Shashank felt someone pull the air out of his lungs the moment Juhi walked out of his cabin.. There was deafening silence.. Unable to compose himself he fell back on his chair .. His breathing was abnormal and his body partially shaking .. he felt helpless.. he felt totally and completely powerless.. he saw darkness engulfing his world that even his shadow had left him alone..
Unaware of himself tears streamed down his face.. He sat there like a lifeless man for hours until the housekeeping staff came in to clean his cabin at 8 in the evening...
Meanwhile Juhi was heartbroken when Shashank let her go... That Goodbye was most painful.. She walked out of his cabin and the hospital with tears streaming down her face... All she wanted to do was run back to him and hug him tight.. Both needed it..
Seated in the car she gave Rahul the directions to Shashank's house.. On reaching, Rahul waited in the car while Juhi went inside to fetch her luggage..
Her heart thudded against her chest as she walked into the room.. tears kept rolling down her cheek as she continued to pack her bag.. After she zipped up her bag she walked out.. Her feet refused to move while her heart wanted to go to his room one last time.. with a heavy heart she walked inside his room.. every single memory they made came rushing in front of her eyes.. she found his T-shirt lying on the bed.. Her hand involuntarily reached for it.. she held it close to her face and hugged it against her chest.. engulfed with sadness she fell on her knees crying inconsolably... I love you Dr Shashank.. I love you so much..
Honking of the car downstairs brought her back to senses.. she held his T-shirt one last time against her face and placed a tender kiss .. keeping it back on the bed.. She wiped her tears and walked out of his room with her luggage..
Rahul took her luggage and secured it in the boot of the car... they left for Mumbai..
On the drive back Juhi sat like a lifeless doll.. Rahul tried to ease the situation a bit by picking up a conversation but she snubbed him twice saying Please cut out the formalities.. Can we just go back to your home first and then talk...
Juhi stared blank outside the window .. how her life changed for good in a week and now the tables turned again.. She wondered what caused Rahul to change him so much or is he upto some evil plan again.. whatever was the case she needed to be careful and it was her call ultimately...
Shashank on the other hand was restless.. He let her go without saying a word but what if Rahul once again hurts her.. physically, emotionally.. he remembered how shattered she was.. Why did I allow her to go.. I should have made up some reason and made her stay back.. I should have protected her.. these thoughts hammered his head..
Being emotionally drained he decided to spend the night at the hospital..
He kept glancing at his phone hoping she would call or atleast send a text saying she is fine .. he was worried for her
On reaching home in Mumbai , Juhi walked up to her room.. she needed a hot shower first....As she stripped she noticed the love bites on her breasts and neck which were gradually fading... every thing reminded of him..
She shut her eyes tight and stood under the hot shower...Few minutes later she walked into the room dressed in comfortable clothing.. The shower had calmed her
She noticed Rahul sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands clasped nervously..
She sat opposite to him in the couch..
Juhi you must be hungry .. Why don't you eat something first he said
Rahul please cut out the crap.. I did not come back here all the way from Pune to just eat dinner.. Let's keep it straight. Tell me what is your version for this drastic change in your behaviour she said sarcastically
After a brief pause Rahul began
Juhi , Pooja is in coma ..
( Pooja is Rahul's younger sister & only sibling )
What !! What happened to Pooja .. Juhi was shocked
With tears forming in his eyes he spoke
Juhi that evening after I misbehaved with you at the party , you left.. Unaffected I continued partying.. a while later I received a call from the hospital saying Pooja is critical and has been admitted to the hospital.. I immediately rushed there and .. he broke down crying
Juhi didn't speak a word nor comforted him.. she let him compose himself
I couldn't believe my eyes.. Pooja lay on the hospital bed like a piece of rag.... only sign that she was alive was the blinking of her eyes..She had cigarette burns all over her body.. I asked her who was that Bastard who was responsible for the state she is in... she refused to speak
After much of coaxing she finally opened
FLASHBACK
Bhai.. it is Rohit .. ( Her husband)
He treated me like a slut.. never cared for me., he would spike my drink and rape me every night., he used to bring his friends and they would also misbehave with me., whenever I refused to his demands he would hurt me with cigarette butts., this is going on for a long time.. and now when I told him that I am pregnant with his child he abused me physically and mentally and threw me out of the house., he said he is divorcing me., I didn't want to come home in this state so I went to Sheena's house ( her friend)
Seeing my condition she immediately rushed me here..
Bhai am I so bad to be treated like this.. I have always been faithful to him.. he treated me like I never existed..except for warming his bed he never bothered for me.. I had so much of expectations from this marriage Bhai.. but he killed it .. He has broken me into pieces Bhai..
There is nothing more painful for a woman than to be treated like this...
Rahul felt all his blood draining down hearing his darling sisters confession.. how could someone be so cruel he thought..
At that very moment he realised he was no less than Rohit.. except for the physical torture he was no less a monster in treating his own wife that way..
The sudden realisation hit him really hard.. he became breathless.. he rushed out of the room and ran to his car., locking himself inside he wept for his sister., it killed him seeing her in that state and a while later he wept for his wife..
PRESENT
Juhi sat speechless hearing Rahul.. There was deafening silence..
Rahul spoke.. My baby sister is paying for all that deeds I have done to you Juhi .. I wish I could take away all her pain.. She developed a clot in her brain because of the physical abuse and she slipped into coma the very next day..
Juhi I'm not worthy to even ask for forgiveness from you but please give me a chance to rectify my mistake.. I would do anything in this world to have you back .. please Juhi .. I'm really really sorry.. he sobbed
Juhi continued to sit speechless.. She knew he was genuinely sorry but what should that mean to her ???? She was disoriented..
Just then Rahul's phone rang and it was from the hospital.. Pooja had developed further complications.. so he left for the hospital immediately..
Juhi sat motionless..it was all too much for her to digest .. This man her so called husband needed an incident like this one to make him realise his love for his wife?? Does he think of her as a doll who will nod her head for everything he says??? What if after few days he realises he made a wrong decision and wants to leave her just like his business deals..... Unknown rage came over her and in the fit of rage she threw her phone on the floor shattering it into pieces.. Her head hammered.. she held her head in both the hands and cried her heart out..
She was at a different crossroad this time ...
Shashank was frantically trying to call her.. but there was no response.. he sent her messages.. there was no response to that as well.. he became even more worried .. But he still kept his hope high that she would atleast send him a text or call..
After crying her heart out Juhi felt she needed to compose herself.. Crying wasn't going to help.. She needs to face the situation and fight for what she wants.. She then realised she hasn't called Shashank after reaching.. he must be worried.. only then it struck on her that she had broken her phone into pieces..
OMG what have I done.. She thought of calling him from the land phone but then she realised Rahul hated those telemarketing calls hence he had all the land phones at home disconnected..
How am I going to contact him.. He would be so tensed and worried for me.. How could I be so stupid.... she thought
Now she has to wait till the next morning to pick up a new phone and then call him..and she knew for sure that would not go well with Shashank.. but she was left with no choice..
On the other side, Shashank went mad waiting to hear from her.. He kept restlessly walking around his cabin.. glancing at his phone every single minute.. he didn't sleep a wink that night hoping she would call but she didn't ..
Just as the sun dawned the next morning so did his concern change into something unexpected .. now he was furious .. how could she keep him waiting the entire evening and the night.. didn't she have time to even drop a message.. did everything change overnight ... his concern now changed into rage.. a deadly rage ..