Heena woke up hearing muffled voices. He recognised one of them as Vihaan's. He was talking to someone. A doctor probably. Groaning slightly at the discomfort in her body she looked around to see herself still in the hospital.
The doctors had advised Heena to be admitted since her body was gravely affected by the high dosage of the pills. Vihaan had stayed with her.
What she wasn't aware about was that he had slipped out in the middle of the night, when she'd been in deep sleep and went back to his parents' place.
He had packed all of his and Heena's stuff and got a place on rent with the help of his friend. There was no way he was taking her back to the place which in the first place was the cause of her miseries.
Vihaan sighed remembering the confrontation he had with his parents.
Vihaan was getting the bags out of his room when his mother came out of hers. Her eyes widened seeing him carrying the luggage. It was no difficult to guess that Heena had told him everything.
“Vihaan? Ye kya kr rha hai beta?”
“Wahi jo mujhe bhut pehle kr dena chahiye tha. Actually I shouldn't have bought her here in the first place. Shuru se alag hi rehna chahiye tha.”
This angered his mother and she spoke.
“Uss kal ki aayi ladki ke liye ye sab krega tu?”
“Biwi hai wo meri!”
“Jo mujhe kabhi manzoor nhi thi. Mai kabhi nhi chahti thi ki wo Musalmaan ladki iss ghar mai aaye.”
His mother snapped with hatred in her voice.
“Aap uske religion se hatred mai itna khoye huye the that you never noticed mom. Jo iss ghar mai meri biwi ban kr aayi thi wo Heena Khan nhi Heena Malhotra thi.”
Vihaan's tone gave away the disappointment from his parents. When his mother didn't say anything he continued.
“Apna sab kuch chhod dia usne. Badle mai bas aapka pyaar aur respect hi toh chahti thi na? Kya galat tha? Lekin aap log toh usse insaan ki tarah bhi treat nhi kr paaye.”
“Mai kabhi bhi use ladki ko accept nhi krungi.”
His mother's adamant tone irritated him to no ends and he finally snapped.
“Mat kro! Koi zarurat nhi hai. Aapki validation ki zarurat nhi hai ab mujhe. Puri zindagi maine wahi kia jo aapki pasand thi. Course aapki pasand ka, college aapki pasand ka yaha tak ki job bhi aapke pasand ki. Ek cheez maangi thi aapse. Ki mujhe meri Heena chahiye. And this is how you treat her?”
His mother was shocked at his tone and outburst.
“Aapko uska religion dikha. Ye nhi dikha ki wo mujhse kitna pyaar krti hai. Ye nhi dikha ki mai usse kitna chahta hu. Ye nhi dikha how happy she makes me. You just wanted to create an asset for your old age. And here I am mom and dad. Lekin ab aap meri life dictate nhi kroge.”
He gripped the bags with a determined stance and spoke.
“Aap usse iss ghar mai nhi chahte the na? Fine! Nhi rahegi. Lekin wo akeli nhi jaayegi. Uske saath uska Vihaan rahega har kadam pr. Le jaa raha hu usse yaha se, aapse dur. Aaplogo ka saaya tak nhi padne dunga ab uspe.”
He turned to leave when he heard his father's voice call out.
“Vihaan beta apne maa baap ko chhod kr jaayega tu uss ladki ke liye?”
Vihaan turned to look at him with his eyes blazing with anger. If he was angry before, he qas furious now.
“Don't call me your son! Wo haq kho chuke hai aap. You lost that right the moment you spoke those dirty words for my wife.”
His father atleast had the audacity to look ashamed.
“Aur kyu na chhodu mai? Biwi hai wo meri. Mere liye apna sab kuch chhod aayi. Apna ghar, parivaar, religion, sab kuch. Mai uske liye ek ghar nhi chhod skta? Aur kuch log na deserve hi nhi krte maa baap kehlana. Jinhe insaan se upar majhab (religion) dikhe, wo deserve hi nhi krte.”
He turned his back to them and took deep breaths to calm his anger.
“Aur baat sirf napasandi ki hoti toh mai shayad aap logo ko maaf bhi kr deta. Lekin jo aap dono ne uske saath kia hai, it would be unfair to her. I can't forgive you. Not when her parents have treated me with utmost respect whenever I visited because they thought she was being treated right too. Agar apna beta wapas chahte hai toh pehle bahu ko jeetiye. Uska pati saath saath aa jaayega.”
And he had left the home with those words without looking back again. Before coming to the hospital, he'd put his stuff in the new one room apartment that he had taken on rent from his friend.
Two days later, Heena was discharged with the directions of taking her vitamins regularly. The doctor had advised her against any contraceptive pills because they had harmed her body immensely.
She was dreading going back to the place but didn't say anything. She didn't want Vihaan to be burdened of leaving his family because of her. She'd never wanted restrains between them.
Vihaan drove the car and was aware of Heena's constant fidgeting of her hands. She was nervous and probably scared. He stopped the car in front of the building where he had rented the apartment and she looked around confused.
“Kuch kaam tha tumhe yaha?”
She asked and he smiled turning to her while unbuckling the seat belt from both of them seats.
“Nhi! We are going to stay here from now on.”
He gave her a sad smile when she looked shocked.
“What did you think? I'd take you back to the hellhole because of which you were in the hospital for four days. Never! They're never going to come back into our lives again. And it's not your fault. It's all them Heena. Some parents just don't deserve being treated nice.”
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