THE ROYS' - 2

CHAPTER - 23

"Hogaya?" Abhimanyu stood at the door, his dominating presence that filled the room before he even uttered a word. His eyes, dark and piercing, swept across the scene - Siddharth frozen, Vikranth wincing, still clutching his shoulder in pain. Neither dared to speak. They couldn't, for the love of god, gather their thoughts to behave sensibly.

"I asked if you both were done?" Abhimanyu's voice was dangerously low, yet it cut through the room like a whip. There was no need for him to shout. He stepped forward, each footfall deliberate, carrying the weight of his fury. "You both enjoy testing my patience, don't you?" He asked as his eyes drifted to Siddharth.

Siddharth, out of instinct, took a step back, until his bhaiyya's order registered in his brain, "Go get Nimisha." He nodded and was quick to run away but unfortunately, he slipped on the carpet. If not for his bhaiyya, he would have fallen flat on his face. 

For a second, none could breathe. Neither Vikranth nor Abhimanyu. Vikranth released a breathe of relief when he saw his little brother safe in their bhaiyya's arms. 

And Siddharth felt like dying as he clenched his eyes shut. He couldn't think of the fall that he was saved from. All he could think was the anger that he had foolishly illicit out of his bhaiyya. Damn him.

Abhimanyu made him stand straight, "Did you strain your ankle?" He asked as he bent down to check on the foot and not until then did Siddharth open his eyes. As soon as he saw his bhaiyya touching his foot, he stepped back, "Kya kar rahe ho bhaiyya? I am fine. Aap please uthiye."

As Abhimanyu stood straight and gazed at Siddharth, his patience was exhausted. That was the limit to his patience and understanding. Without much thought, he raised his hand and placed a whack on Siddharth's shoulder, "Dekh ke nahi chal sakta tu? Bacha hai? Kal hi kaha tha maine... Don't be so impulsive ki regrets reh jaaye baad mein! Kaha tha ki nahi?" He whacked with each word and Siddharth kept wincing, but neither did he think of dodging, nor did he think of yelling for help. 

Vikranth, intervened, stepping in the middle of the duo, "Lagi toh nahi na bhaiy....ya.." He trailed off as he found himself at the end of his bhaiyya's glare. Vikranth gulped and looked down in fear. That was outright fear. There was no other emotion attached to it.

Abhimanyu's jaw clenched, before he shifted his gaze to Siddharth, "Get Nimisha. And don't you dare run!"

Siddharth nodded obediently before he obediently decided to follow the orders. All the way he cursed himself for not being mindful of his Bhai's shoulder injury. How could he not have realized it! 

Stupid him. 

Now that Siddharth was thinking, each one of them were behaving foolishly, just as though they all secretly conspired to be at the end of his Bhaiyya's anger. But he knew that didn't happen because he wasn't part of any such council and yet he messed up. His Bhabhs did, Ruchi did, Bhaiyyu did, Bhai too. Not that they were all illiterate or uneducated. They were all highly educated and highly settled individuals. All of them the social workers, His Bhabhs and Bhai being frontline, especially. And yet, they all behaved foolishly one way or the other. 

He hoped it was destiny taking its course because otherwise, their education, their commonsense... everything is put to shame here. With these thoughts in mind, he walked into the library and informed Nimisha about the situation.

Nimisha closed her eyes in indignation, "You three brothers can't stay put, can you?" She muttered, audible enough to Siddharth, before she got up and rushed to Vikranth's room. 

"Go get Anirudh. Bhabhi ko bhi leke aa. All our lives are going to change for good or bad today I am telling you!!" Nimisha told to Siddharth and the boy didn't need to ask for reasons. He felt that too.