81. The Horror!

Anika’s PoV

“Thank you, dad. I never knew you would be the invisible help I would get.” Arjun told his dad. Arjun and I went to uncle’s room to thank him for his timely help.

“You are a grown man, Arjun. But you will always be my son no matter how big you get. I only wish for your happiness. I have enough trust in you to lead your life without my intervention but I also have that wisdom to see through you and read your heart. You are my son, dear boy and I can see what you were going through. I initially thought it was Anika’s fault but soon realized that she was in love with you. That is when I extended my support to her. I pointed out her mistakes and made her think out of the situation. I know you would come around as I saw your love towards Anika. I am happy you sorted things on a good note. So what are you going to do about Preethi?”

“She has bipolar disorder and maybe that made her do all these things. She needs medical attention right away.” Arjun said. I could clearly see that he is making up excuses for her actions and I knew then that he would never confront her.

“Whatever it is, she is in the wrong. Do the needful.” Uncle said and we exited his room and walked hand in hand out of the house to our car.

“I will be with you, Arjun. Preethi needs to answer us. She cannot go free after all this chaos she made in our life. Depressed or not, I believe she did everything in a sound mind. She cannot get off the hook that easily with this bipolar key.” I told him for which he just stayed calm.

Arjun called Praveen and told him everything that Preethi had been doing behind our backs and asked him to come to the farmhouse. Praveen was more shocked than Arjun and refused to believe anything he said.

“You are ridiculous to blame her like this, Arjun. I never expected you to say anything like this about her.” Praveen said.

“Come to the farm house right away. We are on the way there and we will talk in person.” Arjun told Praveen and looked at me.

“See, no one would believe it if we say all these bullshit on Preethi. Preethi is a straight forward girl and she is an adamant girl. She would stand on it and get what she wants. She is not a girl who would keep things to herself, that was me.” Arjun said.

“Shhh, it’s ok, Arjun. People change. Or atleast react differently to situations. I agree that Preethi is an adamant girl who always gets her way. I think she wanted your love without her asking for it. I mean it’s just the wish of every girl. We all need someone to love us unconditionally and without expecting anything in return. We are so fragile when it comes to love, Arjun. That is our weakness. We just melt at some caring gestures.”

“Never once has it occured to me that Preethi had a different feeling towards me.”

“Would you have accepted if she proposed to you?” I asked him just out of curiosity.

“No!” he answered almost immediately, which gave me a little happiness.

“Maybe she knew it too. That was why she never tried to open it up to you. She wanted the situation to do it for her. Maybe you would have seen her as a better companion in situations like these if not for me.” I told truly.

“No, Anika. You are wrong. Even now, after all these, Preethi is the most important person to me. But not in any other way than a good friend. She has a huge part in making me the man I am now. I might very well have forgotten speaking like a normal human if not for her. The very few friends I have are friends from her. But not even in dreams have I ever thought of being in a relationship with her. That’s just gross.”

“Ok, don't stress yourself, Arjun. Whatever her reasons maybe, she is in the wrong and she is answerable to me at least if not for you. I have suffered more in this battle of hers without even knowing the cause. She can't do this to me and I am not letting her go without asking her the things that were bothering me.” I told my stand on this issue as I don't want Arjun to feel bad if I have to ask some harsh questions to her.

“You have every right to question her and she is of course answerable. But everything you suffered is because of me, Rose Bud. I am responsible for each and every act of mine. No matter if Preethi has influenced the situation or not, I hurt you knowing that I am doing it. I have no excuse for my swaggering behaviour.” He said, every word with regret.

“Your anger, Arjun. That was what made you go deaf to all my explanations. I thought of burying my past, Arjun. Since it was over, I got a clarity that I have never loved Arun and realized the truth that I have lost my heart to you. I thought it would be best if I just start fresh with you. I never thought of hiding anything from you but I thought it was irrelevant to our happy life. That was the mistake I made. And we didn't hit it right off the bat, we had a bitter start and I will take the full blame for it on me.” I told him in a rush to make him understand it from my point of view.

“I understand, Anika. I am so sorry. I will for sure try to set aside my anger. I am so sorry for all the agony I made you endure through. I realized my mistake when you spoke to me after our altercations before you left for the hostel. Punishing and hurting are more painful for both ends when you can simply clear paths if things don't go as planned. Lesson learned.”

We arrived at the farmhouse and so our talk was interrupted. We made ourselves ready to face Preethi. We got down together and went in only to see the house in pin drop silence. We could not see anyone, not Kathir or granny! I walked to granny’s room to find granny in bed and the nurse looked at me with a question mark in her eyebrows. I walked out, closing the door behind me and went to Arjun. By the time, Kathir came out of the kitchen and looked at us.

“Where is Preethi?” Arjun asked Kathir.

“She was here just now. Maybe she went to the room.”

We went to the room door and knocked on it only to learn that she is refusing to open the door. We heard no sounds from inside and unfortunately the windows were locked. Arjun started banging the door louder, calling for her for every bang. I ran out to go to the side where I tried to open the window but all in vain. I shrunk my eyes to the sudden light that came from the car and I saw Praveen coming in.

“What happened, Anika?” He asked me looking at my horror stricken face.

“Preethi has locked the door and is not opening up. She is not talking either.” I said and he ran inside the house. I went behind him only to see Arjun and Kathir trying to unscrew the door hinges. Praveen was calling for Preethi, and the nurse was standing near the main door without knowing what to do. I felt like something was wrong. The doors were made of very strong wood that it was impossible to knock it down.

“Preethi, please open the door. We will never ask you anything. Let's just bury the past. Open up the door, Preethi.” Praveen was profusely crying for every word he spoke.

After the door had been taken down, the scene inside just made me so nauseous that I grabbed the hand of the nurse nearby. The floor was painted red with her blood and she was lying near the leg of the bed unconscious. The nurse just made me sit on the floor and ran in to help Preethi.

“Preethi! Oh my god, no, no! Oh, no!” I heard Praveen cry and I tried to look at Arjun but I could not see him as the nurse and Praveen were hiding my view. I didn't hear anything from Arjun that made me feel weird in the stomach.

“She has a pulse. Lift her up.” I heard the nurse say that gave me a hold. I sprung up and ran to get a cloth to wind up her wound to stop the blood.

“Here, seal her wound.” I closed my eyes tight and gave the rag to her. Arjun lifted her up and ran outside and we all followed him. I jumped in the back seat and Arjun made her lay on my lap and Praveen and Arjun took the front seats. Arjun started driving towards the hospital and all the way, I tried to wake her up by patting her face. As time passed, she was getting cold on my lap and I felt like my stomach fell into a pit.

“Arjun, she is getting cold. I am scared.” I said Arjun and he drove, breaking the traffic rules. Atlast we reached the hospital and the doctor asked us to give a police complaint as it looks like a suicide. Arjun called someone and informed them about this and we all waited outside the emergency ward with our hearts in our hands.

“She shouldn't have done this! She shouldn't have done this! It’s all your fault, Arjun. She would have been broken that you blamed her for ruining your life. You killed her heart.” Praveen started shouting at Arjun for no reason.

“Shut up, Praveen. We never spoke to her. We found her in the room when we arrived. This has nothing to do with Arjun. Even if it was, Arjun is not to be blamed. She might have guessed that her drama has come to light and decided to end her life.” I shouted back at him. He have no rights to point his finger at Arjun when all Arjun did was to protect and defend her.

“Anika, quiet. This is a hospital.” Arjun shushed me.

“Drama? How dare you call out my sister for making a drama? What do you know about her? I now know, it is all because of you that Arjun has changed this much that he talks ill of Preethi.” Praveen turned towards me.

“Praveen, Anika has nothing to do with this. Leave her out of it. Stop talking, Praveen. This is no time for arguments or fights. All we must do now is to pray for her recovery.” Arjun tried to calm him down but Praveen was in no mood to heed to Arjun.

“You both planned to kill my sister. Now acting like it’s all my sister’s fault. I never knew that you are this cheap.” Praveen was crossing his limits.

“You know what you are talking about is nonsense, right? Calm down, Praveen. Let’s wait for the doctor.” Arjun said.

“Yes, nonsense. Me talking to you still is nonsense. I am going to make a complaint on you for the condition of Preethi. Don't think that you can go free from this.”

“You will regret every word you said now, Praveen.” I told him and grabbed Arjun’s hand and walked out of that place. I controlled myself from telling the truth in my own way, as I understood his sorrow. I now know that hurting someone is never the right thing to do.

“Let’s wait here, Anika.” Arjun stopped outside the emergency ward.

“Sorry, Arjun. I could not tolerate him disrespecting you without knowing the full picture. Don't worry, she will be alright.” I tried to console him. He took my hand in his and sat on the chair.

“Arjun, what happened to my daughter? I thought she would be safe with you. What happened now?” Preethi’s mom and dad and sharanya came into the hospital. Preethi’s mom was talking to Arjun.

“I am sorry, I could not protect her this time. She will be fine. The doctors are checking on her. She will be fine.” Arjun told them while getting Avni from their hand. They all ran inside and we sat again with our hands together.

After an hour long agony, the doctors told us that she survived. I could see everyone’s relieved expressions and Praveen was still mad at us. We never made any move to compromise him or to explain ourselves. When Arjun tried to talk to him, I stopped. I understand and respect their sorrow but that doesn’t give him the right to blame Arjun for something he didn't do. Disrespecting Arjun is ridiculous.

“Give him time to understand what has happened, Arjun. I think talking to him now will only make the issue big. Just enjoy the fact that Preethi is saved.” I told Arjun and Arjun looked at me amused.

“I am amazed that you could talk so sensitively too!” He even made a joke about it. I am glad I could make him feel light. We got back home with Avni as the situation there is not right for the kid.