Chapter 8: Of things not seen
"Is it alright if Dr. Malvika assists me in today's session?" Dr. Jha asked Khushi who was blatantly ignoring Dr. Malvika's presence in the room. It had been six weeks since Khushi was admitted to the facility and Dr. Jha's progress was slow at its best. It was difficult to get her to open up so he had resigned to administering drugs into her before their sessions. With the help of drugs, her inhibition was down and she spoke more openly than under normal circumstances. But the progress wasn't up to the speed he had wished for.
"Legally or personally?" Khushi asked. He exchanged a discreet glance with Malvika which didn't escape Khushi's eyes.
"Either or both," Dr. Jha replied.
Khushi shrugged. "I particularly don't care. Of course if she steps out of line and uses me in some way like her track record suggests, I will destroy her career." She replied looking at Dr. Jha. This time Dr. Jha stared blatantly at Khushi and the threat.
"We are here to help you Khushi," Dr. Malvika said. Khushi still didn't turn to look at her.
"Of course you do," Khushi replied smirking at Dr. Jha. His expression had clearly given him away. He had no idea what Dr. Malvika had done in the past. Shyam silenced Malvika with a look and a shake of his head. He didn't care if Khushi saw it but he didn't want Malvika to alienate Khushi more than she already was.
"How have you been sleeping?" Shyam asked. Khushi looked surprised at the question but she recovered quickly.
"I am sleeping fine. It's a little too much for my liking," she replied.
"I received a court order to disclose the medication that is prescribed to you and a fortnightly visit from your doctor to check your health." Shyam browsed the file for a copy of court order, "What are you afraid of?"
"You see Dr. Jha, I asked your colleague very nicely the reason I am taking my medications. She refused to disclose the information and I had to do the way she couldn't refuse." Khushi replied nonchalantly.
"You haven't answered my question yet," Shyam reminded her.
Khushi looked thoughtful for several seconds. "I was just curious," she shrugged. That nonverbal action had started giving him more information than her words. She was lying and she made it extremely obvious.
"You could have asked me," Shyam said. He wanted to gain her trust and then find out where this anguish and anger came from but she had built strong fortress surrounding her making it difficult for someone to penetrate that.
"Is this good-cop bad-cop routine?" Khushi asked smiling. "I must say it is quite clever," she grinned.
"You don't trust me?" Shyam persisted.
"I am insane Dr. Jha. My mind is like a magician's hat - no one knows what comes out of it next." Khushi replied.
"I could have told you the reason behind the medications administered on you. I prescribed them, after all," Shyam didn't let go of the questioning line.
"Trust is a hard earned entitlement Dr. Jha. It's not fifty paisa candy to be handed away when asked." There was a storm in her eyes and Shyam couldn't decipher it.
It was evident that there was something more to her than met the eye but he still hadn't found the hook which would navigate him through her psyche.
"I understand," he said. Making notes in parallel he added, "Tell me about your father."
Khushi's face turned blank at that. "He is a nice man who married my mom when I was about...eight I think. He is a good guy."
Shyam waited for her to continue but nothing more was said.
"What's the outstanding memory of him and you from your childhood?" Shyam continued on same train of thought.
Khushi looked thoughtful for several seconds. When seconds turned to minutes Shyam shifted his eyes towards Malvika who nodded at him. There was a possibility that her issues started at this point or were elevated from then on. It was a true test of nature versus nurture and he didn't know which one had prevailed.
"He saved my life when I was about ten, you know?" She said chewing her lip. Shyam raked his memory to find that particular information but came up empty. Till now neither she nor her father had ever mentioned about that. He couldn't establish if she was lying or telling the truth.
"What happened?" He continued.
"We had gone to a picnic when I lost my footing and fell into the river. I heard my mother scream and he dived into the river almost immediately. He pulled me out from it to the bank safely." There were no expressions on her face which Shyam found odd.
"And then?" He asked. He had a feeling that this wasn't the complete story.
"And then we lived happily ever after." She smiled wanly without humor. Shyam nodded. He was extremely patient man and sessions with Khushi were just beginning.
"What did he tell you after he pulled you out?" Shyam asked. Khushi looked startled at that question. There it is. Shyam thought. The moment started a change in her.
"I don't remember. It was a long time ago." She replied hiding the tremor in his voice. Shyam nodded and decided to pick this line of questioning in future session.
"How was the relationship with your sister?"
"It was peachy." She replied shortly. Shyam waited for her to continue but was met with stony silence.
"Khushi, I do hope you realize that you are mandated to be cooperative in these sessions by the law. Please don't forget that the proceedings are put on hold because of the insanity claim made by the defense so it is required for all of us work to our fullest potential in these sessions so that the proceedings can be picked up at a future date." Malvika interjected.
Khushi refused to look at Malvika and smiled at Shyam.
"Her name was Tara, wasn't it?" Shyam said suddenly. He didn't acknowledge or refute Malvika's claim.
Khushi's smile fell. "Yes." Shyam saw that her whole body had become stiff at his question and she looked high strung. He decided to push her to the edge to see what she was capable of. Was she capable of impulsive homicidal tendencies under extreme stressful conditions failing to differ between right and wrong?
"How was she as a child?"
Khushi hesitated for moments. "She was adorable. I was her big sister and she wanted to follow me wherever I went. She was the princess of the family and it was so easy to love her - soft spoken, gorgeous. She had a well groomed air about her which made people take a step back and admire her again. She loved me more than I loved her I guess." Her voice was tight as the memory of her sister's blood splashed on her mind.
"You were angry that day." Shyam said.
"Any older sibling would be, Dr. Jha, when they find out that the sweet younger sibling you grew up with had changed along the way without anyone realizing." Khushi said tracing a pattern on table.
"Then Tara wasn't what everyone thought she was," Shyam surmised.
"It's a bit complicated than that. It wasn't some childish rivalry about who is most loved or shit like that. It started as a game when we were younger."
Shyam was ecstatic. This was the farthest he had ever gotten with her. It was the first time Khushi had opened up and he knew it that it was because of the drugs in her system. She would parrot this to her lawyer and he would deal with it when the time came. "What kind of a game was it?"
"Down the rabbit hole..." Khushi said.
Shyam exhaled slowly. He had no idea what it was all about but he knew that it wasn't remotely normal.
*****
Shyam rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"What do you think that game means?" Malvika asked walking towards his desk and sitting in a chair in front of him.
"Honestly, I have no idea. Khushi has never talked about her sister till today. Whatever it is, I have to tread very carefully and allow her to talk." Shyam replied.
Malvika hummed. "I wonder if she we need to increase the dosage if we wish to know about The Punisher." She said distractedly.
Shyam froze. "Actually we don't." He said voice hard, "What I need to know is if she killed her sister or not. I couldn't care less about the Punisher."
Malvika looked at him plainly. "Come on Shyam. She is the only surviving victim of the serial killer. Finding who he is would be really good for us." She said adding a smile in the end.
"Is that the reason why you wanted to perform ECT on her?" Shyam asked. Malvika shifted in her seat and nodded her head.
Shyam didn't respond and stared at the woman in front of him. He didn't know who was dangerous of the two - Malvika or Khushi.
*****
"You have issues with trust, don't you?" Malvika said checking Khushi.
The morning session with Shyam and Malvika had made Khushi irritable and the weekly check-up which followed in afternoon with the same woman had made her mood terrible.
"Everyone does doctor. It's stupid to believe otherwise." She replied.
"But your distrust in us is bordering on paranoia Khushi. I hope you realize that." Malvika said.
Khushi shrugged. "I am simply looking out for myself."
"We are not your enemy Khushi," Malvika said bemused at Khushi's fear.
Khushi raised an eyebrow at that. "1997, 2004. Ring any bells doctor?" She asked.
Malvika's face discolored instantly and she started breathing hard.
She had been so careful, so careful to bury her past deep underground-then how could the girl sitting in an asylum get her hands on such information in such short time.
Khushi stood up and pocketed her hands. She rocked on her heels and she watched the sliver of horror etched on her doctor's face. "You mess with me, I will destroy you. Don't think I am all alone inside this facility," Khushi grinned.
"You are...evil!" Malvika shivered.
Khushi burst into laughter and watched the older woman look at her with mild fear.
Did anyone miss me when I wasn't around for two days? By seeing the traffic on this thread, I guess I wasn't all that missed :=) Oh well, never mind that.
I received few PMs wishing to know if Khushi really killed her sister or not. I think I have talked about this before, I will mention it again : If I give away that answer, then I can end the story in one part. With progression of the story will come undoing of the truth.
Along the same lines the question of Khushi's sanity will also be explored in future updates.
Have a good day!
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