Part 6
The next morning Kunal woke up early to reach court before the hearing. The kids were already up and getting ready, but Kunal was surprised to see Sidhi still asleep. In the last few weeks, Sidhi had always been up and away by the time Kunal woke up. In fact, now when Kunal thought of it, he didn't remember seeing Sidhi sleep at all before last night, as she sneaked in after everyone was asleep and disappeared before they awoke.
Just then BA came in, looking for his tie.
Kunal: Kya hua chhote, what are you looking for?
BA: I can't find my tie. Ma is also sleeping today. I should wake her up, she'll find my tie.
Kunal: Nahi, don't wake her. Can't I help you get ready? We don't need her, ok.
BA looked at Kunal with a look of hurt. How would he explain to his father how much he missed his mother. And now that he knew what living with her meant, he didn't want to give it up for anything. Not wanting to spoil Kunal's mood early in the morning, he didn't press the point and helped Kunal in looking for the tie.
As the kids left for school, wishing Kunal good luck for his case, Kunal overheard Seema and Veena in the kitchen cursing Sidhi for sleeping like a "maharani". She hadn't made the breakfast for everyone and done the usual chores this morning. Kunal didn't know how to react. Did his family hate Sidhi, or actually want Sidhi?
Kunal got dressed and was about to leave when he stole a glance at sleeping Sidhi. She looked so peaceful, so adorable...Kunal was lost in memories of old. He wanted so bad to touch her once. He wanted her to kiss his medal, his good luck charm, like she used to, in another age and time, before his important case hearings. Kunal felt conflicted between the pain of wanting her, and hating her. He left the room in frustration, and Sidhi slept undisturbed.
BA and CA got back home at 430 after school and extra classes for an upcoming talent competition. They wanted to eagerly tell their mom about their day and their new rehearsals while she fed them, as had become their little ritual. But to their surprise, they found Sidhi still asleep in her room, just as they left her in the morning. None of the elders were at home as Veena and Raj had gone to visit a relative and Seema had gone to meet Vikram. As CA ran to Sidhi to wake her up, he discovered that she was burning in fever.
CA: Mom, mom, wake up mom. Anand...yahaan aa...mom uth nahi rahi...unko bahut tez bukhar hai.
BA came running and joined his brother, as they both tried to wake up Sidhi, in vain.
Terrified, they tried to call Kunal on his cellphone, but it was switched off as Kunal was in court. After a few tries, they called Seema. Listening to the kids crying, she got worried and told them to wait while she came back home alongwith Vikram.
As Seema reached home, she found both kids crying terribly, confused at what had happened to their mother. They had both tried several times to wake Sidhi, but in vain. Seema realised Sidhi was burning in fever and was probably unconscious. Her body felt limp, and for the first time in days, Seema felt a pang of pity towards Sidhi. Sidhi looked terrible and Seema couldn't believe this was the same Sidhi who she had loved and trusted so much once upon a time. With Vikram's help she got some ice water strips and balm to put on Sidhi, as she attempted to nurse her fever, wondering what made some people change so much that today the same Sidhi who had brought happiness to everyone in the family wasn't even worth thinking about. She wondered if they'd been harsh to her, but remembering Kunal's pain when Sidhi married Abhay Dewan filled her heart with contempt once again.
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Kunal was overjoyed. Not only had he won the case, he had succeeded in ensuring the actual criminal didn't get away with legal manipulation and brought back peace to a family that desperately needed. His clients had blessed Kunal to get all the peace and happiness he deserved in life. Kunal felt touched. 2 people as approached him in the courtroom itself just after the verdict came, pleading him to take their cases. He was regaining his confidence in himself, his ideals. Maybe Kunal Chopra didn't have to die just because Sidhi left him. Maybe there is a Kunal Chopra beyond Sidhi who needed to surface and take charge now.
As Kunal stepped out of court, he switched on his phone to find 12 missed calls from BA. He immediately called back and found his son speaking in panic, almost crying. "Papa, ma! She has very high fever and she's not waking up. Seema chachi and I are putting ice water strips on her forehead for half an hour but she hasn't woken up. What happened to ma! CA and Vikram mamu have gone to call doctor. We are very scared. Aap please ghar ho jao"
Kunal looked at his watch, it was 6pm.
"Sidhi hadn't woken up all day?" thought Kunal as he rushed towards an auto to get home. Memories of the morning and previous night came back to Kunal. Something was definitely wrong with Sidhi.
Dr Disha was sitting next to Sidhi with a worried look when Kunal got home. Sidhi was still unconscious and had 104.5 fever. Dr Disha said," How long has she been like this? What medicine was she taking for her fever?"
Everyone in the room looked at each other guiltily. Nobody had bothered to check on Sidhi all day, so she had likely been unconscious the whole day.
Seema finally said: "She hasn't woken up since morning"
Dr Disha frowned "And you didn't bother to check all day. Did you even know she was ill? Itna to log servants ka bhi khayal rakh lete hain"
The silence in the room told its own story. Both kids were crying, hugging Kunal.
Kunal: Is she all right?
Dr Disha: I don't think so. I have given her an injection. If she doesn't wake up in next 10 minutes, we should rush her to the hospital. She looks extremely weak and her pulse is low. She might not survive too long like this.
CA was now crying uncontrollably. Kunal's heart broke to see Sidhi in this condition. He decided not to wait, and picked Sidhi up in his arms to take to the hospital. He was surprised at how light she felt in his arms, as compared to before.
Was Sidhi dying?
The thought broke Kunal and suddenly everything, al the rage, pain, hurt, betrayal, hatred, everything that had been troubling him seemed small and irrelevant in front of this one thought - was Sidhi dying? In Kunal's arms...
Kunal held her closer to himself as he sat into the taxi for the hospital, with others following closely.
No, this wasn't happening.
Yes, he had himself said he couldn't care less if Sidhi lived or died. But that was not the truth. His tears were saying the truth.
And the truth was he cared. Even if he didn't want to. And he wanted Sidhi. Even if he really didn't want to want her.
Precap:
Seema: Don't beat yourself up Kunal bhaiya. It's not our fault she has fever.
Kunal: But it's our fault she is in this state - no matter how much we hate her, she lives in our home and nobody bothered to check if she was dead or alive. She has been lying like this all day and we didn't even know. If Anand hadn't gone in to check...
Seema: Don't worry bhaiya, nothing will happen. Sidhi is strong. I will go sit with the kids, they look extremely frightened right now.
Vikram: Seema di is right. Sidhi is strong. She survived years in jail for a crime she didn't commit. She won't give up so easily. That Rohit fell off the cliff in front of my own eyes while Sidhi and I were trying to save him and bring to court, but that Richa...Khair, point is, even in those circumstances, running away from goons who were trying to kill us, Sidhi didn't give up. A fever wouldn't beat her.
