Another Half Of Me - Chapter 19

Roshni looked at Siddha sleeping next to her. Stretching her arm, she touched the lock of hair caressing his forehead. He had moulded himself in her house and life effortlessly, she thought. Always smiling and loving her without any demands, he had accepted her the way she was.

Not wanting to wake him up, Roshni moved away from the bed silently. Opening the balcony door, she stepped outside and leaned against the wall looking up at the sky. 

'I have lost many people in my life. You have taken away my parents without even letting me know them. Please don’t take Siddha away. I don’t want to lose him ever.'

Thinking about losing him almost stopped her heartbeat and she sat down on the parapet unable to stand. What if Sandhya came back all of a sudden? What would happen then? Would Siddha go back to her?

As this thought took roots in her mind, her hands started to shake and she felt bile rising in her throat. Unable to suppress it anymore, she rushed to the bathroom and lost her dinner.

Siddha woke up suddenly with the sound of Roshni puking. Rushing towards the bathroom, he saw her sitting on the floor clutching her head in her hands. Hurriedly, he helped her to her feet, waited till she washed her face and then guided her back to the bed.

Roshni watched him as he brought her some water in a flash. Without even thinking, she hugged him hard.

Siddha knew something was wrong. Kissing the top of her head, he asked softly, “What’s wrong? Tell me.”

Shaking her head, Roshni buried her face deep in his throat.

“Roshni, please tell me what’s wrong,” he asked again forehead creasing with worried lines. When she did not answer, he forced her to look at him. “I am here with you, sweetheart. Please tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” Roshni replied gulping down the bile rising again in her throat.

Siddha looked at her and somehow understood her fear. The same fear had been hovering at the back of his mind since the time they had met but, he had never told her.

Clutching her face between his palms, he looked into her eyes intently and said, “Sweetheart, you are never going to lose me. Trust me. Nobody can take me away from you. I’ll always be there with you no matter what.”

Roshni nodded, trying to smile but failed. Something was wrong. Almost pushing Siddha away, she rushed to the bathroom and vomited.

“Dammit Roshni, I calling Prashant,” Siddha said not liking the way she was puking.

Siddha waited patiently outside the bedroom as Prashant examined Roshni. What’s wrong with her? Pacing up and down the room, he kept on biting his nails in tension.

“You will lose all your fingers also if you bite your nails like that,” Amit said to Siddha trying hard to sound serious.

Siddha turned and looked at him angrily ready to hurl abuses, when suddenly Prashant opened the bedroom door.

“How is she?”

Shaking his head, Prashant sat down on the couch and sighed heavily.

Siddha’s heart plummeted to his toes at his expression. Clenching his teeth, he started to rush towards the bedroom, when Prashant stopped him. “Don’t! Let her sleep. In her condition she needs a lot of it.”

Not able to take it anymore, he sat down on the centre table and folded his hands in front of Prashant. “Please, tell me what’s wrong with her.”

Taking his folded hands in his, Prashant looked straight into his eyes and said with a serious tone, “She is pregnant.”

At first Siddha did not hear him, but when it finally did register, he became immobile.

Amit slapped him in the back and said something, but Siddha heard nothing. His blood was still drumming in his ears, and Prashant’s words kept whirling round and round in circles.

Prashant smiled at him and gestured Amit to leave. He knew it will take Siddha couple of minutes to digest the truth just like Roshni.

Siddha kept on sitting on the centre table still trying to take down the shocker of a news. Slowly he got up and went inside the bedroom.

Thinking Roshni was asleep; he sat down next to her and touched her stomach.

Roshni opened her eyes and looked at him. As she straightened up, Siddha turned away from her trying to hide his tears, but she stopped him. Roshni touched his cheek and turned his face towards her.

Siddha didn’t want to look up. An overwhelming feeling of joy and happiness was filling his heart to the brim. Without hesitation, he looked up at Roshni and she saw herself in his tear-filled eyes.

Roshni wrapped her arms around him and hugged him hard. As his arms wrapped around her, she could hear Siddha whisper in her ears.

“Now I belong to you and you to me.”

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