20 minutes before Manik came..
Someone rang the doorbell and as Nyonika was busy, Nandini got up to answer the door and thwack came the sound as she got slapped, she got shocked. The person on the door was none other than Trilok’s mother. “Aunty who are you? Why you slapped me?,” she asked getting teary eyed and hearing her crying voice, Nyonika came running.
“You got my son jailed, you blamed him,” she shouted as Nandini cried. “Stop it! Nandini is innocent, and how dare you slap my daughter?,” Nyonika said defending Nandini. “Tell your daughter to take back her fake complain,” she said angrily and went leaving Nandini crying uncontrollably. “Nandu beta, don’t cry, we are with you na beta,” she said wiping the tears off her face. “I am sorry aunty,” she said and ran to kitchen and took a knife. “Nandini no,” Nyonika tried stopping her but she ran to her room locking the door and called Manik. As he received, she said, “we won’t be able to meet again,” and disconnected the call. She made cuts on her arms and feet and forehead and wrote chit for Manik with the constant knocks on the door. She went unconscious.
After Manik came..
On seeing the words on the chit, I started crying. “Trilok Chaurasiaaa!,” I shouted with hatred in my voice and hugged her. “I won’t let you die, you are my life, my wife, my love, why you did this? Trilok’s mother slapped you thinking that you blamed her son and he raped you, she made all your wounds fresh today, I won’t leave her and him both,” I said holding her close. I laid her back and took my doctor kit, her head, neck, arms, wrists, palms and feet were drenched in blood. I started wiping the blood there itself and took the knife from her hand. I took a tissue and wiped my eyes, crying and treating her at once was difficult.
“Mom, I want my Nandini back, I won’t let her go,” I said. “Don’t cry, if you will cry so much so who will take care of her?,” she said through tears. I kissed Nandini’s swollen eyes. I wiped her every wound, cleaned them with antiseptic, I bandaged where necessary. “Mom, what if Nandini becomes like before? I am really scared,” I said caressing her hair. “Have faith in God, nothing wrong will happen to her,” she said. “I think shifting her to hospital is better,” I said and carefully picked her in my arms and took her outside the room, I walked downstairs and went towards the exit, I went to my car and laid her on backseat, mom too came. She sat beside me on front seat and I said on driving seat. I drove off while crying.
When we reached, I went out of the car and went to the backseat where Nandini was laying unconscious. I opened the door and bent inside taking her out and closed the door with my leg. I went inside the hospital and the nurses came immediately with stretcher. I laid her on it. “She’s the same old patient right? What happened to her?,” asked one of the nurses. “She harmed herself and tried to suicide,” I told her and we took her to the emergency room and a doctor checked her. “She’s critical, she lost most of her blood. Where is her family?,” he asked. “I am her husband, she’s her mother in law,” I told him. “And I treated her because I am a doctor myself.”
“Did she had any emotional disturbance?,” he asked. “Yes, I came with her here before as well, now how many questions will you ask? Can we please start her treatment?,” I asked a little sternly. “It’s important to gather information, ok, start, let’s take her to the operation theater, it’s empty right now,” he said and we took her out and as soon as we were there we started the treatment, we gave her anesthesia and injections to make her arms and feet numb. After giving her a proper treatment, I went outside and called her mother and told her everything. She said she’s coming. A lot of time passed, her operation was done, she was kept in ICU.
It was nearly midnight, I was sitting by her side on a chair with my eyes closed trying to stop my tears. I had my hand on her head. I heard her coughing, I opened my eyes and saw her gaining consciousness. “Nandini,” I said smiling through tears as she opened her eyes and looked at me. “You woke up, thank God,” I said. She said something in a whisper. I bent down to her. “Why you always save me Manik? If I would’ve died I would’ve been at peace,” she said and I palmed her mouth and nodded in negative. “Don’t ever say like that, you’re my life, if you go, what will happen of me?,” I said holding her hand.
She wiped my tears from her other hand. “Don’t cry because of me, I can’t see your tears,” she said. “I also can’t, you should’ve told me, we would’ve sorted this out together, don’t ever do this again,” I warned her. “Oh so what else could I have done? That lady wants me to give a statement in the favor of that bastard, I couldn’t take this torture anymore, when I got you, I thought my life will be better but it became worse,” she said. “Please Manik please, save me, if that happens to me again, I won’t be able to bear it.” She started crying and I wiped her tears. “Nandini, you are strong, don’t cry, I am here with you always,” I said and she struggled to sit up and I helped her, she hugged me in tears. I heard the door opening. “Hello Nandu baby,” I heard Trilok say, yes it was him, I felt Nandini shiver badly, I caressed her hair and asked her to relax but she got worse and worse. “Mumma, please call mumma, I want mumma, he came again,” she said cryingly getting scared and fainted.