A/N- Thanks to all my readers for your valuable reviews. For the guys, who are sad about Dareya getting separated, I am assuring you that it is a Dareya story! But the concept is different, as I've already told, and you will see it in upcoming chapters. And it depends on readers, that I should continue or not!
25 Years Later:
Daya woke up hearing his cell-phone ringing. He looked at the clock, it's 8 a.m.
Daya- itne subah-subah kiska phone hai? Retirement ke baad bhi kya chayn ki neend nehi milegi!
But seeing the caller ID, his expression changed.
Daya- haan Abhijeet, bolo. Itne subah-subah kaise phone kiya? (excited) kahin ghumne jane ka plan hai kya aaj?
Abhijeet (from other side)- khyaal toh achha hai sahab ka, lekin main aapko bata doon, ki aaj aapko ghumne nehi, balki hospital jana hai! Aapka monthly check-up ka din hai, aur yehi yaad dilane ke liye main ne phone kiya.
Daya (making a face)- kya boss! Main bilkul thik hoon!
Abhijeet- aur age bhi thik raho, isiliye check-up karwana zaruri hai! Daya, maan bhi lo ki ab umar ho gayi hai! Bas routine check-up hi toh hai! Itna kyun chidte ho yaar?
Daya- Achha! Waise tumhari umar toh mujhse zyada hai! Mere retirement ke ek saal pahle tumne retire kiya! Tum kitna karwate ho apna yeh routine check-up?
Abhijeet- kya matlab hai tumhara, haan? Main har do mehine mein apna check-up karwata hoon. Tumhari tarah nehi hoon main! Aur dekh, meri umar pe mat ja! Tujhse zyada fit hoon main! Mera B.P bhi normal hai! (serious) khair, aaj subah 11 baje, Re-Life hospital mein Dr. Rajiv ke sath tumhara appointment hai. Ab tum khud jaoge, ya mujhe tumhare ghar aa kar tumko jabardasti le jana padega, yeh tum decide karo!
Daya (pouting)- nehi, uski zarurat nehi hai! Main chala jaunga.
Abhijeet- good. Aur haan, yeh bachho ki tarah muh phulana chodo, bilkul achhe nehi lagte! (pausing) waise, mujhe yeh sab kahne ki zarurat hi nehi padti, aaj agar tumhara khyaal rakhnewala koi aur hota!
Daya- Abhii! Tum phirse shuru ho gaye? Kitni baar kaha na tumse, ki in baaton ka ab koi matlab nehi hai! Aur maan lo agar meri shadi ho bhi gayi hoti, toh kya tum mera khyaal rakhna chod dete?
Abhijeet- woh baat nehi hai yaar! Lekin agar tumhara apna ek parivaar hota, bachhe hote, toh…
Daya- toh? Kya tumhara parivaar mera nehi hai Abhi? Kya Arjun aur Tanisha mere bachhe nehi hain?
Abhijeet- kaisi baatein karte ho yaar! Of course yeh tumhara hi parivaar hai, aur Arjun aur Tanisha tumhare bhi bachhe hain! Par…
Daya- par-war kuch nehi! Abhijeet, tum meri zindegi mein sabse pahla rishta ho. Aur tumse mujhe zindegi mein woh sab kuch mil gaye, jo mujhe chahiye tha! Ab yehi mera parivaar hai, meri zindegi hai, aur main isi mein khush hoon. So please, is bare mein aur koi discussion nehi!
Abhijeet (smiling)- achha baba, thik hai! Lekin tum subah 11 baje pohunch jana hospital, ok? Derr mat karna!
Daya- haan, thik hai. Chalo, bye.
Abhijeet- bye.
After disconnecting the call, Daya checked the time again.
Daya (thinking)- sirf 8 bajkar 10 minute hi huye! Yahan se Re-Life hospital jane mein aadha ghanta lagta hai, aj Monday hai, toh traffic sayed thoda zyada rahega! Koi baat nehi, 10 baje ghar se niklunga!
He pulled the blanket again, and closed his eyes. "it's only for five minutes", he thought.
It's already 10.10 a.m. Daya hurriedly came out of his house, locked the main door, and was about to start the car, his phone rang.
Daya (without looking at the caller id)- hello!
Abhijeet (from other side)- haan Daya, kahan taq pohunche?
Daya (biting his tongue)- woh, bas ghar se nikal hi raha tha..
Abhijeet- abhi taq ghar pe hi ho? Yaar, tumko pata hai na, us raste mein kitna traffic hota hai? Thodi jaldi nehi nikal sakte the?
Daya- ab derr ho gayi, toh kya kar sakte hai! Tum chinta mat karo, main pohunch jaunga time pe!
Abhijeet- achha yeh batao, breakfast kiya tumne?
Daya- haan woh… matlab nehi…
Abhijeet- pata tha! Kyunki mujhse baat karne ke baad, tum phirse so gaye the, hai na? yaar, isiliye main subah 8 baje phone karke tumko utha diya, aur tum…
Daya (extremely embarrassed)- Abhi.. sorry main…
Abhijeet (sigh)- achha chodo! Wahan hospital ke samne hi ek cafeteria hai, check-up ke baad, pahle wahan jake kuch kha lena, Aur apni blood-pressure ki dawai bhi le lena! aur haan, car zara aaram se chalana, ok?
Daya (smiling)- ok. Bye.
Abhijeet- bye.
Daya's car stopped due to traffic on the way to the hospital. He checked the time and murmured, "Abhijeet sahi kah raha tha! Kahin zyada derr na ho jaye!"
When after ten minutes, the traffic was not cleared, he got irritated. Getting out of the car, he asked a passerby, "bhaisaab, kya huya? itni derr taq yeh traffic?"
Passerby- pata nehi saab, sayed age kuch huya hoga! Wahan samne kafi bhid lagi huyi hai.
Getting curious, Daya moved to see what happened. He moved near the crowd and asked a person that what happened.
Person- dekhiye na saab, yeh ladki beech raste par behosh hoke padi hai!
Daya- kya!
He moved nearer and was shocked to see a young girl lying unconscious on road. People gathered there and were busy in discussing about her, but no one's doing anything to help her!
Daya- arre aaplog aise khade kyun hain? Ise hospital toh le jana padega!
One man- kya saab, sab ke paas apna kam-dhanda hai! Kaun padega in sab jhamelein mein!
Daya- ya phir yeh kahiye, ki kisiko koi zimmedari nehi chahiye!
Man- jee?
Daya- jee haan!
He was about to say something more, but understood that his words were going to fall in deaf ears. So he just said, "dekhiye, main ex-CID officer Daya hoon, aur main hospital ki taraf hi ja raha hoon. Agar koi isko zara meri gadi taq lane mein madat kare, toh main ise hospital le ja sakta hoon."
2-3 people agreed and helped Daya to carry that girl to his car. Soon the traffic was cleared and Daya started towards hospital.
Dr. Rajiv, the dean of Re-Life hospital was an old friend of duo. Daya informed him about that girl before reaching the hospital, so there was no difficulty to admit her in hospital.
Daya- Rajiv, pata lagana hai ki yeh ladki kaun hai, aur iske gharwalo ko bhi inform karna hai. Iska chehra aur kapdo se toh lagta hai ki achhe ghar ki hai! Phir aise…
Rajiv- haan Daya, tum chinta mat karo. Dr. Meera uska ilaj kar rahi hai. Sabse pahle usko hosh mein laana zaruri hai.
Daya- par..
Before he could complete the sentence, a nurse approached them.
Nurse (to Dr. Rajiv)- sir, us ladki ke paas jo purse tha, us mein se uska mobile aur id-card mila. Us ladki ka naam Jyoti hai. Aur mobile se aakhri call usne aapni maa ko kiya tha. Toh humne usi number pe phone karke uske bare mein inform kar diya.
Daya felt relaxed after hearing this.
Rajiv- ho gaya? Ab chalo, tumhara bhi check-up karna hai!
Daya (smiling)- haan, chalo.
After the routine check-up , Rajiv admitted that Daya was perfectly fine, just had to continue some regular medicines. Daya did not pay attention to his words, his mind was engrossed in the thought of that unknown girl. So after leaving Dr. Rajiv's cabin, he went straight to the reception to ask for the girl's howabouts.
Receptionist- sir, woh abhi pahle se bahtar hai. Dr. Meera uski treatment kar rahi hain, toh aap unhi se baat kar lijiye.
Daya- kahan milegi Dr. Meera?
Receptionist- woh rahi! Jyoti ke ghar se koi aaya hai, unhi se baat kar rahi hain.
Daya turned and saw Dr. Meera talking to a middle-aged woman. He could not see that woman's face. "may be Jyoti's mother", he thought.
He moved near and heard Dr. Meera saying, "chinta ki koi baat nehi hai. Use bukhar tha pahle se, aur itni garmi aur sayed work-stress ki wajese hi aisa huya hai. Main ne use injection de diya, aur ek din observation pe rakhna chahti hoon. Aap use kal ghar le ja sakti hain."
To be confirmed that they are talking about Jyoti, Daya approached Dr. Meera.
Daya- Dr. Meera, woh Jyoti..
Both ladies turned and looked at him. When his gaze fell on that woman's face, it felt like his heart skipped a beat. The sentence he was saying remained incomplete, because he could no longer find his voice. With some effort, he could only utter one word, "Tum?"