Chained✔

7.The Haunts of The Past

Zoya tried to pick Mri up but Aditya slapped her hands away. He looked at her with a mad rage and Zoya trembled. The nurses came forward and put Mri in a stretcher and took her to the emergency room. Aditya rushed behind it and so did Zoya. Looking at her, Aditya stopped and his hands grabbed her neck and almost strangled her and said "Kaha tha na maine, Mri se door raho. Kaha tha na maine ki jin maamlo mein tumhe nhi padhna chaiye unme mat padho. Dekho tumne kya kar diya. Aaj tumhari wajah se Mri ki yeh halat hai. Agar use kuch bhi hua na , I swear Zoya Siddiquie main tumhari zindagi nark se bhi badtar bana doonga. Maut bhi tumhe pyaari lagegi yeh wada hai tumse."
Zoya was almost choking and she gasped for breath and that's when Aditya loosened his grip around her throat. He walked away and Zoya massaged her neck but said nothing and went to the emergency room.
She saw Aditya standing there around Mri with cotton and forceps but doing nothing. The nurses said "Dr.Hooda..."
Aditya's hand trembled as he inched closer to Mri's forehead to clean her wound. Zoya noticed that and went towards him. She was still afraid and angry at him after what he had done but she thought that he needed help now. She took the forceps from him and surprisingly he didn't even protest. It was as if he wasn't there at all. Zoya said "Dr.Hooda, aap bahar jaaiye main Mri ko dekhti hoon. It's a minor operation. I will do it."
Aditya walked out of the room like a ghost. Not a single emotion was showing on his face.
Zoya cleaned the blood and stitched Mri's wounds. She checked her breathing and pulse. After waiting for sometime Mri regained consciousness. She mumbled "Adi". Zoya smiled a sigh of relief and patted her soft head and said "Aditya abhi yahan nhi hai Mri. Aap thodi der aaram karo uske baad main Aditya ko aapke paas le aaoongi."
Mri nodded and fell asleep immediately because she was under medication. Zoya removed her gloves and went to Aditya's cabin. The sight she saw shocked her. She saw him curled at the corner of the room like a little baby. All arrogance and pride was gone from his face. He was shaking with fear and sweating. He was constantly murmuring "Phir se nhi ho sakta yeh. Phir se nhi..."
Zoya approached him cautiously. She sat on the floor and said softly "Aditya."
He didn't look up at her . She called out to him again "Aditya . Aap theek to hai na."
She put her arm forward to comfort him and Aditya not just took her hand but engulfed her in a hug and started crying "Mri ko nhi bacha paaonga. Main use kho doonga ... main phir se.."
Zoya was shocked at this sudden breakdown from a man who seemed to just use anger as a source to channelise his sorrow. Nevertheless she patted his back , a bit hesitantly at first. She said in a very soft tone as though speaking to a child "Ssshh, Aditya. Mri theek hai. Bilkul theek hai voh. Hum dekhkar aaye hai use. Kuch nhi hua hai unhe. Aap shaant ho jaaye please. Aap aise toot jayenge toh voh kya karegi."
Aditya didn't let go of Zoya and she stroked his back lightly while thinking "Aisa shaks humne kabhi nhi dekha. Inke gusse ko dekhkar koi keh paayega ki ek naram dil bhi hai inke paas. Shayad Mri sahi keh rhi thi, inke andar bhi shayad kuch kahaniyaan dafan ki hui hai jo inko roz dukh deti hai." And that is when she saw Aditya"s open drawer and the blood stained scalpel and the photo of a lady . She let out a silent scream looking at the scalpel. She was scared at the same time curious . Who was that lady and why had Aditya stored a scalpel. Right then Aditya let go of her and looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. He regained his senses and said in his same harsh tone."Tum please bahar jaao Zoya aur abhi jo hua voh kabhi kisi ko mat batana.'
He saw her looking at the open drawer and then at him in a very puzzled manner. He slammed the drawer shut and said again "Zoya , bahar jaao."
Zoya went without another word highly shocked at whatever happened today.
Aditya breathed deeply and said to himself "Yeh kya kar diya maine. I almost showed my vulnerabilities to a person I don't even know. Pata nhi kya soch rhi hogi voh. Lekin main bhi kya karta, nhi rok paaya khud ko tootne se. Nhi sambhaal paya apne aansoonyon ko jo phir se mere aankhon mein ghar karne ke liye aa the the."
He again opened the drawer and stroked the photo and closed his eyes.

Five months ago he had lost his sister Pooja. She had committed suicide. The reason behind her suicide was that her husband whom she had loved madly , truly and deeply had left her and had , had an affair with another woman. For Aditya , pooja was his mentor , his mother and his best friend. He couldn't imagine living without her. Whatever he was , it was because of her. His mom had passed away when he was young and his dad never has given him enough time. Pooja had taken care of him at that time. His life had revolved around her . Every small or big decision of his was taken by her because he had asked her to. When she had said that was in love with a man , Aditya had understood the meaning of love from her. He had believed her that you could find your true love even in the hopeless of places. But then one day Pooja's world crashed. She found her husband with another woman in her house. She lost her senses and couldn't handle and committed suicide. By that time Adi was already the best surgeon. He was shocked to see his sister in that condition. People knew that pooja had very less chances of survival and if someone could save her that was Aditya.
Aditya was confident that he would save her. He couldn't let her go so easily. But right when he had started his surgery, his hands started shaking. He wanted to concentrate on just his work but emotions took over him. He trembled and he messed up his incisions. He lost the only chance to save his life , He lost her because he fell weak. From then he blamed himself for Pooja's death and his faith from love had completely shattered after witnessing what had happened to her. He wanted to find and kill Pooja's husband but somehow he had managed to hide somewhere. He never was able to bring himself to tell Mri the truth about her parents because he was scared that she might hate him for not saving her mother, she too might go away from him and leave him all alone in this world.
Aditya Hooda could have been a very warm hearted doctor, who would have used his anger as means to hide his emotions, he could have been a person who would have believed in love and wanted to be in love but then fate had other plans.

Precap : Aditya talks to his dad about something. Zoya overhears her father talking to an old friend. Aditya refuses to face Zoya in the hospital after today's incident.

So readers how did you find this chapter? Was it good ? Did it reach your expectations? Do comment your views and do vote. I also want to say please watch Bepannaah on TV and increase the trps. These two weeks are the deciding weeks of our show. We need to save this masterpiece. So watch on TV and participate in the trend #DontEndBepannaah. Lots of love