The Forbidden Fruit (MaNan FF)

vii.

Manik struggled to gain consciousness. His eyes cringed at the bright light and his head had been paining continuously. After quite a lot of difficulty, he managed to open his eyes to find himself in the same spot where he had been. He was slumped on the couch, and he tried to get up. The back of his head ached even more and his hands reached to touch it immediately. Just what had she hit him with?

He brought his hand back to see traces of blood on it and sighed. He really should've expected this from Nandini.

It was at that exact moment that his eyes widened. Nandini; where the hell was she?

He rose to his feet and stormed out of the house, into the parking lot. Grabbing his car keys and getting inside to start the car, he left for Cabir's house. She would most likely be heading home and he desperately wished for home' to be the Dhawans' mansion.

Be there, Nandini, he prayed. At a time like this, they couldn't afford for her to meet with her parents at all.

xx

When Nandini found Cabir standing outside the door, she wanted to scream in joy.

When Cabir found Nandini standing near the gates, he wanted to scream in pure agony.

"Cabir!" she shouted with deep breaths as she took quick strides to make her way over to him. "You have no idea what just happened. Your... your friend... he-"

"What are you doing here, Nandini?" He spat, trying to sound betrayed and disgusted. Judging from the look of shock on her face, he would say that it worked.

"What do you mean? Cabir I was kidna-"

"I don't want to know," he cut her off, "what you and your lover were doing. We have absolutely no ties anymore."

"What are you saying?" Nandini asked, disbelief showing clearly in her tone and her eyes. "Look, Cabir, your friend, Manik, kidnapped me. He made me sign some papers and knocked me out twice. Now he's telling me we're married. Cabir, he's crazy. I don't know what sick game he's playing but-"

Cabir let out a bitter laugh, enough to make her stop talking and just try to observe him carefully. "Do you really think I'm going to buy that, Nandini? Just... shut up and leave. You've disappointed all of us, you don't belong here anymore."

Tears threatened to come out of Nandini's eyes but she desperately tried to stop them. Why the hell did she want to cry? No, she wouldn't. She was stronger than this. Crying wouldn't help her situation. It would make things worse instead of better. "Cabir..." she trailed off, the sorrow of her tone hurting him.

"Just go back to your husband," he sneered, letting the last word roll off his tongue in pure disgust.

Nandini felt a sharp pang in her chest as he said that and walked back inside. She stood there; frozen and all alone. What could she do now? She didn't have anyone left to turn to, and she felt so empty inside.

"Nandini," a panting voice spoke from a few steps behind her and she recognized who it was; Manik.

Without turning, she simply said, "Let's just... go back."

xx

Nandini leaned against the bed's headboard. She felt lost and defeated. With every passing second, she believed his theory (or perhaps fact) of them being 'married' more and more. Was he really capable of that? Although she didn't know him too well, she believed so. Now, she had a firmer belief; Manik Malhotra was a heartless monster who could ruin lives.

"I never meant to do it this way," he softly muttered from the far end of the room as if he could read her thoughts.

"Why did you do it in the first place?" Her voice was blank. It didn't have traces of betrayal or hatred like before. It was blank, empty, indifferent, and all too familiar. He had experienced this countless times with his parents.

"I'm..." Sorry? He thought to himself, but he knew he couldn't say that. Not yet, at least.

"I'm going to go to sleep," he tried to cover up. He opened the door of the room in order to leave and shift in the guest room, but paused just to say, "Feel free to escape."

She wouldn't. She had nowhere to turn to anymore and she was trying to let that realization sink in. It sucked.

xx

One cannot exactly say that Manik woke up early. If he never slept, how could he wake up?

He kept tossing and turning the whole night, desperately trying to forget the events that had transpired in the day. But forgetting has never been easy, has it?

After freshening up early in the morning, he headed straight for the kitchen. He grabbed some breakfast for Nandini and rushed up the stairs to his room. He knew she had a sleepless night as well. However, when he opened the door, he was not expecting to find her on the bed with her eyes shut. Putting the food down, he came closer and touched her forehead to find it warm. Was she sick? Had she passed out again?

With a sigh, Manik took her in his arms. He had to get her to a hospital, and he didn't know why he kept mentally praying for her to be fine.

xx

When Nandini Murthy - or rather, Malhotra - woke up, she found herself in a hospital bed. She tried to get herself in a sitting position, confusion etched across her face. She didn't remember sleeping. She remembered feeling dizzy and having her eyes droop. She didn't remember being in a hospital, either.

It was at that moment that the door opened to reveal a very shocked Manik. Clearly, he was not expecting her to be awake.

"What happened to me?" she managed to ask with difficulty.

"You passed out," he informed while closing the door behind him, "so I got you to a doctor. It's mainly because you inhaled too many chemicals but he said you'll be fine in a couple of hours. They'll discharge you soon so you won't have to spend the night."

He stalked forward to put down a plastic bag on a table in the room, which also had a couch beside it. She was in a private room, in a very large, comfortable hospital bed. The room was sparkling clean as well. Nandini was rarely inside such good hospitals.

"What's in the bag?" she questioned, leaning against the bed to try to relax. She knew, though, that she couldn't relax no matter what. Everything that had happened lately was too heavy for her to even think of relaxing.

"Medicines," he casually answered. "You'll have to take them for a week; twice in the afternoon and once at night."

Normally, she would feel touched when witnessing someone caring for her but right now, she knew better. "Why are you doing this?" she asked him, her voice clearly in pain.

His eyes shot up at her question. He didn't have the answer himself. Why was he doing this? Perhaps it was because he hurt her so much, that he felt like doing good things for her. He had already ruined his life and maybe he was trying to fix it. Or maybe, deep inside, he felt something for her. He didn't want to know what it was.

Instead, Manik chose to lie, "You're my wife, so I feel obliged to."