Chapter 35
Khushi called the child's name softly, "Radhika? Gudiya?"
There was no answer.
Khushi combed the house from top to bottom, calling all the time. She met Arnav, then Akash, both also searching vainly. Akash was accompanied by a frantic Shivi.
"Why did she react like that, Akash?!" she cried, her cheeks wet with tears. "I thought she liked me! Why was she so upset at our news?"
Akash shook his head, equally baffled, his face troubled, and they moved on into the garden, still calling the little girl's name.
Arnav went up the stairs to the terrace. Khushi went into Radhika's room. She was not there. Khushi moved slowly to her own room, calling Radhika's name all the time. She entered the room, and looked around. Nothing. She called again, "Radhika?"
No answer. She looked around the quiet room. All was still. She turned to leave, then caught a movement out of the corner of her eye, and whirled around.
The door to the terrace stood slightly ajar. The curtain fluttered in the breeze.
Khushi moved towards the door, and stepped out into the terrace.
"Radhika?"
No answer.
"Radhika, beta, where are you?" Khushi's voice held panic, which she struggled to hide, desperate not to alarm the child if she heard her. "Please, Radhika, don't do this! Come back to me, baby! Radhika, my sweetheart, my darling, where are you?"
She saw a slight flicker of movement at the corner of the terrace, and move towards it swiftly. She reached the edge of the terrace, and looked over. Then she gasped in sheer horror, and let out a strangled scream.
"Radhika! Arnav! Arnav!!!"
Radhika's small hand was clutching the foot of the railing. Her scared face looked up at Khushi through the decorative bars, a mixture of relief and panic in her eyes.
"Badi mamma? I'm scared."
Clamping down firmly on her own panic, Khushi spoke as calmly as she could.
"Don't be scared, my darling, I'm here now. How did you get there? Doesn't matter now. Just stand up, and hold my hands. I'll get you over and back with me. Come, my baby, don't worry now …"
After her first scream of panic, Khushi swiftly gathered her cool. Radhika had climbed over the terrace railing, and was clinging to the parapet outside, a narrow ledge that ran all the way around the terrace, a foot or so below the level of the terrace. How she had managed to get there, Khushi didn't know. Without stopping to think, she quickly climbed over the railing to join the little girl on the narrow parapet.
She held tightly to Radhika's hands, but they were moist with sweat, and slipping. Khushi's voice rose slightly, as she fought to control her panic. "Hold tight, baby, please, just hold tight .."
She held the child's hands, and spoke slowly and clearly, fighting to keep her voice calm, clear.
"I'm holding you tight, baby. You won't fall. Just listen and do as I tell you. Come into my arms, yes, that's right."
She worked the little girl slowly into her arms, turned her around, and held her tight. Her voice was clear, loud.
"I'm going to lift you up now, Radhika. I won't let you fall. Hold on to the railing, and climb over it. You won't fall. I'm holding you. Just climb over, and get to the other side, onto the terrace …"
She wanted to get radhika to safety as quickly as she could. Had Arnav heard her? she wondered hazily, and then fought to concentrate on the child. Her hands were shaking as she tried to lift the little girl to the level of the terrace. But her hands were slippery as well, and Radhika nearly fell. She clung to Khushi, as she murmured instructions to her, trying to keep panic out of her voice.
"Arnav!" Khushi called, softly, and then louder, hoping against hope he was nearby. She held the little girl close to her. Radhika clung to her like a limpet, her eyes wet.
"I can't, badi mummy. I can't!" she cried.
"Wait, Radhika. It's all right. I've got you. You won't fall. I can't quite get you over, so we'll wait. Arnav papa will come soon, I'm sure."
The little girl nodded, and clung tight to Khushi. Khushi looked at her closely, the first wave of panic subsiding, and the memory of Radhika's strange reaction to Akash and Shivi's news came flooding back.
"But, Radhika, sweetheart, tell me ... why did you run away? Were you not happy to hear about Akash chacha getting married? Why did you get so upset?"
Radhika gulped a little, and snuggled close. "Promise you won't get mad at me?" she asked in a small voice. Khushi held her tight.
"I can never get mad at you, you know that," she said, softly, gently, and the little girl relaxed.
"I was hiding in the garden the other evening," she said softly. "I heard you telling bade papa that when Akash chacha gets married, you'll go away from here. I don't want him to get married, if you'll go away! Why do you have to go away? I don't want you to go away! You're my badi mummy, you have to stay with me! You don't have a small baby with Godji! Why ….?"
"It's okay, sweetheart, I've got you now," said a clear, calm voice, and Arnav's face appeared over the railing, looking down at both of them anxiously. Khushi looked up at him, and as though he had spoken, she knew what he wanted. Quietly, without words, she held Radhika tight, and turned her around, so that she was facing Arnav. He held the little girl's arms tightly, as Khushi firmed her grip on her waist, and pushed her up. Together, they pushed and pulled the frightened child over the railing into Arnav's arms.
He held the little girl close to him in a tight embrace for a long moment. Then he let her gently down on the floor of the terrace. "All right now?" he asked her and the little girl nodded.
"Badi mummy," was all she said, and Arnav nodded, smiling faintly, as he reached back over the balcony to help Khushi. Then he looked again, his face changing.
"Khushi!"
Khushi had collapsed on the tiny ledge. After the release of tension, the relief of seeing Radhika safe, her hands and legs seemed to have given way. She was trembling uncontrollably, her entire body shivering. One small hand clutched at the railing, and Arnav's hand closed over it urgently, as he tried to control the wild panic that swept through him. For Radhika, he had kept his cool, but if anything happened to Khushi … if she slipped …
"Help me, Khushi! I need your help! You have to get up, and I'll pull you over. Get up, Khushi!"
His words, and the urgency of his voice, penetrated through to Khushi. She looked up at him, her face wet. Tears mixed with rain stained her face. It had started raining again, and the railing was even more slippery.
Slowly, painfully, urged by his voice, she got to her feet, struggling to stay stable on the narrow, slippery belt of concrete, Arnav’s hands steadying her through the bars of the railing. As soon as she was upright, Arnav's arms went around her, hooking under her arms, as, with a strong heave, he half pulled, half-lifted her over the railing. They both landed on the floor of the terrace, locked in each other's arms, rolling over the damp stone.
Khushi clung to him, almost fainting. The tension of being stuck on the narrow ledge, the panic of seeing Radhika there, in danger of falling off, and the tidal wave of relief that had flooded through her on seeing Arnav, seemed to have robbed her of all the bones in her body. Arnav held her tightly, his face against hers, cheek touching cheek, hands roaming her back fiercely, as he strained her to him. For a while … for a while he had thought that she would fall, and he wouldn’t be able to save her … the sheer panic of those moments made him shudder as he held her. Khushi clung back, her hands clenched on his shirt, her face buried in his shoulder.
Finally, Arnav recovered a semblance of calm and loosened his hold on her. Pulling back, he looked at her face, pushing the hair back from her cheek.
"You little idiot," he said, without heat. "You could have fallen and broken your bones. Both of you," he added, looking at Radhika.
Khushi looked at him, her trembling lessening.
"I knew you'd come," she said, simply.
He managed to get to his feet, pulling Khushi with him. Wordlessly, he drew her into his arms again, pulling her close. For what seemed like an eternity, he held Khushi tight, and she clung to him. She didn’t care what he read into her closeness, didn’t care what it might lead to … she needed this, needed him and she was oh, so tired of fighting to hide her feelings. The warmth of his chest under her cheek flooded through her, banishing the ice that had encased it when she saw Radhika on the parapet.
Then Arnav bent down to be level with Radhika's eyes. He looked at the little girl steadily.
"Whatever you may have heard badi mummy and myself saying," he said, softly, but very firmly, "… she is not going away from here. Do you understand that, sweetheart? Sometimes grownups say things, which children don't, or can't understand. But you must remember one thing. Badi mummy is not going away anywhere. This is her home. She is not leaving this house."
Khushi looked at Arnav, dumbfounded. So he had heard what Radhika had said to her, after all. He got up again, slowly, and looked at Khushi.
"You are my wife," he repeated, his eyes holding hers. "You are not leaving this house. No one will ask you to leave here."
She looked at him, wordlessly, and he looked back at her steadily. What was in his eyes? she wondered frantically. Was he saying what he was saying to reassure a frightened child? Or was he trying to tell her, Khushi, something, as well?
She didn't know, and she was too bewildered to figure it out. Slowly, stumbling over the words, she added her own reassurance to Arnav's voice, and they helped the child inside and back to the drawing room, where they called the others, and finally congratulated Akash and Shivi on their news.
