Heartbeats and Boardrooms

two

Past

His hand, a swift, vicious blur, sliced through the air and struck her cheek with a resounding crack. The impact sent her reeling backward, her ears ringing from the force. Tears welled up, casting her vision in a hot, blurry haze. As she stumbled, the harsh fall twisted her ankle at an unnatural angle, a sharp jolt of pain shooting through her leg. For a fleeting moment, the world dissolved into a chaotic blur—the man's frantic screams blending with the dizzying scene. Yet, amidst the chaos, an overwhelming numbness engulfed her, leaving her utterly disconnected from the turmoil around her.

"Get up bitch, you hear me? Get up!" The man's words sliced through the air, his body swaying erratically, fueled by the alcohol clouding his senses. His eyes, half-shut from the drinks, struggled to focus on her as he bellowed out his demands.

With her last bit of strength drained, her eyelids began to droop on their own accord. Yet, before darkness claimed her, searing pain shot through her scalp as the man grabbed her by the roots of her hair. He slammed her frail body against the unforgiving wall, a sickening thud echoing through the room. The world faded to black as unconsciousness enveloped her completely.

"Her mother might be dead, but this one’s still hung up around my neck," the man slurred, muttering to himself before stumbling out of the house to fetch more liquor.

Unconscious on the chilly floor of her tattered home, the girl had no one coming to her rescue. Strangely, her absence bothered her academic rival, Yuvraj, who was supposed to feel elated at her missed tuition before the important test. Yet, an inexplicable concern stirred within him.

Despite the chance to outperform academically because of her absence, an unsettling sensation continued to trouble Yuvraj. Driven by this inexplicable curiosity, he decided to pay her a visit, intending to tease and rile her up for missing the tuition.

Living merely a couple of houses away in the same chawl, he strode towards her house. However, The sight he encountered etched a permanent storm across his heart's landscape, leaving it weathered and forever changed.

The chawl residents were well aware of the horrors inflicted by Manish, Vidhi's father, upon her and her late mother. Domestic violence was an all-too-familiar and heartbreaking occurrence within the confines of their house, a distressing reality that had plagued them for far too long.

"Vidhi? Vidhi, wake up," Yuvraj pleaded, cradling her against his chest and gently patting her cheeks, but she remained unresponsive. Her face bore a black eye, swollen lips, and numerous bruises on her hands, making Yuvraj dread the possibility of further injuries.

Without a moment's delay, he carefully settled her onto the nearest chair, swiftly locating a shawl from a corner to cover her securely. Racing against time, he dashed out, urgently calling for Raghu bhayya, a driver residing in their chawl. Yuvraj trusted him to help Vidhi in this dire situation.

Raghu bhayya was visibly shaken, although sadly, this wasn't the first time he'd witnessed such a scene. Yet, it was the first time he'd seen Vidhi unconscious, a disturbing deviation from the usual.

They hurriedly transported Vidhi to the hospital, with Yuvraj reaching out to his mother for assistance. She promptly came to his aid, rushing to the hospital to support her son. As the doctors attended to Vidhi, they decided a CT scan was necessary to assess any further injuries.

While Yuvraj sat in the waiting room, consumed by worry, his mother arrived and, instead of consoling him, scolded him sharply. "Have you gone mad? What was the need to bring her to such a big hospital? Do you know how much they charge here?" Her hands on her hips, she reprimanded him sternly, but Yuvraj remained silent, his hands covering his face. Deep within, an intense anger simmered, fueled by the vivid image of Vidhi's condition. The thought that her own father could inflict such harm on her ignited a rage that knew no bounds.