कभी यूँहीं, जब हुईं, बोझल साँसें

भर आई बैठे बैठे, जब यूँ ही आँखें

तभी मचल के, प्यार से चल के

छुए कोई मुझे पर नज़र न आए, नज़र न आए

Author's POV.

It was morning.

The room was dimly lit, shadows dancing across the walls as Priya slowly stirred awake. Her head throbbed, and her body felt heavy as if she had been dragged through a storm. She tried to sit up but failed. Memories of the abduction flooded back, the fear and desperation as she was torn away from safety.

Through the haze of pain, Priya's eyes adjusted to the surroundings. The room was bare, save for a small window high on the wall, allowing slivers of sunlight to filter in. She felt a shiver run down her spine as the events of the past few days replayed in her mind.

Feeling thirsty, she winced a little. Her body was so unnaturally weak that she wasn't even able to move properly.

She felt him coming and sitting beside her on the edge of the bed.

Her eyes went wide in shock, his white kurta painted in red. Red. The colour she wanted to see least right now.

She touched his chest with her palms, her heart racing, chest heaving.

"Pani chahiye?".

He asked in a concerned tone.

She nodded, just a bit. He gave her water and helped her drinking it.

When she finished, he kept the glass aside. No one was in the room except them.

She asked, inhaling deeply,

"Yeh kya hai abhigyan?", without hesitating in taking his name, only his name.

He understood why she was speaking to him in this way. He knew. He should've been here when she needed. But he wasn't. He was in guilt. Utter guilt.

His eyes noticed her eyes again. He didn't knew how will he tell her everything. How?

He asked cupping her cheeks,

"Kaisi ho tum? Acha mehsus ho raha hai?".

She shook her head, hitting her palm on his chest lightly,

"Hum kuch puch rahe hai aapse Abhigyan. Yeh khoon... Yeh kya hai."

He gulped silently as his adam's apple moved.

Caressing her cheek with his palm, he muttered in a low, yet confident voice,

"Maar Diya humne sab ko -- Jaan se."

Her eyes widened. In confusion and shock.

"Kisey? Kisey maar Diya aapne?".

"Tumhe kuch yaad nahi hai, Priya? Kuch nahi?", Abhigyan asked her, in a low, soft voice.

She thinned her eyebrows, her lips parted,

"Yaad hai hume.. Hume yaad hai Abhigyan ji.. sab yaad hai hume."

Caressing her hand, he asked,

"Kya yaad hai? Jab tumhe le jaaya Gaya?".

She nodded, all the memories flushing back in front of her eyes. Those pretty fucking bad memories.

"Yaad hai hume..", her eyes welling up, "yaad hai.. woh lejaa rahe the Hume.. andhera kamra.. sab yaad hai hume."

He pulled her for a hug. Hugging her tightly, he bit his lower lips in anticipation, asking in a very low voice,

"Humara bachha".

Her lips parted, in shock, trying to breathe in, breathe more, she didn't feel it, no more, it was empty.

She tried to get rid of his hold, but he didn't leave her. He wasn't ready to. He kept on holding her tightly, caressing her back.

"Hume... Humara...," she started sobbing. Very loudly.

"Hum-humara- humara bacha..Abhigyan, humara bachaa."

She was jiggling in his arms, pushing him away, crying loudly, but he wasn't leaving her, he was just caressing her. Priya's heart clenched in agony, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to comprehend the magnitude of her loss. The child she had carried, the hopes and dreams she had nurtured, all shattered in an instant.

She blabbered. Blabbered whatever she was feeling while crying loudly. She kept on blabbering.

Her husband's absence weighed heavily on her mind. She had felt abandoned, betrayed by the one person she had expected to stand by her side through thick and thin. Anger surged within her, threatening to consume her as she blamed him for not being there when she needed him the most.

She pushed him very forcefully away and he almost fell on the floor.

"Aaap... Aaap Kahan the...Kahan the aaap... Jab hum aapko pukaar rahe the... Kaha the aaap Abhigyan."

He had no answer. He was already in guilt. He had no other option other than staying quiet and let her say whatever she wanted.

"Aapko... Aapko.. kitni baar bulaya humne.... Aap jaante the .. aap jaante the hum..aaap pita banne wale hai... Fir bhi... Aap nahi the.."

"Aaap...nahi the...nahi the...humare pas... Jaiye yahan se... Chale jaiye..."

She started throwing things from the bed on the floor.

She shouted in a very loud voice,

"Jaiyeeeee.... Nahin chahiye Hume aap...jaiyeee humari aankhon ke saamne se."

He stood up, trying to hold her again, but she pushed him back again, sobbing hardly.

She saw Abhisar reaching towards their door. She shouted loudly refering him,

"Le jaiye apne bhaiya ko yahan se... Nahi dekhna Hume inko."

Abhisar entered inside trying to interrupt but she showed him her palm and stopped,

"Ek shabd nahi Abhisar. Hume akela chor dijiye."

She tried to stand up, but failed miserably. She again stood up from the bed, gaining all her courage and pushed him more.

Another step, and she fell down on the floor after fainting.

Abhigyan picked her up immediately in his arms while Abhisar came instantly with water.

He placed her on the bed and Abhisar splashed water droplets on her face, trying to wake her up. But she didn't. He wanted to cry, cry his heart out. Guilt was engulfing him slowly. Silently, he ordered Abhisar to leave them alone. And he left.

After some twenty minutes, she opened her eyes again, very slowly.

She tried to sit up, but Abhigyan stopped her. He gave her water to drink, which she denied. He pleaded through his wet eyes, she accepted and drank a little.

He could see tears rolling down her eyes and she noticed, his eyes red-rimmed and weary. She felt a wave of empathy wash over her. She saw the pain etched in his features, the guilt that mirrored her own. In that moment, words remained unspoken, but understanding passed between them like a silent promise.

Without speaking, she just hugged him. And he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

They both sobbed. It was first time she saw her in this state. Crying this badly. They both were caressing each other's back. They had both lost something precious, something irreplaceable. And as they held each other close, their grief mingled in air.

Abhigyan spoke somehow,

"Kin kin cheezon.. ke liye hum.. maafi maange aapse... Kin kin cheezon ke liye Priya."

He inhaled deeply,

"Hume nahi pata tha.. itna kuch hojaega humare piche.. Hume bilkul nahi pata tha babu."

She sobbed more, clenching his red-painted kurta.

"Tumhe.. tumhe nahi pata hai.. kis daur se guzre hai hum pichle do dinon me.. kis daur se humara Bhai guzra hai.. bahut kuch hogaya Priya.."

She broke the hug, looking into his eyes. He held her hand tightly, not wanting to leave her.

She wiped his tears first and then of herself.

She asked, in a low, weak voice,

"Kya hua? Bataiye Hume."

He shook his head.

"Humse baatein chupaenge aap?".

He shook his head a bit and spoke slowly,

"Jabse tumhe Abhisar ne yahan laya, tabse behosh thi tum."

Her heart pounded heavily.

"Abhisar-".

He paused.

Trying to collect courage.

She held his collar and asked,

"Kya hua Abhisar ko?".

He gulped.

"Wo jab tum.. tumhe-".

He was cut by Abhisar's voice,

"Bhabhi, uth gayi aap?".

Priya saw him and called his name in a loud voice,

"Abhisar- idhar aaiye."

He licked his lips in fear, his bhabhi's voice was different. Very different.

He walked in, standing infront of Abhigyan and Priya. His hands back.

Priya asked strictly,

"Kya hua hai.. aapki tabiyat theek nahi hai, kisi ne kuch kaha aapse? Kya hua hai aapko?"

His body shivered a little by her tone.

"Abhisar- jawab dijiye."

He looked at Abhigyan. Priya looked at both of them.

Abhigyan saw Priya once and then spoke to Abhisar,

"Le kar aao."

He nodded and left from there.

Priya waited in confusion for him to return back.

Minutes passed.

And she saw him coming back inside the room with slow steps.

He entered inside and spoke,

"Aa jao andar."

Priya thinned her eyebrows, focussing on the door.

A woman, no, a girl, younger than her, stepped inside, in a blue saree, half face covered with veil.

They both walked in, distance between them visible. Abhisar stood infront of the bed, on his previous spot and the girl, the girl walked towards Priya's feet, to touch it.

Immediately, Priya pulled her feet back.

She looked at Abhigyan first, his eyes lowered down.

She moved her gazes to Abhisar and asked him,

"Who is she?".

Abhisar replied after a pause,

"Bhabhi--," he inhaled deeply, "Humari shadi hogayi, biwi hai humari."

*****