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Manik pushed the door open to find a scattered and dimly lit flat. Nandini and Rishabh were nowhere to be seen in the living area. The house was a disastrous mess. Glass pieces were scattered near the main door, the sofa was turned upside down as if it was a victim of someone's anguish, and the painting on the wall was cracked. Manik cautiously entered aghast at the sight in front of him. He looked behind to find Arjun following him.

"Stop" Arjun looked up. "Stay out, and don't you dare enter," Manik said with his fire-spitting eyes.

Arjun did not want to come in between Manik's way. He stepped out and waited outside the flat, whereas Manik continued his scrutiny. He decided to check the rooms and entered Nandini's room to find her sprawled half over the bed and half on the floor. Manik could not see much from the dim light of the living room, but it was enough for him to see her.

"Nandini" Manik shouted and immediately ran to her. He gathered her in his arms.

"Nandini Nandini", He called her out but to no avail. He shook her to wake her up, but she did not wake up. He checked her breath, she was breathing, and he was relaxed, but when he bent further to check her, he smelled alcohol. He was perplexed. He delicately picked her up and kept her on the bed. He looked around the room to find the switchboard. There was only little light coming from the window and the living room. He suddenly stumbled upon something; he bent down to check and found an empty bottle of whiskey. His speculations came true, Nandini was indeed drunk, and the thought was pathetically disturbing. Manik turned and looked at Nandini. His eyes were covered with hurt and guilt. He did not drive for straight 26 hours to find Nandini in this state. He did not wait for three months to see Nandini drunk because of him in front of his eyes. This was nothing like he had ever expected. At that moment, he did not know what to do. On the one hand, he wanted to tightly hug Nandini because he was seeing her after so long, and on the other hand, he was angry at her for doing this to herself.

He looked for the switchboard and switched on the lights, and now he could see Nandini clearly. He went to her and tried again to wake her up, but she did nothing more than murmur intelligible words. Manik had no patience left; he found the bathroom and got a bucket full of water to empty it on her.

"Haa huh, Manik Manik" she partially opened her eyes and tried to rise.

"Oh finally" Manik dropped the bucket on the floor and went towards her. He helped her sit straight and sat In front of her.

"Nandini, are you alright?" he held her face to grab her attention.

"huh," she was semi-conscious.

"Nandini, it's me, Manik", he tried in a crooked voice.

"You are a dream. Good good dream. Don't go stay," She said, swinging her head left to right and back and roaming her hands on his face, caressing him and smiling like a doll.

"Oh my god, Nandini! What have you done?" a tear dropped from his eyes. It was becoming unbearable for him to see this. He left the room to search for the kitchen.

He returned with a lemon in his hand. He struggled with Nandini to get the lemon in her system, and once he did, she laid back again.

"Manik, I love you", she mumbled and slept again.

"How much did she drink and since when" all his attempts failed terribly, and he did not know what he was going to do next. He had no choice but to wait for the morning.

"Manik bhayia" he turned on the sound of his name, and he found Rishabh standing near the door with a massive smile on his face.

"Rishabh" Manik stood balancing himself using the bed as he had never heard Rishabh speak before, and now he could see that he could. This was the best news he got since he left London.