Seventeen

Chapter 22

(Jiggy's)

Arjun, Ishan and I walked through the hospital corridor in the direction of Room no. 702, where Reva was supposed to be in.

It took me a lot of effort, and a million apologies, to extract the name of the hospital Reva was in from Payal. But finally, Payal seemed to give away the details, saying, "I am doing this for her sake. Because I also feel she deserves at least an apology from you."

I heard from Payal that Reva was okay now. There was no danger to her life. Though she had broken her arm, and there was a head injury... She was not dying. I could find my breath only then.

"Still she is okay only physically," Payal told me. "The mentally still in pain. So I am not sure if she will see you."

I was not in the situation to think and care about that.

We stopped in front of the room. I took a long breath. Okay...this was it. I was going to face this head-on now. Not backing off... Ishan knocked on the door. The door was opened and an elderly lady came out. I guessed it was Reva's grandmother. I have heard from Reva that it was her grandmother who ruled the whole house and is very strict. The lady gave me the vibe of the character Godavari Thakkar, the Baa from the serial, 'Baa Bahoo or Baby'. Or 'dadisa' from 'Balika Vadhu'. Respectful, but a bit intimidating.

"Eh... Namaste dadi." I greeted her. Arjun and Ishan did too.

"Forget the Namaste," she said, looking at the three of us. "Just tell me who is it. Among the tree of you, who is it?" Her voice was calm but strict...and intimidating. I could feel Arjun and Ishan getting a bit scared as well. They looked at me.

"Me," I said.

"Okay," Dadi faced me now. "So I will talk with you now. Listen carefully..."

"Okay," I said, respectfully.

"Well, when you are young, things like this can happen." She said. I looked at her, from her sentence we might feel she was taking this lightly, but from her tone, I felt this was not what she wanted to say. Something worse was coming. Dadi continued, "And in the hotness of youth, you will play with fire and cause some accidents. That can happen... But, this is it. There has to be an end to all kind of things. And so whatever you started, bring an end now. I hope you can be mature enough to understand what I am saying."

"Pardon me...?" I asked.

"I mean it would be really helpful if you stay away from our child's life," Dadi said.

No...

"What happened already happened," Dadi said. "We can't change that. No matter how much we try. But we can prevent things from now on. So, we are taking our child away. She will be going to America in a few days, and will stay there with her uncle from now on."

I was panicking. No... No... Reva....

I desperately stared at the closed door behind dadi. I tried to step forward to the door, but Arjun took hold of my shoulder. I resisted myself.

Dadi continued, "Our child is still so disturbed, and it will be better for her mental and emotional health if she is away from the place that will remind her of things. And we all feel that this is the best for her. We can't let her stay in a society that does not accept whatever happened, and will talk about her and make stories... So, it would be really appreciated, if you also co-operate and do not make more rumours."

"But..." mumbled.

"She will be going in a few days," Dadi concluded. "As soon as her visa is ready."