Another Half Of Me - Chapter 40

Present Day

Sid turned towards the window and clutched the rails trying hard to control his tears. As he closed his eyes, Siddha’s face appeared in front of him. His eyes still held that pain and Sid knew it would never go away.

“I would not stop you, Tania. You can do what you want,” he said handing her the papers and started to leave. Suddenly he turned and said, “You don’t have to go to the police. Just show all this to Bhai and he will punish himself thousand times more than the law will do.”

Tania collapsed on the chair nearby and let the tears fall. Ashish came and stood next to her.

“It’s time he knew the truth.”

Sid had almost reached his car when suddenly a thought stopped him in his tracks.

How did Tania know about Roshni Bhabhi?

She is not supposed to know all this. They had stopped discussing this after Bhai had tried to kill himself. Then how?

Without even thinking for a second, he turned and ran.

Tania looked up and saw Sid enter in a rush. The look on his face told her everything. Throwing the papers away, she ran to him and hugged him hard.

“How do you know about Roshni Bhabhi?”

Letting go, Tania held his hand in her and led him to Roshni’s room. As she opened the door, Sid’s heart skipped a beat. Standing inside a huge room, Tania beckoned him to enter.

Sid’s legs trembled as he crossed the threshold. Glancing at the bed, he staggered back.

There she was, half lying on the bed looking blankly in space without blinking at all even for a second.

Sid looked on as Tania went to her and adjusted the hair around her face. Picking up the wet cloth, she wiped off the saliva dripped from her mouth.

Slowly Sid went and stood next to her. Softly, he touched her hand and called out to her, but Roshni did not respond. He crossed over and looked straight into her eyes.

He could see nothing but emptiness inside them. A bitter and desolate coldness started to cover his mind and body as her gaze pierced through him. Not able to take it anymore, he stood up and went out.

He grabbed the rails of the balcony as Tania came and stood beside him. He turned towards her and grabbed her in his arms, and the tears he had held for so long broke away. Tania held onto him as the sobs racked his body.

Managing to control himself, he slowly let go of her. Fetching the phone from his pocket, he dialled Rudy’s number and when he answered the call, Sid told him everything.

He was waiting outside, when Rudy got out of the car and rushed to him.

Rudy came out of Roshni’s room trying hard to believe what he had just seen.

Roshni Ma’am was alive. But in this way?

“We have to tell Bhai,” Sid said gulping down the tears.

Nodding, Rudy was about to leave with him when Tania stopped them.

“Don’t Sid, please.”

“But why?”

“If Bhaiyya comes in front of her, it will only trigger the violence in her.”

Both of them looked at her in a questioning manner.

“I always keep the television on in her room to make sure there is some noise hitting her ear drums. She has never reacted at all, but that day when she saw and heard Bhaiyya on the TV, she reacted. She picked up the steel flask lying on the desk and threw it straight at the TV, breaking it.”

Turning towards them, she looked at their shocked faces and said, “She will harm him if he comes in front of her.”

Not believing his ears, Rudy collapsed on the bench nearby. Her accusations just before the blast echoed in his ears. Roshni Ma’am believes it’s Bhaiji who did all that? No, it can’t be.

Holding his tears back, Sid looked at both of them and said, “We still have to tell Bhai. He has the right to know.”

***************

Siddha was sitting on his bed trying to work on the presentation for the next project in Shimla. His head was throbbing with the severe migraine he had had since yesterday night. Picking up the glass next to him, he took a sip of water as Prashant entered the room.

“How are you feeling now?”

“A little better than before,” Siddha said as Prashant took out the machine to check his blood pressure.

Looking at the reading, he said, “It’s a little high than usual. I’ll change the medicines. You should get the ECG done tomorrow.”

Siddha smiled sadly as Prashant turned his back. He had been diagnosed with Angina 2 years ago that had become an on-going problem for the past couple of months. Sometimes, he would wake up sweating hard at night with a severe squeezing sensation in his chest and sometimes, he would struggle to breathe even in wide open spaces.

“It’s time for me to go,” Siddha said smiling.

Prashant was about to say something in an angry tone when Rudy and Sid ran into the room panting hard.

“She is alive.”

Copyright © Paromita Majumder. All Rights Reserved