Morning was full of happy faces in Maheshwari Mansion. Little Ashna was finally happy to see her father awake, but was still wondering about the drips and bandages covering his body. Sujata was busy taking care of each and every need of Sanskar. Everyone else was trying to manage their day to day activities while accommodating their time to visit Sanskar's room twice or thrice since he gained consciousness.
"Ma! Where is Swara?" Sanskar asked. He had not seen her since morning and it was 4 o clock in afternoon.
"She came to check you! But you were sleeping!" Sujata told him, "Then she got an emergency call from hospital so she had to run!"
Sanskar's face became dull. He so much wanted to see her, but couldn't. He felt a little bit annoyed from her side. She should have been with him, but she was not.
It's been 9 in night but he had not seen Swara even once. He was now becoming desperate for her. He was already irritated for feeling so weak, and Swara's absence was irritating him more.
And finally he saw her entering his room. She was looking exhausted than ever. But as soon as she saw him, a smile spread on her lips. A smile so lovely which could melt anyone's heart. But Sanskar's heart was not of anyone else.
"How are you?" She asked lovingly caressing his forehead and planting a kiss over his palm intermingling her fingers between his.
"Fine!"
Hearing the cold reply from him was unexpected. Sanskar freed his hand from hers and looked away.
"Sanskar? What happened?" Swara asked gently.
"Nothing!" He replied and closed his eyes.
"You are angry?" She tried to ask.
"I am not feeling good. I need to sleep. Good night!" He said while closing his eyes.
"Listen to me please!" Swara pleaded
"Go and have dinner! Then have a good night's sleep! Good night Swara!" Sanskar said and turned his away once again.
Swara was left speechless. She was wondering about the mistake she did. She tried to ask him what happened, but he did not reply again, pretending to be fast asleep.
Swara went away. Sanskar could decipher from the sounda of his fading footsteps, that she was really tired. He felt a little guilt. Sujata had told him already about Swara's care for her when he was unconscious.
"I will make everything alright when she will come back to room!" He promised himself.
He waited for her. He waited with his drowsy eyes for as long as he could. He could not let Swara sleep with her heart heavy. But she did not come. At least as long as Sanskar was awake.
Next morning, Sanskar was awaken by his daughter's kiss over his forehead.
"Papa! I love you!" She said as he opened his eyes.
"Love you too beta!" Sanskar replied and looked at the time. It was 11 in morning.
"Sorry! Bunny asked me not to wake you up. But I wanted to talk to you." Ashna said.
"Ohh! Where is you Bunny then?" He asked.
"She went to hospital." Ashna replied.
Sanskar again felt anger in his heart. Swara should have at least wished him Good morning before going to hospital. But she did not! Sanskar's irritated state was boosted up with the dose of anger.
"Beta! What happened? You look dull!" Sujata asked seeing Sanskar not talking properly in afternoon.
"Nothing ma!" He replied but his heart was filled up with increasing anger for Swara. She didn't even ask how was he! He knew how much his duty meant for her but didn't she got a little time to at least ask for his meals!
It was evening again. Sanskar's anger was now evident. Sujata understood that something had happened between him and Swara. She tried to ask but Sanskar did not tell her. Her effort were futile.
As soon as Swara came, Sujata ran to her, "Beta! Had something happen between you and Sanskar?"
"Why?" Swara asked.
"He is looking very dull."
Swara ran towards Sanskar's room. Sanskar understood by the sounds of her footsteps that Swara was coming. He tried to calm down his anger. But couldn't!
"Sanskar! What happened?" Swara asked as soon as she reached room.
Sanskar did not reply. He just looked away.
Swara came near him, "I am sorry Sanskar! I don't know for what you are angry but I know how to calm it down. Wait! I will bring your favorite custard. I know you don't like these daliya and khichdi na!"
Sanskar did not reply. Swara looked at Sujata and asked, "Ma! You please sit here with him. I will be coming back with custard."
"Beta! At least change first na! Sanskar already had his dinner. He can wait. You first have your meals!" Sujata insisted.
"Just 2 mins ma! Then I will have my meals in front of you both, promise!" Swara ran to kitchen.
"Sanskar! Why are you not talking to her?" Sujata was now a little angry.
Sanskar did not reply.
"She is working like a machine since you have arrived here in that state. Just look at her once. Do you think she deserves to be treated like this for all the care she did?" Sujata asked.
Sanskar remained silent. If she cared then why did she leave him! If she cared then why his cellphone had not buzzed while she was in hospital.
Swara came back with a smiling face and a small bowl of custard in her hand.
"Ma! I have kept rest of the custard in fridge." Swara said, "Hope you all will like that!"
Sujata smiled and looked angrily at Sanskar.
Swara looked at Sanskar's right hand wrapped with bandage. She smiled a little and forwarded a spoonful of custard to him.
"Call Ashna!" He said still looking away.
Sensing his mood would be better if Ashna would be around, Swa immediately called her.
"Yes papa!" Ashna said.
"Beta! You Bunny had made custard for you. Do you want to have this?" Sanskar asked.
Swara looked unbelievably at Sanskar and then at the custard.
"Why not papa!" Ashna chuckled happily.
"Then take this bowl and share it with Reyansh too! Okay!" Sanskar said.
Ashna did the same. As soon as she left the room, Sujata fumed, "Sanskar! Swara had kept their portion in fridge."
"I know! But I didn't want to have that so I gave mine to them too!"
Swara felt a lump in her throat. Sanskar had still not bothered to look at her once.
"At least you could have tasted it na!" Sujata asked.
"I am happy with the khichdi you made for me, ma! I don't need anyone else's care!"
This taunt gave an immense satisfaction to Sanskar. His anger lessened a little. He knew that he was bottling up his anger and that was the reason it was increasing. But he didn't want to hurt her so he kept mum. Still, he couldn't control the rude and cold taunt that escaped his lips.
As the pressure built up in his mind released a little by that taunt, he finally looked at Swara. Her eyes were twinkling with tears which she was trying to seep back in her eyes. Her face was looking tired. Bags were under his eys indicating the extreme need for a deep sleep.
It didn't matter how much anger was inside Sanskar's heart, his love for her, his care for her was always greater.
"Go and take rest Swara! You are tired!" Sanskar now said this with genuine concern, "You sleep with Ashna! Ma can sleep here!"
Sanskar just said this because he knew Swara needed rest. His anger could never overpower his care for her. But, Swara understood it differently.
She lowered her gaze and stood up. Without saying a word, she went out.
"Don't behave like a stone hearted one Sanskar!" Sujata said.
"No! She really needs rest ma! Didn't you see her face?" Sanskar said.
"Didn't you see her eyes?" Sujata questioned back.
Sanskar lowered his gaze. Was he behaving irrationally, he asked himself.
But he could not think more. Black blanket of slumber wrapped him as soon as he hit the bed.
It was early hours in morning. Sanskar's eyes opened up. He needed water. He saw the sleeping figure on the couch. Not wanting to disturb sleep of hiy mother, he anyhow sat up on the bed. But as soon as he tried to fill up the glass, another hand came and forwarded glass of water to him. After sipping it slowly, he looked at his mother. But was shocked to find Swara standing there.
"You?"
"Ma needs rest too! It's not appropriate for her age to get disturbed sleep!" Swara replied while forwarding a tablet to him.
"You are having fever. Have this!"
Sanskar's anger knew no bound. First of all she did not care about herself, came here for another night of sleeplessness. But what happened to this care for these two days! Why she didn't even called him today!
With anger, he pushed away her hand causing the tablet to fall off.
"Sanskar! Please!" Swara pleaded.
"Ok fine! You don't want to leave me alone! I am doing it by myself. You stay here in this room, I am leaving!" Saying so, Sanskar tried to stand up but fell back on bed.
"Sanskar!" Swara could not say anything more.
He felt an immense pain in his hand. His bandage was reopened.
"Show me!" Swara took his hand and tried to correct it.
Sanskar immediately withdrew it and threw her hand away angrily trying to find bandage box.
"Sanskar! Calm down! See, it's bleeding! I will do bandaging properly. Please!" Swara was literally pleading.
Sanskar turned a deaf ear to her. He finally opened the box but all the contents inside it fell down. The glass bottle of antiseptic solution was shattered to pieces.
"Sanskar! Please! Let me handle it!" Swara insisted almost on the verge of crying.
Sanskar kept the box back on the table and lied down on bed, his bandage still untied bleeding profusely.
"Sanskar please!" Swara's voice choked.
Sanskar didn't look at her. He felt soft touch of cotton on his hand and he withdrew it immediately.
But he didn't know that it may lead to a volcanic eruption in his room. The volcano was Swara.
As soon as he withdrew his hand, he expected one more please from Swara. But he heard something different. It was not a soft voice, but a voice so intimidating that he, the chief of ATS, couldn't do anything but got fearful.
"SHUT UP MR. MAHESHWARI!" Swara's voice hit his ear like a slap. He opened his eyes and looked at her. Eyes were red with tears and anger, lips trembling in rage, she was looking fierce than ever.
Sanskar tried to open his mouth but no words came out.
"For the next ten minutes, you won't say even a word. And if, if for once you withdrew your hand, I will call Papa and then he will do your bandaging!" Swara's voice was shaking with anger.
"But-" sanskar said.
"Don't I said!"
Sanskar knew he had took her to edge. And now, there was no returning back. The anger and irritations in his mind were vanished and guilt of hurting her replaced them.
He looked at her while she was busy bandaging his hand. Tears continuously flowing from her eyes, she was putting on bandage with gentle care.
With his other hand, he tried to wipe her tears but Swara shook the hand away and looked fiercely at him, "Don't I said!"
Sanskar had never seen her so angry. And he knew Swara's anger. It would take a lot of time to vanish.
"Swara, listen to me!" Sanskar said after Swara had bandaged his arm.
Swara turned a deaf ear to him. She took out a tablet and forwarded it to him with a glass of water. Sanskar did not show any tantarums.
"Swara!" Sanskar held her hand as she turned to leave.
"You do not want my care!" Swara replied, "And I can't stop caring for you! But I never knew that my presence can bother you so much that you chose to sleep in pain with a bleeding hand rather than me bandaging it. I don't know what I did! But I am sure that it won't be bigger than the pain you gave me now!"
Saying so, she tried to free her hand from his grip.
"Swara! Please listen to me!" Sanskar said.
"You need sleep! Sleep now!" She said finally freeing her hand.
Sanskar saw the eyes as she turned. Red and bags under them, the eyes that took his heart away were filled with sadness and anger. Her eyes made Sanskar speechless. As soon as she held him to make him lie down comfortably, her tears fell over him.
"Don't cry, please!" Sanskar said.
"Hmm!" She replied and turned away. Sanskar saw her turning towards the window. He knew she would have a sleepless night again. All because of his silly behavior.
Sanskar woke up next morning by Swara's voice. She was talking to someone over phone.
"Sir! I know there is outbreak of japanese encephalitis among children. But vaccine drive is not happening properly. For two days you have been sending me to nearby villages for vaccination programme but I need to maintain NICU today. You can send any intern there na!" Swara was saying.
Sanskar felt a little more guilty. Japanese Encephalitis is a fatal disease and Swara was saving children. She was doing her duty. She was saving lives of small ones and here he was scolding her for no fault of her own.
Swara cancelled the call and turned back. Sanskar saw her eyes. They were bloodshot.
"You did not sleep tonight!" He asked.
Swara did not reply. Instead she came near him and said, "I was waiting for you to wake up."
She helped him brushing his teeth. After giving him a good sponge bath, she made him wear comfortable clothes. Sanskar did not show any tantarums. He sensed Swara's emotions. She was not talking to him except for giving him commands or asking if something pained!
She brought him daliya. Sanskar did not like that. He smiled and said, "Can I have that custard you prepared last night?"
Swara nodded and brought him one bowl of that.
"You too have your breakfast!" Sanskar said.
"I have already done that!" Swara replied.
After giving him his final medicine, she said, "I will be back by 10 in night. Take care!"
"Swara! Take a day off, from me and your hospital both! You are not well!" Sanskar was now cancerned seeing her eyes and her pale face.
"I can't! Those children are my responsibility and so are you!" Swara said. She left the room leaving Sanskar in guilt.
It was noon. Sujata was sitting with Sanskar. His stiches were now opened. As per Shekhar, he was recovering well.
"Beta! Don't make her cry so much. Despite of her hiding to the best she could, even your Bade Papa understood that she had cried a lot last night!' Sujata was Saying.
"We don't know what happened between you two! But she had forgotten even herself taking care of you. And if in this situation, a small mistake should not count na!" Annapoorna said.
"I overreacted badi ma!" Sanskar said, "I acted like a child."
"Behave like a child in front of your ma and me! We are here! But Swara, you are her companion. If she is looking after you with all her heart, you should do the same! If nothing, then at least talk to her with love! You only told me that she was not valued by her own father and sister. It didn't matter that they have started valuing her now, the hurt, the trauma of childhood cannot be erased. And in this situation, don't you think that you should value her? You should value her presence." Annapoorna explained him like a child.
Sanskar nodded. He took his phone instantly in his hands to call Swara. But to his surprise, there were 18 missed calls from her, all belonging to yesterday.
His phone was on silent mode and that's why it didn't buzzed yesterday.
Sanskar remembered his anger, his hurtful actions, his ignorance and for everything he did, he wanted to slap himself twice.
"Sanskar! I am angry! Whatever you did was very wrong!" Sujata's reply was expected like this only after Sanskar explained her everything.
"Beta! She is Swara! How on earth can you even think that she doesn't care for you!" Annapoorna too replied in an expected manner.
Sanskar dialed Swara's number. A nurse picked up the call, "Sir! Mam is very busy since morning. Patients have been increasing. I will tell her that you called."
Sanskar hung up the call. On one side, he was cursing himself for doing this to Swara but on the other, he was admiring Swara's capability of handling pressure and doing her job perfectly.
Sanskar waited for her return but she did not.
"She may have to spend the night there. All the team of pediatrician are busy handling the cases. More than 500 cases in a single day." Sujata informed.
Sanskar felt it difficult to sleep that night. Everytime he tried to close his eyes, Swara's tired face came in front of his eyes. His own words were now haunting him.
"Sleep Sanskar!" It was Adarah who was sleeping besides him said.
"Bhaiya! Tell me one thing! Have you ever scolded bhabhi and then realized that she was not at fault!" Sanskar asked.
"Why?"
"Nothing! Just asking!" Sanskar tried to mask the reality.
"Not me! But your bhabhi has done this once!" Adarsh said, "she yelled at me, didn't give me time to explain. I asked her many times about my fault, but she didn't even look at me!"
"Then.... How did you feel?"
"Horrible! As if something was stabbing my heart. Sometimes I felt numb when I saw her looking away from me as soon as I entered the room. The other times, I felt to do everything in this world to make her look at me once, even if it means giving up my life." Adarsh was continuously saying, "This lasted for 12 hours almost. And it caused me so much stress that I couldn't cope up. So I did not come home that night. Pari came searching for me to the restaurant. And when she told me the reason, my anger was so much that I didn't talk to her for a week."
"A week?" Sanskar was shocked. Punishment for 12 hour was a week of silence, then what would be the punishment for more than 48 hours of torture!
"I needed it to calm myself down. It hurts a lot when a loved one doesn't trust you. I felt if not anyone, then Pari will always understand me. But that night, I felt empty. I didn't feel loved. In fact I started to wonder what I did to earn ao much of hatred!" Adarsh said.
"And did it affect now? I mean after everything sorted out, do you still talk about it!" Sanskar was curious.
Adarsh chuckled, "Yes! Whenever I get late in coming from restaurant, pari teases me. And whenever Pari gets angry, i say that I will not talk to her for two weeks. If love is strong, nothing can come in between. And about you and Swara, I know you both love each other deeply."
Sanskar was shocked, "You know?"
"Her eyes in morning, your dull face and now you being sleepless asking an irrelevant question, I don't think I am a fool!" Adarsh said and chuckled, "Give her some time and some of your efforts."
Sanskar woke up next morning with the most beautiful view. Swara was asleep keeping her head on it's handle and legs curled up on the floor. She was dressed up in a black salwar kameez and it seemed that she was ready to go to hospital.
He was busy staring at her when her eyes opened.
"You are fine?" She aksed.
Sanskar nodded. She helped him in dressing up and forwarded a spoonful of oats.
"I will have it by myself!" Sanskar said. He only wanted her to sleep some more. But he didn't know this will enrage her unexpectedly higher.
"You are acting as if I have done some unforgivable mistake. I don't even know what I have done but I am sure that it is not so big." Swara exploded like a bomb.
"Swara listen-" Sanskar tried to explain.
"What? What do you want me to listen?" Swara almost fell on floor with her hands covering her face, "I don't even know where I did wrong! What I did to earn so much of hatred!"
"Swara! It's not like that! I can't-"
"You hate me Sanskar!" Swara wiped her tears and took her bag.
"Swara wait!" Sanskar held her hand tightly.
"Leave me!" Swara tried to free herself.
"I love you Swara!" Sanskar said with all the intensity of love he had.
Swara did not say anything. She let tears flow free from her eyes.
"Swara! I am sorry!" Sanskar pulled her closer.
Swara freed her hand from his grip and left the room. Sanskar sat on the bed and kept his hands over his eyes. Warm tears were escaping from them.
"Calm down!" Adarsh's voice made him startled.
"I heard everything!" He said forwarding tissue paper to him, "Wounds are deep. But they will heal with love!"
Sanskar nodded. He waited impatiently for Swara. He did not know that he was about see her in just few hours. Even before evening, he heard a doorbell buzzing. He had come to living room after so many days. And he was happy that now he could walk on his own.
Sensing noone there, he opened the door. But was shocked to see Swara there. He looked at the the time, it was 3 p.m.
"You here! This time!" He asked.
"You don't want me in home! Okay fine! I will take my bag and shift to another room!" Swara said, "And you are so weak but you have to do daring tasks. Not even caring for your wounds once! No care, no fear of falling down, nothing!"
Swara was so busy in her rant that she didn't notice when room came and when she put Sanskar on bed.
"It's right na! Swara should care, Swara should worry! Swara should do all the work and Swara's even one mistake becomes so unforgivable that noone can overlook those!" Swara's voice became heavier.
"Can I say something?" Sanskar asked.
"Say na! Only you have the right to say! Swara should never speak anything!"
"You should take rest, Swara!" Sanskar said, "Go and change! And please take a nap!"
Swara looked at him with anger, "I know what I should do!"
"I am not saying anything else! Take a nap and then continue your rant." Sanskar said, "And I am asking in a good way, why you came so early? You never do that!"
Swara took a deep breath and said, "I was not feeling well!"
Sanskar knew this would happen. But Swara's eyes were saying more things.
"Say?" Sanskar said looking into her eyes.
"The emergencies are lowered in hospital. And I am having a very bad headache." Swara said looking at the floor, "And.... And I do not feel good because of the fights!"
Sanskar sighed. He looked at Swara staring at floor just like a child who was upset.
"Go and change! I will make everything alright!" Sanskar said.
"Promise?" She asked
"Yes!" Sanskar said.
Swara came back after changing into a regular suit. She was about to go to couch when he signed her towards bed.
Swara lied down besides Sanskar. There were no space for words. He needed her presence and she needed his love.
He placed a gentle kiss over het forehead, "You care for me a lot. I am sorry!"
"You should be!" Swara frowned, "And I am still angry."
"It's your right! Be angry! I will calm you down. But for now, sleep!" Sanskar said caressing her hair.
He felt Swara getting into deep sleep. Kissing her palms lightly, he stroked her hair gently till he himself fell asleep.