Abhi leaned against the inside of his front door, suddenly finding his feet too heavy to keep moving. He knew Purab was still on the other side, desperate to talk to him. It tore at Abhi's heart to leave him there. But he'd just come back from seeing Aaliya off at the airport, and he didn't have it in him to deal with any more drama.
He pocketed his sunglasses and raised a hand to his temple, trying to massage an ache he'd had for days. Ever since Pragya had walked out of his life, it felt like he'd had to face a cascade of pain and trouble. It was almost a week later, and only now was he starting to pick up the pieces.
Aaliya was heading back to Australia, to start working with a friend of Abhi's who needed an MBA on his management team. It would distract her from her failed wedding and get her into a new environment so she could make a fresh start. Abhi hoped that it would also give her a different purpose in life, something beyond coasting on being his sister or pining to be Purab's wife.
Daadi had reached Ludhiana, and they'd even managed to have a civil phone conversation that morning. She hadn't said when she might return, but the acid anger was gone from her voice when she spoke to him, and she'd even told him to take care of himself while she was gone.
They hadn't discussed Pragya, which Abhi was grateful for because he had no idea how things stood with her now. She hadn't contacted him since she left, and he didn't know what her next move would be. Was she planning to initiate a divorce? Maybe she was plotting how to get the best settlement out of the whole mess? Or perhaps she was still busy looking after her mother, and hadn't made any decisions yet?
He felt guilty that he'd been partially responsible for making Auntyji collapse, though his sources at the hospital assured him that she was fine now. He would have made a point of arranging top care for her, if he hadn't been so distracted by everything else. By the time he'd tried to check into it, she had been released, and by all accounts the Arora family would be able to manage for now.
It felt strange to realize that his connection with them had ended just like that. It had only been two months since his whirlwind marriage, but in that time it felt like he'd become deeply entwined with Chashmish's family.
She was always using her mother as her excuse for sticking with him, so that when he occasionally felt bad for the way he treated her, he felt even worse thinking about her majboori. Then too, there was something deeply humbling and gratifying about how her whole family had welcomed him with open arms. Rockstar Daadi and Sarla Aunty respected and admired him just for being Abhi, the precious damaad who had accepted their daughter as his wife. Bulbul and Purvi were like the carefree younger sisters he had never realized he wished for, so bubbly and openly loving, so different from how distant Aaliya could be sometimes.
But of course he had been cheating them all with lies and pretence. He had played damaad and jiju for their benefit and to maintain his own cover, but he had never planned to stay married to Pragya.
And now everyone knew it.
He knew he should feel relieved about that. But, somehow, he just felt agitated and disappointed. For the truth to come out in such an ugly way just made things worse for everyone. Pragya had already agreed to leave after Purab and Aaliya's wedding, and Abhi couldn't help wishing they had managed to stick to that plan.
But one thing that he did feel relieved about was to know for sure now that Purab and Pragya had never been romantically involved. Learning that it had been Bulbul all along cleared up a lot of confusion for Abhi. He had been wondering for weeks what they could possibly have seen in each other. Pragya was older and more reserved, not the type to draw Purab's attention let alone entice him to carry out a secret relationship. And although until quite recently he would have called Purab the model for any sensible woman's ideal man, Abhi had never been able to see him as a fitting match for Pragya.
Part of why Abhi had been able to convince himself that Pragya only wanted Purab for his money was that there simply didn't seem to be anything else she could want from him. True, Chashmish was the sober, responsible type much like Purab, but that just meant she needed someone lively and free-spirited to keep her on her toes. She would have been bored silly with Purab as her life partner, and Purab surely would have felt like he was drowning in duty while stuck in a regrettable marriage.
Abhi dropped his hand from his forehead, giving up on massaging his ache. Clearly it wasn't helping if his thoughts were wandering such odd avenues of thought as Pragya and Purab's non-existent potential marriage. He decided to head to the kitchen to get some water. Hopefully Robin would be there to make him an energy shake.
He had crossed halfway through the hall when he heard the doorbell ring. Ramu Kaka would probably be out soon enough to answer it, but Abhi guessed that it had to be Purab still wanting to talk to him. He retraced his steps in a few quick strides, thinking ahead to what more he could say to make his former friend understand that their relationship was over.
But when Abhi opened the door, he found himself facing a stranger. A man who looked to be somewhat older than him stood staring back at Abhi, wearing a black baseball cap that clashed oddly with his collared shirt and khaki slacks.
.
"Yes?" Abhi asked brusquely, looking past the man to see if the security guards at his gates were asleep. They should not have let an unknown man get right up to his door like this.
"I just wanted to say, thanks for ruining my life, sala b-------d!"
"Excuse me?" Abhi demanded in surprise. "Who the he-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Abhi registered the flash of the man raising a cricket bat he had been hiding behind his back.
He was too slow to grab his assailant's arm. The next thing Abhi knew, everything went black.
***
Pragya had planned to meet with the Chair of her department that afternoon. She wanted to discuss how soon she could rejoin the college. It was the middle of term so she obviously couldn't be assigned any courses as an instructor. But there might be an opening for a tutor or a grading assistant, and Pragya was willing to take on anything just to be working again.
She had left her job with mixed feelings. She had looked forward to the new journey she was about to start as a wife and daughter-in-law, but she had always loved teaching and wasn't happy to be leaving it behind. She had hoped to go back to it one day, but that seemed unlikely after marrying the country's only Rockstar. It would have looked strange indeed for such a big celebrity's wife to return to an ordinary job at a small local college.
When her marriage had turned out to be nothing more than a cruel joke, Pragya had missed her work more than ever. Playing pretend day after day to maintain her responsibilities as Maa's daughter and Daadi's bahu had made her feel like she was losing herself. She had often wondered how she, who had always been determined to avoid becoming dependent on a man, could betray herself so deeply as to start relying on Abhi to keep up the fiction of their marriage.
Thank God, that was all over now. She was done with her capricious and juvenile so-called husband, and she could start to reclaim her life again. She had an appointment with a lawyer later in the week, too, so that she could start the process of turning Pragya Mehra back to Pragya Arora.
Although her overall feeling was one of liberation, there were a few things Pragya regretted about how everything had ended. She didn't like how she had destroyed Daadi's image of Aaliya and Abhi by exposing their misdeeds so openly. Daadi deserved more respect than that, but the moment had been so unbearable that she hadn't been able to compromise in deference to Daadi's dignity. She missed Daadi, too, and she felt bad that she had simply walked out without properly taking leave of the older woman.
And of course, there were her mixed feelings about Abhi still at the back of her mind. He'd driven her insane, and putting up with his convoluted ideas of torture and revenge had certainly tested her patience. But, until the hypocrisy about Tanu and Puneet, Abhi had always done what she needed him to. He had supported her in their extended natak for their families, and a part of her couldn't stop missing how it had felt to share that with him.
But whenever Pragya caught herself thinking about Abhi these days, she was swift to shut it down. That marriage had always been a mistake, and now that it was over she needed to keep her mind on building a positive future.
And the first step would be convincing the Chair to give her a job as soon as possible.
That was what Pragya had on her mind as she stepped out of the house to catch an auto to the college. When her phone rang just then, she was irritated at the distraction.
She saw Akaash's name on the call display and was tempted to ignore the call. But it was the first time anyone from the Mehra family had tried to contact her since she'd walked out, and she knew she should at least see what they wanted.
She slid her finger across the screen to accept the call. "Yes, hello?"
"Bhabhi," Akaash said, and in the one word Pragya could hear pure panic. "We need you at City Hospital, please come!"
Immediately, Pragya's heart leapt to her throat. There could only be one reason Akaash was calling her to hospital. "What happened? Is it Daadi, is she -"
"No, it's Bhai, and he needs you. Please come, we're in the emergency ward. You'll come now right?"
"Tumhare Bhai?" (Your cousin?) Pragya repeated in disbelief. "Unhe kya ho sakhta hai?" (What could happen to him?) The thought that Abhi could be in the hospital just did not make sense. He was young and healthy, there was no reason for him to -
Akaash said quickly, "I'll explain it to you when you're here, but please come now. They need your signature for the treatment and he's at risk of a coma -"
Oh my god. "I'm on my way." Pragya clicked off her phone without another word, too agitated to keep talking after what she'd heard.
She managed to get an auto right away, and then she was on her way to the hospital. Strangely she found her mind utterly blank during the ride. The unnamed fear that had gripped her heart made it impossible to focus on any specific thought.
She found Akaash outside the emergency ward, along with his parents and brother. He thanked her for coming and then launched into an explanation she couldn't entirely follow. Something about Abhi being attacked by a stranger, and then doctors delaying the necessary surgery to prevent brain damage because they needed next of kin consent. As she was still Abhi's legal wife, she was the only one who could give that. Pragya nodded through the surgeon's explanations of risk and benefits, not entirely processing what she heard but intent on signing the papers immediately.
The next hours passed in a blur of worrying and waiting. Pragya sat with Taiji and Mithali, ignoring their worst-case-scenario talk about how they were all doomed if the doctors couldn't revive Abhi. She prayed non-stop as day turned into evening, though she rejected Raj Bhaiyya's suggestion of visiting the hospital's mandir because she didn't want to chance missing the first report from the doctors.
Akaash and Raj went off for a few hours when there was news from the police about Abhi's attacker. They came back with an explanation for the bizarre incident, telling the ladies and Tayaji about how the man was the disgruntled ex-husband of one of Abhi's fans. The delusional man blamed Abhi for the breakup of his marriage, because he felt his wife had always loved Abhi more than him. The police had him in custody now, and he wasn't even trying to deny that he'd committed the crime.
Pragya heard the explanation, but it didn't distract her from her prayers. Her one and only thought was to see Abhi whole and healthy again. It didn't matter that she'd left him and technically their marriage only existed on paper; all she wanted was for her husband to survive.
Finally, late into the night and after two changes in shifts for the doctors, Abhi's surgery was complete. He was taken up to a private room, and the chief surgeon said that they could sit with him two at a time. He wasn't expected to regain consciousness for several more hours, so it was decided that only Pragya and Akaash would stay at the hospital. The others went home for the night, planning to return after getting some sleep and refreshment now that they knew Abhi was out of danger.
Pragya had informed her family of where she was and kept them updated as the day went on, but she told them firmly that they should not come to the hospital. They just didn't need the complication of more people, and anyway she would only be there until she could confirm that Abhi was back to himself.
It was almost three AM when Abhi started showing signs of waking up. Akaash jumped to get the nurses as soon as they noticed him starting to flicker his eyelids.
Thus Pragya was left alone to watch him come awake, and she hurried to stand by his side. She took his hand in hers and stroked it gently, feeling her own lips tremble with a smile as Abhi finally opened his eyes.
He frowned a little when he saw her, and tried to sit up. She helped him by sliding some pillows under his back and readjusting the angle of his bed until finally he was half-seated, half-lying down.
She stepped back and looked over him, feeling her heart beat double time in gratitude just to see him in one piece. She knew she was still smiling like an idiot as she asked, "Aab - aab aap kaisa feel kar rahe hain?" (How are you feeling now?)
"Um," Abhi started to answer, but then he stopped, raising a hand to his throat in discomfort.
Pragya realized what he needed and quickly poured a glass of water. She held it to his lips and helped him take a few sips.
"Thank you," he said as she put the glass down on the side table. His vice was still hoarse but he kept talking. "I feel...I don't know. What happened to me?"
Pragya felt an urge to tell him the whole story, but some instinct warned her it was better not to go into details yet. He was just waking up, after all, and it would be best to keep it simple for now. "You hit your head," she said. "There was an accident and you needed a very long surgery."
"Oh," Abhi said. Some of the confusion faded from his face. "Umm...aur koi nahin aaya?" (Hasn't anyone else come?)
A flush of heat reddened Pragya's cheeks. She shouldn't be surprised or hurt that he didn't want to see her, of all people, when just waking up from an almost-coma. But it did sting, a little.
She cleared her throat and answered. "Yes, of course. Akaash has just gone to get the nurses and doctors since we realized you were waking up."
"Akaash?" Abhi repeated. His eyebrows drew together, his forehead wrinkling as he thought about it. "Not Purab?"
"Err..." Pragya did not actually know where Purab was. Akaash had tried to reach him several times that day, but he hadn't answered. "He's, um, away on business," Pragya improvised. "He's in flight so we weren't able to reach him."
"Oh." Abhi thought a moment longer and then said, "And my Daadi? Or has she gone home because it's late?"
Once again Pragya found herself floundering for a reply. Mithali and Taiji had mentioned about Daadi's trip to Ludhiana, and it was odd that Abhi wouldn't know. Perhaps he was just disoriented after the surgery?
"She's visiting her cousins," she reminded Abhi. "We...haven't told her yet, because we don't want her to have to worry when she can't be here."
"Oh," Abhi said again. "Yes, that's...of course, that's better."
Pragya wondered if he might ask for Aaliya or Tanu next, and her mind raced as she thought of appropriate explanations for each. Aaliya being in Australia didn't require an excuse, but Tanu...It hadn't occurred to anyone to contact Tanu while Abhi was in surgery, but Pragya realized now that they should have. Of course a man would want to see his girlfriend at a time like this.
"Aur..." (And...)
Abhi's hesitance caught Pragya's attention. She met his eyes and looked at him encouragingly.
"Aur?" (And?)
Abhi ran his eyes over her, taking her in from head to toe. He took a deep breath and then smiled politely. "Aur aap kaun hain?" (And who are you?)
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