The problem with worrying is you know you can't do anything to control it yet you can't seem to stop it. It's like suffering the same trauma twice.
When Ritu was in her vegetative state, it felt like a long sleep in the beginning, complete blank. And then the scene changed where she was being dragged to some sort of assassin's lair. There were multiple of them. Their faces remained hidden under the white mime masks while they wore midnight black outfits to cover all of their skin. Throughout the episode, all they did was torture her. They'd poke needles on her body, drag blades across her skin, or tie her with ropes to do some unspeakable things to her. She was scared the whole time. At the same time, confusion gnawed at her as she couldn't make a sound. No matter how much she tried to scream she couldn't.
At some point, her fear turned into something else. There was confusion as to why no one was coming for her, or why couldn't she make a sound. Then there was an uncomfortableness, and she was ambiguously agitated about the situation.
All she wanted was to scream.
Moments before she opened her eyes, she saw her mother who came with a pair of stick lights. Then she heard her talking something unintelligible and white blinding light covered her vision and all characters vanished from in front of her.
As if it was just a nightmare.
When she opened her eyes, she could see several faces surrounding her. Among them was her mother too. But she could not speak, her limbs wouldn't move. It felt she had been transfigured to a stiff log. Her confusion and agitation got the best of everything until eventually she learned she lost almost eight weeks of her life to a nightmarish vegetative state.
It took her quite a while to relearn talking. In the beginning, she completely depended on her mother and the nurse looking after her. Eventually, her understanding and motor-sensory revived and she could move her limbs and talk. Even after all the physiotherapy sessions, she still needed the help of the wheel-chair.
So, when their car rolled through the driveway of Ishani and came to a halt in front of the entrance, Ram was already waiting with the wheel-chair.
Ritu got out of the car first and hobbled to her wheel-chair. Ram helped her to sit down before she uttered, "Go help Papa. He's injured."
Ram turned his head quickly to the car, baffled while their driver was helping Abhiraj getting off the car. He went ahead hurriedly while Priyasha climbed off the car and said, "It's okay Ram, I'll help him. You bring Ritu inside."
Ram held back and watched with horrified eyes while Priyasha helped Abhiraj and walked him inside.
Painstakingly so, for the past few days Ritu was having these weird episodes where she was feeling vulnerable whenever she went out of her home. There was this fear of unsafety gnawing at her whenever she stepped out the villa, her safe zone. Just like what happened at the hospital today. The fear of getting attacked out of the blue never straying from her mind and she was having difficulty connecting with her present. It was frustrating and frightening all at the same time.
Back at the home, she could breathe again. It's like walking through the white blinding light that obscured the way of any threat. It was like teleportation. From an unsafe zone to the safe zone. Like, her fear abating once back to her safe zone where she was surrounded by her loved ones.
Ram helped pushing her wheel-chair into the villa, just behind her parents, which was when Shreya, her sister-in-law's voice boomed across the hall.
"Papa! Oh my God! What happened?!"
Priyasha clutched on Abhiraj's arm tightly as they made it through the hall. Shreya came running towards them and relieved Priyasha by taking Abhiraj's other hand. Priyasha's voice broke as she asked, "Where is Manyu?"
"He isn't home. Do you want me to call him?" Shreya responded with concern lacing her voice.
"First call the doctor," she said almost inaudibly.
They sat Abhiraj down on the couch. Shreya stepped back while Priyasha sat beside him and started examining the wounds with her eyes brimming with tears. Abhiraj sat very still and let his wife tend to his wounds.
Ritu called out for their maid, "Dona di, bring the first aid box!"
She stared at her parents with a frown while her mind raced about all the accusations she heard about her brother, Abhimanyu.
Was her Dadabhai really a murderer? And murdered whom?
As much as she knew her brother, Abhimanyu Roy was an efficient businessman. Indeed, he had acquired various kinds of ways to get his work done. But it was highly doubtful that he'd murder someone for anything. That was just not possible. She had always put her elder brother on a pedestal and rightfully so. He had never done anything that'd bring shame down on his family. Ritu was confident that something was off in this whole situation.
Shreya came and stood beside her while Ram ran inside to call for Dona.
"How did this happen?" Shreya enquired quietly.
Ritu glanced up at her sideways before shifting her eyes back on her parents. As Abhimanyu's wife, Shreya's patience touched the sky. What she liked about her sister-in-law was her calm and collected composure in any kind of situation. She'd always wait an extra amount of time to read between the lines before deciding onto something. Her dignified poise and immense patience were the most valuable traits that she possessed, because they complimented her brother's challenging disorder that had left him aloof towards everything.
Abhimanyu was diagnosed with Schizoid Personality Disorder, a disorder where a person became detached, apathetic, and cold emotionally. But Shreya sacrificed her own needs and desires to be with her brother, and Ritu couldn't admire her more for her bravery.
In the beginning, she thought all of Shreya's sacrifice was nothing but a show-off. That it was her façade. Even Ritu was adamant on altering Shreya's life to a living hell, and she did to some extent. But as the time passed, she realized the great amount of wit her sister-in-law had to abandon her self-interest just for the sake of her brother's welfare. Shreya had been the epitome of unflinching self-sacrifice which Ritu could never understand completely. How could a person be so selfless?
Ritu quietly answered, "We were attacked by a wild mob."
Shreya gasped. "Why?"
"They were alleging Dadabhai for a murder."
Shreya sucked in a deep breath audibly which caused Ritu to look at her curiously. She observed closely as Shreya's brows creased, and a worried expression spread across her face as though she was hiding something. Was she?
But before she could ask her, Shreya looked down on her phone and tapped several times on the screen. Ritu's eyes never strayed from her as she noticed the little tremors on her hand as she scrolled through the screen and paused after she found what she was looking for. Even without having to look, Ritu knew it was Abhimanyu's personal assistant, Sunny.
Within a few seconds, Shreya put the phone against her ear and said, "Sunny, where is Abhimanyu? I need to talk to him." There was a trace of panic lacing her words. After a momentary pause she said again, "Alright," and cut the call off.
Even after cutting the call off, Shreya continued staring at the screen for a long time until Ritu whispered, "Are you hiding something?"
Shreya shifted her gaze from the screen to her, taken aback. "What? No!"
Ritu stared dead into her eyes. "Do you know something about this murder?" It was evident that she knew. Her expression exposing the evidences of her probable acquaintance about this serious matter. As they held each other's gaze for a brief period, Shreya blinked several times while her mouth fell open slightly as she averted her eyes ahead.
By then Dona and Ram had come back with the first aid box and a bowl of water.
Ritu averted her eyes from Shreya who had started fidgeting restlessly. Yes. She definitely knew something.
In the meantime, Priyasha dabbed a clean towel in the water and wiped the wounds of Abhiraj's forehead. Abhiraj sat still with an unreadable expression on his face. There were several cuts, nicks and bruises on his face, and the uncovered portion of his hands. Blood was oozing out of them quietly. Priyasha hadn't said a word since she asked to call the doctor. She was very careful with her movements as if she might hurt her husband if she pressed a little more. She looked miserable while cleaning all the blood.
No one talked for the time being.
After cleaning the wounds, she poured a liquid antiseptic on a cotton pad.
"Will you call the doctor?" Ritu asked Shreya while watching her mother dabbing the cotton pad on the wounds on her father's stoic face.
She responded quietly, "Sunny said, he has already called the doctor and booked an emergency appointment. The doctor might show up at any moment. And your Dadabhai... they're on their way to home too."
Ritu nodded once in acknowledgement. Her eyes still trained on her parents as she wondered quietly so that only Shreya could hear her, "It's difficult but not impossible to believe..." she paused momentarily before adding, "considering how efficient Dadabhai is in business. Any rivalry can lead to a mess like this."
Shreya seemed to stiffen beside her. From the corner of her eyes, Ritu noticed her clutching the phone tightly. A few seconds passed in silence until Shreya expressed, "Abhimanyu didn't do anything. It is to frame him as the culprit."
"How do you know for sure?" Ritu probed.
"Because I was with him the day it happened!" She raised her voice slightly in the end.
Ritu wasn't expecting Shreya'd lose her control like that. Her brows knitted in a frown as she shifted her gaze from her parents to her sister-in-law. Shreya looked severely offended and almost on the verge of tears.
"I don't have any insensitive thoughts against him you know that, Shreya. He's my brother. I just want to understand what is happening. I can't follow."
But before Shreya could respond, the doctor arrived trailed by Abhimanyu, Sunny and Neil. Ritu and Shreya moved aside to give them space as the doctor went ahead and sat down beside Abhiraj.
Ritu glanced around and observed the men, all of them wore a serious expression. Abhimanyu observed the condition of his parents with an indifferent expression before his head took a ninety degree turn and his focus shifted to Shreya. She was already watching her husband since they came in. As their eyes met, the gaze lingered for a few seconds until finally she broke the eye contact and looked down.
Meanwhile, Ritu rolled her eyes. These two couldn't be discreet. She folded her arms against her chest and huffed.
Abhimanyu averted his eyes from his wife to his sister and asked in a flat tone, "Exactly what happened? Ritu?"
Ritu took a deep breath and related the incident in brief.
After listening to all of it, Sunny quipped in. "Sounds like his grandson."
Ritu's eyebrows creased.
"Late Mr. Basu's grandson?" Abhiraj asked.
"Yeah." Sunny turned towards Abhiraj and nodded. "As much as I can remember, his name is Jai."
Abhiraj's lips parted listening to the name. Priyasha observed her husband quietly, then squeezed his hand. Abhiraj looked in her direction. Their eyes met and lingered for a while. As if they were making a non-verbal communication through their eyes.
Abhimanyu asked, "Can we arrange for a meeting with him? I personally want to talk."
Abhiraj broke the eye contact and looked at his eldest son. "I'll accompany you."
Abhimanyu nodded. "If this is really him, then we must take some steps. This cannot go on until it's proven."
Sunny agreed. "We have an alibi. They can't prove anything against you."
Meanwhile Ritu's mind drifted towards the person named Jai. If he was really behind this attack, then she'd make sure he never rested in peace.
Cause her family has suffered once. She couldn't let it happen twice.