Hasi Ban Gaye (On Hold)

He's Not My Son?

"There are words like 'orphan', 'widow' and 'widower' in all languages. But there is no word in any language to describe a parent who loses a child. How does one describe the pain of 'ultimate bereavement'!"― Neena Verma

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It took her a moment to digest what she is staring at. She came home less than half an hour ago, and heard screams, things breaking. The moment it stopped, she could see Virat coming down the stairs in tears, angry and upset. He was still in uniform, and unscathed, but no doubt something bad had gone down. 

Sai could feel her heart break into two as Pakhi falls to the ground in tears, a bright purple and red bruise on her neck, and blood oozing from her head. Vinayak wraps his arms around her, his face displaying the trauma from whatever event occurred earlier. 

"Muma, please don't cry." he begs to Pakhi, hugging her. "Please don't cry, or I'll start crying too."

Divorce papers lie on the ground next to her, half torn, half trampled. Did Virat do this to her? No, he couldn't... he couldn't! Virat could never hurt anyone like this, right?

"Vinu, go, find Savi, and make sure she's safe. I need to talk to your mumma, so I can help her." Sai whispers to Vinayak, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"No. I don't want to leave Muma alone. Baba hit her, and he will hurt you too if he comes back." Vinayak refuses. "I hate him. I want to protect my mumma."

"No, Vinu, go make sure your sister is ok." Pakhi urges slightly dazed, patting her sons cheek. "Remember, you need to protect her too."

Obeying her request, Vinayak leaves to get Savi. As he walked away, Sai could see he was trembling in fear. What went down here, that Vinayak is now terrified at the thought of Virat?

Pakhi attempts to stand up, only to fall back down to Sai's feet, too weak to move much. "I'm sorry Sai. I am sorry, for everything I have ever done to you. I was wrong, am wrong, and always will be wrong. And what I'm going to tell you next... please don't get upset."

"Go on."

"I got a DNA test for Virat and Vinayak. He knew. They are not father and son. And that means... you are not his mother." Pakhi admits, rather nervously. "Virat found it... and he got really angry."

She felt the ground slip from beneath her. For a moment, Sai wondered if she was stuck in a terrible nightmare. Virat's mad behavior, Pakhi apologizing for her crimes, and Vinu not being her son, this can't be real.

"This better be a joke." Sai whispers, putting a hand on her forehead. When Pakhi doesn't respond, Sai simply huffs out, "Oh. You're not kidding."

Once again Pakhi doesn't move. Slowly, steadily, she saw her slip from her sitting position, to lying on the floor, unconscious, breaking Sai's lost appearance, to one of panic. 

"Oh shit." she whispers, checking Pakhi's vitals. Her breathing has become shallow, as her heart rate has slowed to a rate of great concern. Her pupils are dilated, and she could just barely detect water coming out of her nose. 

Sai's worries are not decreased when she matches the symptoms with whatever it could possibly be. Severe brain trauma. 

Her hand immediately snatched up her phone, and she called the only person she could rely on right now. 

"It's late, but tell me what happened."

...

Satya could see it. He could see the worry in her eyes. He could see how her eyes would go to shivering Vinu every few minutes. He could see the fear in Vinayak's posture, Savi's confusion as she embraces her older brother soothingly.