Entangled destinies [PART 2] by Mahira

reborn from ashes…

Swara became the new famous miraculous case Dr. Kapoor has added to his account. Hospital keeps the crowd of media away from him at his demand when he tries his to manage her family’s demands:

“- Mr Gadodia… Why don’t you understand? you can’t meet her yet…  she’s conscious yes, but she’s still vulnerable… Very vulnerable..  we don’t want to lose her again, hai na?”

“- Deko kiddo… I know you’re her doctor, I know that you succeeded where so many have failed before you… but yet she’s my daughter and you have no right to stop me from seeing her…”

The both men were arguing next Swara’s room door and despite all Shekar’s Gadodia arguments, Sanskar was adamant, he’s even about losing his legendary patience and starts shouting:

“- main kiddo nahi hai! I’m your daughter’s doctor! And as long as she’ll be my patient, it’s me who decides what and what not to do… ”
Pointing his finger at the old man’s face angrily, he adds:
‘”- now let me please do my job or I’ll call for the security!”

“- HOW DARE YOU SON OF…”

When Shekar grips Sanskar’s collar angrily, Ragini and Laksh who were present there try to reason him, trying to free sanskar from him they say:

“- Papa please… try to understand his point of view… Please… Swara is finally back… ”

“- ha uncle, Swara has just immerged from coma, let’s see her evolution first… Give him sometime…”

Sanskar feeling him releasing his grip smirks irking him more:

“- much better…”

But Shekar who was still fuming with rage, points his finger toward him menacingly:

“- this isn’t finished yet!”

A sound of cry comes from inside the room alarming both of them, without a second, Sanskar was already inside closing the door behind him…
the three visitors could see him approach Swara who was leaning on her pillows in her bed and crying badly. The nurse explains worriedly:

“- she was  disturbed when she heard your shouts out…”

He signals to let him the seat next to her and takes her hand in his saying softly:

“- sorry Swara… It’s nothing… don’t worry, I’m here now, hai na?”

Accompanying his words with a caressing hand over her hair like if he was talking to a small child, he sees her eyes start becoming heavy, and soon she falls asleep clutching his hand tightly.

Outside, Ragini cries looking to her behind the glass, how her heart was aching to go and take her in her arms… To talk to her… To touch her and fill her heart with the sight of her living state… how she simply misses her! but deep inside, she knows that the doctor was right… Her more than anyone is afraid of the face to face confrontation and would be consequences.
Laksh who was observing  the doctor’s care of his patient thinks about what they have been explained  from the first day of her consciousness.
Immerging from her fetal state, swara is like a new born baby for the moment, she can’t speak, ask or reply… She’s unable of moving by her own, she expresses all her needs by crying and today was the first time they saw her smile when they arrived… Sanskar was showing her some noisy toy.
turning his back to the mirror… he doesn’t know what was the worst, Swara’s unconsciousness for so long or to see her like that…

Two passing nurses catch his attention talking loudly about the doctor’s obsession toward his new born baby… how he’s motherly taking care of her and how other doctors are finding it unhealthy behavior for a doctor to involve himself so much in a medical case…

*-*-*

some months later…

Sanskar takes two ice cream bowls from the merchant then walks back in the park to a bench where Swara was sitting with the nurse. Sister Maria leaves them as soon as he arrives smiling at her enthusiastic squeal :

“- ICE CREAM! YEAAAAh!”

She claps in her hands childishly hitting the ground with her feet her happiness knowing no boundaries and throwing aside her doll, she extends her both hands to him eagerly…

Sanskar stops a bit far from her menacing her to take back the bowls saying:

“- Swara… what have I said about good manners!?”

She pouts sadly before getting up with much difficulties, she even was about falling making the nurse hurry to her. but Sanskar nods in “no” signing her to stay away…
helping her unsteady steps to the doll by supporting herself on the bench back, she bends down to pick it and resumes seating saying while she tries to catch her breath back:

“- sorry… San-na-skar”

He smiles to her adorable and cute pout before saying:

“- that’s my good girl!”

She lightens back at the moment he gives her the bowl of ice cream seating at her side then keeps
Observing her keenly as she tries repeating his gestures, her shaking hands try to pick up the spoon miming him, but she finishes by giving up and grabbing hers randomly. She plunges it in the chocolate perfumed sweet taking a huge ball and tries to insert it in her mouth failing miserably to not cover half of her face and her white top with it making him smile fondly to her messy look…

“- hey, take it easy, princess! It’s all yours, no one will take it from you!”

She just hums in response absorbed by the taste she loves the most… Chocolate!!!

Once again he feels overwhelmed by the warmness filling his chest as his heart beats race madly… Same feeling he has whenever he sees her happy.
How long has been her journey from the first time they met till now.
Swara is unaware that she opened her eyes back to this world at the first contact between them… That since she gripped his hand that night she didn’t let go of it.. She’s dependant on him and he’s the one feeling fearful about that… Yes…. He’s afraid!
She’s progressing amazingly day after day and the joy it brings him is as huge as his terror…
From external view she seems dependent on him, elders of his profession are continually warning him about the effects on her… That he has to cut the link between them and let her move on, it’s his duty to teach it to her just like she learnt eating from his hand and walking with its support too… Time is to learn to do it alone, without him….
She has to learn how to not be dependent of him….
Problem is that no one is imagining how dependent he is about her dependence?
“- San-na-skar!?…. Why are your eyes so shining ? Do you want to cry? Are you pained?”
He’s shocked by her innocent question… He blinks looking away to escape from her enquiries, mumbling
“- I never cry!”
but she’s not convinced, she support herself on his arm and stands in front of him at his surprise, she says on the same childish tone her innocent eyes looking in his:
“- it’s OK you know?”

Putting her bowl on the place she was sitting on, she takes his hands in hers and continues her beautiful huge eyes getting teary surprising him:
“- sometimes, we have to know the pain, so we can appreciate the real value of what we’re pained without… I’m sure that soon you’ll feel better”
His lips curve with a wide smile to the serious face she was giving to him saying the words he repeated so much to encourage her.
when has she turned so mature???
Shaking his head to clear his ideas, he makes her seat back taking her ice cream in his hands then he says while feeding her the remaining sweet:
“- wah princess… You remember it?”
Gulping hardly, she replies rolling her eyes:
“- aree! San-na-skar!? I’m a bit still ill but not stupid na!”
She crosses her arms on her chest and turns away angrily.
“- ha ha drama queen! Finish your ice cream before it turns to soup then pout as you like all the returning back trip”
She looks back to him angrier then starts walking away ignoring him… he smiles at her unsteady steps before saying loudly:
“- OK then! I’ll finish it alone”
When the spoon is about reaching his lips, he’s shocked to see swara in front to him her hand snatching the spoon from his hand and throwing it to the ground. She shouts at his face:
“- how can you be so careless!? You know that you’re forbidden from such things na? You want to fall ill… Sanskar kapoor you’re madder than your patients… If you want to…”
He doesn’t really hear the rest of her tirade! shocked, he stays for a moment blank, looking to her openmouthed and eyes widened… A ball falls at their feet startling both of them!
She immediately squeals childishly:
“- yeeeeh! Can I bring it to them… YOhooo san-na-skar!?”
He finishes but finally by land back to the current time and place seeing his patient’s behavior back:
“- huh?”
“- I asked… You… If..  I.. Can b… Bring the.. B..  Ball?”
He shakes his head agreeing and signals to the nurse to follow her.
When she starts walking slowly he palms his face taking a deep breath before standing up… It was quite late… Time to return back to hospital. His own bowl of ice cream thrown in nearby garbage, he walks rapidly to the direction she took…
——————————————-

Somewhere in the same park….
“- nahi Laksh’, you don’t understand… They’re preparing this for weeks now, doctors and lawyers are daily meeting Papa…”
Ragini was anxiously waving her hands while talking expressing all her frustration to the situation. Laksh takes her by her shoulders to make her stop walking her and there, facing her, he tries to calm her :
“- stop worrying ragini… I’m sure that uncle Shekar is just worried like us about Swara’s health..”
“- oh come on laksh’! If swara’s good being has ever been his priority, we wouldn’t be there now!”
He takes off his hands turning his back to her passing a nervous hand in his hair as she continues on the verge of crying:
“- I’m scared like hell that we live it again… What if we lose her again.. What if she remembers what happened then… What if…”
Closing his eyes not bearing the memories she’s bringing up, laksh finishes by shouting stopping her:
“- stop ragini! Stop it can you !? ”
Startled by his sudden unusual anger, ragini starts walking away tears forming in her beautiful eyes, she hears him calling for her:
“- ragini! R… Ragini…!”

In some steps he reached her dragging on her elbow to make her look back to him.
“- let go of me, laksh…. Just… Let”
He finishes by stopping her gripping her hands tightly to make her stand in place, he comes closer caressing her hair back while saying:
“- sorry ragini… Really…”
Brushing her tears away by his thumb he adds:
“- I’m just as worried as you are… But… But maybe papa is right… Maybe it’s better for her….”
She looks up to him her tears drowning her face again and says sadly :
“- maybe you’re just jealous…”
Laksh frowns at her statement shaking his head sighing, palming his face, he leans toward her replying:
“- maybe YOU are jealous…”
The moment he captured her lips in a tender kiss, Sanskar arrives searching for Swara, his heart skips a beat spotting her not so far away… He sees her freeze, the ball escaping her hands while her eyes can’t get away from the two lovers he immediately recognizes.
“- Swara!!!”
Laksh and ragini gets apart hearing the death scream escaping his throat uncontrollably….
At few meters from them was Swara… Laying unconsciously!

*-*-*

At Sanskar’s office Shekar and Durga Prasad with three psychiatric specialists are arguing with him… one of the oldest pleads:

“- Sanskar beta… you can’t keep her cut from her family… look at the consequences today!”

Another one adds:

“- you’re a doctor… you have to keep a distance from your patient… you really think that we don’t know what people are saying?”

Shekar shouts angrily:

“- you’re sick!!! Everyone say you’re mad about her… God knows why you pass all your time in her room!”

Suddenly, Sanskar calmness face to all the accusations vanishes and he grips Shekar’s collar tightly saying:

“- if you weren’t her father!!! God knows what would I do right now!!!”

Durga Prasad comes between them as Shekar was about hitting him, he calms down his friend and says:

“- Shekar, calm down… nothing will be resolved by violence! And you young man… what kind of doctor are you!?”

“- the kind of doctor who did in some months what your specialists couldn’t do for years!!!”

Sanskar closes his eyes backing off and trying to calm down, when he opens them he looks to Shekar and claims:

“- when you brought your daughter in this establishment, she was like in a vegetative state… drugs given for her treatment were ruining her organs one after the other!!!”

He turns toward the other doctors pointing his finger out he says:

“- every single moment I spent with her is recorded on video!!! I’m a doctor dear confreres… those videos are the way to analyze her reactions and THIS is how I did your job!!!”

Holding Shekar’s wrist, he drags him behind him surprisingly…

“- what the… where are you taking me!?”

Sanskar doesn’t reply, they’re followed by the four other men to the corridor next to Swara’s room, Ragini were standing there with Laksh, sobbing silently and looking by the glass to her lifeless sister’s state.

He stops next to her obliging the old man to look inside:

“- look at her, Mr Gadodia!!! Look at the damn daughter you’re defending from the devil I am! Since she’s here, you never even tried to see her! I SAID LOOK AT HER!!!”

Shekar finally lands his eyes on his daughter’s image through the glass, his eyes moisten immediately, his hand caresses the cold transparent wall separating them:

“- if you deigned visit her before, you would be able to see her smiling, laughing, playing… walking… if you was brave enough and let them say what really happened, we could avoid this today!”

They all turn to him shocked! Ragini who start feeling dizzy is sustained by Laksh when he explains:

“- this young full of life woman has turned to vegetal on her wedding day!!! WHY!? Why no one seems finding it necessary to say what happened exactly!? Are you really expecting her recover? Do you really want her fine? Or it suits everyone that she stays like that… that she keeps that secret deeply buried inside her until it chokes her to death!”

This time, when Laksh jumps on him about punching him, he ripostes his tightened fist printing a hard shade of red on his left cheek throwing him to the floor…

“- Doctor Kapoor!”

“- Laksh’!!”

Durga Prasad helps his son straightening himself while Shekar shouts angrily:

“- this is inadmissible! You’ll deal with our lawyers! From tomorrow on, you’ll have to keep 100 meters distance from my daughter or you’ll be jailed!”
TO BE CONTINUED
———————–
So here is the part 2… I have small request, please keep in mind that the story isn’t yet finished and there much more to discover so don’t think that it’s like what it seems to be… Picture baki hai mere dost :p