Entangled Hearts (Swaragini FF)

Chapter 5

Next day, mid-morning, Sanskar was all dressed in a deep crimson red kurta and white pajama that had been set aside for him for the engagement ceremony. He was sitting in his balcony in the egg chair. This was his place of solitude and solace in the house during the day time. He had sadly been assigned the task of driving Laksh, Uttara, Ragini and Swara to the engagement venue, which was a luxury hotel close to their villa. Almost all of the functions were to be held there.

The extended families and friends on both sides had been put up there, but his family and Swara's parents had been staying at the villa. Bade Papa, his Dad, Badi Maa and Swara's parents had been at the hotel since morning, looking after the guests, along with Adarsh bhaiyaa. Parineeta Bhabhi and his Mom overseeing them at home.

Sanskar was watching the waves from his room, almost in an unseeing way. His mind was elsewhere, where it always went despite all his efforts. A painful gasp from the room next to him roused him. He was somehow sure it was Swara's voice. Worried, he called out to her, but didn't get any response. He waited for a few minutes, wondering what he could do next, when impulse took over and he climbed over the railings in the balcony, just as Laksh had once tried to. He had stopped Laksh then, today he was doing it himself, worried for Swara. He jumped into her balcony and called out to her even as he moved the sliding doors leading into her room.

He saw Swara sitting on the bed, all dressed up in the finery and a pink lehenga ensemble, holding her hand. Tears were streaming down her eyes.

"What happened?" he asked worried, as he came and kneeled down by the bed.

She shook her head but didn't say anything. He pulled her injured left hand from her right one, which was clasping it to relive the pain. She had hurt her fingers. While the little finger and the index finger had minor reddening and some abrasion of the skin, her middle and ring fingers were hurt worse. Some of the skin had peeled and there was some blood.

"We need to clean the wound" Sanskar told her before pulling her to the bathroom. "It will sting a bit" he said before gently pouring some cold water on the wounds.

He tapped the wounds dry with the towel that was in the bathroom before he guided her back to sit on the bed. Getting the first aid box, he put some small Band-Aid on the minor wounds before applying some antiseptic cream, little cotton and covering the bigger wounds on her middle and ring finger with slightly bigger Band-Aid.

"What happened?" he asked again as he picked up the Band-Aid wrappers and threw them in the dustbin.

"I was closing the sliding door and they slid really quickly trapping my hand along with it" Swara told him softly

Sanskar nodded "I will ask someone to look at them so that you don't get hurt again." He told her "It will get better soon" he told her quietly after a bout of silence and then made his way out of the room.

"Thanks" Swara told him quietly

He looked back at her, nodding once before walking out of the room and back into his.

Uttara came abut 15 minutes later, calling him so that they could drive to the hotel for the engagement ceremony. Sanskar was driving with Laksh siting next to him. Uttara sat behind, in the middle of the seat, with Ragini sitting behind Sanskar and Swara behind Laksh.

The first couple of minutes of the journey passed in an odd silence that was awkward. Wanting to normalize the situation, Sanskar turned on the radio. It played some old English songs. The one that was playing just ended and the next one began. As the guitar music played, Sanskar quickly recognized the song. It was after all one of his favorite. But the last thing he wanted right now, was for that song to play and make things more awkward. He also wanted to stay away from his memories of her. He changed the station.