Chapter-6

6 months ago

aakanksha4

@aakanksha4

Riya woke up feeling dizzy. She blinked in quick succession to get a clear view of her surroundings. 

She raised her head with difficulty to check if she was alone in the room. 

NO.

 ACP Raute was at her bedside. 

She adjusted herself in a comfortable sitting position without disturbing the visitor.

He was sleeping on the couch, his head resting over his arm, placed on the bed. Riya observed him carefully.

He was exactly how she was told. A sharp, no-nonsense police officer on the outside, a guilty man suffering from the insides.

 ‘I-don't-give-a-f*ck-to-none-of-that-shit’ on the outside, an emotional fool from the insides.

He had sharp features. A symmetrical face, sharp jawlines, charcoal black eyes, narrow sharp nose, high cheekbones. 

This was the first time she had spared a glance at him for this long. Whenever their eyes met, she chose not to maintain the eye contact for too long. His gaze was piercing and she felt exposed. May be it was the guilt she held for lying to him, or may be she felt pity for the man in front of her.

But there were things she wasn’t told about. She was never told that this man had a heart too. She was after all a stranger to him, yet he cared for her for whatsoever reason, he chose to stay by her side all this while.

“Maureen Johnson wasn’t wrong when he said- Guilt is a weight that will crush you whether you deserve it or not.”

She gave a sad smile. Both of them were guilt-ridden.

Arjun held the guilt of pushing her to death. He blamed himself for her condition, she was hurt because his enemies got her name linked to him.

Little did he know the truth.

“I'm sorry for all the pain, ACP Raute. And trust me, you don’t deserve any of this. But I'm helpless too.”, Riya whispered inaudibly to Arjun.

Moments later Arjun’s phone started ringing and he woke up with a jerk. As soon as he woke up, Riya shut her eyes, pretending to be asleep. Realizing that Riya was sleeping in an uncomfortable sitting position, he quickly adjusted her and checked her temperature and yes, she still had fever.

Arjun rushed to get a bowl full of icy water and pulled out his handkerchief. He soaked it in the water and placed it over her forehead. Riya chose to keep her eyes closed and not let him know that she was wide awake.

 Repeating the process for about three times, he came close to her ear and whispered.

“Take care of yourself just for an hour. I promise I'll be back in no time.”

Saying so, he moved out of the room as quickly and silently as he could, closing the door behind him.

When Riya was assured that he was actually gone, she opened her eyes and couldn’t stop her lips from curving into a smile. 

Brushing all those thoughts away that could land her in trouble, she checked her phone. 

Here Arjun was driving back home after finishing all the left over paperwork for which Commissioner Sir had called him and Rathore. Truth be told, this was first time in a while he wanted to get back to the lodge.

 Because for the first time, he had someone who he thought was waiting for him. He wanted to see her, to check if she was fine. Her current state was heart wrenching and the fact that somewhere he was responsible for it was eating him up. Within 10 minutes he reached his place. He got down the car only to find Mrs.Wadekar returning from her walk.

She smiled at him. But just then a thought struck Arjun’s mind, “Riya had been alone all this while."

He quickly reached the door in two quick steps. The door was wide open. His heart started beating faster.

 Mrs.Wadekar panicked as well. As soon as both set their foot in the house, the ground slipped beneath their feet seeing the condition of the house.

Mrs.Wadekar rushed inside, but Arjun couldn’t move. Horrible thoughts clouded his senses, he relived the moment of Shamsher stabbing Riya.

 Jerking his thoughts away, he dragged himself to her room. He opened the door with his shivering hands. 

This was so unlike him. The fearless cop, the one whom the evil criminals and gangsters feared to death, was scared another time, twice in two days. And it was all because of a girl, the girl who was behind the closed door, in god knows what state.

He finally pushed the door open and in a microsecond crashed to the ground. To his horror and as he had, well, imagined, Riya was lying on the floor.

Flashback:

Riya checked her phone. 5 minutes to 7. Mrs.Wadekar must be going out for her morning walk. She needed to wait some more time.

She adjusted herself in her bed and closed her eyes again. As expected Mrs.Wadekar came in to check on her within a few minutes before leaving for her routine morning walk.

When she heard the door lock finally clicking , she opened her eyes. Gathering all her residual energy, she got out of the bed. 

“Aahhhhh!”, she cried in pain, yet chose to stand strong on her feet. Drawing support from the wall, she limped across the room and finally reached the hall. 

In no time, she started throwing all the things around creating a mess. She then entered Mrs.Wadekar's room and did the same with her things. 

“I'm sorry Aunty. I know you've got nothing to do with this. But…can’t help. Saying so, she broke the vase on her bedside table.

She then opened her closet and threw a few clothes out.

She was just walking out of Mrs.Wadekar’s room, her wound had already started bleeding again due to her moving here and there carelessly. It was just then she heard the sound of a car entering the premises. It was Arjun.

“Back so soon! Why do you always have to keep your promises?”, she panicked and moved to her room as fast as she could. 

She entered the room and messed it up as well. The pillows flew to the opposite wall, the comforter on the floor. She chose not to break any crockery as the super cop might hear it. You never know his auditory skills. Finally, she messed up her hair while her wound was already playing a supporting role, if not the main one, in her theatrical performance.

 Carefully she laid down on the floor, adjusted herself and waited for the drama to unfold.

Note: 

I know this one's a short update. But this one was the last update before the revelation begins. I promise to update a bit more frequently. Thanks for all the love. Keep reading and supporting if you liked it. Would love to hear from you.

🖤A