The Rathores in Therapy: A BCHD Epilogue

Chapter 1: What happened last night?

"No!" Banni said firmly. "Yes, he was angry, but later... when he came to apologize..."

___________________________

February 3rd, 2023, 11:00 p.m., Rathore Bhavan, Jodhpur

"Banni?" Kabir's hesitant voice pulled Banni out of her numb stupor, causing her to look up into the worried eyes of her husband who was hovering in the doorway.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there by the bed, knees pulled up to her chest after Kabir had angrily stalked out earlier, making it clear that he didn't want her to follow him. Time, place, the people around her, nothing seemed to register with her. All she could think of was Kabir's bitter words, the hurt, accusatory tone he said them in, his hazel eyes glinting with anger when he slammed his hand into the glass vase, causing it to break, and his hand to bleed.

The sudden reminder of his injuries made her quickly scramble to her feet and approach him, the urge to check if he was okay overpowering her. Kabir too hurried to her, meeting her halfway, probably emboldened by her response.

"Kabir! Your hand... is it...?" her question was answered as she took his injured hand in her own and discovered that it was now bandaged.

"It is okay, Viraj bandaged it up." He reassured her before his tone changed. "Banni I am sorry!" he apologized. "I shouldn't have yelled, or said what I did."

"And you especially shouldn't have hurt yourself!" Banni said, as she caressed his hand gently and then threw her arms around him, holding him close. "Don't you know that would hurt me more than any harsh words!" she mumbled into his chest.

"I know, I am sorry!" he said, caressing her hair as he hugged her back tightly. "Every time I think that I have learned how to control my temper it slips away from me. And today was the limit! I hurt YOU! Forgive me, please."

"Shhh... It is okay... you have improved... you haven't even had an outburst for so long." She broke the hug and cupped his face, looking into his eyes, and reassured him firmly, "It. Will. Be. Fine. We will figure out a way to fix this."

"Yeah... About that... I have a possible solution."

"Solution?" Banni asked, confused.

"Yeah." He affirmed taking both her hands in his. "I found a psychiatric centre here in Jodhpur. They specialize in treating mental disorders through alternative therapies. Minimal medication, mostly psychotherapy. I have booked an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. Will you come with me?"

Banni was a bit taken aback. She was so used to making the decisions for both of them that this proactive version of Kabir still felt a bit foreign to her. Additionally, Kabir had made his uneasiness with visiting doctors or taking medicines extremely clear, so his voluntarily booking an appointment was another shock.

"Kabir... But you don't like visiting doctors na?" She cautiously asked.

His grip on her hands tightened as he answered her, "Yes, the thought still makes me uneasy. But we don't have an option right now. We cannot fight my condition alone Banni! We need help. I need help! Please Banni! Let us at least try this. I need to heal before I hurt anyone else. Please?"

___________________________

Banni took a shaky breath as she finished recounting their reconciliation before quietly asking, "Doesn't this indicate that he meant it? That because I can't understand him, he came here to speak to someone who can? That... that he has given up on trying to make me understand him? That he doesn't believe that I can heal him as I promised to? That my love failed? That I failed?"

___________________________

"Yes. I meant what I said. My words were harsh and hurtful and unnecessary too, but I did mean what I said" Kabir admitted. "Banni... she tries... she tries to keep me happy, to keep me positive, to keep herself positive too. When we married, she had promised me, that she will heal me. And she has lived up to it all this while. But no... there are certain things, certain emotions that I don't think she understands, or maybe, she doesn't want to understand them. I... I don't blame her for it. Some of these emotions, they... they are so complicated, that even I don't completely understand them, so how can I expect her to?" He looked up at Sandeep. "That's why I came here. If you can help me understand, then maybe I can explain this better. And that would probably keep me from getting angry at all. Because I don't want to hurt anyone, especially not Banni or Atharva. Not by words, nor by my actions."

___________________________

This was Shobha's big opening. If she nailed this, Banni would start confiding in her, instead of her needing to rely on the occasional cracks. She gently answered, "I don't believe that Mrs Rathore. First of all, this isn't a competition. Yes, your husband will need medical help to heal, but he will also need your love, your faith, and your support. Second, his coming here could mean he wants someone to understand him. But your being here means he wants you to understand him."

Banni looked up at Shobha, perplexed, prompting her to elaborate.

"Mrs Rathore, it is a routine practice in this clinic, where we get our patients to choose one person who will support them through the therapy. This "partner" will have their own sessions to supplement the patient. During these sessions, we not only counsel the partner on how to handle the patient's symptoms, but we also have the partner give us a unique insight into the patient too. A therapy partner has to be someone the patient can always count on, someone they can blindly trust. It isn't a decision that can be made lightly. Your husband chose you for this. He wants your support through this journey. He hasn't given up on you Mrs Rathore. He simply doesn't want you to have to deal with this alone. So I hope you don't give up on yourself, and also give us a chance to help both of you deal with this situation."

Banni simply nodded weakly, clearly still a bit unsure, but Shobha counted it as a win.

"So, can you tell me what last night's difference of opinion was all about?"

Banni smiled sheepishly before replying, "Well, it actually began in the morning..."

___________________________

A/N Hi everyone! Thank you for all the love you showed in the prologue. I had been a bit occupied this past month hence this chapter got delayed. I hope you like this chapter. Please do let me know what your views are in the comments.

Just a brief explanation of the timeline.

- YuvaNni met on 11th March 2020, Mahashivaratri Day

- Artharva was born on 10th February 2022, and Tulika died the same day

- Banni returned to Jodhpur with Kanha/Atharva on 11th March 2022.

- Kabir proposed to Banni on 21st March 2022, and they were married two days later, on 23rd March 2022.

___________________________