Soulmate

Chapter 15

When Bhavesh and Shilpa were anxious about Shilpa’s test result,even Dr.Inder was nervous about to how to tell them what the result was.

Because Shilpa was not just a patient for him.She was not like any other patient for him.She is his daughter Rakhi’s sister in law.Infact she is Rakhi’s best friend.It was not easy for him to convey the test result.But as a doctor he had no other option than to convey it to her.But he did not want her to take any stress regarding it and make it more complicated.

Doctor Inder said emotionally,

“Please have the strength to listen to what I say”.

But hearing these words Shilpa and Bhavesh were more tensed.

Shilpa asked him,

“What is the result uncle?Please tell fast”.

Finally Dr. Inder gathered the courage to reveal it.

“Shilpa is suffering from Alzheimer's disease”.

Bhavesh and Shilpa were shocked.Though they did not know what exactly this disease was they could understand that it was not something to be ignored.

Bhavesh asked him,

“What is that Doctor?”

Shilpa was restless to know about her disease.

“Please explain it Uncle”.

Dr.Inder said,

“It’s a disease where people tend to forget certain facts of life...certain people...certain incidents...”

Shilpa could recall seeing such characters in the movies she has seen.She got worried whether she was also becoming one of them.

Shilpa’s lips shivered,

“Memory loss?”

Dr.Inder replied painfully,

“Yes”.

Though his reply pierced her heart she did not want to lose hope easily.

She asked him again to clarify it once again.

“Is it really memory loss?But I forgot only some people,incidents and meetings”.

Dr.Inder replied,

“Yes...it's not like forgetting everything together.Slowly slowly they forget people and incidents.It's short term memory loss.And it's not permanent.Her memory may even come and go.For example..just because Shilpa could not recognize Dr.Aryan and Dr.Gopika it does not mean that she will never remember them.She may remember them and recognize them later.But again she might forget them.

Listening to the seriousness of the disease,Bhavesh and Shilpa were shattered.

Shilpa burst into tears.She could not control her tears.

“Bhavesh...I forgot so much.In future I may forget you also.I can't bear it.How will bear it?”

Bhavesh was really upset about her condition.He even feared whether Shilpa will forget him also.But he hid his pain and fear to console her.He knew that if he also loses his courage to face the situation,Shilpa’s condition will be worse and she will lose her confidence completely.

“No Shilpa...You will not forget me.Our love will never let you forget me”.

Though Bhavesh uttered these words to console Gauri,unknowingly he also broke into tears.

They cried in each other's arms.

Gopika was standing in the kitchen with a vessel filled with wheat flour.Suddenly Aryan came from behind and embraced her.

It may be a kitchen.But that does not stop Aryan from romancing his wife when he is in a romantic mood.

Still when Aryan comes closer to her,Gopika blushes like a newly wed bride or a young girl friend who seeks her first boy friend’s attention.

Gopika became shy as Aryan’s hands traced her body.

“Aryan..what is this?”

Aryan replied with a mischievous smile,

“This is romance”.

She blushed.

“Aryan..”

Aryan did not leave the chance to tease her.

“I thought that since you are a doctor, you are intelligent enough to understand that it’s romance.But you are so dumb that you don’t know that it’s romance”.

Aryan laughed as he made fun of her successfully.

Suddenly Gopika put wheat flour on his face as a cute punishment.

Aryan asked her being stunned about her sudden action,

“What did you do?”

Gopika gritted her teeth.

“You called me dumb?So I threw the wheat flour at you”

Aryan giggled.

“I was just joking my dear Gopika”.

Though Gopika knew that he was joking she was still faking anger.

“Ok.Now leave.I am busy with cooking.Don’t disturb me”.

Aryan did not leave her simply.

Again he complained with a puppy face.

“Oh Gopika!You are so boring”.

Gopika was irritated with him for calling her boring.

“Boring….? Me?I am boring?”

Aryan smiled.

“You are looking cute when you are angry”.

Though she felt like smiling when he called her cute,she did not want to let him know her inner smile easily as he teased her a lot.

Gopika said,

“It’s better not to talk to you.Let me take more wheat flour to prepare food”.

The wheat flour tin was kept on the top of the cupboard.

She stood on the stool and took more wheat flour in a vessel.But she lost her balance when the stool shook and she slipped down.

But she was caught by Aryan on the right time.She was safe in Aryan’s arms.

They shared a romantic eye lock.

But the wheat flour powder had fallen over their bodies.

Aryan blew air at her face and neck.Gopika closed her eyes feeling his passionate love.

Bhavesh brought Shilpa to her house.Shilpa was weak bcause of continuous crying.

Without understanding the situation,Keshav said,

“It is happy to see Bhavesh too with Shilpa now”.

Avantika smiled,

“Keshav is right.Both of you come and have dinner. Bhavesh..you leave only after having the dinner.

Bhavesh said,

“Okay aunty”.

Avantika Rakhi served them dinner.

Bhavesh struggled hard to eat because of pain.Shilpa was not able to eat anything.She was numb.

Seeing that, Bhavesh became upset.

He knew that nothing could enter Shilpa’s mind now and she was not in a state to have food.

So he fed her food.

The others smiled seeing it.They were happy to see Bhavesh’s cute gesture of feeding Shilpa with his hand.

After having dinner,Bhavesh said to Shilpa,

“Shilpa...You sleep well..you will feel better”.

Shilpa wept,

“Bhavesh,...don't leave me and go.Please be with me”.

Only Bhavesh could give her peace of mind as he was the only person who was aware of her condition.

He nodded,

“Okay”.

Bhavesh carried her in his arms and placed her on bed.

He sat close to her caressing her head.Shilpa kept looking at him.The pain was visible in her eyes.

Shilpa said softly,

“Bhavesh...please sing a song”.

Like a small child who asks it’s mother to sing lullaby, Shilpa too asked Bhavesh to sing for her as she felt that his musical voice may give her comfort.

He said,

“Ok Shilpa.I will sing a song which I wrote for you”.

Shilpa smiled painfully.

Bhavesh started singing the song emotionally.

Slowly Shilpa closed her eyes falling asleep.

He covered her with the blanket.

Bhavesh caressed her face.

Bhavesh came out of her room.

Keshav called him,

“Bhavesh!”

Bhavesh looked at him.

Keshav asked him,

“Why do we feel that both of you are gloomy?”

Raj said,

“You both do not seem to be normal”.

Rakhi said,

“We noticed the changes in both of you Bhavesh”.

Bhavesh was stunned as he never thought that they observed them so carefully.

Avantika was a little bit restless as she could sense something unpleasant around them.

“What happened to both of you?Being Shilpa's family, we need to know everything.Right?”

Bhavesh replied,

“Yes..you all have the right to know it”.

Bhavesh told them everything.He was shedding tears through out.

They were shocked as well as shattered.

Avantika was literally in tears.She could not imagine Shilpa forgetting all of them.That thought itself was killing her.

“Our Shilpa is suffering from a disease.She will forget all of us”.

Keshav was in tears.

He hid his tears before Avantika.

Keshav said,

“Nothing like that will happen Avantika.We will be giving treatment to Shilpa.Then how can she forget us?”

Keshav could not suppress his tears anymore and burst out crying.

They both embraced each other crying.

Raj shed tears.

“My Princess...no… nothing bad can happen to her”.

Rakhi who was weeping wiped his tears.

Her husband was also a brother who has been broken completely because of his sister’s condition.

She needed to give him strength and comfort now.

She said tearfully to console Raj,

“Nothing bad will happen to our Shilpa”.

Raj tried to find solace in her arms.

Bhavesh went home.Along with Aryan and Gopik,he saw Sankalp and Sonia also there.

Sonia said,

“Hi Bhavesh.We just came to visit you”.

Sankalp said,

“Then Aryan bhaiyya(Brother) and Gopika bhabhi(Sister in law) told us about Shilpa's medical check up”.

Aryan asked Bhavesh,

“Did Shilpa do the tests?”

Bhavesh replied,

“Yes”.

Gopika asked him out of curiosity,

“What did the doctor say?”

Bhavesh could not handle himself anymore and burst into tears.They all became tensed seeing his tears as his tears hinted that nothing is alright.

He told them everything.

They were shattered.

Bhavesh cried like anything.

“My Shilpa is in a critical condition.I am scared to lose her”.

They all could feel his fear of losing Shilpa as they all were in love and they could not even imagine losing their beloved.

They all hugged Bhavesh to comfort him.They all cried together.

Gopika said,

“Nothing like that will happen.Understand Bhavesh?”

Aryan said,

“Bhavesh...You won't lose Shilpa.Be confident.Today’s medicine can do wonders”.

They had faith in Bhavesh and Shilpa’s love.

Sankalp said,

“Whatever she forgets, she won't forget you”.

Sonia said,

“You both are meant for each other and your love will cure her.Wait and see”.

Bhavesh looked at them silently.

Shilpa met Bhavesh.

She suggested a nice idea.

“Bhavesh...shall we go for a trip?”

Bhavesh agreed with her.

“Why not?”

Shilpa said emotionally,

“I want to go for a trip with you as this may be our last trip together.What if we won't be able to go for a trip together in future?”

Her words gave pain to his heart.

Bhavesh held her closer and asked her painfully,

“Shilpa..why are you talking like this?”

Shilpa replied,

“I am just trying to be practical Bhavesh.I just want to forget all the tensions and worries and enjoy with you”.

Bhavesh nodded emotionally.

They went to a beautiful place which was blessed with greenery and a beautiful river which was filled with fresh water.

Shilpa was fascinated by the scenic beauty of the place.

“So beautiful.Let us click a selfie here”.

Bhavesh smiled.

“Of course yes”.

They posed together and took a selfie.

While walking Shilpa's leg pained.

Bhavesh asked him,

“What happened Shilpa?”

She replied,

“I guess a thorn pricked my heel”.

He pulled the thorn out and caressed her heel.

Bhavesh asked her due to concern,

“How do you feel now?”

She replied,

“I felt better when you touched my heel”.

They smiled at each other.

Yet Shilpa was walking with difficulty as the thorn had hurt her heel.

Bhavesh held her by her shoulder and helped her to walk.

They both entered a cottage near by.As they were tired,they lay on the bed.They looked at each other smiling.

Bhavesh asked her with a smile,

“You are lying very close to me.Are you not shy?”

Shilpa blushed.

She asked him a similar question with a smile,

“Are you scared to lie down close to me?”

He asked her,

“Why should I be scared?”

She replied with a mischievous smile,

“A beautiful girl like me is lying near you on the bed.So are you not scared of losing your control?”

They both burst into laughter.

Bhavesh exclaimed,

“You naughty girl!”.

She giggled.

He asked her,

“Are you scared that I will cross my limit?”

She replied softly looking at his eyes intensely,

“No.Because I know that my Bhavesh can't do anything wrong”.

He smiled.

They shared a sweet romantic eye lock.

Both fell asleep slowly.

They set off to do some sightseeing.

Shilpa felt dizzy and almost fainted.Bhavesh screamed seeing her faint unexpectedly.

He held her.

He took out the water bottle and sprinkled water on her face.

He called out her name,

“Shilpa....”

She murmered,

“Bhavesh!”

Slowly she opened her eyes.

Bhavesh asked her with tension,

“Are you alright?”

She replied,

“Yes Bhavesh.I am fine”.

He was relieved and thanked God for keeping her safe.

“Thank God”.

He embraced her.

“I think you became weak and fainted as you did'nt eat properly”.

She said cutely,

“If I eat too much I will become fat.I don't want to be fat during my wedding”.

Bhavesh did not support her dieting habit because of her health issues.

“Stop your nonsense and eat something”.

Bhavesh took her to the food stall and fed her food with his hands.

Shilpa stared at him deeply.

Bhavesh and Shilpa went to the temple.

Her foot slipped.

But Bhavesh held her by her waist.

They shared a deep eye lock.

Suddenly Shilpa asked him seeing tthe peaceful atmosphere in the temple,

“Bhavesh...God will hear our prayer?Right?I will be alright and we will be always together.Right?”

Bhavesh became upset as he was not sure whether her disease will be cured or whether Shilpa will forget him too in the future.

He thought in his mind,

“I don't know anything Shilpa.But I hope for the best”.

Though Bhavesh was worried about that,he did not tell Shilpa about it.Instead of that, he tried to assure her that God will support them.

“Yes Shilpa.God does'nt ignore lovers.So he will hear our prayers and he will not let anything separate us”.

She smiled.

“Then we will pray to God to unite us for seven births”.

He smiled.

“Yes.And I am sure that in all births we will be together”.

She smiled.

They prayed together.

An old beggar lady came near them and begged for money.

“Please give me money.I did not have food at all”.

They gave her money.

The Old beggar felt that she got water in a desert.

She became so happy that she blessed them.

“God bless you both.You both are made for each other”.

Bhavesh and Shilpa smiled.

They looked at each other with a smile.

Shilpa said,

“God made me for you Bhavesh”.

Bhavesh smiled and said in a similar way.

“God made me for you Shilpa”.

They smiled at each other.

Suddenly Shilpa suffered from severe head ache.She felt that her head was spinning.

Shilpa screamed out of pain,

“Bhavesh..”

Suddenly she fainted,but Bhavesh held her hand and stopped her from falling down.

Bhavesh was really tensed about her condition.

“Shilpa..open your eyes.Shilpa...”

She did not respond leading Bhavesh to extreme feeling of mental pain in a moment.