Separated Love

Chapter 21: Naira Breaks Down

***Kartik's POV***
God my head hurts so much. I begin to open my eyes and immediately shut them when the sunlight makes my headache worse. I put the blanket over my head in an attempt to shield myself and go back to sleep.
"Ugh," I hear Naira and look over. She's fast asleep, but she looks like she's going to cry. "Oww," she keeps writhing from what I think is pain in her sleep. What happened to her? What's wrong? I get so worried that I quickly get up.
"Naira," I call her name out but she just scrunches her face more from pain. Then it comes to me. I was drunk last night. I remember her coming to me at the rooftop lounge, I got upset with her and tried to move away, and she fell over. She sprained her ankle. She didn't want me to touch her because she was upset with me. How could I do this to her? I start having a hard time breathing. "Calm down Kartik. Focus on your breathing," I tell myself. But I simply can't. I think back to how she limped her entire way to the elevator, and I was so disgusted with myself that I couldn't even find the courage to go help her. I said so many awful things to her. I was upset with her for hiding Arjun from me. I was carrying her inside when we finally got home, and her phone fell from her lap. I dropped her off inside the room, and went to go pick it up. The phone's screen was already on and opened to her and Gayu's texts. I saw the last two texts about Arjun. What else was I supposed to make out of those texts? I trust Naira, but I can't ignore blatant facts. I was already so upset with everything that happened earlier. Everyone in Naira's family sees her pain, but no one sees mine. If Naira lost me, I also lost her. No one understands that. She at least had people to confide in. The only person I would confide in about my pain was Naira. My person was gone. I had no one. Then on top of that, Arjun met me at a terrible time. He was so comfortable with holding Naira and touching her that it was pissing me off. Kiran I could still understand doing that because dancers are very open like that, but what was Arjun's excuse? I look over at Naira who is still in pain. I get up and check her ankle while she's still asleep. Oh my god! It's completely swollen! I quickly rush to the freezer and grab some ice. I come into our room, grab some pillows, and elevate her ankle while icing it. The ice makes her flinch a little, but thankfully she's in a deep sleep. I go to my phone and call Papa.
"Hi Kartik!" Papa says in excitement. "Did you guys make it home okay yesterday? How happy was Naira's family to see you guys? Did you tell them you two are back together!"
"Papa...everyone was very upset with me. They could barely even look me in the eyes they were so mad. Especially Gayu and Bua Dadi." There's a bit of silence on the phone, and then I hear Papa take a deep breath.
"Kartik, Naira's the little princess of that family. You can't blame them for being upset with you. Remember when they kicked you out of the house and treated you so badly, accusing you for killing Akshara even though it wasn't your fault? Do you remember how angry I was? I didn't want you near their family anymore because I couldn't stand that they hurt my son. Now their family can't stand how you kicked Naira out. She suffered not only emotionally but physically too. In their heads, all of the pain that Naira went through stemmed from your inability to trust her and give her a chance." I hear Papa out and begin to understand their point of view more.
"But Papa, how can they be upset with me for supporting my own mom?" This is the part that upset me a lot. "My hands were tied Papa."
"Kartik, the amount of trust that you placed in your mom is the amount of trust you should've placed in your wife. You know I love Swarna, but even I wasn't okay with how you were blindly following everything she said. Did you forget that Naira was the person that brought you and your mom together? How could you trust your mom over the girl that is the reason you two are close now? If it was Soumya this would be a different conversation." Papa waits for me to respond, but I'm too ashamed to say anything. "I know you miss your mom and you gave that position that your mom had in your life to Swarna. Kartik, that's so sweet of you but that doesn't mean that Naira should have a less of a place in your life...Her family sees that Naira brought you two together, and then soon after, you trusted Swarna more than even Naira and kicked her out of the house. Tell me how that's justified Kartik?"
"You're right Papa. I didn't think of it that way."
"That's okay Kartik. You're still growing up, and it takes time to understand these types of things."
"Mhm," I struggle to get words out wondering if I should tell him about what happened last night.
"Kartik, what else is bothering you? You're so silent." My heart starts racing again thinking about how I acted last night with Naira.
"Papa, I made a really big mistake." Papa waits for me to tell him. "So yesterday when we were at the Singhania house, I was already so upset with the way I was being treated. Then, Naira's friend from the U.S. was also visiting. I don't know why, but he made me feel insecure. It's not that I don't trust Naira. I just don't trust him. I don't understand their relationship."
"Well did you ask Naira about their relationship?" Once again I see another mistake I made.
"I was too upset to talk to her last night. I wanted space, and remained silent the entire car ride. She ended up falling asleep. When we got home, I carried her inside and her phone fell from her lap. Her phone screen was open to her messages with Gayu and all I saw was Naira asking Gayu why Arjun was in India, and Gayu saying that he couldn't stay away from her."
"What? Gayu said that?"
"Well, not the 'from her' part. She just said that he couldn't stay away. So I assumed..."
"Kartik, I'm going to stop you right there. When it comes to insecurity in a relationship, never assume things. Just ask your partner what's going on, or else you will develop terrible misunderstandings that could completely ruin your relationship. You and Naira are finally working towards fixing yours. Don't ruin it again. You need to learn how to trust her Kartik."
"I do trust her Papa!"
"No Kartik. You think you do, but if you truly trusted her, you wouldn't have made the assumption that you did. Did you say anything to her?" This is going to be tough to tell him.
"No...well, yes..." Papa remains silent. "I was so broken from everything that happened yesterday, and I felt so insecure about Naira that I started drinking again. I couldn't help it Papa. The situation made me crave it. Papa, I was awful to her last night. I accused her of terrible things, and she was so great to me. She still tried helping me up, but I was so mad that I drove her away. I was trying to get out of her hold around me, and in the process she slipped and hurt her ankle."
"SHE WHAT? KARTIK! How could you behave like that with her?"
"Papa, I wasn't in the right state of mind. I didn't mean to."
"Kartik, do you know what that poor girl has gone through with her ankle? You being drunk doesn't justify your actions. Is she okay?"
"I don't know Papa. Her ankle is swollen. The swelling has gone down since I started icing it, but I know she's in pain. There's also some discoloration of the skin which scares me."
"Kartik, I want you to listen to me very carefully. If Naksh had done something like this to Keerti, I would've brought my daughter back home. Any sane father would do that. Naira is strong. She is bold. She will stick with you through this, but that doesn't mean you can treat her like that. If Naitik finds out, he's going to be so upset with you Kartik. He gave you his whole world. Don't break his trust in you. You need to think about what you promised to Naira and her father when you both got married. Remember your vows to each other. Don't treat her awfully and expect her to stick around."
"Papa, I would never treat my Naira like that."
"Well you did last night Kartik. I believe the old you wouldn't have done this, but this new version of you that drinks, I can't say the same for. Kartik, was drinking worth it? Was it worth the pain you put Naira through?"
"Absolutely not." I'm in tears. "Naira even helped when I got sick last night, and cooked for me clearly forgetting her own pain Papa. I don't know how to make up for my behavior last night."
"Well she loves you Kartik. I know Naira will forgive you, but you seriously need to apologize for your actions and make up for what you did last night."
"I know Papa. I'll work on this." I feel so defeated.
"Kartik, as mad as I am at you right now, I know you have a serious problem. Naira understands that too. Use last night as a reason to drive you through your therapy sessions. Use this to motivate yourself to feel better." Papa's words encourage me, and for once I feel a little optimistic.
"Okay Papa. Thank you so much."
"No Kartik. Thank you for giving me a chance to be there for you." I can tell he's getting emotional. "I love you Kartik. Please take care of yourself and my daughter. Okay?"
"Okay Papa. I love you too. Bye." And with that I start thinking about what I should do to apologize to Naira. Before I do anything though, I need to see where her mood is at with me. Does she want space or does she want to talk to me about last night? I walk over to her and kiss her forehead. "I'm so lucky to have you Naira. I'm going to prove that I'm worthy of you."