Reunion

Mrs. Rahal stood up quietly and headed towards the door without raising her head, lest someone should notice her tears.

While Manya’s sudden burst of anger had confounded both Arjun and Ishaan, Sia came and clung to her elder sister, wrapped her hands around her neck and said, with some tears still remaining in her eyes, “Di! What the hell was that, you scared all of us!”

Manya recovered from her state of pain, betrayal and anger after hearing this statement and realized that she was somewhere she had never been before, regardless of that the room was quite welcoming- as if she had always known about it; it had even been decorated tastefully, just like she would have done herself. She just observed everyone’s reaction for a while, trying to understand the situation and when she was unsuccessful, finally asked “What happened to me? Why are all of you standing here with so much concern in your eyes, as if I have just woken up from my deathbed? Can someone help me understand…” Manya looked at her dad questioningly, who seemed lost in his own thoughts but had been keeping an eye on his daughter as well; he knew she couldn’t stay mad at him for long.

He promptly answered, “Nothing, princess! You had just fainted- it might have been due to exertion. Don’t worry about it, I will take you to the hospital today, just rest for some time.” Mr. Rahal knew that he had just lied again but he found it all worth it after seeing his daughter smile with relief; a smile he felt like he had lost a long time ago.

Dr.Maheshwari was still observing the reaction of everyone else from afar; after Mr.Rahal’s explanation, he came forward and looked at Manya with an empathetic smile and said, “Manya, child, can I have a word with you? I am Dr.Maheshwari- I am the one who examined you when you were unconscious.”

Manya replied with a polite smile, trying to keep herself from getting riled up, “Sure Doctor, please go ahead.”

*Meanwhile, she remarked sarcastically to herself , ‘This trip is going great so far!’ Two things she hated the most, she had encountered today within minutes : her mother and a doctor.*

“Not right now, this is not the time or place. You will have to come and visit me in my clinic- I am worried that your situation is going progressively worse and you really need my help. Stop hiding from your own demons, there is nothing shameful in reaching out for help, so you can get better.”

Hearing these words, everybody present in the room became tense once again and three people spoke at once, “DON’T WORRY, DOCTOR! I WILL DEFINITELY BRING HER TO YOUR CLINIC ON TIME .”

Manya, Sia and Dr.Maheshwari collectively looked at them and had totally different reactions.

*Manya was shocked again after hearing Arjun’s voice, recalling snippets of the conversation they had had before she had passed out. Now she had a new question in her mind : who in the seven bloody hells was this guy? Did she really know him? If yes, then why didn’t she remember it? And if she didn’t know him, then how had the words he had spoken caused such pain in her heart? She had been doing just fine all these years, this magnitude of fear had never been able to pierce her mind so powerfully in the last eleven years- then what was the explanation for all of this? So many questions were bubbling under the surface of her mind, one after the other, but there were no answers in sight; and no way was she going to demand any solutions from this dumb person who had blabbed out so much nonsense all at once, causing this in the first place.*

*Dr.Maheshwari just smiled at the amount of people Manya had in her life who cared about her so deeply; while Sia looked at Arjun, recognising his facial features from somewhere...could it- no, surely he couldn’t be Juno?*

But before she could ask anything, Mr.Rahal spoke, “Please pardon my confusion, but may I ask you a question? Is your name Arjun by any chance? Your face is very similar to someone I used to know, with whom I lost contact years ago!”

Arjun smiled and headed towards Mr.Rahal, bent and touched his feet as a sign of respect and said, “Yes uncle, you recognised me correctly- I am Arjun Chauhan.”

*So it is Juno!* Sia had been waiting for just this statement; before he could finish his sentence, she jumped up and hugged him, saying “Juno! I am very mad at you, you have forgotten your Sia, haven’t you? You never even came to see me after Di left, you only love her! Nobody loves me! You have a lot to make up for!” She pouted, almost forgetting about Manya’s situation.

Arjun was a little taken aback at this sudden display of acceptance and affection from Sia, having faced such harsh rejection from Manya just this morning; but he quickly recovered. Trying to keep his balance, he chuckled, “No darling, I love you more than this dumbo Minni- you are my litte Aladdin and I am Juno the Genie, remember? How can I forget you?”

*His heart grew lighter to a degree, relieved that at least everyone else from Manya’s life had remembered him. But a major question was tugging at his conscience: why had Manya called his Maenu, her mother- a murderer?!*

Everyone was getting overwhelmed by this reunion, apart from two people:

*Ishaan was getting irritated by this guy’s antics, he almost wanted to grab him by the collar and ask him once and for all, who on earth did he still think he was? This was his- well, his soon-to-be-fiance's family matter so why couldn’t this arrogant bastard stay out of it?! Taking responsibility to accompany Ish’s best friend to the doctor, it seemed! But before he could have acted on his impulse, Mr.Rahal recognised him and Ishaan was hit by the realisation that Arjun Chauhan had been telling the truth all this time! His suspicion was further confirmed when Sia embraced the stranger...Oh man, What a mess this trip had been so far!*

*Manya was consumed by her doubts once again...why had Sia said he had stopped visiting after she left? Was the doctor right after all, did she really need help?*

Everybody was lost in their own zone when Dr.Maheshwari cleared his throat and said, “What a reunion! This is the work of fate, indeed. Now please excuse me and Miss.Manya, I would like for you to visit tomorrow- please call my clinic and make an appointment for a suitable time.”

The doctor walked out of the room abruptly, without waiting for a response- he knew he was going to have a reunion of his own.

******************

After walking a few steps down the corridor, he finally found her.

Mrs.Rahal had been standing by the large glass window overlooking the premises, staring blankly- lost, perhaps, in her thoughts or maybe her intense emotions did not even allow the space for any complex thoughts at this point.

He stood at a respectable distance and clearing his throat, said “Nice to meet you again, Dr. Sagrika!”

*********************

A/N : Hi guys ! Good evening , hope you all are having a wonderful time.

I wanted to explain the terms of endearment that Arjun uses for Manya's mother and aunt.

Messo- is a combination of the words 'Massi', and 'my Swara' due to a child's limited vocabulary and pronounciation; his mother had been best friends with Swara, Manya's aunt.

Meanu- is just a modification of 'Massi', used for one's mother's sister; Arjun used this word as a child to differentiate Manya's mother from Swara.