Entangled destinies [PART 3] by Mahira

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Previous Parts here******************************

The sleeping beauty…

Sanskar enters Swara’s room late in night, his face and eyes tired and the nerves appearing on his temple and neck expressing all his repressed anger. Inspiring deeply, he lets go of a whisper:

“- you can go home, Maria… I’ll handle from now on!”

Taking the seat she leaves, he approaches it from the bed silently. The good sister stays a moment at the door looking at both of them sadly before walking out closing the door behind her.

After what happened in the afternoon, he had to face the hospital’s disciplinary committee. Beating a patient’s parent is the last he was accused of…
Swara’s family has filled an ordnance against both him and the hospital for abusing emotionally and mentally of a mentally deficient person using her state for money and fame.
If the administration is supporting him, the hospital reputation is in the balance and even if
they’re sure of his innocence, a trial against Gadodia would ruin them and his career forever…
He looks to her keenly… “Mentally deficient person”… Her family are considering her as a mad woman to be caged… They’ll come to tribunal and their lawyers will stand in front of the whole world claiming that this deranged woman has been abused by a sick obsessed doctor!!!
He shivers at the thought remembering her cute pout when she told him proudly that she’s not stupid…
“- ha princess… You’re not and I’ll never let anyone say that”
He takes her hand in his and checks her forehead, her cheek and neck like assuring himself she’s fine…
“- sorry swara… I know it’s all my fault…”
He recalls the fury invading him seeing laksh and ragini together in the park and how swara fainted at that sight… The fury making him loose his sense and beat him like a collegian
No need for a genius brain to know they’re in relation. It was obvious Since he met them the first time but until today, he was believing that their story started after Swara’s coma… He had seen so many improbable relations based on a family tragedy. But Swara’s reaction today…
Maybe the image brought a memory from her subconscious, that somber part of her brain where she’s deeply burying what happened on that day… What made her escape this world and return to the unique secured place for her… Return to her mother’s womb! In her coma she kept herself away from a world she hated so much and his journey bringing her back hasn’t been simple but he succeeded.
he saw her immerge from coma like a baby coming to life for the first time… From fetus to new born baby… From a small cute girl to a rebel teenage… And since some weeks she’s maturing day by day… But today was something else!
If she starts having flashes from the past so they is on the right way to complete recovery… Or they were until the moment he forgot his doctor’s statue.
Putting his hand over her head, he let’s go of a whisper:
“- will you ever be able of forgiving me Swara?…”
A flashback of her behavior with him in the park makes him frown his look clouded.
For a small moment she wasn’t Swara Gadodia, his patient…
Today for a that unpredictable moment she was Swara Gadodia… The woman!
A shivers runs over all his body again recalling that tomorrow she’ll be shifted to home and the tribunal order will be applied… 100 meters distance or jail! Or fighting against her family and ruin both his reputation and hers… “Mentally deficient person”… How he hates this word. He has always fought against the whole world to gain some respect for his patients, some dignity and Independence… A right to be considered as a full human being and not a mad family member to handle… And today, for Swara he’s helpless because he wants to preserve her…
“Family”… What a joke!? A cheating sister and fiancé… A dictatorial father… Why would he be surprised after all? Who knows better than him!
This why he was preparing her carefully in the last month to introduce them to her slowly and at her own demand.

For the moment, she’s aware of the meaning and the presence of her loving and caring family… The meeting was programmed in a couple of months further but not anymore. She’ll have to handle this tomorrow itself and to protect her, he’ll have to be just as they kept accusing him… A manipulator!
He chokes breathing loudly feeling winded at the idea… Swara has a blind trust in him, a trust he’ll have to use to protect her from her own family or tomorrow when they’ll take her back to home… They’ll return a year back causing her a new trauma! He closes his eyes cursing himself silently
“- don’t disguise the reality doctor kapoor… Whatever be the reason… It’s using your power over your patient to make her do as you ask… And for this, you don’t deserve your white blouse!!!”

A lone tear escapes his eyes shocking him, he never cried before and surely not for a patient!

When his tear lands over her hand, her lashes blink slightly, unaware about it and feeling overwhelmed about breaking down, he stands up wanting to put a distance between them. but at his surprise, his hand was restrained back…

“- San-na-skar…”

Her whisper fills suddenly the emptiness wrapping his heart which makes tears flow from his eyes uncontrollably… he returns back to her kneeling on the ground a wide smile curving his lips, she asks alarmed:

“- why are you crying San-na-skar?… are you hurt?”

Her innocent worried face expresses all the love her pure heart has to him and he cries more shaking his head to say no, his smile becoming wider…

“- kuch nahi princess… main bilkul tik ho… now you’re back, everything is fine!”

She wipes his tears smiling not feeling the tears filling her own beautiful eyes mirroring him and sneezing, she says trying to sit up:

“- I’m hungry!”

He smiles helping her and putting pillows behind her back and takes the phone asking for food.

—————————–

Separation…
Gadodias and Maheshwaris reach the hospital’s entry in several cars, accompanied by two lawyers and the three specialist along with the family’s doctor.
From his office window, sanskar spots the corteges members… His blood boils seeing laksh opening the car’s door for a woman. Annapurna Maheshwari herself came today to bring her bahu to home… Ragini helps her dadi ma to come down the car… He looks back to the nurse ordering:
“- go ahead Maria… I trust you and assured that you’ll be accompanying swara to her home, she’ll feel reassured with you around”
“- I’m so sorry for all this doctor kapoor… God has never been so cruel… You two don’t deserve all this!”
“- we all have to pay for our errors, maria… But swara doesn’t…”
He couldn’t continue feeling his tears strangling him as he tries to repress them.
“- challo maria… Swara is alone”
*-*-*
Shekar Gadodia enters swara’s room the first with one of the doctors. He’s so nervous that his fists are tightly closed and walking slowly toward her, his eyes are looking everywhere but in her direction for a moment.
The family’s doctor greets the director warmly who starts introducing him.
“- Swara beta, do you remember where are you going today?”
Sitting on her bed, her doll closely hugged against her chest, she nods her eyes fixing the ground. The director continues:
“- this is doctor Varma, he has been your doctor since you’re birth you know?”
She nods again making the two professionals frown. Doctor Varma approaches extending his hand for a shake asking:
“- you know I’m your doctor?”
Her eyes still rived to the floor, she doesn’t extend her hand back, joining her hands, she salutes him politely clutching her doll tighter, she replies after a while:
“- s… San… Na… Skar… San-na-skar showed me your picture… You are my doctor and this man is baba”
At the word “baba”, Shekar breaks suddenly down kneeling in front of her, tears drowning his face he takes her face in his palms to make her look up to him which makes her stiffen terrified, he asks emotionally:
“- say it again, beta… Please… Say baba… Please”
She looks up astonished to his reaction, then recalling what Sanskar has been teaching her all the night, she repeats automatically:
“- b… Baba..”

*-*-*

Sanskar passed the whole past night in Swara’s room, despite everything , even her family’s doctors knew that he was the only one able to prepare her for this sudden change in her simple life…

Showing her videos of her family, he had to convince her that she’s going home after so long time, she kept repeating after him :
“- … this is the best which can happen to me”
“- … Now is time to go home”
“- … Baba, Dadi and Ragini miss me so much.. They love me… They’re family… Everyone loves his family…”
She knew already previously that her ma was gone… Like princesses, she lost her mother when she was a small child… that she has a father, a sister and a grandmother…

She also learnt that she has a fiancé, something like prince charming in fairytales…

But what she keeps in mind for the moment is that she has to be strong, to do as she’s asked and not claim that all she wants is to stay here, because here is home, to stay with San-na-skar… because Sanskar is family for her.

When Dadi, Durga Prasad and Annapurna ji join them in the room, she starts panicking and her hand clutches Maria’s hand in comfort… remembering Sanskar’s words, she closes her eyes breathing deeply:

“- if you refuse… if you’ll make a childish scene… they’ll say I’m a bad doctor! You want them to say that I’m a bad doctor?”

She has replied then the most trustful truth of her life:

“- mere San-na-skar is never bad…”

With that idea in mind, she lets them introduce themselves and hug her one after the other fearfully, she didn’t hug back neither replied to their sweet words until she sees Ragini step inside the room, her face lightens immediately with a small smile and she’s the unique person, she hugs back caressing her hair soothing her as her sister was inconsolable… doctors are surprised by her behavior, Swara seems feeling confident in her sister’s presence and her father explains that they have always had a unbreakable relationship.

Laksh is the last coming inside, he approaches her extending his hand and surprisingly, she shakes it back a small smile on her lips.

Soon, her luggage charged in cars, time was about going and when she’s asked to come with them, she stays still sitting on her bed for a moment…

Looking to her wrist where a small golden pendants was tied with a back thread, she recalls Sanskar’s words telling her that he’ll not be able to meet her before she goes neither in the following days… she sees their last conversation in a flashback:

“- Princess… do you remember when I had to be absent for two days for work?”

“- ha…”

“- it’s like that, I’ll be absent when you’ll go home with family, do you understand?”

“- ha… of course”

“- in your home, it’s not hospital, it’s family who will be with you…”

“- hum…”

After a moment of silence, she asks:

“- San-na-skar?”

“- ha?”

“- when will you come back?”

He then smiles tenderly before replying confidently…

“- soon… very soon… until then, you’ll keep this with you, as long as you’ll have it, I’ll be with you wherever you are”

Caressing the bracelet he enrolled around her wrist she stands up helped by the nurse who lets her sister take her place, Laksh takes hesitantly her other hand and soon they all walk out of the room.

*-*-*

From his office’s window, Sanskar sees her stepping out from the hospital gate sustained by Ragini’s hand letting her guide her to the car, but she starts panting not able to control her respiration…

“- if you refuse… if you’ll make a childish scene… they’ll say I’m a bad doctor! You want them to say that I’m a bad doctor?”

His voice reasons in her mind and she repeats interiorly:

“- mere San-na-skar is never bad…”

she closes her eyes and tries to reason herself. Making one more step, she walks on a stone which makes her fall on the ground.

She’s helped standing up by both Ragini and Laksh’ who look both shocked to her.

At the feeling of warmness on her front, her hand searches the reason of hurt she was feeling only to find the red mark of blood covering her fingers…

Sanskar who couldn’t bear it anymore, has rushed down from his office and when he arrives at the building gates, he could see her face in the rearview mirror of her father’s car, but the image reflected there plants a stake in his heart!

Both Gadodia and Maheshwari family look on astonished while she frowns wondering what happen to them suddenly… her eyes land on the mirror too and suddenly she chokes feeling strangled…

she could see both of them, Sanskar standing back upstairs and herself… with the blood oozing from her forehead, she looked like a married woman having Sindoor on her maang!

Her scream fills the surroundings:

“- SANSKAAAAAR!!!!”

She shouts on the top of her lungs crying out again…

“- Sanskaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!!!”

Her father grips her elbow as she’s about running back to him, the lawyer who walked back, steps in his way down as her family fight hardly to calm her down… helpless, the accompanying doctors finishes by drugging her injecting something in her neck…

Tightening his fists while his eyes are shut closed, he hits the wall next to him repeatedly until blood starts oozing from his hand too… when the car storms away, his vision blurs with tears… Suddenly he collapses in a fog of blackness…

——————————————

Revelation…

It has been a whole week since Swara returned to her home, doctors are following her state daily and Maria is installed with her as a permanent nurse with the order of never let her alone.

She keeps silent; her eyes wide opened looking nowhere. Despite all her family attempts, she doesn’t open up to anyone.

After some crisis the first days of her arrival at home, doctors keep her under calming treatment assuring her family that she’ll finish by accommodate with her environment and soon everything will be fine.

Sanskar on his side was unable to concentrate on any kind of work. After his severe hypoglycemia crisis revealing his diabetes he kept secret from everyone, the hospital’s director puts him on sick leave not seeing him returning back to work.

He engrossed himself in secondary activities he has forgot about since he started treating Swara and kept his time filled with anything else but the haunting last image he had from her… her panicked face, tears filling her eyes and sparkling redness filling her hairline… vainly!

One fine day, a car crosses his way about making him fall from his bike. He steps down shouting:

“- what the hell? Can’t you see in front of you?”

The man walking down from the opposite car takes his black glasses off smiling:

“- Laksh’!?”

“- Can we talk, doctor?”

Few minutes after, they enter a nearby coffee shop where Ragini was waiting for them at a table.

When Laksh’ asks him what he wants to take, he says:

“- Mr. Maheshwari, we’re not here for a friendly chat… let’s go to the point directly!”

Ragini presses Laksh’s hand encouraging him to talk, he clears his throat and starts:

“- first of all, sorry… for the last time we met you know…”

Ragini adds on the same apologetic tone:

“- we’re really sorry, for our family behavior and most of all, for all the bashing you faced because of us”

Laksh’ continues:

“- I know what you must be thinking after what you’ve seen in the park, but believe me we never wanted to harm Swara… we want to help her and we know that you are the only one able to do that”

Sanskar looks to the both of them without saying anything, feeling awkward, Laksh’ breaks the imposing silence saying:

“- You were right, Sanskar… everything happened because of that marriage!”

When he looks to Ragini taking her hand in his, Sanskar feels disgusted looking away and says angrily passing his two hands in his hair brushing it back:

“- God, if you were already in couple, why you didn’t simply stopped the drama !?”

Ragini replies:

“- because of Swara…”

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Sorry for being late, it has been a long week. Thank you for all my readers and sorry for mistakes.
Mahira