Anu-Raj [Estd. 1993]

11 - Not-So-Wedding Like

Vanraj dragged himself down to the Operation Theatre.
Kanta sat on the chair before the OT, sobbing. Face buried in her hands. Devika sat beside her, curled up in Ronnie's arms, crying as well.

Ronnie looked at Vanraj startled.
"You?", He said, stumped.
Vanraj said nothing as he simply sat on the empty seat beside Kanta, feeling lifeless.
Just then the police walked in.

"Is this Anupamaa Joshi's family?", The middle aged inspector asked.
"Papa?", Ronnie said taken aback. Devika immediately edged away.
"Yes, I am onto this case. The hospital called to tell us the girl was shot. Give me the details of what happened.", Kedar Randhawa said.

Devika immediately started to recount the events.

Vanraj sat up, noticing Ronnie's father.
The moment of confession was here, he realised.
The more he heard how Anu had been shot, the surer he became about the fact that it was all his fault.

"I am the boy from the garage.", He said abruptly, the moment Devika's statement was completed.
Kedar looked at Vanraj, taken aback.

Vanraj stood up, straight.
Eyes numb with guilt and fear.

Kanta glanced up at him, as taken aback as Kedar.

"Excuse me?", Kedar asked, perplexed.
"I am the boy from the garage who had witnessed the muder of Suresh Joshi six years ago.", Vanraj said, his voice numbing under the weight of his guilt.

Kanta stood up beside him, staring at him in shock.

Kedar looked at Vanraj icyly.
"You think this is-"
"Anupamaa is his daughter. I know these are the same people, Inspector.", Vanraj said, his voice trembled with emotion.

Kanta remembered the day like the scariest nightmare possible.
The clock had struck twelve and her husband hadn't returned. He was to reach their daughter's dance competition six hours ago.
The glamourous Joshi House lost it's lustre when the telephone rang.

Apparently her husband had an accident and the car and burst into flames.

The police had suspected murder and she had been told of a boy from the nearby garage who had been witness.
But the boy never showed up. They had temporarily arrested her husband's business partner but due to lack of evidence, he had to be released.
Her husband had often mentioned his name as Gutlu.

They had shared a strong bond, her husband would often buy him new clothes or books, chat with him for hours after he finished his work at the garage. The last thing she had known was Suresh was going to enroll the boy into a foreign exchange business programme since the boy had a knack towards business.

But post the accident the boy had never showed up. She had felt a surge of hatred towards the boy, realising he was the reason they had no evidence to prove the murder.
Had he given his statement, her husband would have received justice.

Kanta stared at Vanraj, right before her.
And she took a moment to notice his suit.

Kedar inhaled deeply, looking at Kanta. He had been on this case back then too, he had known the boy was his son's best friend, and he also knew why Vanraj hadn't showed up.
But Kanta surely didn't.

She abruptly caught hold of Vanraj's collar and forcefully turned him towards herself.
"You are the thankless brat?!", She shouted at him, rage of years and the anxiety of the moment taking over.