreamt of her happy moments with Raghav again

S~Raghav

She murmured in sleep, she woke up and looked around.

S~Raghav, (she got out of bed) mujhe Raghav ke paas jaana hai, abhi sab so gaye hongay, main chali jaati hoon

She got out of the room and was greeted by silence, she tiptoed outside and saw an auto and sat inside, the auto drove off and stopped at Jindal House. She stepped down and ran to the main gate, she was about to ring the doorbell but the door opened before itself and she walked inside. She looked around and saw Raghav everywhere. Many memories triggered her mind all at once and she fell unconscious. Last thing she saw was Raghav's worried face.