Hi Swaraginians… Swasanians…
I’m back with another chapter of this Story but honestly, I think that regarding the lack of poeple reading it I’ll stop posting her, I feel like it’s just not interesting you so let me know if you want to read further
****************************************************
ALL PREVIOUS PARTS HERE: All Parts Here
****************************************************
– Swara? What are you doing here? Everything fine?… you need…
Swara’s eyes were unreadable, she keeps detailing her sister’s state from head to toe, drenched to the core and trembling, her long hair locks glued to her fragile silhouette. As Ragini stands up wiping her nose and face hastily, she could see her thin kurta and shuridar forming a second skin over her and her sandals were disappearing in a flake of water under her.
– Swara… Kya hua? Talk to me…
– I sh… should ask you the same, R… Ragini… what do you do here?
Ragini wipes her face one more try plastering a small smile over her lips before saying with a shaken voice:
– main?… kuch nahi… I’m just… I… I like rain, that’s all… I think I just forgot myself here under its drops, challo, let’s go inside you’ll fall ill, okey?
Taking her hand and starting to walk, she’s surprised to feel her staying back in place, not moving at all.
– Swara… challo, you should be sleeping na?
She takes off her sister’s hand from hers and steps closer looking straight in her eyes making her shiver in apprehension.
– Rain’s drops are chilling…
Approaching her hand from her sister’s face, she wipes it adding:
– Your tears are burning your cheeks, Ragini!
For an instant, she could swear that they’re years back, that the past two years were just a nightmare, unreal, that they were never existent… here she was, Swara!
Putting the shawl around her shoulders, Swara continues unaware of her shocked gaze:
– Even my deranged brain knows that staying out in rain is harming! If I do such a mindless thing, I would have a good long scolding from Sanskar…
Ragini smiles sincerely through her tears to the cute innocent pout of her sister forgetting for an instant the aching pain wrapping her heart chokingly. When Swara looks back to her face she has a disgusted mimic saying:
– Nothing to smile about, you know! And ha, if Sanskar knows that because of you, I’m out there in this stormy weather, he’ll scold you too and I’ll face his bad mood for days!
Ragini has a small chukle in response saying:
– Accha… so this why you’re scolding me so badly, hai na?
Swara replies spontaneously:
– Main elder ho… tumaha didi hai… Mera hak hai, hai na?
Before she could even analyze her own thoughts, she’s surprised as Ragini plunges in her embrace hugging her so tightly, she says between her sobs:
– Ha Swara… ha didi… tera hak hai, bilkul tera hak!!!!
Tonight, laying down at Ragini’s side, who slipped in a deep agitated sleep after a rapid hot shower, Swara envelops her sister’s silhouette with her protective arms some new feeling filling her heart for the first time.
Seeing Ragini so vulnerable has risen inside her some power she never experienced before, her world has till now been turning around Sanskar, only him matters… and in the relationship she’s sharing with him, she’s the vulnerable one and he’s the one keeping her safe.
But here she was, feeling this uncontrolled need to protect Ragini from whatever is harming her and on the idea that she had to talk to Sanskar about it, she falls asleep ignoring Laksh’s teary eyes observing them from the door ajar.
He has a sad smile seeing them like that again after so much time, Ragini was right insisting to contact that Doctor Kapoor again, Swara is getting better day by day. At least there was one good thing in this whole mess around!
Bitterly, he feels like Ragini won her sister back losing him! Like if they couldn’t be in her life at the same time… maybe that was their destiny!
Defeated, he walks away thinking of those old memories of insouciance…
The carefree of childhood was also filling Swara’s dreams with blurred flashbacks, girl’s and boy’s voice calling her name aloud… Swara… giggling, she runs away from someone, hides behind someone else… warm colors melting with the brightness of sun’s rays… she frowns angrily in her sleep then tightens her hug on her sister’s silhouette fearfully before serenity wins back her senses a wide smile drawing her lips… in her unconsciousness, she lets go of an inaudible murmur… “Sanskar”.
********
Sitting in the same place for long hours under that photo incarnating what he’s struggling for with all his forces, Sanskar plunges once again in that first meet with his princess here itself, Miss Swara Bose… oops! Gadodia…
*** FLASHBACK ***
– So?… still no thank you? How rude…
Swara turns around pointing a finger at his finger just like she did sometimes before, he rises his brows and widens his eyes in surprise as she says:
– Deko… can you tell me why should I thank you when you’re just doing your job?
He’s about opening his mouth to say something but she adds on the same aggressive tone:
– And by the way… if you were here, Arjun wouldn’t have been in such danger! How in the hell can you be so careless!? We’re handling special children here, with special care needed! What kind of doctors are you!?
He tries to speak again but she warns him even stepping closer toward him making him blink in surprise:
– And if it’s about what happened near the lake, I wouldn’t have been in danger if you didn’t disturb me! It was all your fault and don’t even try to…
She’s silenced by his finger sealing her lips again just like he did at the lake’s board, leaning closer toward her face so much that his breath brushes over her skin when he says:
– Kitna gussa… kitna frustration!… relax!… the world will not fall apart if you stop for a moment taking your breath back!
She blinks furiously few times trying to calm down her racing heart, keeping his eyes rived on hers, he takes off his finger slowly telling her on a calm tone that he has been contacted only last night and travelled the whole night to finally being asked for her agreement at his arrival in the early morning, the agreement he came searching near the lake but she knows how it turned then!
How long has he been talking like that? since when has he stopped talking? Swara is unable to say. This man had some inexplicable power on her, whenever he steps just like that much close to her, looking straight in her huge eyes, she lost the notion of anything else around.
His lips stretching in a wide smile as he lowers his eyes, she blinks again like wakening from hypnosis, the huge gulp of air invading her lungs all of sudden making her realizes that she has even lost the ability of breathing.
Someone calls from outside:
– Swara Didi… Arjun is asking for you!
And just like by magic, he walks away from her breaking his charm…
*** END OF FLASHBACK ***
***************
Sun came back quickly after that night and the following days were dedicated to Swara’s therapy’s effects amazing everyone.
Passing most of her days with Sanskar out in long walks and talks, the cute small girl she has been since she’s recovering well is slowly turning to a more sophisticated version of herself, she has no more problems in articulating while talking, she express her thoughts openly with both Ragini and Laksh, she could handle a whole conversation but only with Sanskar tough. She’s confident and has Maria’s need only for taking her medecines. Apart from her still recurrent amnesia, she really would appear like a complete normal person… yet she’s not satisfied.
Ragini walks in with a hot chocolate for her in end of evening and stops at entry finding her in front of her wide opened closet, she approaches her saying:
– Yeh hai tumhara delicious hot chocolate!
Swara gives her confused look before just walking to her bed where she sits upset.
Ragini puts the cup on the bedside table before sitting beside her taking her hand in hers and asking:
– Kya hua, Swara? What annoying you?
Swara has a small grimace before saying childishly:
– I don’t have anything to put on!
To her sincere desperate tone, Ragini couldn’t help but laugh heartedly, no one would believe it, but it was exactly old Swara’s words whenever she’s going out!
– Ragini!! You’re bilkule like him, na!
– Like who?
She snatches her hand from her sister’s even more frustrated which sobers Ragini immediately, she asks her holding her ears:
– Sorry baba… didn’t want to upset you… it’s just that, you’re obviously not in lack of clothes, your closet is full…
– Of things like that!
Pointing to herself, she just continuous her sister’s sentence surprising her.
In a short white shorts and a pinky t-shirt ornamented with a smiling bear holding a wingy heart, with her ponytail and flat shoes, she’s looking bilkul fine, thinks Ragini!
– Swara, what’s wrong with your clothes, you’re so cute and look much younger than me, which is by the way depressing!
– Exactly!!!
Ragini looks to her astonished replying:
– What’s exactly! You shouldn’t say things like that you know… you should reassure me and say that I don’t look like oldies!
Swara gets up walking nervously letting behind her a smiling tearful Ragini, she’s just feeling like Swara is back!
– It’s nothing like that Ragini… it’s just that I don’t want to look like a child anymore! I see people around me when I’m out, they give me surprised looks, detailing me from head to toe like I’m some strange specimen exposed in a gallery!
– I see…
– What do you see?
– I mean I’m understanding you and I think that I have your solution… you have your hot chocolate, it’s getting cold and have a rapid shower, I’ll be back in few minutes!
As Ragini exits her room, Swara sits back on her bed taking a sip from her chocolate absentmindedly her gaze roaming over her opened closet contents. She hasn’t been totally honest with her sister as what was disturbing her the most is those beautiful girls who turns around whenever she walks by their side with Sanskar, their appreciative looks on him and an idiot irritating smirk toward her.
It took her time to understand that she was out of standards in those schoolgirl’s outfits, it didn’t matter before… before what she doesn’t know, for what reason, she doesn’t know… but now it matters!
***********************
Sanskar parks his jeep outdoor the Gadodia’s mansion at the moment Laksh’ is passing. They greet each other coldly as Sanskar gets down ordering the white shirt he’s wearing over a grey classic pants, Laksh’ stops frowning at the sight of a birth mark disappearing under his opened collar.
Sanskar adjust the fabric covering it immediately saying one brow raised:
– What’s going on?
Laksh’ looks to him confused and he points a finger making a round at its shape saying:
– You look… heartbroken!
Laksh’s breath seems stopped for a moment his gaze getting lost before he composes himself frowning displeased, Sanskar adds smiling walking toward him:
– Sorry, I’m sort of direct person in expressing myself, you know!… oh please don’t even try to deny!
He stops Laksh’ who was about saying something, then putting his hands in his pocket he explains:
– Weight loss, tired face, dark circles around reddened eyes, hidden alcohol smell with too much cologne… neuro-psychiatric doctor… you remember!
Laksh’ takes a deep breath inflating his chest proudly his head high as he replies:
– I’m not you patient, so thanks but no need of your diagnostic… and by the way, time is running Doctor Kapoor, I hope you remember that your small idyll will soon reach its end!
Face to the interrogative expression Sanskar’s gives him, he smirks defying him:
– Oh come on yaar! I’m not Ragini… you really think that I believe in your selfless devotion toward a random patient! I’m not Ragini!
The allusion in Laksh’s words irks Sanskar who takes off his hands from his pockets thightening his fist!
– Kya? What’s going on? You look… exposed! No need of high diploma for reading in you too, you know!
Laksh’ starts turning around him explaining his point:
– I accord you the benefit of being a good doctor and Swara’s state improved with your work like never before, but it’s not like if you leave your job for every patient’s sake, hai na?
He faces him looking straight in his eyes and pointing a finger to chest’s left side adding:
– Be careful Doc’… soon you’ll be heartbroken too!
Before Sanskar could say anything, Laksh’ signs with his chin to the mansion’s main door behind him exclaiming:
– Tumhara princess is here!
At the moment he looks back… the whole world around evaporates in a fog as he whispers stunned:
– Swara!?
TO BE CONTINUED…