Vishnu and Aniruddhan were driving the long winding road to the town. Upon the urging of Subramaniyam, they were going to meet the Deputy Superintendent of Police regarding the law and order situation in the village.
"Its getting dark, I hope we can see him in the office. I have heard that after 8 O'clock its difficult to find him sober", said Vishnu glancing through their petition. The road was winding through some desolate place bordered by rubber plantations and wild shrubs. They saw a car and a jeep on the road and quickly Aniruddhan slammed the brakes.
"What happened?" asked Vishnu startled by the sudden halt.
"Vishnukunje, look, its Malathikunju's car", said Aniruddhan.
"And that jeep is Sreekumar's", said Vishnu jumping out of his jeep in panic.
They both ran to see if there was anyone in the vehicles and then looked around in the dim light as the sun had set and the sky was now dark grey in color.
"MALU!!!", shouted Vishnu.
Suddenly they heard a scream from the bushes at a distance. Aniruddhan who had got a torch from the jeep pointed in the direction and they both rushed towards the scream to find Malathi pinned on the ground with the driver of Sreekumar holding down her hands while Sreekumar was holding her legs.
"You son of a bitch" screamed Vishnu and landed a deafening punch on Sreekumar's face while Aniruddhan went and grabbed the neck of the driver in a full-nelson hold. Sreekumar reeled on to the ground and was pulled up by his collar and almost chocked by Vishnu, "If you even touch a hair on her head, I will beat you to death". Vishnu then pushed him onto the ground and Sreekumar managed to get up and said, "Who is she? Your whore?" The next punch nearly knocked him out, with a bloody nose he dragged himself back onto the road. Aniruddhan also pushed the driver in the direction of the road and Sreekumar and his driver fled the scene.
"Stay away from her, or else" warned Vishnu at their receding figures. He then turned his attention toward Malathi.
"Malu, get up", said Vishnu and he took hold of her shoulders to gently pull her up.
"Are you OK?" Aniruddhan asked.
"He didn't get to do anything, you both saved me", she said with tear stained face. "But he pushed me down a couple of times and my knees hurt badly".
In the light of the torch, Vishnu and Aniruddhan could clearly see the blood stains on the saree where her knees were coming in contact. Her arms and legs were full of scratches from the brambles.
"Come, we will take you to a hospital", said Vishnu supporting her with his arms while Aniruddhan led the way.
When they reached the road, Sreekumar, his driver and their jeep were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly Malathi stopped walking and Vishnu turned to her.
"Vishnuetta, I am not feeling well", she whispered, her face was sweaty in the headlight of their jeep.
Vishnu turned to look at her face closely, "What's the matter, Malu? he asked.
The next second, she doubled down in pain, clutching her lower abdomen. Confused Vishnu asked again, "Malu, tell me".
She looked at him in fear and their eyes traveled to her feet over which blood was flowing. With shaking hands, she lifted her saree until her knees and all three realized that the blood that was flowing were not from her injured knees.
"Vishnuetta, my baby!" she said in panic.
"What? You are pregnant?" he asked in horror.
"Vishnetta, my baby..." she cried as she collapsed in pain onto the rough asphalt of the road as the others realized in horror that she was going through a miscarriage.
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Malathi charitham (The history of Malathi) (Kalarikkal series - 2)
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