The phone slipped from Swara's hands. Her mind got numb for a few minutes. She did not realise when Ram picked up the phone from the floor and let out a yelp. She even didn't hear the wails of Sujata and Annapurna. She did not realise when Ragini held her shoulders and shook her violently. She was standing like a stone figure there. She was not able to decipher what had just happened. She was with Sanskar last night. He himself made her sleep. She remembered the way he kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly. And now, again the same fear of losing him!
"Swara!" Ragini again shook her. And finally, Swara looked up. The reality struck her like lightening and she immediately realised the gravity of the situation. Sanskar was in grave danger. Her eyes welled up again and she looked at Ragini with tears in her eyes.
"Ragu!" Swara could say this much only before she was engulfed in a big hug from her.
"Laksh will find him out!" Ragini assured her though she herself was not sure of anything.
Swara sat on the couch. The whole trauma was getting too much for her to be absorbed. Those people have taken her husband and now teasing and taunting her like this. Only a maniac would do this. Only a maniac would fall so low for revenge.
And suddenly, a pair of maniac eyes flashed in front of her. Her foggy brain could not remember to whom those eyes belong, but her heart was trying to say something to her.
---------------
Sanskar tried to open his eyes. His whole body was writhing in pain. His head was throbbing. But suddenly, as he tried to move his hands, he felt a strong prick in his forearm and before he could know, her eyes closed again.
"Keep him sedated. If he regains consciousness, he will not leave us!" A goon like man said.
"And mam will kill the rest of us. By the way, what is she going to do with him?" Another man asked.
"Maybe his brother, Kabir!"
--------------
Kabir was sitting in his celler. Guard opened the door. Laksh and Shekhar entered the cellar.
"Kabir!" Shekhar said, "Had your breakfast?"
Kabir nodded.
"These people are not teasing you much na!" Shekhar again said.
Kabir did not reply. Shekhar signed Laksh and sat in front of Kabir. Laksh took out his phone and showed it to Kabir.
"What?" Kabir asked, "What should I do with it?"
"Open it! I have removed the password." Laksh replied and took a deep breath to keep himself calm.
He opened the phone. But as he looked at wallpaper, his face faded.
"You know the doctor you ran away from, is my wife!" Laksh said looking at Kabir with deep expression, "She told me something about you."
Shekhar forwarded tea to Kabir.
"Kabir! We both know you are not guilty. We know you are hiding something. Please tell us!"
Kabir did not budge.
"Kabir please! Your silence will take away my brother again from me!" This time Laksh's voice was not of an officer but of an elder brother who was crying for his younger sibling.
"They have taken Sanskar!"
Shekhar's words met with horrific expressions from Kabir. He looked at Shekhar and then at Laksh.
"Yes! They have taken him away." Laksh too said and showed him the photograph. Kabir let out a sigh and then hid his face in his palm.
"Please Kabir!"
But his expressions again changed into the same stone like once again.
________________
Swara was in her room. She wanted to be with Sanskar right away. She wanted to hold him and kiss his pain away. But all she could was to hold his shirt and put it close to her heart.
But her mind was working fast. There was definitely some connection of those photograph and this abduction. But what? How low would someone fall for hurting a person like Sanskar!
There was a knock over her door. She turned to find Sharmistha there, standing with glass of milk.
"Swara! Have this glass of milk right now!" There was a command in her voice.
"Choti ma! I...."
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
Swara could not help but obeyed her command. After finishing the milk, she looked at Sharmistha.
"Choti ma! Why is this happening?" Swara almost cried. Sharmistha wiped her tears with her dupatta and pushed her chin up. Looking at her, Sharmistha said, "Don't search for reason! Search for a solution!"
Swara looked at her with confusion.
"Yes! Look for solution, Swara! Solution will be anywhere near you! You just have to open your eyes!"
Swara still did not understand.
"Listen to me Swara! I know your condition is something beyond imagination." Sharmistha said with a serious face, "But for a while now, just keep all your worries aside. Don't focus on why did it happen! Focus on what should be done now! This is you Swara! You always used to look for solution. But now, you are just sulking in."
Swara sighed. Sharmistha's words were like a cold splash. Her words almost felt like a sudden awakening after a deep slumber. Yes! She was not the Swara who would sulk in.
Sharmistha read her expressions. Gently, she caressed her hair.
"You have to the right to cry. You have the right to cry your heart out and have tears till your eyes bleed. But your mind does not have the right to be stopped." Sharmistha said and kissed her forehead.
Swara smiled through her tears.
And now, Swara's mind started to work again. Yes she was crying, but her tears did not distract her mind. She knew Sanskar was hiding something. She knew Sanskar was having some flashbacks of which he never wanted to discuss anything.
The first thing she did was to check Sanskar's cupboard. But it was of no use. There were no documents, nothing important in it. Though her hands fell on the photographs that caused the havoc. She opened the envelope again. Just by looking at the angle, it was sure that somebody had already placed the camera on the window even before their arrival.
She was lost in the thoughts when again a knock over her door broke her trance. She turned to find Ragini standing there along with Laksh. There was hopelessness in their eyes. Swara wiped her tears.
"Please come in!" Swara said.
"Swara! You fine?" Ragini asked holding her hand, "Your face is flushed."
Swara just nodded in return. She then looked at Laksh with lots of questions in her eyes. The sudden eviction of his gaze gave her the answers. Swara sighed. Her heart was on fire and this dispair only acted as kerosene.
Laksh sat on the couch holding his head in his palms. Ragini sat on the bed beside Swara holding her hand. There was complete silence in the room. They all were trying to find comfort in the silence but Sanskar's ansence just increased their dispair.
"Swara!" Ragini broke the silence finally. With trembling voice, she said, "Kabir did not tell anything."
Laksh looked at Swara and held his head again.
"You need to have meds for headache jiju! You are not well." Swara insisted.
"No Swara! My medicine is my brother's arrival." Laksh said again rubbing his thumb on his temple, "I saved lakhs of lives. I failed many plans of terrorists. But I failed to save my brother twice. And he, both of the time, put himself in danger just because of me!"
Laksh's words were adorned with tears. Ragini rushed and hugged him tightly. Swara too wiped her tears and stood up. She opened her cupboard. As she was searching for medicine for Laksh's headache, her gaze suddenly fell over a visiting card.
Dr Divya Goenka
MD psychiatry
Visiting consultant:-
Asha mental health centre
Swara forgot about medicine completely. She turned towards Laksh and without thinking anything, blurted out a question.
"Is Kavita is in Asha mental health asylum?"
Laksh looked at Swara. He did not understand the depth of this question.
"Why?" He asked.
"Please tell me!" Swara's voice had an urgency.
"Asha health mental health care is the government set up. So I suppose she is there only." Laksh replied completely uninterestingly.
Swara's mind saw a lot of flashbacks and all of a sudden, she ran towards her phone. Ragini looked at Swara and so did Laksh. They had a lot of questions in their minds.
Swara opened her Instagram account and immediately searched for Divya Goenka. And the next thing left her face a little horrified. In the photos of her, there were a few photographs of her with her patients. And in every group, Kavita was the one who was constant.
"Swara! What happened?"
Ragini's sudden words startled Swara a little. She then looked at Ragini and then at Laksh.
"Dr Divya and Kavita, both are involved in it somehow." Swara said.
"How?" Ragini asked.
"Ragu! Do you know who else knew what was about to happen between me and Sanskar in that room?" Swara said and got a little awkward seeing Laksh there. But she had to divulge the information anyhow. So she composed herself and continued, "I took help from Dr. Divya. I informed only her about Sanskar's condition and she.... I mean she only adviced me about....you know....things."
"It means she was involved in that camera incident?" Laksh said.
"Yes! May be! Maybe not! But see, she is Kavita's doctor. We should at least do the bare minimum!"
-----------------
Sanskar was feeling a lot of pain in his body. He did not know where he was. He tried hard to move his hands but couldn't. He lifted his gaze and looked at the guard like goons around him. His mouth was stuffed with a cloth and all he could was to make a some noise.
"He woke up again." One goon said.
"Give him some water!" A girl's voice fell in Sanskar's ears. He looked up and shook in anger seeing Kavita there.
One goon removed the cloth from his mouth.
"Hello Sanskar!" Kavita said coming closer to him.
"Why have you taken me here?" Sanskar asked in a feeble voice.
Kavita smiled devilishly. She held a glass of water and forcefully made him drink that.
"I sometimes think, I should have chosen you over Sahil. Well leave, you both are not worthy enough."
Kavita signed Divya to come here. And as soon as Sanskar saw Divya's face, he felt a strong headache. This headache was so strong that he closed his eyes and let out a yelp. There was something very familiar about the face. A strange flashback struck his mind.
He was lying in the snow, wounded and counting his last breathe. He knew he was never be able to see his family ever. He knew Swara would be waiting for him. Just imagining how beautiful she would have looked in the bridal attire, he smiled through his pain.
Suddenly, he saw a face. She was a friend of Swara whom he saw in engagement. But what was she doing here!
"Sanskar! I am Divya!" She said hurrying a little, "Listen! Nothing will happen to you!"
And she checked his pulse. She immediately took out two vials from her pocket and filled an injection with them. Gently, she injected the drug in Sanskar's arm.
"This will reduce your bleeding." Divya said, "Now listen! I don't have much time. Kavita is out again and your Swara is in danger. She may try to harm her out of spite. I want you to remember this."
And the next moment, Sanskar heard a cruel laughter. Divya covered him with leaves and caressed his hair. She said, "Fight until you can! Don't lose hope!"
And suddenly, all the missing parts of his life started flashing in front of him one by one. Keeping up with flashbacks was so hard that he did not realise when Kavita injected a drug again in his arm and he fell unconscious again.