(Part 1 - page 1
Part 2 - page 4
Part 3 - page 6
Part 5 - page 10)
KINSTUGI PART 4
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"And, it's done." The doctor gently pressed a strip of medical tape after bandaging her hand.
Half and hour after Yuvika's emotional breakdown, the atmosphere of the room had mostly become calm , but uncomfortably silent.
"Doctor, is my child alright? What about her injury? Can we take her home?" Bhoomi quickly questioned, unable to hide her worry.
Yuvika silently watched the nurse flush a syringe of painkiller through the new IV catheter on her other hand.
"Ma'am, there is nothing to worry about. Usually in such cases of grave head injuries, the patient's consciousness is the most important. And now that Miss Mahajan is awake, I can assure you that she will be completely fine. Sister, is it done?"
The startled nurse almost dropped the tubing spike, as she carefully attached it to the IV bag, pushing and twisting it gently.
"Y-yes doctor." She looked new in her job, the additional fear of making a mistake in the presence of Mahajans was probably making her nervous.
"Perfect! You can take her home by tomorrow ; just make sure that she doesn't strain her mind and body. I will take your leave then." The doctor gave them a shaky smile, before rushing out, the nurse following closely behind..
Before anyone could say anything, Yuvika spoke.
"Ma, Dada Babu. I want to talk to Isha and Arjun. In private."
Her mother and Dada Babu looked at her in surprise for a few seconds before she replied,
"Sure, my child."
They both got up and left the room, with Bhoomi kissing her forehead and Dada Babu patting her hair twice.
Once they did, Yuvika wasted no time in asking what was in her mind.
"How did you guys find out where I was?"
Her siblings blinked at each other in uncertainty for a moment, before Arjun took the initiative.
"Vidur uncle's son had called us here."
"......"
It was clear from Yuvika's expression that she couldn't process what he had said.
"Yes Di. It was almost half past ten at night, when we got a call from the phone you had discarded at the mansion." He continued.
" When I picked up the call, it was him on the line. He was sobbing, voice frantic and desperate as he begged us to come here at once." Isha followed, her voice shaky as if she was recalling the very day.
"Your head injury had almost killed you, Di. Due to heavy blood loss, you were in immediate need for blood, but this hospital had run out of O negative bags. Had we not rushed here immediately and - and h-had Arjun bhai not donated his blood in time, you would not have survived."
Yuvika didn't miss the way she shuddered while speaking. She took her sister's hand and held it under her palm.
"....Where is he now?"
"We don't know. The last time we saw him was when the doctors had to put you in a medically induced coma, and that was 2 days ago." Arjun answered.
"Vidur Uncle has also come with Dada Babu. He was so angry at Neil, pestering him about the details of your accident. But he stood silent and unresponsive.
At one point, Uncle got so frustrated that he had almost slapped his son in front of everyone, before tightly hugging him." Isha murmured.
"Tell me one thing, Di. Was he with you the whole time you had disappeared?"
Isha's tone suddenly turned thoughtful and speculating ; like she was thinking hard on a particular issue.
Yuvika cleared her throat before responding,
"..When I reached Mathura, I found out that Neil was my neighbour. He had come there with the responsibility to renovate a hotel under the Auroras. He must have been coincidentally present near the accident site."
("When it comes to us, co-incidences are not that uncommon, Miss Yuvika.")
Isha squinted at her with suspicion ; so, so intensely that Yuvika shifted on the bed, feeling uncomfortable.
"You know di, the whole time you were being operated, not once did his eyes leave the ICU door. Like it was the only thing which mattered to him. As if the door - or the person behind it - was his everything. I wonder why he reacted like that."
Of course.
Of course.
Her sister had always been the more observant and the more emotionally intelligent one among the three, it was obvious that she would be the first person to figure out - that the bond which she and Neil shared was not exactly 'normal'.
"But why are you asking us all of this, Di?"
Though Arjun was oblivious and his question was innocently asked, she couldn't ignore the way Isha was keenly observing her, as if her response would confirm whatever she was speculating of.
Yuvika cleared her throat again and averted her eyes.
"Well, I just wanted to. Anyways-" She feigned a groan. "-after lying on this bed all day, I am feeling extremely hungry. Arjun, Isha can you please get something to eat for me?"
"Sure Di! What do you want to eat?"
"Anything is fine."
" Okay, I will bring you something right away."
She succeeded in dissipating the topic as Arjun stood up from the chair, distracting Isha from her bubble of thoughts.
"Hey, wait! She is my Di too, you idiot!"
She quickly followed her brother ; the twins bickering to themselves as they went out.
Yuvika chuckled. Even after three months, her siblings had not changed one bit.
But she and her circumstances did.
Yuvika's smile slowly faded as she went into deep thought. This conversation with her siblings had left her with more questions than answers.
Six months ago, she had come to Delhi to seek answers for her father's scandal. And within the three months she had stayed there, a lot of things had come into light.
Her father's fake scandal.
Avni D' Souza accusing him of harassment.
Him leaving his company and moving to Rishikesh.
Vidur uncle's arrest.
Neil's strange equation with the Mahajans.
Her father's unprompted death.
The article writer's warning.
Avni D' Souza's disappearance.
Lack of case files in the record room.
The previous headquarters burning in ashes.
Pooja Sabharwal.
And lastly,
The AV morphed by Neil.
Yuvika's eyes widened.
Why didn't she realize this sooner?!
Every strange incident she had encountered, every unknown phenomenon she had experienced and every hidden clue she had discovered ; was interconnected.
They were not separate events, like she had thought.
Neil's confession had shifted her entire perspective of this case.
Individually, these events never made sense because they were tiny pieces of a bigger puzzle, constituting to form much deeper, much darker frame of sinister conspiracy.
What, where, why, when, who, how.
She had been so busy drifting between these questions that she didn't even see that all this while, Neil Bharadwaj was the one holding all her answers.
He was somehow the final piece and the player at the same time ; helping her to focus on solving one piece while secretly distorting the other, so it would become increasingly harder to solve after each move.
But why?
It was as if he was trying to stop her from looking at the final picture of this mess that would come out, once she was finished.
(She had forgotten that every coin has two sides.)
Maybe because he knew that if she figured out the truth on the other side, she wouldn't be able to handle it. He knew.
Just..... what had happened 20 years ago?
After staying with the Mahajans for so long, one thing which she surely knew was that each one of them had a secret of their own - which they had kept hidden from everyone ; so that their illusion of a reputed person and perfect family member would stay intact.
Yuvika shivered and clutched the bedsheet tightly.
Her father was a Mahajan too.
.
.
At night, after convincing Dada Babu and her mother to take some rest, Yuvika waited till her siblings drifted off to sleep.
It was fine that Neil had not come to see her. She would go and meet him herself.
When the nurse came to replace her IV bag, she stopped her, before getting off the bed and moving towards the door.
She quickly put a finger in her lips when the nurse tried to protest, gesturing her to keep quiet.
Once they were outside, Yuvika looked around and frowned. He was not here either.
"Ma'am, do you need anything?"
"Were you on shift the day I was admitted here?" Maybe she knew about his whereabouts?
The nurse stared at her for a few seconds, before she spoke.
"Yes ma'am. I remember you being admitted 3 days ago."
Her eyes lit up in hope.
"Great. You see, there was a guy who had brought me here - looks like a model but wears denim jackets all the time. Have you seen him anywhere?"
The nurse thought for a few seconds before responding,
"Um, yes. After you gained consciousness, he left the ward. The last I saw him was this evening, outside in the garden."
Yuvika exhaled in relief. Neil, you better stay where you are.
"Thank you so much! Can you please show me the way outside? Is it from here?"
But as soon as she took a step, the nurse held her wrist.
"Um, I don't think you should be leaving your bed at this state."
"I'm fine."
"No, we can't allow the patients to leave the ward. You need to get inside."
Somewhere, she understood that the nurse was concerned for her own safety but, her meeting Neil was extremely important.
"It's okay, I can handle myself." Yuvika smiled in assurance.
The nurse shook her head and grabbed her other forearm tightly, coaxing her back towards her room.
"Sorry ma'am, it's the protocols. Or else I will be reprimanded."
"Don't worry, I will make sure that you will not be blamed. They will discharge me tomorrow anyways so-" Yuvika tried prying her hands off.
"Why don't you understand? We really can't-"
"Do you know who you are talking to?"
The nurse who was taken aback at the sudden shift in attitude, froze in her actions.
"I am Yuvika Mahajan, the eldest daughter of the Mahajans. I can shut this entire hospital down, make its workers jobless in seconds and get them blacklisted with just a snap of my fingers if I want to."
She had tried really hard to follow her father's principles, by staying polite, patient and respectful.
"So it'd be better if you don't try stopping me. Am I clear," - her cold gaze shifted to the name tag - "Meera Kumari?"
Meera, the nurse flinched as she let go of her hand.
"A-apologies, Ma'am. The elevator is that way."
"Thank you. You can leave." Yuvika nodded as she turned towards the exit.
But at times when humbleness and sweet conduct doesn't work, cold power and status always do.
(She had learnt it the hard way.)
Edited by Syon_Anya41 - 7 months ago
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