60. DELIVERY!

Manik opens the door while cursing the person in his mind but frowned, finding Arjun who is panicking. As soon as the door opens, Arjun speaks, making Manik worried. 

Arjun:- Manik,….. Manik…… woh…… 

Manik:- Calm down Bhai, I am not running away. Stay calm! 

Instead of calming down Arjun freaked out gaining Nandini’s attention who came there hearing Arjun’s panicked voice. 

Nandini:- Bhai? 

Arjun:- Nandini… woh Asha!….. Hospital….. 

His broken sentence is understood by Manik and Nandini making them panic too.

Nandini:- Where is Bhabhi? 

Arjun:- In-room but we have to rush towards the hospital. It’s an emergency. 

Both the brother and sister are panicking, making Manik annoyed who is standing there calmly much to anyone’s surprise. 

Manik:- ( orders ) Nandini, starts the car and parked it in front of the gate. We ( pointing at Arjun and himself ) We are bringing Bhabhi there, ok? 

Nandini:- ( worriedly ) But Manik, how can you calm down, Bhabhi? Let me go to her and you get the car. 

Manik:- Nandini don’t waste the time and let me tell you, I am experienced in this matter. Don’t forget that I handled Navya during her delivery. 

Nandini nods, understanding him, and goes down to bring the car whereas Arjun makes a bad face seeing their interrogation in this critical situation. 

Arjun:- ( to Manik ) Shall we move? 

Manik hummed and both ran towards Asha’s room to prepare her for the delivery. Manik enters first and witnesses the horrible scene which dried her throat whereas Arjun is at the point of faint. 

Asha is whimpering and rolling on the bed due to cramps that pass shivers in her whole body. 

Asha:- Arjun, please do something, I can’t take this pain. 

Arjun walks towards his wife and cups her cheeks to give her strength whereas he himself is lacking it. 

Arjun:- Don’t worry baby, I brought Manik….. 

Before he could complete it, Asha yelled on top of her tone making the boys deaf. 

Asha:- Is Manik a doctor? ( continues without waiting for his reply ) Then, why did you bring him here? 

Manik gulped seeing Asha’s anger which was at its peak. He already knew that during the labor contractions the soon-to-be-mommy turns aggressive but here Asha broke the record of his last encounter with Navya. 

Getting in his experienced mood, Manik sits beside Asha and rubs her lower back to soothe her pain. 

Manik:- Calm down, Bhabhi. Don’t panic! This panic might cause danger for the baby. Calm down, this shall pass. 

His words and little massage work like magic on her. She calmed down a bit and caressed her abdomen to soothe herself. Her contractions subside giving relaxation to her while Arjun too relaxes. 

Manik:- these cramps are pre-contractions. We should reach the hospital before bhabhi gets another contraction.

Arjun:- Let’s go… 

Manik:- Wait Bhai, Where is the baby’s bag? 

Arjun:- ( confusingly ) Baby’s bag? What was that? 

Asha rolls her eyes seeing her husband who forgot even the basic instructions given by her doctor. 

Asha:- Manik, the bag is under the bed. 

Manik nods and takes out the bag making Arjun realize what he was talking about. 

Manik:- Bhai, I am taking Bhabhi downstairs. Nandini must be waiting for us. Till then you informed everyone about Bhabhi’s condition. 

Arjun runs out to inform everyone and here Manik handles Asha perfectly.

Manik:- Bhabhi, Can you walk to the car? 

Asha:- Yaa… I can walk. I am feeling much better. 

Manik nods in understanding and supports her in walking like a gentleman. 

From a safe distance, Nandini watched the scene and smiled proudly. His eyes shine thinking about her pregnancy but she is assured that Manik would take good care of her and their baby. He is the calmest and most gentle person that’s why she fell in love with him. She comes out from her thoughts hearing Manik who sat behind with Asha and Arjun joins her in the front. 

Manik:- Nandini, start driving and keep the speed in check. 

Nandini nods understanding while Arjun yelled panickily. 

Arjun:- Manik, we have to rush to the hospital as soon as possible. Then, why are you asking Nandini to drive slowly? 

Manik:- Because it’s better for the baby and mother. By the way, Bhabhi has a time before her second contraction. 

Arjun kept quiet as he had no other option than that. Within 20 minutes Nandini parked the car in front of the hospital and the hospital staff brought the stretcher to take Asha inside the ward. 

Outside Manik and Nandini filled the admitting formalities for Asha. Then they walk towards Asha’s cabin and find the whole family present. Some are praying to god for both mother and child’s health whereas some are looking at the cabin door worriedly.

Kiran:- ( worriedly ) Nandini, how is Asha? 

Nandini:- Don’t know, Dadi. The doctor hasn’t come out yet. 

After a minute, the doctor comes out followed by Arjun. 

Manik:- How is everything, doctor? 

The doctor:- Don’t worry, everything is normal. These contractions are common during the delivery time. We would take the patient to the OT within 25 minutes. Till then I advised you guys to calm her and try to soothe her pain. 

Arjun:- ( impatiently ) Then give her some painkiller to bear that pain. 

The doctor:- Sorry! We can’t do that. The painkiller would harm both mother and the baby.

The doctor left after advising a nurse to prepare the OT for the delivery. Here Nandini encourages her brother. 

Nandini:- Bhai, calm down and go inside. You should stay with bhabhi. This will give her moral support. 

Arjun walks inside the cabin following his sister’s advice and outside everyone hears Asha’s loud shrinks but they all are helpless. This time Manik too stays outside as he can’t go inside. It’s only Arjun’s right to stay beside his wife who is dealing with delivery pain. 

Out of nowhere, Manik’s eyes land on Nandini who is walking to and fro worriedly. He walked towards her and pressed her shoulder taking her in a side-hug while planting a kiss on her temple. 

Manik:- Everything will be fine. 

Nandini hummed and looked at her back to find their whole family who was looking worried but what her eyes saw was that Innaya is not present here. 

Nandini:- ( murmurs ) Why is she not here? 

Manik:- Who? ( confusingly ) Who is not here? 

Nandini nods her head negatively immediately, not wanting to give Manik any idea about Innaya. But a question keeps running in her mind: Where is she at this hour of the night? She is not even one percent worried for her but seeing her previous records she is sure that she is up to something. 

She comes out of her thoughts hearing Asha’s one more loud painful squeal. Outside everyone is worried about hearing Asha’s cries. The hard nut means Manik Malhotra also got tears, making her wife surprised. 

Nandini:- Manik, Are you crying? 

Manik instantly wiped his lone tear which was on the verge of falling. 

Manik:- ( cutely ) No… No… I am not crying. Why will I cry? 

Nandini:- Don’t lie…

Manik looks to another side to avoid breaking down but how can he hide his tears from Nandini? She encircles her arms around his bicep and places a kiss there. 

Nandini:- Open up, Malhotra. What are you thinking about? 

Manik took a deep breath before opening up about his feelings. 

Manik:- ( emotionally ) You will also bear the same pain when we conceive, right? You have to bear all this pain alone and I can’t do anything to lessen your pain. 

Nandini chuckles seeing him imagine her delivery even when she is not pregnant yet. Then God knows what would happen to him when she will also bear those contractions. But she understood his emotions and his love for her which is so pure like a rare diamond. 

Nandini:- ( with a bright smile ) Don’t worry, we will pass that phase too. 

Manik nods like an obedient student but before they could converse more the doctor comes and takes Asha to the operation theater for her delivery while Arjun stays outside. Nandini walks toward Arjun and rubs his shoulders to lessen his worry trying to motivate him. She is performing his sister’s duties at the time when her brother needs her the most. She is doing everything not because they share blood relations but because she considers him as her brother in the true sense. 

On the other hand, Innaya reaches the most expensive club to have a drink that can satisfy her as Nandini’s words are still running in her mind. And the news of Asha’s delivery adds to her misery. She is taking shots after shots and watching everything which is running out of her hold. Her dream to marry Manik, her dream to have Malhotra’s property, and her dream to be the sole owner of Dixit’s have just become dreams. But she is Innaya Dixit, daughter of Avantika who never loses hope but this time she is unaware of the fact that her plan is going to backfire because Nandini and Manik are standing in front of her. Their love is much stronger than her cruel cunning plans. 

This time she will face the real destruction in the form of Manik and Nandini. 

To be continued…