journey Part XI

Rajan was discharged after 15 days. He was completely paralyzed. The once very handsome Rajan was now totally disfigured. To top it all, Rajan had lost his self esteem. He felt very low all the time and he had no hopes of recovering. Kusuma tried all that she could with him. There was a nurse appointed to take care of him all the time, there were 3 therapists coming in everyday to work on him. Sharan always questioned Kusuma on why his father wasn't talking to him, why he was always lying on the bed and why he looks so ugly these days!! Kusuma used to patiently answer all his questions only to lock herself in the bed room later on and cry inconsolably. Her parents and Ajju started visiting them more often now and she thanked God for giving her such a good family. Kusuma spent a lot of time with Rajan. She used to sing for him, tell him jokes, try to make him talk, hug him, kiss him and make him feel special. Not a single day, single minute did Kusuma ignore him. Aakanksha was running smoothly. She had appointed more people and had delegated a lot of responsibilities so that she could be more with Rajan. But Rajan's condition was deteriorating ......... The rehabilitation didn't seem to work at all. Rajan was in pain all the time. Kusuma had become a mere spectator of his suffering. She was doing all that she could. Trying to earn for the family, trying to give him the best in house care possible.. but all this was going waste.
A year passed by like this. Kusuma was extremely tired by now. She felt her life had no meaning to it. All her dreams were shattered, she had started feeling miserable. But her life had to go on.
It was mid december and was very cold outside. She went to Aakanksha wanting to come back soon as there was a doctor check up for Rajan that day. She was about to pack up when the phone rang from the reception and said that there is an appointment for her. The boy's name was Manu. She was furious ... because she wasn't informed of this earlier. She controlled her anger and told the lady at the reception to let them in. In came the father and son, Kusuma was surprised to see that the man who had come with Manu was Shibhu.