Insatiable Desires

Chapter 14

Her mother in law stared at Nandini as she was sweeping, but looked lost in her own world. As she looked at her condition, she was concerned because at four months pregnancy, she had gained weight but her face looked pale, she even had low bp yesterday. When they consulted the village doctor, she just told them there was nothing to worry about. She decided to talk to her son to take Nandini to a good doctor after he came back from the city next week, where he had gone for work four days back.

After sweeping the house, Nandini went to the kitchen to prepare the lunch since Mahir will be returning from school. As she crouched down to take out the tin containing flour, she winced as she felt a back ache, which she had been feeling for the past few days. She rested her hand against her slightly swollen belly. In her heart, she knew that something bad was going to happen, noticing her sudden deteriorating health for the past few days. With immense difficulty, she prepared the lunch for her son, foregoing her thoughts as being paranoid.

When the loud voice of Mahir filled the house as he called out her name, Nandini filled a glass with water and walked out of the kitchen to greet him. As he sat near her grandma, chatting enthusiastically, she gave him the glass, smiling and pressing a kiss on his forehead as he told her about his school.

When she asked him to go wash his face, he ran off. Nandini turned to her mother in law and said, "Maaji. Mujhe meri tabiyat theek–" Nandini stopped mid sentence as sudden dizziness overwhelmed her and she heard her mother in law screaming out her name before she screamed for someone to bring Manik in the background as she lost consciousness, however the only thing she remembered before her eyes closed was the red liquid pooling on the floor.

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Manik swallowed, his throat closing as his eyes welled up, his own breath stopping as he stared at the small baby in his hands. She tried to gasp for breath, however her lungs, which hadn't developed fully, were unable to do so. Her eyes peeked at him for a second before her eyes closed, that second enough to haunt him his whole life as he lost his daughter forever.

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As Nandini opened her eyes, her head pounding, she was met with the sight of her mother as she was busy reciting prayer and her fingers telling the beads of her rosary. Looking around, she noticed the unfamiliar surroundings and feeling her throat drying, she groggily whispered, "Maa."

Her mother immediately left the prayer upon hearing her daughter's voice, getting up and holding a glass in front of her lips, helping her drink the cool water. When Nandini settled back, slightly coming back to her senses, she noticed her mother's swollen eyes and whispered, "Maa, aap roh rahi thi? Sab theek hai na?"

Her mother nodded, although the tears in her eyes told Nandini entirely a different story. She stared at her while thinking back to how she reached here and recalled something and told her frantically, "Maa woh Mahir ne khana khaya? Woh subah se school tha. Bukha hoga. Hume ghar chalna chahiye."

"Nandini–" her mother said, her own throat closing as she didn't know how to break the news to her daughter. However, she didn't need to as the door opened and her son in law entered, who himself looked like a mess. His eyes were bloodshot red, his hair messed up and clothes wrinkled with splashes of soil as he came back, burying his unborn child. Patting his shoulder, Nandini's mother walked out of the room.

Nandini furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at noticing her husband and as he came to stand beside her bed, her heart thudded in slight fear, her hand involuntarily moving to her belly. Her breath stopped as sudden realisation dawned on her. His eyes averted, as she whispered, "Mera bacha?" When he refused to meet her eyes, although his answer told her the answer, she refused to believe it and asked again, almost pleading, "Mera bacha kaha hai!"