Ishq hua (Duet 1)

Chapter 30: अंत या आरंभ

Author:

The hospital corridors blurred past Arsh as he ran, the sharp scent of antiseptic burning in his nose. His boots echoed off the marble floors with each urgent step, Vyom trailing just behind him - silent, but steady.

He turned a corner - and stopped dead.

Tara was sitting on the floor outside the OT.

Blood smeared her white shirt, staining the sleeves and collar like someone had dipped her in red paint. Her face was pale, streaked with dirt and dried tears, her hands trembling in her lap like they no longer knew what to do.

And she wasn't alone.

Dev Dixit was there. With her.

He seemed to be trying to calm her down, but Tara kept shaking her head, muttering incoherent things under her breath.

Arsh's heart plummeted.

"Tara!"

She looked up the moment she heard his voice.

Her eyes were wide. Haunted. Broken.

He dropped to his knees in front of her instantly. "Sweetheart - what the hell happened? Are you hurt? The blood..."

He noticed the man beside her but didn't acknowledge him. Whatever his business was there, it could wait.

His arms wrapped around Tara as she gripped his shirt, crying like her world was ending.

"It's not..." she gasped. "It's not my blood... It's - It's Rishaan's... bhaiya - he - he is here because of me..."

Her words choked out like shattered glass.

His arms tightened around her. "Tara... shhh, it's okay. I am here now, I am here - just breathe, okay?"

She shook her head violently, pushing away slightly to look up at him with red-rimmed eyes.

"No, it's not okay! None of this is okay! I should have listened! He told me to go home. He told me!" she screamed, her voice breaking, her body wracked with guilt.

Her lips trembled as she clutched his forearms tightly, her fingers digging into his skin. "He is..."

"Tara. Breathe, sweetheart. Please." Arsh cupped her face. "Where is Rishaan? Is he..."

Her shoulders crumpled. "Inside. He is inside, bhaiya." She pointed toward the OT.

Arsh glanced through the small glass pane in the OT door. His stomach twisted at the thought.

Vyom appeared beside him, jaw clenched as he looked inside.

"Tell me what happened," Arsh asked, not looking away.

Tara sobbed again, pressing her forehead to his shoulder. "We landed... and everything was fine. He got the guards to drive me home and went somewhere himself and I..."

Her breath hitched as she looked up at him again, "I-I didn't listen," she stammered, her voice trembling. "I made them turn the car... to follow him..."

"Slow down," Vyom said gently, kneeling in front of her, his face pale. "What happened then?"

"They ambushed us," she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of the memory. "Rishaan... he found out I was following him. He turned back from wherever he was going. He came for me. To save me."

Her hands trembled violently, stained with blood she couldn't wipe off no matter how many times she tried.

"There were so many of them," she said, her eyes shutting tight. "Mr. Dixit was with Rishaan when he came. The guards, they fought back with their help. He had told me not to step out of the car, begged me to stay inside. But I... I thought it was over-I thought we were safe."