Chapter 8 ~ The Vagaries of Life
From subservient to intractable, her transformation was astounding, but what he couldn't fathom was how did this sudden change come about. As Jaidev picked her up, he noticed that the bandage on her head was completely soaked, the blood continuously oozing from her wound. Laying Jaya on the bed, he rushed to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. Cutting off the old bandage, he gently eased it off and moved on to cleaning the wound. She remained unconscious throughout the time that he cleared and dressed the wound. As he stepped back from the bed, his eyes caught sight of a photo frame lying facedown on the pillow beside hers. Turning it around, he discovered it to be a picture of the two of them, taken at one of Naveen Ahuja's parties. It was a candid shot, capturing the mirthful expressions resulting in response to Mr. Ahuja's speech, when he decided to pepper it with peculiar verbalisms and brutally massacre the English language. One of those rare moments when he'd looked at her with a smile rather than a scowl. He hadn't ever seen the picture before but he knew why she had decided to keep it with her. To the casual observer, the picture would come across as two people in love, sharing a private joke. While to Jaya, it served as another reason to cling to her hope for what could be.
A knock at the door brought Jaidev out of his thoughts. Placing the frame on the nightstand, he went to answer the door, knowing that it would be none other than doctor he had called, while following his stubborn wife back to the hotel. He ushered the old man in, leading him to Jaya. After a thorough examination, the doctor complimented his skills in bandaging the wound and asked him to watch out for a temperature through the night. Writing a quick prescription, he took his leave. The clock on the nightstand read 2 am. Jaidev adjusted the blanket over Jaya, decreased the temperature of the air conditioner and then locking her door, headed back to his room.
In his room, he kept pacing back and forth as he tried to decide on the next course of action. He needed to speak to his brothers because he could use their help in this matter. Glancing at his watch, he realised waking them up in the middle of the night to discuss a politico wasn't a good idea.
A a quick shower, Jaidev decided to catch on some sleep but soon realised that it would be another sleepless night. At 3 am, he headed back to Jaya's room to check how she was faring. She was still sound asleep and there was no sign of a temperature so Jaidev headed back to his room, where he continued to toss and turn in his bed until it was time to check on Jaya again in another hour.
When he returned to her room at 4 am and discovered no reason for concern, he took a seat on the couch opposite the bed and continued working on his iPad. Soon, he was enveloped in the embrace of peaceful slumber, disturbed only two hours later when the alarm in his cellphone chimed 6.30 am.
*
Jaya awoke fresh and relaxed the next morning. As she turned in bed and opened her eyes, Jaidev's sleeping form on the couch opposite her bed caught her sight and her eyes widened. He seemed to have dozed off while working because his iPad lay clutched against his chest. But what was he doing in her room? As she tried to recall the events of the previous night, she remembered visiting Cherish and playing with the kids, being hit by a ball and then heading to the hotel in a cab. By the time she had reached her room, the wound on her head had started bleeding incessantly and she had felt dizzy. Then she had entered her room but couldn't remember locking it or even changing the bandage on her head, for that matter. She couldn't remember anything after that! As she stared at her husband, willing her mind to fill in the gaps of her memory, the alarm in his cellphone chimed and she saw him stir. In that instant, she snapped her eyes shut and lay in silence, immobile.
She could hear movement as he turned off the alarm and got up from the couch. She waited with bated breath as she sensed him approach her. His hand reached out to touch her forehead as he checked her temperature. Then she felt his touch as he brushed off the hair from her face, his hand lingering a moment on her skin.
Unheralded, her eyes still closed, his name escaped her on a whisper, "Jaidev."
The warmth of his touch disappeared and seconds later, she heard the door close as he left the room. As Jaya opened her eyes and lay in bed, the whiff of a familiar cologne lingered in the air, it's fragrance bringing back the missing memory from last night. She had smelled Jaidev's cologne just before she had fainted. But how could it be? Was Jaidev around when she fainted? Had he looked after her through the night? But it seemed impossible. And what of the touch that she had just felt? Or was that moment a figment of her imagination? Whatever it was, it was past and meant nothing. She didn't have time to waste over-analysing Jaidev's actions when she clearly knew that they didn't mean anything. They never could. Pushing all thoughts of Jaidev aside, she got off the bed and hit the shower.
**
"Isn't it a little too early to be discussing work, Jai bhaiyya?" Abhay Sinha, Jaidev's youngest brother grumbled into the phone.
Despite being the DCP with the Delhi Police Force, he was still the most notorious and pampered one at home.
"Chotu has a point, Bhai," Adarsh piped in, barely stifling a yawn.
A quick glance at the clock on the nightstand in Jaidev's room showed 6.45 am. He smiled.
"Chotey, Adarsh, thank your stars I didn't wake you'll in the middle of the night," Jaidev replied. "2.30 am, to be precise."
"I have no idea how does Jaya bhabhi handle your workaholic ways, Bhai. Simmi would never let me see the end of her tantrums if I did that," replied Abhay, referring to his wife.
Jaidev pursed his lips but didn't need to respond as Abhay continued, "Adarsh bhai, Jaya bhabhi and Simmi are two extremes. What about Swadheenta... bhaa-bhi?" He paused after her name, then drawing out the syllables added bhabhi.
Adarsh didn't miss the teasing tone his younger brother adopted.
"She's all work and no play. So in our case, I'll have to be the one throwing tantrums," Adarsh replied theatrically.
Abhay and Jaidev howled with laughter.
"So there's progress on that front," said Jaidev.
"Progress? It's success, bhai! They've moved from uncertainty to proposal to acceptance within a span of two days!" Abhay grinned.
"DCP Abhay Sinha doesn't seem to have any better work these days than keeping tabs on people's love lives," Adarsh teased.
"The Love Guru of Sinha House cannot be oblivious to romantic developments happening right under his nose," tossed Abhay.
Jaidev smiled to himself as he listened to the banter between his siblings.
"Very well, Love Guru, but we haven't reached the stage of acceptance yet. That will happen completely only when Mom agrees to having Swadheenta as her daughter-in-law," replied Adarsh.
"Adarsh, when do you plan to tell mom about her?" queried Jaidev.
When Adarsh remained silent, Jaidev spoke again, "Don't tell me you've got cold feet!"
"It's not about cold feet, bhai. It's a terrible predicament that I'm stuck in. I don't want to disappoint mom and dad, but at the same time I don't see myself spending my entire life with Vanshika," Adarsh explained.
"But bhai, to avoid that fate you'll have to speak up, right?" prodded Abhay. He knew that his brother was a righteous person, sensitive to others' feelings, but not one to keep quiet if something went against his principles.
"Okay, let's plan something once I'm back. Because keeping quiet at this stage will be the biggest mistake of your life, Adarsh. Trust me," said Jaidev.
As soon as he uttered the words "Trust me"and heard the bitterness in his own voice, he bit his lip hoping his brothers world not pick up on the implied meaning. His brothers were very perceptive, but until now he had effectively managed to keep the reality of his relationship with Jaya a secret from them. He wasn't proud of it because as siblings, they shared a deep and unique bond and never kept any secrets between them. He just hoped they would forgive him when they learnt of his divorce.
To his luck, Abhay was in the mood to tease and jumped on the first half of his sentence, "Of course, once Jai bhaiyya is back from his impromptu romantic getaway with Jaya bhabhi, we'll think about you, Adarsh bhai."
"Chotey! This is no romantic getaway," said an indignant Jaidev, while Adarsh and Abhay broke into laughter.
"Admit it, bhai, you can't live a day without Jaya bhabhi," Adarsh added.
"Adarsh, not you too," Jaidev groaned.
"Yeah, why else would you follow her to Mumbai if you didn't miss her," Abhay was relentless.
"Yeah, right!" Jaidev rolled his eyes.
"Though sarcastic, we'll take that as a yes," replied Abhay, to Jaidev's obvious relief.
"Now if you're done investigating my love life, can we talk work?" asked Jaidev.
"By all means, brother dear," Abhay grinned.
Jaidev smiled and quickly filled in his brothers about Jaya's association with Cherish, the case with Subhash Lal and Jaya and Sinhaal's accident yesterday.
"Is Bhabhi fine?" his brothers asked in unison.
"Yes, she's fine. The injury wasn't severe," replied Jaidev.
"What's the plan, bhai?" queried Abhay.
"Chotey, I want you to look into the police records and see if there's anything at all that hints at Subhash Lal's criminal record," replied Jaidev.
"Sure, bhai, but given the care with which he has cultivated his reputation in the past few years, I doubt we'll be lucky there," said Abhay.
"True, but not if we're looking for someone with links to Subhash Lal," Jaidev explained.
"As smart as he is, he has to have left some hints that can be tracked to him. A connection to someone with recurring visits to the police station, or random people who've been bailed by people connected to Subhash Lal," Adarsh added.
"Right. Adarsh, I want you to send me all information you have on this guy and anything else that you can find about him."
"Jai bhaiyya, I think you should also try and talk to the lawyers who bailed out of this case to see if you can dig up something there," suggested Abhay.
"Sure, thanks, Chotey, Adarsh."
"Take care of yourself and Jaya bhabhi."
***
Jaidev's cell buzzed as he headed to the restaurant in the hotel for breakfast. It was his father.
"Good morning, Dad."
"Morning. When are you coming back with Jaya?" asked Manohar without preamble.
"End of the week," replied Jaidev calmly.
"Jaidev," his father hissed. "Why don't you understand?"
"Dad, the case against Subhash Lal doesn't seem to be flimsy at all," explained Jaidev.
"That is not our problem," Manohar replied.
"Dad, all I'll say is, you've trusted me before, trust me with this too. This is no small matter. I can't come back without Jaya and she will not budge before the end of the week," said Jaidev, much to his father's disappointment.
"Very well," he bit out and disconnected the call.
Jaidev sighed and pocketed his phone. This was Jaya's case and her problem but after her accident yesterday and based on whatever he had learned from his research last night, he sensed there was much more afoot here than merely a case of child labour. He couldn't sit back and relax when he sensed the mess that would be uncovered if Jaya got to the depth of things. And as much as he didn't want to stay back or have anything to do with a matter that Jaya was involved in, he knew that she would need all the help possible in this matter. He couldn't believe how things had changed between yesterday and today. With her headstrong attitude and his short temper when it came to her, it was going to be a long week.
***
A/N: Finally, here's the update! I didn't mean to keep you guys waiting for so long but with the heartbreaking track currently on in the show, I just couldn't bring myself to write. But I'm back to it and hopefully there'll be an update either within the week or on the weekend. Looking forward to your thoughts on the update!
P.S: With all the lovely JJ moments that we've seen in the show, can anyone make a montage for this SS?
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
