To Love Again !!!

Chapter - 54

Abhay entered and found nobody around just some people who were working and he gave them the boxes of flowers for decoration he had gone to collect. There was absolute silence and he wondered if all was well. It was weird because when he had left for the market there had been a lot of noise. It was as if magically everyone had vanished. Then he saw Preeti coming towards him. She looked upset and her eyes looked red too as if she had been crying. He suddenly was worried. Why? Maybe it was nothing. Maybe she was crying because another sister would soon leave after marriage. But a strange foreboding suggested things weren't normal. And he knew his instincts were never wrong.

"Thank God you are back," Preeti said her voice wobbly.

"Is everything okay?" Abhay asked concerned.

"No," Preeti said and looked away, "I am sorry," she said, "but I wasn't there to stop Simrit. She hurt Amrit di a lot today and di is in her room and she doesn't look alright to me. I am really worried for her. Can you check if she is fine?" Preeti said almost in tears again.

Abhay put a hand on her shoulder in reassurance and took the stairs to Amrit's room. Simrit had hurt Amrit? How? Did she hurt her physically? Damn. If she did that he would have a lot of issues with her.

He opened the door and at first couldn't see anything. The room was so dark. But then as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he found Amrit sitting in the corner on the floor with her legs curled up to her chest and her arms around them to keep them there. She looked so lost he felt his heart drop to the pit of her stomach. What the hell had happened while he was gone? He went inside and closed the door but opened one of the windows where she sat. Then sat on his haunches.

"Amrit," he said gently.

Amrit looked up and he saw tear stains on her cheeks and she looked... she looked ill. And then before he could ask her anything she hugged him tightly. Her body weight almost threw him off balance but he steadied himself and tried to ease her arms away from his neck she was practically choking him. But when she increased the pressure he let her be. And then he felt the tears on his shoulder as his t shirt got wet and he gently stroked her back. That did it. She cried like a baby. She trembled as loud sobs racked her body. Abhay didn't know what had taken place apart from the fact that Simrit hurt her in some way but he felt his heart constrict and anger rise.

He didn't care who was at fault but nobody made Amrit cry like this. It was as if she was in a lot of pain. And he knew Amrit well enough by now to know that small things didn't faze her easily hell even big things didn't. It had to be huge. Was it something to do with what she had endured five years ago? She still had to tell him all about it but...and where the hell was her family. Why didn't they try and stop? He would ask questions later and they better be prepared with answers but right now he had to calm her down. She was crying her heart out as if her soul had been wounded. And then he heard her muffled voice.

"I want to go home," she mumbled.

He wasn't sure if he heard her correctly. So he decided to find out.

"Amrit," he said gently, "you are choking me," he said and immediately felt her arms relax and he eased her face close to his heart.

"I want to go home," she said hoarsely in between her sobs.

"But it is Kulraj's engagement tomorrow," Abhay said as if reminding her, "you were so excited. Don't you want to attend it?" he said.

"I want to go home," she said stubbornly.

Well, stubbornness was a good sign. She was coming around.

"What happened?" he asked gently something he was far from feeling right now. He wanted the head of the person who had hurt her so bad. Why? What? Where? It didn't matter. Nobody hurt her and got away with it. Even if it was her sister.

"I slapped Simrit," she said.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

Here he was thinking Simrit had hurt her instead it seemed she had done something wrong. But why draw conclusions? He needed to know the details first. There must have been a solid reason for Amrit to do that.

"Why Amrit?" he asked keeping his voice even.

"She deserved it," Amrit said brokenly, "after all she has done and said, I tried to stop myself I warned her too but she just didn't listen," Amrit said earnestly as she looked up into his face trying to make him understand.

There was so much pain in those beautiful, swollen eyes of hers that Abhay felt his heart ache. She wanted him to understand and he was trying God knew how much control he was exerting to keep himself with her and not leave her here to go straighten that sister of hers.

"Who else was there?" he asked tightly.

And he saw the shame come over her face as she lowered her eyes.

"Everyone," she said still sobbing.

It seemed she was going to cry again as her eyes welled up with more tears. He put her head back on his chest and didn't stop her from getting it all out. She kept crying and he kept the steady rhythm of moving his hand on her back. It was as if she hadn't cried in years and suddenly the dam was so full she couldn't stop now that she had started. Abhay tried to keep his mind cool but it seemed such an impossibility. Everybody had been there which probably meant her family members too. Why hadn't anyone interfered? Why hadn't anyone said or done something to prevent whatever happened? He felt Amrit's crying ease a little and she shivered. Abhay rubbed her arms gently but the shivers continued. The aftermath had set in he realized. He picked her up from the floor and took her to the bed then made her sit there but she refused to let go of him. She kept hiccupping and shivering. So he adjusted her and sat next to her. She clung to him as if her life depended on it. Maybe it did. Abhay stayed with her till the steady rhythm of her breathing told him she had gone off to sleep. He gently removed her arms from around his neck and made her lie down on the pillows. Then placed the sheet around her tucking her in. He watched her sleep. She looked exhausted. He remembered she had told him about the soft quilt that was kept in her almirah and he went to get it. Then placed it around her so she didn't feel cold. A huge breakdown like that must have left her cold on the inside. Once he was done he gently stroked her head and then bending forward placed a kiss on her forehead.

He rose from the bed. Now he needed to get a few answers and he better find them fast before his anger blazed out of control. What the hell was wrong with the people in this house? He wanted to know and he wanted to know right now. With that he walked out of the room and quietly closed the door. Beeji had told him she would box his ears if he ever made her cry well it was time she told him why in his absence was his wife put through so much pain?

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