Hearts Crossed

6

A thug kicked his shoulder from behind, probably intending to break his arm. Mr. Bajaj caught himself and turned around to fight his abuser, and then the rest of them joined the fight. It was becoming a long and bloody battle with the thugs down a few men, but Mr. Bajaj was still standing. He was bloody from wounds and his shirt was ripped, and Prerna couldn't stand to see him get hurt because of her.

"Mr. Bajaj!" Prerna shouted and ran towards him. Mr. Bajaj tripped on his feet as he turned towards her, accidentally flicking some of his blood on her. Prerna felt his blood dripping between her eyes, and was shocked. Mr. Bajaj didn't have time to react as he was busy fighting.

Anurag was getting tired of the fight too, and ended the battle with a bang.

Prerna's world stood still as the gunshot rang in her ears.

Anurag stormed forward to claim his prize but his men stopped him.

"Chod yaar, Anurag. Abh baat bohat bardh gai hai. Chal yahaan se!" They managed to drag him away and drove off.

Prerna turned around and jumped as Mr. Bajaj was standing behind her.

"Mr. Bajaj!" Prerna patted his face with her veil. "Aap ko bohot chot lagi hai. Aur, aur woh gunshot..."

Mr. Bajaj stilled her hands. "Bullet mujhe nahi lagi. I was acting to scare him." He took a step and stumbled.

"Par chot to lagi hai," Prerna was beside him, and he leaned on her.

"My car..." Mr. Bajaj said and she helped him out to his car.

She was going to put him in the passenger side, but he pushed her off.

"I can drive. It's not an effort. Come with me," Mr. Bajaj said and Prerna reluctantly sat in the passenger side as Mr. Bajaj drove.

She kept an eye on him as he was swaying and offered many times to take him to the hospital. Each time she asked, he strengthened himself and denied her offer. They were driving down a tight road when Mr. Bajaj toppled over and the car slowed down. Prerna pulled the handbrake.

"Aap ne jhoot kyun bola?!" She yelled when she saw blood pooling steadily on his shirt. "Aapko goli lagi hai! You need to go to the hospital!" She was going to use his car phone to call the police, but he stopped her.

Mr. Bajaj shook his head. "No... hospital. We're almost home," he pointed to the gps on the screen, which showed that they were on a really long driveway. Mr. Bajaj dropped the hand break and painfully lifted himself to drive the short distance, but he could only get so far before collapsing.

"Bhai," he mumbled breathlessly.

Prerna pressed her hand on the horn, hoping someone would hear it. She pulled the break again to stop the car.

Prerna was crying from the stress of not being able to figure out how to help him. Thankfully, she saw lights turn on ahead.

"Aap, aap yahaan... please hold on Mr. Bajaj. I'll go get help." She said and exited the car.

It was hard to run in a heavy lehenga but Prerna made herself run faster as she screamed for help.

Slowly, some flashlights waved around and people came. The folks were shocked to see an injured bride on their driveway.

"W-woh Mr. Bajaj..." she pointed in the direction and some men already began heading that way while Prerna caught her breath.

"Unhe goli lagi hai, our woh hospital bhi nahi jaa rahe. Sabh meri wajah se-"

The women tried to calm her down as the men managed to drive the car to the front door. Prerna followed them and watched as they pulled Mr. Bajaj out of the back seat and took him inside.

"Aap kon ho, madam?" One woman asked.

"Dekh nahi sakti bacchi ki buri haalat hai?" another woman scolded and lead Prerna to the kitchen.

"Bring water," the woman said and a new lady quickly brought a glass of water.

"Nahi, main theek hoon!" Prerna rejected the help. "Mr. Bajaj..."

"Sir ko help kar rahe hain, ma'am. Aap, you drink water. Aap bhi toh trouble se aayi hai."

The woman urged, and Prerna finally tried to drink. She almost choked on the first from all the heavy breathing, but managed to drink the next one.

"Don't worry. Mr. Bajaj will be fine."