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"Mauli...Beta..." She sounded awfully tensed and that's quite unusual!!
"Kiya huwa Dida...Sab theek toh hain?? Aap abhitak soyi nahin??"I tried to sound as calm as possible.
"Beta tu ghar kab aa rahi hain?? It's about Kunal...Tu ghar pe aa beta jaldi..." Needless to say my anticipation proved to right as Dida's anxious voice echoed in my senses!!
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"Hmm...Aap shant ho jao...Main aa rahi hoon kuch hi der mein...! I myself got quite shocked to see the calmness I possessed inside my voice.
Had it been any other situation I would have taken the earth down. But not anymore.
Almost 30 months ago everything that I have known has changed. And probably changed for good.
I don't want to remember but still couldn't help myself rambling inside those haunted memory lane while driving back to home!!
Fortunately, Now things concerning Kunal doesn't hurt anymore.
I do not think this was my destiny rather I count it as my good fortune.
Because had that man been not confronted with his illicit wrongdoing behind my back, perceives only the heavens how far he would have fooled me!!
Neither I blame Nandini. To me, she appears just a medium to bring the things in place, to bring the truth in open. In this case, probably worked as the darkness. But without darkness who has ever known the power or grace of light??
With my thoughts being somber I entered.
It was not even a fraction of second and the howling of Kunal pierced my earbuds!!
"Mauli...Mau..Mauli...Woh..Nandini...!! I saw him breaking down like a child, yet my heart remained calm!
But before I could react to him, my little bundle of happiness 'Darcy' and 'Dota' came running to me!! Dota is my pet dog and Darcy is his lifetime enemy turned best friend- a cat!!! These two have been my life's mission while I fought with my ever-lasting depression!!
As I petted both the pet's head, Kunal's sniffing brought me back in the reality!!
A sense of sympathy filled my insides seeing a helpless sobbing Kunal. Tears were not escaping him but I could feel the desperate anxiety building up on him! I knew exactly how suffocations feels like!!
Time is such a beautiful instrument, isn't it! It can work as death, give life, snatch everything, create memories and the beautiful one; work as the best healer!!
Have I grown heartless?? Of course not. Perhaps one could rather imply, I have become choosy with my emotions.
Sympathy is something I possess abundant. Even for the greatest enemy. And there is this man, my ex-husband who once blossomed the garden of my emotions; now I can't remotely remember such a thing actually existed between us!
Maybe this is what they call as "moving on
I moved on!
Again I felt the urge to thank my stars for inducing that strength. It's not like the hurtful memories do not haunt. They do!
But something inside me decided to be immune against my very plausible sorrows!
"Nandini mill nahin rahi...Rajdeep...Rajdeep ne kuch kar diya hain...Woh wapas aaya hain... Kunal's voice quivered badly as he struggled to focus inside my orbs!
"Calm down Huwa kiya hain?? Tumne police mein complain nahin kiya?? Frowning a little, I sipped my coffee.
"Nahin...Woh...Darasal...
Main...Meri usse ladai ho gayi...
Aur...aur woh... His stuttering stopped in the midway as he ran fingers through his hair!
That's a sign of frustration but I am not buying it a bit!!
"Woh kiya?? I asked with suspicion showing up in my voice!
"Woh main ghar se bahar nikal gaya...Toh...I mean I had work and was out for two days...Abhi..wapis aake dekha woh kahin pe nahin thi...
Phir raste mein I felt, Nahin I think I saw Rajdeep...That was definitely like him...
I had an urgent call from a patient's mom..some kid who got sick...So I again had to rush...
Now our neighbor called me jiske paas Nammu..Nammu I mean Namita ko babysit ke liye rakha...She said Namita is crying constantly for her mumma...I really don't know what to do...
Aise kaha pe usey chor ke dhoondne jau Nandini ko??
She is so small...
Tum toh Nandu ko bachpan se janti ho naa, uski pasand naa pasand, woh kaha jaa sakti hain...
Mauli please...Ye ek aankhri madad kar do meri...I beg you... His last audacious words flamed the fire inside my eyes!!
"Rehti woh tumhare sath hain, aur puch tum mujhse rahe ho ke woh kaha jaa sakti hain?? Kammal hain Kunal!! I didn't want but also couldn't help myself from talking in that mocking tone!!
"Mauli please...I know...I know I am the culprit...I know I don't deserve anything from you...I am grateful that you are at least listening to me...
But please help me... Without you all ...I..we don't have anyone...
Is she by any chance came her...
"Oh, so you are trying to ask that if Nandini is here?? Have we, I tried to hide her?? Why bring Rajdeep's name unnecessary in this drama then??
"Mauli, I am sorry...I don't know..
"Oh please...If you start with your lame sorries a whole era would pass and unlike you, I don't have such luxury of time.
The answer of your query is no. No, We didn't hide your precious Nandini.
Instead of wasting mine and Dida's time you should have gone to the police.
They would have recommended you to search for her in the hospitals.
Anyway...To sum things up, she is in the hospital. Right now unconscious. Had taken a head trauma. We have kept her under observation for 48 hours.
If by then she doesn't gain consciousness then it would be considered as the preliminary stage of coma!! Keeping my face straight I articulated each word like blazing fire while Kunal's expressions grew blank, "If I were you, I would rush...!
"Tha...Thank youuu...I knew it ek tum hi ho jispe main bharosa kar sakta hoon...
Please take care of Nammu... Everyone present at the drawing-room saw Kunal's devastated frame exiting through the door!!
(Mauli's POV ended)
He felt blank. Didn't know how to handle the things around him. Upon reaching the hospital it was a whole another level of task to find Nandini.
Finally, he reached to her cabin but was not allowed to go inside. Looking at her limp figure through the glass, Kunal passed a heavy sigh!
She looks pale and thinner. Quite younger as well!
But the exotic beauty remains the same! Probably even better. There is some sort of divine light shining on her face which he never noticed before. How would he notice that?? Most of the time he is either busy at work or pondering.
Also, Nandini's enchanting beauty barely let his eyes leave her curvaceous frame whenever he devoted himself to her!!
"Sir...Excuse me Sir?? Aapki Mrs ko hosh aa gaya hain...Ye kuch formalities hain aapko pura karna hain!! Kunal opened his drowsy eyes with the summoning of the nurse.
It has been nearly 15 hours or more that he has been waiting for this very same news.
Rushing towards the cabin he saw Mauli standing right after Nandini's bed. Hesitation devastated Kunal, eating the confidence out of him yet he had to endure it all. He has chosen the path of such difficulty after all.
As Nandini glanced at him with her void gaze and immediately looked away it was hard to conceal the pain he perceived.
For some reason, she seemed different. Not like his Nandini. Has one fight impacted her to be this much aloof??
But that was just the starting while the whole sky was preparing to fall down on his shoulders, head and everything else!!
"Do..doctor...Maa...K..k.kaha...Hoon...Aur mere Maa...! She had extreme difficulty to form any word properly!
That cervical collar around her neck made the situation tougher for her to even breath soundly, let alone talk in a proper manner!
"Hmm...?? Please lay down...Don't try to talk... Mauli tried to calm a sick Nandini down as it's not wise for her to start talking while she barely gained consciousness!!
"Nandini...Tum...Tum theek toh ho naa...Main...Main kitna darr gaya tha...Thank god tumhe hosh aa gaya...Aise koi gussa hoke... Kunal's eagerness intervened in the middle as well as him desperately clutching Nandini's hand!
"Ouchh...Sss...Pill...Plea..sse...mm.. errr..a... She stuttered badly, Mauli frowned seeing the desperateness in Kunal while Nandini strangely seemed hyper with his touch!
"Mr.Kunal...Behave...I guess my patient still needs time to settle in, she just came back into senses from such a horrific accident..Give her some time and space...Kahin bhagi nahin jaa rahi...Yehi hain...
Have some decency. This is a hospital!!
This little concern of yours, I wish you had shown when she disappeared in the first place!! Mauli put her stern voice, eyeing at the reports for the last time before she would leave!!
Suddenly she felt a tug in her hand which stopped her pace immediately as looking back she saw Nandini's big eyes trying to speak something.
With hesitation, Mauli halted briefly while the next words coming out of Nandini was not something any of them expected, "Who...Kau... Kaun Nand.in..i...??? Merrr..e..Behen??
Par...Mman...Maa...
n...Mm..My hsb...hussb..Pa... Pati.. Kaha... kaha hain?? Woh...Bohot...Bohot parrr..pareshan ho rahe... Though in pieces and still slurry, but this time she squeezed her windpipes to let those words out in a weak whisper, "Aap..Kaun..!!!" This time looked straight towards Kunal with her drowsy eyes!!!!
Both Mauli and Kunal looked at each other in shock trying to decipher Nandini's words!!
"God!! Don't tell me it's amnesia!! Mauli murmured in a tone high enough for Kunal to overhear!
Meanwhile in Kings Cross, London.
"Mumma ko kiya huwa hain Daddy?? Woh kuch bol kyun nahin lahi hain...!! A high pitched voice entered into my senses as I separated my heavy eyelids, letting light enter inside my blank pupils!!
That light hurt my eyes. So I soon closed my eyelids while another voice hovered right into my ears!
"Nothing baby...She is just taking rest...Bohot thak gayi hain naa, isiliye...
You go to bed baby...Just give papa 2 mins ok?? The male voice answering that child sounded extremely soothing as I tried to search for the owner of such a pleasant voice.
Am I in a dream?? Then why does it feel so realistic!! The sharp pain in my forehead &temples started increasing as I tried to adjust my pupils to see the surroundings.
But what time is it?? How long have I been sleeping??
Where am I and who was speaking with such gentle vocals!
With numerous question rushing into my brains I suddenly felt the urge to scratch my arms and then only I saw the setup of something similar. Similar like what? Suddenly my mind clicked it seemed like a hospital.
One of my arm wrapped into a plaster and another seemed so heavy that I couldn't move a muscle of my own body!!
I tried to force some soundwaves out of my dry vocals but it came out as an empty throaty groan!!
Almost all part of my body seemed numbed and strained at the same time where lifting one finger had become an impossible task!
What happened to me?? Why am I in such a fatigued state??
My curiosity was about to fulfill very soon as I heard the footsteps closing by. And for an unknown reason, I felt helpless. My extremely confused brain didn't know how to proceed!
Panicked, I squeezed my eyes shut!
A very mild yet captive masculine cologne hypnotizing enough to make everything forget entered my senses. And I sensed that man stood in front of my bed. I think I liked that fragrance!
Though I had my eyes sealed yet I could feel that man was probably looking at my clueless frame!
However, I was about to get more shocked!!
"I love you...I love you so much Mishty... Making my whole world spin in a high velocity that man confessed of his feeling in an extremely passionate tone!!
Next moment, I felt breathlessness engulfing me as that man seemed extremely near to my lips. His minty breath fanning my face professed of the proximity. I stopped my breathing, for instance, anticipating the inevitable kiss which is going to take place!!
There was not an ounce of mettle in my heart to push that stranger away nor an urge! Rather I laid breathless, beyond confounded!!
A few moments flew off yet there was no bodily contact being made which made my curious eyes to crack open a little.
And there I probably saw the definition of how handsome literally looks like!! He almost appeared like some reincarnation of Greek mythology!
He was sitting on the chair with blank stares towards the wall.
At this point ultimately, I realized - No, this man didn't even lay a finger upon me, rather to my surprise his blank eyes seemed moist.
Who is this man??? Why is he here?? Why did he confess with such intensity and passion??
Does he know me?? Where am I?? Is this the afterlife?? Am I dead?? Or is this actually some dream??
All kind of random incoherent and mixed questions rumbled into my consciousness.
But I soon realized I was asking the wrong ones. Because suddenly I was popped up with a bomb inside my head!!
What happened to me? Me!! I am someone!! But... What is my name??? Who am I??
While a strong spinning sensation took place inside my head, making me feel deep blows cutting through my brain's nerves! Immense pain!!
Why can't I remember my name!!
And I escaped a faint groan before losing my senses!!
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(2200+ words in total!!!)
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