Niharika

Taking the hot cup of tea from Sid my eyes flew back to the door of OT. We have been sitting there for nearly three hours. Hearing a sigh from Sid I turned to look at him. He looked exhausted. His eyes were tried with dark circles underneath them.

I squeezed his palm in mine making him look at me. He gave me a weak smile which I returned.

I blow the hot tea and took a sip. The warm liquid gave a comfort for my dry throat. Closing my eyes I took a deep breath.

Suddenly the doors of the OT opened and a stretcher rolled out from inside. I kept the cup down and stood up quickly with Sid.

The nurses brought the stretcher near us so that we can have a look at him.

I looked at the man lying unconscious in front of me. He looked so weak. There was an IV drop attached to his one hand and a blood bag to the other. He had white bandages wrapped around his torso and his jaw has bruises and his lips swollen.

I feel a knot in my stomach and my eyes were welling up against my protest.

"We have done what we could. Let us see what happens. If he didn't wake up in next 24 hours things may get complicated. We were lucky that the bullet didn't do any damage to any vital organs but still he lost a lot of blood. Let us hope for the best." The doctor said and patted Sid's shoulder.

He nodded his head while giving a little squeeze on Ved's upper hand. The doctor walked away following the nurses taking Ved to the ICU for observation and we followed them quietly.

We sat in front of the ICU in a comfortable silence. I needed answers for a ton of questions and I know Sid wanted to tell me a lot but for now we prefer the silence. To get us settle our thoughts and to sort out our emotions.

"Sid." I turned around hearing a voice breaking the silence around us and saw a man standing there wearing a gray pants and blue shirt which was tucked inside neatly. "Harsh." Sid stood up seeing him and I mimicked him.

"How is he?" Harsh asked.

"We have to wait for another 24 hours." Sid said bitterly.

"Hey, he will be alright." The man whose name is Harsh said and gave an assuring squeeze on Sid's shoulder.

He then looked at me and nodded with a small smile. I nodded in response.

"You must be Niharika." He asked and I nodded my head again.

"I am Harsh, ACP of the city and a close friend of Vedant." He said while extending his hand for a shake and I took it hesitantly.

He let go of my hand and again turned to face Sid.

"I am sorry to say this but the douche bag couldn't make it through." He said with a little disappointment.

I saw Sid's body getting stiff. He fisted his fingers and his jaw tightened. He closed his eyes shut and then opened again looking down wards as if he is trying to calm himself.

"Sorry buddy but the situation was like that and I couldn't aim clearly. You know he was about to shoot you and..." He trailed off and scratched behind his head.

"Yeah, I understand." Sid said and took a deep breath.

"But that lady is out of danger. I hope she will become a key witness for us." Harsh said and gave a Sid a hopeful look. He just stood there without giving any expression.

"And how is she?" Harsh asked again but with a softer tone again.

I saw Sid getting stiff again and he looked away uncomfortably. I looked at him in confusion. About whom they were talking?

"She is still in ICU. I haven't seen her. They said she doesn't have any fatal wounds. She is not in danger. Still they are keeping her in ICU today for observation." Sid said in a hoarse voice.

Harsh nodded. "Do you think she will be able to give a statement tomorrow?" He asked again.

"I. I don't know." Sid said not looking at anyone.

Harsh sighed. "Okay then I will come tomorrow. I have a report to submit. I will see you tomorrow." He said to Sid and he nodded in response.

He then bid his farewell and went back.

We again sat in silence. What happened actually? Why they were in that ashram and what were they up to? And who is the 'she' they were talking about? I had a thousand questions and the curiosity was eating me.

Hesitantly I turned towards Sid. "Sid?" I called him and he looked at me with tears in his eyes.

My expression changed into shock and immediately cupped his cheeks in my hands.

"Sid, what happened?" I asked again and I heard a sob leaving his mouth.

"Aami. She. She was kidnapped." He said and gave him a questioning look.

"Priya. Priyadarshini." He said and I gasped.

"She is my wife we are married." He said again giving me another shock.

Seeing my expression he took a deep breath. "I think it's time to tell the whole story." He said and I nodded.

After telling me the whole story he leaned back and closed his eyes. He rubbed his face with his palm. I felt sorry for him. I gave a little squeeze on his shoulder and he looked at me.

"I am sorry." I said. He gave me a weak smile and shook his head. He slowly stood up and walked in front of the glass door.

We could see Ved lying in there with many tubes connecting to his body.

"You don't have to. No one is to be blamed. This was bound to happen. My only regret is that I couldn't stop him from taking her away. If I had, then all these could have prevented. Ved won't be lying there. If anyone has to be blamed then it should be me." He said and a lone tear slide down to his cheek.

"Sid." I whispered and he quickly wiped the tear. And he avoided my gaze. Sighing in defeat I too looked through the glass door. We stood there looking at Ved's unconscious form for few minutes.

We were about to go back to our seats but suddenly Ved's body jerked and the machines started beeping vigorously. The nurses were running towards him and the doctor rushed in after a few moments.

I watched the doctor pressing his chest with his palms and then someone brought the defibrillator. The doctor took them quickly in his hands. Someone pour some liquid on it and the doctor pressed it on his chest again. His body jerked up wards and fell back to the bed again.

The expression on the doctor's face was giving me knots in my stomach and my heart was beating like I ran a marathon. I could feel my cheeks getting wet. My finger nails were digging deep into my palms an making them sting.

The doctor asked to do it again and the nurse applied the liquid again. He yelled something and pressed it against his chest again. His body again jerked up and fell down again but this time the beeping of the machine became normal and I could see him breathing slowly.

The doctor closed his eyes and sighed. He handed over the thing to the nurse and gave some instructions.

We waited impatiently outside the room for him to walk out. He came after few moments and we rushed to him.

He looked at us and gave a small smile. "We were able to restore his heart beat to normal. Let's hope that he will wake up soon. If he doesn't wake up by tomorrow morning then he might slip into a coma." He said and walked away.

My heart shrink and my tears fell mercilessly. The sobs I kept in control for a long time left my mouth and I fell on my knees to the floor. Sid wrapped his hands around me and I pressed myself to his chest and gripped his shirt in my fist.

We were sitting in silence again. My eyes never left the door of the ICU. Each beeping of the machines was giving me shivers.

"You should go and eat something. You were sitting here from morning." I heard Sid saying.

"I am not hungry." I said without looking at him.

"Niharika." I heard him calling but I didn't turn.

I heard him sighing and walking away from me. After sometime a sandwich wrapped in a paper appeared in front of me. I looked up to see Sid holding it in front of me. He nodded his head asking me to take it and hesitantly I took it from his hands. I slowly unwrap it and took a small bite.

He sat there silently, waiting for me to finish the sandwich.

I almost ate half of the sandwich when he started to speak again.

"The first time I saw him completely depressed was when our dad died. It took years for him to overcome it. Even though it made him ruthless it was better than seeing him in pain. But for the last two months he was lost. I could see pain and regret in his eyes. And they were yearning to see you, Niharika. He missed you a lot." Sid said and looked at me.

The tears were waiting for a reason and they escaped my eyes quickly.

"I know it was his mistake that he didn't trust you but he had his reasons. And that reason is our own mother." He said and creases started to form in my forehead.

He took a deep breath. "She. She was the one who leaked the auction budget report to Singahnia's." He said while gritting his teeth.

"What?!! But why?!! Why would she do something like that?" I asked in complete shock.

"Because!! She wants to frame you for it. And she knows Ved has trust issues and he will do something stupid that will make you leave him." He said not looking at me.

"What?!! Why does she hate me that much?" Confusion was written all over my face. What is her problem with me?!!

"Because!!" Sid stopped his words and closed his eyes tightly. His finger balled into fists as if he was controlling himself from exploding.

He took another deep breath and looked at me straight.

"Our father committed suicide because he found out that our mother was having an extra martial affair. She brought huge debts to the company by pledging her shares to provide money for her lover." He said it with so much hatred and venom in his voice.

I was in shock but what made my heart squeeze tightly and making my body paralyze was his next sentence.

"The one with whom she had an affair was Mr. Nakul Varma." He said and I could hear him gritting his teeth.

The sandwich I was holding fell into my lap. I could feel my body shivering and knots forming in my stomach.

My grip on the chair tightened and suddenly I felt dizzy. Then everything went black.

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