Siya: Bhai, now don’t accuse yourself of being a bad bhai or don’t feel guilty thinking you are neglecting us. Bhai, I understand you and at this moment Riddhima di needs you more than us. And coming to the project then ….
Angre: Bhai, Siya is right, you were always there for the family but this moment is for Riddhima. So, don’t hurt yourself for something you aren’t responsible for (eying Aryan who was already guilty). And coming to the necessities Siya need…. I’d get it (to Siya) Siya, after some time either we shall go out and whatever you need you can buy or give me the list I’ll get it.
Siya: Best idea!!! See bhai it’s solved. So, stop blaming yourself for this idiot’s mistake (hitting Aryan). And Angre, yes we both shall go.
I sighed while Aryan was apologizing to Siya and she was showing her regular attitude as she now plans to grab this opportunity to irritate Aryan by her shopping and I laugh at their antics. Breaking our moments dadi asks the nurse
Dadi: What’s that? (Pointing towards the bowl nurse was feeding Riddhima)
Nurse: Ma’am this is soup for her
Dadi: Show me
She takes the bowl and was about to have it when I and Aryan shrieked startling dadi and even Riddhima’s eyes were on dadi.
Me & Aryan: NOOO!!!!!
Dadi: You both scared me…. uff!!! Why did you shout?
Aryan: So that you won’t be the next to lay beside Riddhima
Me and Angre chuckle while dadi and Siya stare as confused
Dadi: Why will I lay beside Riddhima? What happened to me?
Aryan: Dadi you were about to drink that soup so, obviously you’d be laying beside her if at all we didn’t stop you
Dadi: What’s so special in this soup?
We were about to stop her but before that she took a sip and we closed our eyes and ears. Isn’t it said “Don’t see bad and don’t hear bad – Gandhiji’s 3 monkeys concept” we were just following it and the next moment we hear Siya’s scream and open our eyes and ears to see dadi spitting the sip of soup she took. I rush to her and help her in sitting on the chair while she glares at me and Aryan as if we wantedly asked her to taste it
Aryan: What??? Dadi don’t glare at us that way. We did try to stop you, but you being you didn’t pay heed to us
Dadi: Shut up!!! Is this a soup?
Me: Sister, you said it’s soup, isn’t it?
Nurse: Sir, it is soup
Before I could ask her once again, dadi pulled my ears and as I was wincing in pain she was asking me
Dadi: I meant to say being the owner of the hospital, is this what you serve the patients?
Getting off her hold, I caress my poor ear before my eyes fall on Riddhima who had a slight smile on her face. I gasp in my place; did she smile!!! Yes, she had a smile on her that pretty face after 2 weeks 4 days… Omg!!!! Isn’t it beautiful to see her that pure innocent smile? I forgot my surroundings as I was engrossed in her that smile. Unless dadi shook me out of my dreamland
Me: Huh?
Dadi: What huh? Is this how you treat the patients?
Me: Dadi, I tried to give better food but the docs told me that being patients they can’t have those tasty foods so they are giving them these foods. What can I do?
Dadi: I am done with you. Now, my Riddhima won’t eat this…
I don’t know if I really saw that or that was my hallucination but I saw a small tear forming in Riddhima’s eyes when dadi referred to her as my Riddhima. I started understanding that she needed warmth and maybe she got it with dadi…
Dadi: Did you hear me?
Me: Huh… what?
Dadi: You forget it. I’ll deal with you later, but now am going to feed Riddhima with this homemade herbal soup and see she’ll be fine soon.
I saw the nurse trying to say something, I gestured her to leave and she left without uttering a word. Dadi started feeding Riddhima her soup and after days Riddhima started showing some emotions, she had tears in her eyes. Her emotions didn’t die, her feelings didn’t die, she was alive, she just let herself isolate away from emotions and relations. She just needed a small push of emotions and love and she’d break her isolation. I guess even dadi observed her tears and she was scared, my poor dadi
Dadi: Riddhima, (worried) beta is the soup too hot or is it hurting you somewhere or is it too spicy?
I was about to respond but stopped myself when I saw Riddhima nodding her head in disapproval… OMG!!! She responded leaving me, Aryan and Angre shocked to the core. We trio glared at each other in shock while dadi was taking care of Riddhima and seeing her responding to dadi and not us. Aryan was about to talk about this but I gestured to him not to spoil the change and he shut his mouth and we were watching dadi and Riddhima. Dadi was talking about something and Riddhima was keenly listening to her while she was feeding her. After done, they turned around to see us glaring at them as if we saw an alien
Dadi: What happened to you four? Why are you glaring at us? Nazar mat lagao to my Riddhima
Aryan: Hawww dadi!!! We and Nazar!!! No way!!!
Siya: Exactly… we were glaring you and di as even we are hungry and you are busy feeding her only and forgot about us (pouting)
Me: Absolutely Siya!!! Even am wondering how come dadi forgot me, her favorite Grandson.
Dadi: Oh God!!! Till today I thought only Aryan is a drama queen but seems like all my grandchildren are such except Angre and Riddhima. They seem to be matured enough
We were all pouting at her taunt while Angre was giggling and then my eyes fell on Riddhima, she had some unmentioned emotions… she was emotional as dadi referred to her as her grandchild. I was happy as because of dadi she was responding, she was breaking her emotional bubble.
Aryan: Dadi, we’d be sad right if you feed her and not us
Dadi: Am sure Drama Queen is an apt name for you…. and ha, I don’t show any partiality to any of my children and so, got food for you all too. It’s in the bag, grab your share yourself.
We all pounced on the innocent bag to get our share and we had fun having it. It was like a small picnic in hospital; isn’t that weird!!! As days passed, it’s been a week since Riddhima woke from a coma, and in these days, dadi paid a regular visit as per my request and Riddhima did start connecting with her. Though she didn’t duly open up, she started humming, nodding her head, smiling slightly. In all these days though we got to know about her divorce, we couldn’t still get details of her husband and parents and my main query was when she got married 2 months back, what happened that her married life ended with divorce!!! And when did this happen and why!!! There were many blanks related to her life but everything ended with her as only she can take us to the end of our queries. We even got to know that when she was in her 2nd-year bachelor’s, they used to stay in Gujarat and a boy from her college proposed to her and when she refused to accept it, he started stalking her and was spamming in her social networking profiles. Fed up of his mental torture, she complained to her dad who in turn reported it to the college authorities who called his parents and after a lot of brainwash he apologized to her and from then there was no news of him. We initially and in fact, we still had the doubt that maybe he is involved in the rape of Riddhima. Maybe he is here for revenge.
Having a small hope that maybe by dadi by her side she might speak of her ordeal, I requested cops to come and they did but seeing them she flinched back
Dadi: Riddhima, beta relax! Look at me
Riddhima with moist eyes did what dadi asked her to do, she was shivering and clinched onto dadi’s clothes. Dadi steadily held her hands in her palm and gently pressed them assuring her
Dadi: Riddhima, beta if you don’t speak, then the culprits would be roaming in this free world without fear of getting caught. Do you want any other girl to go through all this? Of whatever I heard of you from Vansh and Aryan, I got to know that you are a fighter, then how can you just let them go? Don’t you think you need to fight for yourself and stand as an example for many women like you? Don’t you think these bastards deserve some inhumane punishment? Will you just let them go considering this as your fate? Is this your fate? Do you deserve this? If you ask me, then I won’t agree with you, you don’t deserve this. In fact, no girl or woman deserves this. Beta, trust me, you have to fight for yourself and show those beasts that whatever they do, they can’t tarnish your self-respect and confidence. You are a fighter and you have to fight, not for yourself but for every girl over there. Maybe they behaved the same way with many other women and we don’t know how many are alive or how many are dead. Luckily you are alive, maybe God sent Vansh to save you on time and if at all he didn’t reach maybe we might have lost you. The thought itself is so freaking. I know my granddaughter won’t step back and she’d stand against all those who try to hurt her. I hope you’ll do….
We all were waiting for her reaction, she was literally crying all along, freaking us. I understood she isn’t still free to open up so gestured the officers to leave and even I was about to go with them when a voice stopped our way, that voice for which I have been desperately waiting to hear, that voice which previously had angelic tone was now dead.
: Wa…it!!!
Turned around to find dadi smiling while Riddhima was staring at her fingers, we were once again about to leave when we heard it once again
: Wait!!! I…
We once again stopped in our tracks while she was still staring at her hand and once lift her head to see dadi and as soon as she gave her smile, Riddhima nodded her head and once again tilt her head low towards her hand while dadi gestured me that she’s going to speak so I asked the cops to be ready. They turned their recorder on while another was ready to pen down her statement. We all were waiting patiently for her to speak and in this, while Aryan, Angre, and Siya too arrived and seeing the seriousness of the situation they stood beside me without any disturbance.
And then she started speaking of all that happened that night, starting from how she reached there and why. How it all started, how she was taken into a room, how she tried resisting, how she cried for help, how her cries were unheard, how she thought her saviors came but they turned into 2 other devils, and how she blacked out and how she was thrown out.
Listening to all this my eyes turned red with anger and I clenched my fist trying to control my anger but it was of no use. Dadi was consoling the Riddhima who hugged her and was weeping inconsolably. Seeing her dadi too burst into tears and Siya was crying hugging Aryan unable to listen to all this. Who can bear it!!! Angre was trying hard to hide his feelings but he couldn’t do it for long. Her breathing turned uneven and I rushed to her to give her support but it was getting heavy and Aryan rushed to call the doctor and once he was here, they gave her sedatives to calm her.
Doc: Mr. Rai Singhania, she had a panic attack, I guess she was reminiscing something she shouldn’t. I prefer to keep her out of all that which might frighten her to avoid future attacks.
Cops left after recording her statement followed by doc’s and Angre went along with the cops to do further necessary works. Seeing her thus was breaking my heart and I wasn’t able to control my anger anymore and rushed out of the room banging it hard. Seeing me go that way, Aryan and Siya too rushed out and saw me in the lawn collapsed on the ground yelling. Aryan hugged me trying to control my overflowing anger but that didn’t seem to work
Me: Ho…w!!! How Aryan!! How can someone do this to her…
I broke down and was crying on his shoulders. Whenever I closed my eyes, her those eyes which had to see all this, her those hands which tried to fight those demons, her those lips which had bruises, her that petite body which had bites were the only things that came into my eyes. Her cries are still audible to my heart piercing it thoroughly. I hated myself for not being able to protect her from this trauma she might be going through maybe forever. After like 2 days, she was discharged. Not before asking her to consult a psychiatrist. In these 2 days, dadi made sure she’s with her all the time as she was opening herself only with her. I completed all the formalities and were about to move when I got the call from the cops
Me: Yes, officer
Cop: Sir, if possible can you get Ms. Riddhima to her office to identify her culprit!!
Me (hesitating): Am… am not sure but I’ll ask her and if she’s comfortable then I’d get her and I’ll keep you posted
Cop: Sure sir. But … but it’s needed for her to identify him to arrest him
Me: Yes, I understand. I’ll speak to her
I reached room to find Riddhima in her normal clothes away from those hospital clothes which were sucking, I know but that was needed. Siya sent her clothes for Riddhima, clad in white & blue Anarkali, with her hair braided into a messy braid. Her eyes didn’t have any life in them nor did her face have any glow. She was still weak and so she was getting off the bed with help of dadi and soon sat on the wheelchair I arranged for her. Aryan was packing all her stuff while Angre went to get the car. I requested her but she was adamant to go to her house rather than staying in our home. So, dadi convinced her to let dadi stay with her and she agreed. Now, I was hesitant to ask her if she’d be comfortable visiting her office….
Me: Riddhima,
She stared back at me expecting me to speak further, though she didn’t start talking to us trio men and even not much to dadi or Siya, but she was responding to us with her gestures, with Siya she speaks very little, and with dadi, she is trying to open up. I was glad at least with someone she was free to speak. Composing myself I glared back at Riddhima,
Me: Riddhima, actually….. the officer called to know… if you’d be comfortable to …. To visit…. Visit your office to give testimony and identify the main culprit because of whom you went to Lonavala.
I said in a go and waited for her response, I saw her eyes widen in shock while dadi and Aryan gulped understanding the upcoming reaction of Riddhima. Riddhima started sweating, and I could feel her quivering. Her this condition freaked me, I bent to her level to compose her
Me: Riddhima, relax!!! I know you might not be comfortable to reminisce all these incidents and visit that office again but, it’s needed for the cops to identify them and proceed with arresting them. Please…. Can you do this for once? I’ll be there….. I mean we all will be by your side but it’s needed
I was eagerly waiting for her response and even dadi tried to convince her and after some persuasion, she agreed and dadi asked me and Aryan to accompany her while she’d go but Riddhima stopped her asking her to accompany us and I nodded my head asking her to accompany us so that Riddhima would be a bit confident. And so, we all were now on the way to find that bastard who dared to touch my Riddhima….
We reached her office and so did cops, who were waiting for our arrival and I asked them not to enter the premises as that’d create a sense of doubt on the culprit and he might search ways to escape so they made sure they were near the building and keeping an eye on the office to make sure none would leave until Riddhima identifies the person. We reached and I could see Riddhima hesitating and nervous. Dadi gave her support and with her help, she sat on the wheelchair and cops asked us to first identify the person, and then they’d make an entry. And agreed, we trio boys along with dadi and Riddhima entered the office and saw the whole staff glaring at Riddhima with curiosity & confusion. They didn’t know what happened with Riddhima so they are curious to know why she didn’t attend her duty for the past 3 weeks. And in a split-second whole staff along with her HR and a few of her seniors, I guess surrounded us while Riddhima kept her eyes down on her toes and fidgeting her fingers while I kept observing the staff to identify any suspicious movement. The staff started bombarding Riddhima with their questions
Staff 1: Riddhima, where were you for 3 weeks?
Staff 2: Riddhima what happened to you?
HR: Don’t you know that you are supposed to inform beforehand about your absence?
Staff 3: How many times should we call and message you?
Staff 1: You know yesterday MD was here and he asked us to inform you that he can’t have undisciplined staff in his office
HR: He asked us to give you your termination letter
Angre: What the hell!!!!!
Exactly!!! Even I was wondering they could see her condition is messy and she’s in a wheelchair and they are speaking of terminating her and stuff! Thank God before I could react Angre took charge
Aryan: Can’t you all see her state? And you are speaking of terminating her!
HR: Excuse me!! Who are you? And coming to terminating her, then it’s our MD’s orders and she deserves that as she was being irresponsible. If at all she met with some accident she could have intimated us, which she didn’t do so, we have nothing to do in our hands
Now that they were being too much I couldn’t take and when my eyes fell on Riddhima, I saw her crying over their insensitive nature. Vansh Rai Singhania can bear anything but not tears in his Riddhima’s eyes and now I had to take charge of the situation
Me: I don’t care what your MD ordered you to do but let me make it clear, I’ll handle it my way (stern) Angre!!!
Angre nodded and taking his phone he left to do his work while Riddhima for the first time since we came here lift her head up and stared at me with those moist eyes piercing my heart. I just blinked my eyes and she did understand what I meant and what I was about to do. She didn’t utter anything, instead, she once again started fidgeting with her fingers. My thoughts were broken by the HR speaking
HR: May I know who you are…… just a moment I think I saw you somewhere
Staff 3: He is Mr. Vansh Rai Singhania, Owner of VR Industries and Enterprises and many more (elated)
Staff 4: Isn’t it sir (excited)
I just rolled my eyes while HR was trying to understand what I meant a few minutes back and that’s when Angre made his entry and with his entry HR got a call, seeing the caller HR glared at me and I smirked while Angre informed me that work was done. I nodded and after about 1-2mins HR cut the call and stepping towards Riddhima, he spoke
HR: Riddhima, MD sir called to inform you that he isn’t going to terminate you and you can join the office whenever you want
But before Riddhima could respond or do anything, I took charge
Me (firm): NO!!! She isn’t going to continue her career in a place where her absence due to an accident would lead to her termination. She’s going to resign.
Riddhima’s eyes widened along with all the staff including HR and before that Angre went towards a system and typing her resignation letter he bought it to her and bending to her level he gave it to her. Seeing which she glared at me, I bent to her level before speaking
Me: Trust me Riddhima, you deserve freedom of willingness not this questioning over your absence so, just sign it.
Aryan: Yes Riddhima, we’ll deal with the future together but for now get rid of this shit… after whatever happened I don’t think you should work here where there isn’t safety.
Dadi: Riddhima, beta do as they are asking you to, whatever they are asking you to do is for your wellbeing and my Vansh doesn’t take any decision in haste and if he’s asking you to resign then he might have thought well
Riddhima gave me the last glare before signing the letter. Angre gave it to HR while he still couldn’t understand what was happening and why. Angre forwarded the scanned copy to the MD before he spoke of the purpose we were here
Angre: Riddhima won’t be coming to the office again. So, you want to bid farewell to her then do it now. You can give her well wishes or speak to her for few minutes, the choice is yours but she is here only for 15 mins more.
Some staff tried touching her for which she flinched and Aryan and Angre made sure none came close to her more than a feet from her.
Staff 1: Riddhima, why aren’t you arguing to their demands?
Staff 2: Don’t you want to work with us? Why are you obeying all that they say?
HR: How are you related to them?
Listening to their baseless queries we trio rolled our eyes while Riddhima didn’t even respond to any of their questions and all the while was shedding silent tears with her head bent
Staff 4: Riddhima but what happened to you?
Staff 1: Did you meet with an accident?
Staff 3: When did this happen?
: What’s happening here?
******************
I know am late but I tried to give this update in the middle of my exams so excuse me for the delay but once my exams are done I’d be trying to give regular updates.