"Sir the patient has gained consciousness " nurse said to the doctor in charge of the patient
"May I know your name please" doctor asked the patient
"Madhubala Malik" the patient said with quite a hesitance
"Doctor how did I reach here ?" Madhu asked
"Miss Malik ! Hi I am doctor Rishabh Kundra . And I found you unconscious on a deserted road and luckily I was passing through that road and I saw you lying there battered , so I brought you here at my hospital , where I work" RK replied
"Thanks doctor ! Can I go home now" Madhu asked RK
"No ! Miss Malik you are not in a condition to go from here , atleast for NOW . So you are supposed to stay here for few more days till you recover" RK said to her
"But Doctor ! I have to look after my brother . He will sleep without having any food . I can take care of myself doctor . Just lemme go to my house" Madhu requested to RK
"Miss Malik ! you are not understanding what I am trying to say . Just co-operate with me and rest " RK said
"Doctor ! And , you are not understanding me . My brother Dhruv is younger and he doesn't know how to cook food , so if I din't reach home , he will get worried and plus he will sleep hungry" Madhu tried to explain her problem
"Madhu ! Ahhh... OK let me tell everything clearly to you . Your medical examination confirms that you have been brutally attacked on you private parts . I mean you have been raped" RK said in a soft whisper .
After hearing this Madhu din't react , and just stood like a statue devoid of tears and reactions . It was really hard for her to believe this that something horrific like rape has happened with her . She was totally numb without any emotions . She din't wanted to accept this brutal truth .
"Madhu !!!!!! Miss Malik" RK shook Madhu's shoulder and tried to bring her back to reality .
"We will be calling the police . We were actually waiting for you to gain conscious so that it becomes easy for you to cooperate with police" RK said in a soft tone
"No doctor . I don't need any police help" Madhu said without any expressions
"Why ???? You don't want to get justice ?" RK asked her shocked . He wanted to help her out not because he was a doctor but he wanted to help her as a normal person because he knew how hard it was for such victims to live in society and to cope up with this brutal reality which however much they wanna avoid , but couldn't do . RK was feeling bad about Madhu's condition and he wanted to help her in getting her culprit punished .
"I said I don't need any police help really means that I don't need police help" Madhu said with a cold voice
"But someone has tried to play with your life , with your self respect , with your dignity" RK again tried to tell her so that she registers an FIR with the police.
She just gave a cold look to RK so that he shuts his mouth . She gets up from the bed and tries to walk past him but the pain in her body makes her fall on the ground and before she falls , RK makes her lye on the bed . After sometime
"Rishabh ! Can you do a favor on me ?? Pleaseee" Madhu asked in a sad voice
"Hmmm ... Tell me " RK felt like hugging her so that she can get some relief
"Can you take me to my home . Pleaseee" Madhu said with a pleading look to RK .
RK was driving the car towards Madhu's house . He was time and again looking at Madhu who was just sitting quietly without any emotions and was letting her tears to flow down . He din't knew how to ease her pain but he desperately wanted to make Madhu believe that at the end , she will only win and live her life happily .
********************
"Di ! you came .. I was waiting for you from such a long time . Its 2 in the morning . Where were you Di ?? Do you know how worried I was for you ?? I am feeling so hungry Di .. Can you make Aloo Paratha now ?" Dhruv started his non-stop talk .
Madhu came inside the house with RK who was supporting her to stand properly because of her physical pain .
"Di ! who is he ?" Dhruv asked pointing towrds RK
Madhu without replying anything went to the washroom and opened the shower to wash away the dirt she was pulled into .
Dhruv was going towards Madhu to ask what was wrong with her , when RK said "Hi I am Dr. Rishabh Kundra"
"Doctor" Dhruv asked RK in a shocked voice
"How do you know my Di ??? And what has happened to my Di ?? Why she is so quiet and not talking to me ?? " Dhruv asked RK in a panicked tone
"RK told Dhruv that how he found his Di lying on a road and confirmed her medical examination" . Dhruv was so dazed that he din't knew how to react . He was crying badly for his sister's condition .
Madhu came out of the washroom wearing new clothes still being quiet and walking like a robot .
"Di ! who did this to you ?? Tell me Di and I will kill that scoundrel" Dhruv asked Madhu gritting his teeth
"Sikky" Madhu said in a robotic voice .
"What !!!!! Sikky ... ???" Dhruv said in an appalled tone
*FLASHBACK*
Madhu worked in a bank and she used to stay in Ooty with her younger brother Dhruv . Her parents died in a plane crash when she was 15 years , but they have left enough fortune for their children . Sikky was their neighbor who has always lusted Madhu since the time he has arrived in Ooty . He always wanted Madhu to be in his bed . He was a drunkard and currently unemployed unlike Madhu . He had approached Madhu numerous times saying that "he likes her and wants to marry her and can they go out somewhere?" But Madhu always knew his dirty intentions and what his "going out somewhere" meant , so she would always stay away from him . But what Madhu din't realize was that , every time saying "No" to Sikky and avoiding him was hurting his ego very badly and it was leading to frustration in Sikky . This frustration developed so much the previous night that he ended up raping her .
She was coming back from her work and was walking on the road when out of nowhere Sikky appeared with his car . She tried walking past him but he blocked her way and forcefully pulled her in his car and took her . He stopped the car at a deserted road far from the main city of Ooty and dragged her out of the car by pulling her hair . He took her to a corner behind a huge oak tree , ripped of her clothes despite of her constant pleadings and shouts , unzipped his pants and raped her till he fulfilled his pleasure . And he kept on raping her like a beast numerous times before she lost her consciousnesses and then he drove away from there leaving her in a battered state . Somehow she dragged herself from the lying position as she couldn't get up because of her bruises and came on the main road and fainted .
*FLASHBACK ENDS*
It already is bigger than everything else. It lives in front of me, behind me, next to me, inside me every single day. My schedule is dictated by it, my habits by it, my music by it." The Mockingbird
She felt so humiliated and disgusted on herself that she wanted to die . Even after crying her heart out , her pain couldn't subside , it couldn't fade away those horrifying scenes . Those scenes kept on playing in her mind like a broken record making her loose her sanity and willingness to live . Her every single action whether sleeping or walking or doing anything would remind her of that brutal night . She was loosing her hope every single minute of having a normal life . She stopped talking to people , even to Dhruv and went into her nutshell of emotional pain . Things were turning from bad to worse . Her silent sobs and not sharing her pain with anyone else had put her on the verge of emotional breakdown , that one day out of guilt and depression she went in to the kitchen and took out the knife to slit her wrist , when suddenly RK caught hold of her hand before she could slit her wrist .
"Leave me RK "
"What are you trying to do Madhu ?" RK tried snatching knife from Madhu's hand
"I said leave me RK and thats none of your concern . Just let me die . I don't want to live now . Pleasee" Madhu was crying profusely
"Madhu don't behave like a looser . Your life is worth to live and not to die for some leech who did this to you" RK said to Madhu after snatching the knife from her hands and throwing it in a far corner
"Its easy for you to say such things RK because you or your near ones haven't faced such situation . But I can't .. Let me die . Give back the knife" Madhu said to RK making him shocked .
Hearing the commotion happening inside the kitchen even Dhruv came . And RK told him how his sister wants to end her life .
"Di ! What are you trying to do ? You can't do this " Dhruv said crying
"Madhu think about Dhruv . If you die then what will happen to him ? How will he live without you ? You are his only family" RK tried explaining Madhu
But Madhu wasn't ready to listen anything and she just wanted to end her pain and miseries for once and all . Seeing her adamant nature RK slapped her hard on face bringing her out from her madness .
"Do you think that taking away your life is so easy ?" RK asked Madhu with pain evident in his voice
"Listen Miss Malik ! Except for your mom-dad you can't take your own life because they give you this life so you are indebted to them"
"And why are you behaving like a coward Madhu ? Why can't you face the situation and set an example for the world ?"
"Its easy for you to say all this because you have not been in this place ." Madhu said crying
"No Madhu ! That's not the truth . I have felt the pain of rape and suicide both for the person whom I loved the most . You know , I had a happy family with my mom-dad and my younger sis Diplai who was a kind of bookworm . Dips hardly had any friend because she was most of the time absorbed in books . Dipali was doing her first year in History and in her class there was this guy called Sultan . Sultan was the most popular guy of her college whom every girl wanted to make her BF or atleast wanted to loose their virginity to . Dips liked him from the first instant but Sultan was a kind of Casanova boy and very egoistic . He knew how to get his ways and works done . He believed in the theory of one-night stand whereas my sister believed in sex after marriage . They both became friends and one day Sultan called everyone for night out at his place . Dips was happy to be a part of his nigh out and seeing my sis happy even I din't object it . Everything in the night out was going smooth when Sultan approached her to come to his room . My sis was so naive that she went with him to his room where he tried to kiss her , but Dips told her not to do so till she gets married . Sultan couldn't take NO for his approach and he raped her teaching her a lesson and that instance Sultan told her that why he befriended her , because his friends wanted to see if Sultan would have a make out session even with such studious girl or not and he proved his friends that Yes , he can have his charm even on studious girls like Dipali. When she came home she was disheveled from her looks and I couldn't understand what has happened to my princess . I took her to the room and made her sleep . Next morning she told everyone of us that how Sultan raped her . We all were shocked infact we din't knew how to react . To add more woes , Sultan even told a lie to everyone in the college that how he had a make out with my sis whereas in reality he has raped her . Dips couldn't handle this insult and gossip and she committed suicide by eating poison . Dad couldn't see all this and he got a a major heart attack and even he died and my mom also died after a year of my dad and sis's death . I approached police station and filed a non-bailable complaint against Sultan and his friends but due to his dad's high connection , when the hearings proceeded in the court inspite of the strong defense , the judge of the session's court ordered the case in Sultans favor . And that day I lost my belief on the judiciary system , But I din't loose hope because I wanted to punish Sultan for his misdeeds which he did to my sister and also so that no other girl should become the next Dipali . From that day onwards I tried finding Sultan to punish him and I punished him brutally that he will never ever take birth in the form of human because he doesn't deserve to be born as human " RK wiped his tears after telling his past to Madhu .
Now Madhu couldn't control her tears and she hugged RK tightly crying her heart out , washing away her pain and also washing away RK's pain of loosing his sis. Dhruv also cried with her feeling his pain .
"Di ! don't cry pleasee . We will go from this place to somewhere else ." Dhruv tried assuring Madhu
"Please Di don't cry . I can't see you in tears . Di please say that you won't leave me ." Dhruv told Madhu wiping her tears .
"The idea is to rescue myself from the role of a victim. That I have a choice left. Though I can't change what has happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being bitter and locked up."
"Madhu ! Don't cry . Its should be your culprit who should be crying and not you . Why do you need to cry when you din't do anything wrong . Our society is like this only , where the rape the victim cries forever and the culprit just roams freely laughing and being happy . Punish your culprit Madhu and make him beg you so much that he finds death as an easy option . Such bas***ds aren't meant to stay on earth amongst us " RK said to Madhu giving her a new hope
"You should live your life like everyday is your first day! You should do what feels right to you and trust in your intuition! Take a minute and breathe! Take some time to look around and see the beauty in things! I know it is hard, especially when you have bad thoughts...but the more you do it the easier it will get! Do not do things you do not want to do! Do not let anybody make you feel bad because you said NO - no matter about what!You are an individual who has the right to make her own decisions! And if you said NO then it is NO ! Do not let anybody believe that is wrong! You have to live for yourself and have to live with yourself first!" RK encouraged her to live her life
"Fight for your honour and wrong commited on you Madhu . You can't let that devil win .I know its hard for you to move on with these mental scars but nothing is impossible . With your culprit getting punished half of your scars would be healed Madhu" RK said
"Yes RK now I will not cry because now someone else is gonna cry . And Dhruv ! We are not leaving our house , our Ooty " Madhu said with determination
"Thanks Rishabh for everything you did for me . I will always be indebted to you" Madhu said to RK with a smile .