Sirf Urmi: FIC

"Ab kaha jana hai, Mama?" He asked playfully. It was all a game to him.

Urmi had bought Shaurya lunch; they were sitting on a bench in a park. She had no appetite but smiled through her tears as Shaurya devoured his sandwich and chips, and slurped his mango juice.

Urmi stroked her son's hair as she stared absently into space. Her plan to sneak him into the shelter had failed. The last phone call earlier in the day with that monster she had married kept ringing in her ears.

"Mein tumhe nahi chodunga, Madamji. Samjhi?" Samrat had screamed. Urmi had hung up on him as he continued ranting. She was sure Samrat was taking every opportunity to bully and frighten her family and she silently begged them for their forgiveness.

She did not know where she was going but one thing was absolutely certain: she was not returning to Samrat's house.

She should have made this decision long ago, but it was better late than never.</font>

Only her tender-hearted, albeit ineffectual father-in-law cared for her. He loved her the way her own father never did, and never would. Her papa and daadi were too much in love with their egos, their hypocrisy and their society. Even her two sisters-in-law Aditi and Kanchan, and elder brother-in-law Diwakar did nothing for her. The less said about Samrat's mother, the better Urmi thought bitterly.

Her own mother had finally stood up for her. Her brother Gaurav and sister Anu stood up for her. Her Asha bhaabi was stupid but not bad at heart. It was obvious her mother had manipulated the situation to oust Urmi out of the house.

In frustration, Urmi berated herself for not going to the police after the goonda gang had come to her parents' house. At least that good police officer who had arrested Samrat last time would have straightened Samrat out again for the time being. But the situation had been too emotionally charged for her to think straight. True to form, her father and daadi had squarely placed all the blame on her.

Urmi wished Uncle Garjan had not left. He had always stood beside her; he had been her anchor to sanity, her spark of strength.

She checked her phone again: the battery was definitely dead. It had been four hours and Shaurya had fallen asleep on her lap, his little mouth sticky with bread crumbs and juice. Urmi poured some water on her hankerchief and tenderly wiped his face.

"Hai Bhagavan! Ab mein kya karoo? Hum ko raasta dikhkaye, please I don't understand where to turn. Aur ab jaldi raat bhi ho jayega" she thought, clenching her fist so hard her nails dug into the flesh on her palm and drew blood.

She looked up when she heard a scream, only to see an elderly woman sprawled on the ground a short distance away in the park. Some thugs had grabbed her purse, shoved her down and ran off. The woman was bleeding and in obvious pain.

Without thinking, Urmi picked up her purse and Shaurya and hurried over to the woman.

"Aap theek to hai na, ma'am?"

"Nahi, bohut daard ho raha hain!"

A teenage boy jogging by gallantly helped Urmi and the elderly woman get into a taxi. Urmi took the woman to the nearest clinic.

By this time, it was dark outside. Shaurya was awake but cranky and hungry. The clinic receptionist generously gave both Shaurya and Urmi some food; she then led Urmi and Shaurya to a small adjacent waiting room which had a sofa and some chairs. Luckily, the room was empty. Shaurya promptly fell asleep again, exhausted with all the drama of the day. Urmi slouched in a chair in stony, pensive silence. She had lost track of time.

The receptionist knocked - Urmi almost did not hear her.

"Ma'am? Dr. Sharma wishes to speak with you. You can leave your son sleeping here. It's perfectly safe," the kind lady assured Urmi.

"Thank you. Which way is the doctor's office?" asked Urmi.

"Last door on your left down this main corridor."

Urmi knocked and was invited in. Dr. Sharma was a woman of about sixty, whose demeanor and smile reminded Urmi of her mother Saroj.

"Come in my dear. You did the right thing bringing this lady in. Although she has no broken bones, she is disoriented and badly shaken. Are you any relation?"

"No Dr. Sharma. I was sitting in the park with my son and just saw her getting knocked down by some goons. I reached her as fast as I could and someone helped me catch a taxi. That's all.

"Well, it appears she has no identification or money. The money part is not as important - I do "pro bono" work in this clinic quite often, but I am worried about her lack of identity. I would like to keep her here overnight for observation - I'm concerned to see she has some physical injuries that definitely did not come from today's incident."

"What does that mean, Ma'am?" asked Urmi.

"I think she was abused, ran away and then today's incident happened. I will call the police. I have known a very competent, honest officer for many years now."

Urmi watched as Dr. Sharma called. As they waited, Urmi avoided discussing personal details and only told Dr. Sharma her first name only. She casually asked if Dr. Sharma knew of any places that provided shelter to women and children. Before Dr. Sharma could answer,the police officer she had called walked in. It was the same man who had arrested Samrat. Urmi saw him a few seconds before he saw her.

"Mrs. Rathore, aap?" asked the surprised officer.</font>

Dr. Sharma looked confused. "You know this young lady, Sahil beta?"

"Ji, Reema Aunty. This is Samrat Singh Rathore's wife. Do you remember I told you about this case?"

"Oh my God. I was not in India at the time but I remember you telling me." Dr. Sharma turned to Urmi. "I could sense you were hiding something. I wish you had told me who you are."

Urmi began trembling. The dam that she had put so much effort into building these past weeks to hold in the torrent of sadness, loss, loneliness and fear finally burst and she began to shake and sob.

The police officer was instantly at her side. "Mrs. Rathore, has he hurt you again?"

"Not physically this time, but I just cannot take the torture anymore. He is doing everything possible to force me to come back to him - he even sent goons to my parents' house, got my brother fired from his job and God only knows what else he will do. He is capable of anything to get his way." Urmi buried her face in her hands, and choked out the words.

Sahil looked over at his Reema Aunty and nodded to indicate he wanted her help. He had known the good doctor since he was a small boy a little older than Shaurya; she and her husband were childless but had helped him and his struggling family a lot over the years. They had a lot of money but had generous hearts to match as well. Now that his parents were no more, Reema Aunty was his second mother.

Dr. Sharma reached over and patted Urmi's arm.

"Don't worry my dear. You are no longer alone. My husband is a barrister. I know he will help you. Please come and stay with me for as long as necessary until we can make other arrangements. Sahil has told me what a courageous person you are and if he trusts you, so do I."

Sahil nodded and sent a female officer to interview the patient, while he sent some of his junior officers to begin searching for the patient's background information.

"Mrs. Rathore, mein chalta hoon. You are in good hands staying with my Aunty and Uncle."

Urmi slowly stood up, her cheeks stained wet with tears but the determination on her face was unmistakable. She looked up at Sahil, as he towered over her.

"Mrs. Rathore nahi, Sahil ji. Sirf Urmi."

With a faint hint of a smile on his face, Sahil looked at Urmi for a long time, turned and left.