Roadside
"Suniye, khana khaya aapne?" Pragya asked the old man.
Abhi heard her and said "nahi".
"Ye leejiye, kha leejiye" she offered the packet to the old man and said "Pani bhi laati hoon". She looked towards Naresh and said "Naresh, ek bottle inhe dena." and walked towards the car, where Sushma was handing out the last packet to Naresh.
"Pragya?" Abhi thought aloud and looked at the source of the voice.
He got up and sat as she passed him, stood up as she walked towards the car, and called her aloud "Pragya!!!"
"Haanji" she said and stopped. She was stunned, both by the voice and her reply.
She froze for a few moments. She knew who it was – the one she loved and the one who tried to kill her.
She turned around slowly and saw him. He looked different, trim cropped hair but the beard remained, and heftier than before, looking at her, surprised, happy, tearing up, and drunk.
This was not what she was expecting. She had thought he would be shocked, scared, or perhaps even angry that his plans of getting rid of her from his life failed. But she was looking at someone who seemed to have missed her for a long time.
"Pragya" Abhi said as he walked towards her, his smile growing with each step. He held his palms on his head and looked at her in amazement.
He let out a sigh of relief and said "Mujhe pata tha... pata tha ki mein mar jaavu na... to tum.. tum mujhe jaroor lene aavogi"
She felt confused and could only stare at him, not knowing what to say or do.
He looked at her from head to toe. She was reminded of his words at the temple 'Tum ek dhokka ho. Sar se lekar paanv tak ek khoobsurat dhokka'.
"Waise ek baat boloon?" he said as he looked at her in amazement "Suit boot me... bagair chashme ke ... ekdum tota lag rahi ho" and smiled at her.
He came forward and hugged her but she didn't feel comfortable enough to return the hug.
"Dadi kahan par hein pata hai? Mujhe unse bhi milna hai." he said.
Noticing that she isn't hugging him he retreated and held her shoulders "Kya hua... yahan hug karna allowed nahi hai?" but she didn't answer.
He let out a sigh as he let go off her, wiped off his tears and said "Pata hai... kitna miss kiya tumhe. Ab bhi yahin tumhare baare mein..." but stopped as he got surprised looking at the place where he slept and continued "arrey!!! meri body kahan gayi? Yahin to mein soya tha!"
He looked at her in surprise, trying to figure out what's going on. "Ye corporation wale itne jaldi uthake le bhi gaye?" he asked, "Chalo koi baat nahi" and hugged her again and said, "No fear when Fuggi is here".
Pragya felt confused and didn't do or say anything, and heard Naresh shout "Oye" and his footsteps approaching them. But before she could react, he held Abhi by his shoulders, turned him around and punched him on the face, which made him fall down hitting his head on the concrete debris on the way.
"Ye kya kiya tumne?" Pragya shouted at Naresh "Ye mere pati hein."
"Sorry madam" Naresh said "mujhe laga ye aapko ... ", but she paid no heed to him as she knelt down and called Abhi "Suniye" stroking his face.
Sushma rushed towards them with a bottle of water and sprinkled some water on Abhi's face, which startled him and he looked at Pragya. "Fuggi?" he blabbered a couple of times.
"Ise ghar le chalte hein" Sushma said and Pragya with the help of Naresh picked him up and helped him into the car.
Prashant, meanwhile, could see someone hit Abhi and take him in a car from the other side of the road. He felt scared for he was stuck and unable to help because of the moving traffic. As the traffic stopped he came running but was too late. Pragya's car was on the move and he couldn't catch it. He took a taxi, followed her car, and called up Purab.
Purab picked up the call "Haan Prashant"
"Purab sir" Prashant said in a scared voice "Woh... Abhi sir ko koyi uthake le jaa rahe hein."
"Uthake ... ? Kaun?" Purab asked.
"Pata nahi sir. Woh log car me hein, mein unka peecha kar raha hoon. Taxi me" Prashant said.
"Kaun log hai pata hai kuch... huliya kaisa hai?" Purab asked.
"Do aurat hai sir" Prashant said, "aur unka driver bhi"
'Tanu and Alia?' he thought 'but driver?'
"Do Aurat? Purab asked. "Driver tha ki koi friend jaisa?"
"Nahi sir driver hai... uniform pehna hai" Prashant said.
"Gaadi kaunsi hai?" Purab asked.
"Gaadi sir, white SUV, Benz" Prashant said. 'Oh that should be Di and aunty' he thought.
"Oh... Ok... woh humare taraf aa rahein hein kya? Yani mere area ke taraf?" Purab asked.
"Haan sir, lag to wohi raha hai" Prashant said.
"To dharo mat... shayad unki wife hain woh" Purab said "Woh shayad usey ghar le aayengi... tum bas unke peeche aa jao".
"Unki wife?" Prashant asked.
"Haan" Purab said... and noticed he was getting another call "Achcha... Prashant... shayad unhi ka phone hai... I'll call you later". He picked up the call.
"Purab... Pehchan wala koi doctor hai?" Pragya asked. "Ye mil gaye hein... par chot lagi hai thodi"
"Haan Di... aap aajaiye... mera neighbour ek doctor hai. Use lata hoon mei aapke ghar pe" Purab said.
She looked at Abhi blabbering her name as he lay on her lap. "Dont worry" she said "Hum aapko ghar le jaa rahe hai. You'll be fine".
Tandon House: some time later.
Purab and Prashant carried an inebriate Abhi inside a room and helped him lie down on the bed as the doctor, Pragya, and Sushma followed them. The doctor examined him and bandaged his head after cleaning the wound as Abhi kept staring at Pragya. He gave him a sedative and looked at Purab and said "He'll have a sleep now... He's fine, nothing to worry about."
"Thanks Doctor" Purab said.
"I'll recommend you take some tests." the Doctor said "I'll send a technician over tomorrow if you want".
"That'll be good, Doctor, Thank you" Purab said.
Purab followed the Doctor as he went outside the room and looked at a concerned Pragya. "Di, dhariye mat... sab theek hai".
She nodded and walked towards Abhi who was slowly drifting into sleep.
"Pragya... Tum aayi" he said with a smile and went to sleep.
She held his hand for a while, then closed her eyes as she tightened her hold. A couple of drops of tears rolled down her cheeks. She was happy that he is fine, but confused as to why. 'Why am I feeling for him after knowing what he did to me?' she thought. She wiped the tears off her face, and let go of Abhi's hand.
She looked at Prashant and smiled at him.
Prashant smiled back nervously and asked "Aap sir ki wife hein kya?"
She looked at Abhi and looked back at him, nodded a yes.
"Bohot bolte hein aapke baare me" Prashant said, "Fuggi... aap hi ho na?"
She bit her lips and nodded a yes.
"Aaj bhi bol rahe they, aap sapne me aaye aur aapne coffee di" he said with a smile.
Pragya didn't want to have this conversation. It made her feel weaker and weaker. This was not what she had come here for. She wanted to see how much Abhi hated her but coming back all she was hearing about was how much he missed her, how much he looked for her, and perhaps how much he loved her.
"Paani kuch chahiye?" she asked Prashant.
"Nahi bhabhi" Prashant said, "Thanks".
She walked out of the room where Sushma was waiting for her. Sushma hugged her and she returned the hug. "Dont worry, sab theek hoga" Sushma said. She noticed Purab arrived after seeing off the doctor. Shagun, the service girl followed him.
"Di, mein yahi rukta hoon aaj" he said, "aur... kal ka trip bhi cancel kar diya. I'll be here."
Pragya nodded, "Chaho to yeh kamra use kar sakte ho" she said, pointing towards the adjacent room, "Mein pani bhijvati hoon".
"No issues Di," he said, "Mein yahi hoon, aap so jayiye. You look tired."
Pragya nodded and walked towards her room. She noticed Sushma talking to Purab, but she had enough for the day and just wanted to retire to bed and try to sleep.
–
Pragya's bedroom 2 AM.
Sushma walked in to Pragya's bedroom and sat besides her.
This was a daily routine for her ever since Pragya started living with her. The first couple of weeks Pragya hadn't slept at all. It was only after they moved to Sydney that she started having regular sleep. Regular, but disturbed, as she would often wake up having nightmares, every night. It took her months to sleep without having nightmares and it was only then that Sushma felt comfortable enough to sleep in another room.
Her own health forced her to attend natural calls a couple of times in the night and she would check on Pragya whenever she woke up. And every time it was the same – blabbering something in sleep, disturbed, scared, and sometimes angry.
Much to her surprise though, she found Pragya sleeping comfortably today. She looked pleasant and in deep sleep. There was no blabbering and no sign of tension on her face. Sushma ran her hand on Pragya's forehead and hair, and kissed her forehead. This should have been enough to startle her and wake her up, but tonight even that didn't happen. Sushma felt happy, happy that her daughter is finally peaceful. But she was concerned about the source of this new found peace.
From what she had seen and heard today she liked to believe Pragya misunderstood Abhi, that Abhi was not the monster who tried to kill her, but someone who loves her and cares for her. She remembered how very pleasantly surprised Abhi was when he saw Pragya and he felt like a genuine person. But was he? She looked at Pragya and hoped he was. Hoped he was as loving and caring as she had mentioned to her when she talked about her past. She hoped what Pragya believed in was a huge misunderstanding. Looking at Pragya's pleasant face in deep sleep brought a smile on hers... and with it, peace and hope.
She got up and walked out towards her room and found door of Abhi's room ajar. Purab was sleeping on the couch and Prashant on the floor. She walked in and found Abhi blabbering what seemed like Pragya's name. Listening to it re-instilled her hopes for her daughter. She wanted to ask Prashant to sleep on the bed in the adjacent room, but didn't want to wake him up. She picked up a blanket from the wardrobe and covered him.
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