meet me in the afterglow

Chapter Four

Riddhima sat crying in the fire escape. Armaan's return had unlocked the barrage of emotions she'd been keeping locked away. She'd been so stressed and worried about how her parents were feeling, that she'd forgotten what she herself was feeling in that moment. Her parents were much more important than her. And, she knew, if she let her emotions flood her, she wouldn't be able to handle herself. Without Armaan in her life, she didn't know who to turn to, who to share all that pain with.

Armaan knew her so well. When he was with her, she never worried about anything. He was able to read her silence. And, he knew exactly how to take control of the situation and handle everything. She never had to pretend in front of him. But, these past months had been just a pretense. She'd been trying to keep her parents happy, and at the same time, she was trying to find some semblance of control in her otherwise upset life. In feigning normalcy, she was so far gone that she didn't even realize when she locked herself up in herself, never reacting to anything.

And, as time passed, that became her new normal. She didn't know anything else. Now, suddenly, this flood of emotions was making her uncomfortable. She didn't know what to do, how to react, how to control herself.

Her heart started beating faster, her breaths coming in quick succession, her lungs clamped up. The last thing she remembered was Sid shouting "Riddhima!" Before she everything turned black.

Armaan had finally left from Shashank's cabin a few minutes ago. He'd been a mess, unable to deal with everything. He'd been bordering on hysteria and it had taken both Atul and Shashank to calm him down enough to think rationally.

Armaan had been inconsolable, blaming himself for everything. If he wouldn't have left Riddhima, nothing of this sort would ever have happened with her. Sid wouldn't have even had the guts to think about it, much less do it. But, as angry as he was with himself, he was angrier at Sid. He was the reason that Riddhima was in the state she was today.

Armaan had wanted to teach Sid a lesson for misbehaving with Riddhima the way he did, but Atul had talked Sid out of it. He'd told Armaan about how nice a person Sid was. Yes, he'd made a mistake and not a small one. He'd made a very, very, very big mistake, but that didn't mean he was a bad person at heart. He'd even looked after Riddhima after her ill fated decision to rush to Panchgani in search of Armaan. Atul, who'd brought Riddhima home, told Armaan that had it not been for Sid, she could have died that night. It was all because of his efforts that she was alive. That stopped Armaan short.

But, he still wanted Sid to suffer for the photographs. Shashank had explained to him that it had already been taken care of. After everything had happened, seeing Riddhima's criticism and taunting at every corner, Sid had come clean about everything. He'd told the Board it had all been his fault and that he'd been desperate to take revenge for the way Riddhima had been treating him since they met. After listening to him, the Board had seen it fit to suspend him for a month and he was made to work without pay for the next 6. This incident was recorded in his file and he'd been issued a strict warning that should something happen, his medical license would be cancelled. And, it almost had, when Riddhima accused him a second time. It was only because of the police report that it was discovered that Riddhima's accusations were untrue.

Listening to all this had been too much for Armaan and he'd quickly left the cabin, making excuses.

"Atul," Shashank said, watching him flee, "zara khayal rakhna Armaan ka. Woh is waqt shock mein hai. Aur jahaan baat Riddhima ki aati hai..." He sighed, trailing off. Everyone knew how possessive Armaan was about her and that he lost the ability to think rationally with anything involving her.

"Aap chinta mat kariye, Sir. Main usse akela nahi chodunga," Atul promised.

Here, Sid was surprised to see Riddhima lose consciousness right in front of his eyes. He quickly opened the door to the fire escape and caught Riddhima just in time before she hit the floor. He picked her up in his arms, placed her on a stretcher and ran towards the emergency room.