Oberoi's Ardhangini

CH | 91

Jwalin and Deepak remained silent when they heard her words, but Mr. Hunter shot a question, "How frequently did you get headaches?"

Pranavi cleared her throat and licked her dry lips before she muttered, "Um... whenever I had fragments of these flashes appear in my mind... it would end up in a throbbing pain."

Mr.Hunter took in her features and asked, "How severe is that? I mean did you feel like your head was splitting?"

With a slight pause, he continued, "Or it might be like you were hit with a strong force that would knock you out?"

Listening to it, Jwalin held his breath while his jaw clenched because he realized he didn't know how much pain she was holding in and understood that she was suffering all alone all the while he had no fucking idea of how severe it was.

Pranavi bit her lips before nodding, and her words were barely above a whisper, "kind of both."

Mr. Hunter gave a knowing nod and asked while his deep gaze focused on her, "Can you describe how you feel when you have nightmares about your family?"

Hearing his words, she raised her brows in puzzlement when he added, "Like the after-effects of the dream on you."

She inhaled a deep breath while she bit her inner cheek before answering, "I kind of heard some voices, accusing... mocking... taunting... and heartbreaking, and," she trailed off with her head bent down and her voice quivered, "I often feel like... they were pushing me into a dead end, and those voices made me believe I'm the sinner of my family."

"I would get anxiety attacks and sometimes I'd end up in hospital but the latter was rare." She added while fiddling with her hands, trying to get a grip on herself, while Jwalin's heart ached as he very much grasped what she was trying to say, while Deepak was astounded, but maintained a calm face.

After taking in all her words, Mr. Hunter queried, "And?"

Hearing it, Pranavi raised her head and met his probing gaze while she blinked, her eyelashes were fluttering with flickering emotions as she realized that the doctor knew it had more, but how could she admit them in front of Jwalin and Deepak?

With that, she mumbled, "I don't want to say it here."

Stunned would be an understatement when Jwalin heard her words, and he was the first one to object to it before the doctor even uttered a word when Pranavi tilted her head, only to be met with his hard onyx pools, but said nothing else.

As the silence prevailed in the room, Jwalin took her hand in his and stared at her as if he couldn't believe what he heard, and mumbled, "Do you really want me to leave?"

In fact, she didn't want him to leave, but she didn't want to let him see the darkness she had in her, and with that, she muttered in her soft tone, "I don't want to hurt you, that's all."

Jwalin shook his head while his grip on her tightened, "You would never hurt me. I'm here to accompany you and I will do that till the end unless you want me to go out and wait for you."

"Fine, you can stay, but just don't take it to heart," Pranavi said while Jwalin gave a perplexed look, wondering what was she trying to say.

On the other hand, Deepak and Mr. Hunter almost guessed while complicated expressions were settled on their faces, and Pranavi clenched her hands while she shut her eyes to have enough courage to admit what she was facing and what had she done, "I have... self-destructive thoughts."

When the words sank into the depths of Jwalin, his eyes went wide, and the usual nonchalant cold man was baffled, as he was too shocked, when Mr. Hunter asked with a knowing nod, "Like life-threatening thoughts, Mrs. Oberoi?"