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On Sunday morning Roshni was in a slightly better mood. Her behavior the previous day with Deepak was not acceptable, and she knew it. She was sipping chai with Sheetal when her phone rang. It was Deepak again.
“Hello, Roshni, how are you?”
“I’m all right.”
“Roshni, I was very worried for you. Are you okay, dear?”
Roshni listened to his sweet, concerned words. “Yes, I’m fine.” She paused and continued, “Is there anything important you need to talk to me about, Deepak?”
“Yes, are you sure you’re all right?” he asked.
“I’m okay. Please don’t worry.”
“So tell me…what happened that you spoke so rudely to me?”
“Deepak, please don’t start this again, my sincere request,” she said.
“Okay, okay! I won’t go there, but you know…I was very concerned. There is nobody there with you, and if you are upset or sad…do you have any good friends there to talk to and share with?”
“Deepak, thanks for your concern. I’m fine here.” She asked after a pause, “Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Roshni, what is the matter with you? Why are you so annoyed?”
Roshni did not want to talk to him and plainly told him that she was not in a mood to talk now. Deepak sensed the tension and cooperated with her. He did not want to make things worse for her, especially when she was by herself, and both of them disconnected.
Deepak became anxious and literally counted the days before he left for India. The days passed sluggishly, every minute was strained to eternity, the physical distance made her unreachable.
On the other hand, Roshni’s introspection took away all her energy. Why am I behaving like this with Deepak? He is being so caring and certainly seemed concerned for me; why am I not able to forgive him?
She was aware she had started to have feelings for him the day she was told she would marry him. These were the values she grew up with. With all the developments that happened after their marriage and until recently, part of her wanted to be with him, but her ego would not let her accept the betrayal. She struggled between these two personalities and was unable to make a decision. Being a woman of integrity and respect, she could not reconcile to the fact that Deepak behaved immaturely on the wedding night and had apologized to her. Of course, being a private person, she never discussed this topic with anybody for some guidance or solace.
~ ~ ~
Sheetal and Aunty saw Roshni was desolate. They tried to cheer her up but to no avail. Sheetal convinced Roshni to go to a temple with her to divert her mind, and Roshni agreed. They planned to go to the temple that afternoon, and since the market was close, they decided to take a walk to the market for grocery shopping as well.
As planned, after the temple visit, they started to walk to the market. Sheetal made all efforts to divert Roshni’s mind. They were busy talking on the way to the market, and Roshni was closest to the road. It was a busy road with a lot of pedestrians and vehicles all trying to cut each other off and arrive faster at their destinations. The shops crowded the roads with people bargaining for fruits and vegetables, the hawkers shouting loudly with their bargains, and people chatting loudly to make themselves heard above the noise.
All of a sudden, Roshni screamed and was knocked to the ground. Roshni had been caught in a multiple vehicle accident (auto, rickshaw and scooter) and was bleeding profusely. She had injuries on her head and entire body. It was unclear immediately as to how severely injured she was. There was a lot of chaos, and several people gathered around Roshni. The rickshaw was smashed in the front, with minor injuries to the rickshaw puller, the scooter and auto rickshaw both got wrecked, with slight bruises to the drivers.
Roshni tried to move her hand to stand up, but her right arm and left foot were swollen, and she experienced excruciating pain. Sheetal panicked and tried to stop the bleeding with her dupatta. Roshni was on the ground and unable to move. Getting some help from a few people, Sheetal grabbed Roshni’s purse and took her to a nearby hospital, which fortunately happened to be a popular hospital in Bangalore. This was an emergency, and several doctors attended Roshni immediately. She was taken to the operation theatre, and after a few hours, she was brought out on a stretcher and moved to a room.
Sheetal was completely shocked by seeing Roshni in a pool of blood. She was very worried and didn’t know how bad Roshni’s injuries were. She couldn’t decide whether to call Sashank in Mumbai immediately or wait for the doctor to give her an update so she could communicate the details to Roshni’s family.
The doctor who attended Roshni, Dr. Vijay Swaminathan, called Sheetal into his office and gave her an update on Roshni’s condition. He explained to her that Roshni had multiple fractures in her right foot and ankle and a major fracture in her left arm. She had bruises all over her body, and two injuries –on her forehead and left thigh – were deeply cut and needed stitches. It was indeed a major accident, and she was lucky she survived.
The doctor and nurses took great care in treating Roshni. Dr. Swaminathan informed Sheetal that Roshni would have to be in the hospital for some time to be monitored for infections. Roshni had lost a lot of blood, and she was very weak. Sheetal repeatedly asked the doctor if Roshni would be all right, and the doctor assured her she would be.
Sheetal noticed that Roshni slept peacefully under the effect of the anesthetic. She stared at Roshni. I feel sorry for her. She has been going through mental stress for the last two days; she never talked to me or Aunty and was not happy talking to her husband either. I hope nothing serious has happened in her life.
Sheetal called Aunty at home and informed her of the accident. It was agreed that Aunty would come to the hospital the next day. Sheetal then sent a message to Akash, asking him to call her as soon as he saw the message.
~ ~ ~
In Mumbai, Akash was getting ready for bed. Sashank and Kusum had already retired to their room. Very casually he looked at his phone and noticed Sheetal’s message. He smiled. He and Sheetal had become good friends and communicated with each other frequently. Akash was in two minds – whether to call Sheetal this late or wait until the next morning. Something prompted him to call her that night, and he did.
Sheetal recognized the number on her phone. “Hello.”
“Hello, Sheetal, how are you? I saw your message–”
