Two hours later...

60 kilometers away from Elysium

Shree answers the sixth call from Madhav for the night.

"Chellam, are you alright?" He asks as he drives through the main road, with Shree's call on speaker mode.

"Yes, Madhav." She replies. "I had dinner, took a warm shower and I'll be watching TV with Meow in a bit."

"Good. The watchman Selvam is on full alert. If you need anything, just dial him." Madhav instructs. "I'll call you in another fifteen minutes."

Madhav disconnects the call and sighs as he gets caught in a long queue of vehicles ahead of him.

He scratches his beard and notices his phone ring. He rubs his eyes and notices the name on his phone screen.

"Ma?" He looks puzzled as he stares at the phone. He answers the call in a flash. "Ma? Ma? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright! I came out with my friend and her family for dinner." Yashoda says.

"So you weren't taken to the hospital?" Madhav asks puzzled.

"No, Madhav!" Yashoda says. "I'm perfectly alright. Why? What happened, M-"

"I-I-I-I'll call you later Ma." Madhav says and disconnects the call. His hands shake furiously as he dials Shree.

* * * * *

Shree hums as she locks the windows. It was raining outside and she smiled as she inhaled the earthy smell of the soil. There was lightning flashing from the mountains that surrounded their little home.

She groans in annoyance as the electricity goes out.

"Selvam?" She calls out to the watchman who was asked by Madhav to stay guard in the veranda. "Can you go switch on the generator?"

Shree takes her mobile.

"Madam. This is the watchman! Come out please!" She hears a voice.

"Selvam?" She calls out as she walks towards the main door.

"I need you to see this." He calls.

Shree opens the door and walks out. It was pitch black outside, except for whenever there was a lightning flash in the sky. Shree switches on the flashlight in her mobile.

"Selvam?" She calls out nervously. The floor of the veranda had become wet and sticky, she noticed. Her face freezes in horror as she notices the amount of blood flowing on the veranda floor. Her breathing becomes erratic and she starts to panic as she sees the river of blood flowing from the watchman Selvam who was lying on the floor. He was stabbed and his neck was slit open.

Shree gulped as she started to panic as she saw the dead man lying on the floor with eyes unclosed. Her mobile falls down as she looks on in pure horror.

She takes a few steps back in horror and bumps onto something.

"Chellam!" She hears a strange voice and she turns.

Lightning flashes once more and in the light, she noticed the pale and dirty face of Shiv holding an old kerosene lantern.

"S-S-S-Shiv?" She stammers in horror. She gulps and runs into the house, only for Shiv to grab her arm in a tight grip. Lightning keeps on flashing with a blinding white light.

"Shree, my darling, why are you running like a frightened little doe?" He asks as he runs his nose down her neck. "I have been yearning to meet you."

"I don't want to meet you at all, Shiv!" Shree sobs trying to free her arm from his strong grip. "Please go!"

"Why do you chase me like this, baby girl?" He asks playing with her hair. "I'll let you go if you can please me for the night."

"WHAT?" Shree exclaims. "You mad man! I am a married wo-"

"I know." Shiv interrupts her, as he whispers into her ears. "I know you are married. I have seen how devotedly you pleasure your husband. I have seen you ride his dick like a warrior princess in your great naked glory. Ride my dick tonight and satisfy me, I'll let you live. Or I'll kill you and then satisfy myself."

Shree shakes her head.

"Then I have no choice but to kill you, my chellam." He whispers. Shree shakes her head and with all her might pushes him away. As she runs back into the house, a sharp pain makes her fall on her knees. That was when she realized that her water broke.

A strong hand grips the back of her neck, and forcefully makes her stand.

"You fucking bitch! You thought you can push me like that and save yourself, chellam?" Shiv asks as he tightens the hold on her neck. He keeps the lantern on the floor. "How dare you! I'm going to teach you a lesson and then kill you for your audacity."

He throws Shree to the cold floor, but she holds onto the wicker chair and stands holding it for support.

"Let's admit it! I have a lot of audacity, while you have lots of cowardliness. You couldn't come and do all this when my husband was here! Instead you chose to come when his back was turned. You are not even one percent the man that my husband is!"

"You think I came when your husband was away?" Shiv asks as he sits down beside her and grabs her wrist placing it on the wooden coffee table. He withdraws a fruit knife and stabs her palm onto the coffee table. Shree screams in pain as she cries.

Shiv runs his hand on her lips. "I created a perfectly flawless plan to drive him away from you. I spread the false news of his stepmother being unwell and had him go all the way to Thodupuzha."

"By the time he comes home after finding out about my little trick, you would be long dead." He says eerily as he runs his bony finger on her neck.

Shree pushes him away, only to get slapped hard across her face.

"Do you realise that like last time no one is here to save you?" Shiv hisses and stands. From his trouser's back pocket he withdraws a gun fastened to a silencer. "Madhav won't be here for the next few hours. And I'm going to leave him behind the corpse of his dead wife. How so shattered will he be to find his beloved pregnant wife dead in the middle of his own home?"

"You'll never succeed in your foul plans, Shiv." Shree mumbles as another wave of contraction passes through her.

"Maybe I should start proving myself." He says as he sniffs her hair.

Shree pushes him away in disgust and freezes in horror as he holds the pistol to her forehead.

Shree turns as she sees Meow coming running towards her from the kitchen - barking as loudly as possible.

"What? You think a filthy dog will save you?" Shiv mocks and fires three bullets on Meow.

"WHY YOU SHOOT MEOW?" Madhu yells as she comes from her room.

"Madhu go into your room!" Shree screams only to be kicked across the face by Shiv.

"No! No!" Shiv says and quickly goes towards Madhu. He grabs her little arm and kneels down. "So you must be Madhushree Ramakrishna. Daughter of Shree and that ass Madhav."

"My father is a great man. You are ass because you hit my mumma and shot my puppy." Madhu says bravely.

"Hmm you have the mouth of your worthless father. My one goal for the night was to kill your mother but looks like there's someone else who I must kill before."

"No!" Shree yells and tries to come forth to save Madhu with all that excruciating pain. Shiv shoots at a distant to demand silence, leaving Shree helpless and in more tears.

He turns to Madhu and just as he does, Madhu launches herself on Shiv and punches him on the face with all her energy - yelling aloud. A few seconds later, Shiv frees himself by batting her away like dust.

Madhu starts to cry as Shiv presses his foot against her chest.

"You vile little beast. Your no less than a bug that ought to be squashed!" He curses at her. "I'm going to shoot you!"

He points the gun at Madhu's crying face. "Say your prayers little one."

As Shiv pulls the trigger, but he is ultimately disappointed noticing not even one bullet on his pistol.

"Fuck!" He yells. He reaches to his trouser pocket to reload his pistol when a big ceramic vase is thrown to the back of his head.

Shree huffs and runs towards Madhu. She carries Madhu, who had fallen unconscious and runs out of the house.

"Nanna!" Madhu softly whispers as Shree holds Madhu, and flees. Shree runs as fast as she could carrying Madhu in her arms. She bites back a cry of pain as another contraction passes through her body.

Shree ran for more than 15 minutes, barefoot, holding Madhu in the arms. She stepped onto a few couple of sharp thorns and stones, almost slipped thrice and experienced a sharp contraction twice.

Her lungs were on fire, her back was burning, the pain from the contractions surging throughout her entire body.

A smile appears on her bloodied and sweaty face as she sees the main road.

She holds Madhu's face with her injured palm. "Mumma will save you baby. I'll find a vehicle and take us all to the hospital. The four of us will be all fine."

Shree noticed a rickshaw stand not too far from the other side of the road.

As Shree runs to the other side of the road, a car coming in full speed stops millimetres away from her.

"What the bloody hell!" Shree hears the driver curse and she starts to sob.

"Madhav!" She whispers as she sees Madhav come out of the car.

"Shree!" He says and before he could recollect anything, Shree limps towards him and presses her face on his chest.

"Madhav! Madhav! All this was that bastard Shiv's plan." Shree sobs. "He killed Selvam and and and he ever tried to kill Madhu and me. My water broke and I couldn't do much to save myself or Madhu. It was a nightmare Madhav. We ran away after I threw a vase on his head."

"We - we - we need to take you to the hospital!" Madhav says as he looks at both Madhu and Shree. "I'll alert the police on the way. Your safe now that I'm here."

Shree nods and cries as he embraces her.

* * * * * *

Madhav paces the corridors of the Munnar Nursing hospital. The doctor and the nurses have finished tending to Madhu's wounds. And in the other room Shree was being prepared for delivery.

"Nurse! Nurse!" Madhav runs towards the nurse who was dressing Madhu's wound. "Is my baby okay?"

"She's fine. We gave her a sedative that'll put her to sleep for the rest of the night. She'll wake up around mid noon. I asked an intern to watch over her."

"And my wife?"

"My team bandaged her wounds. Since she's too weak for vaginal birth we're preparing her for caesarian section." The nurse says. "We're all hurrying there only."

"C-c-can I come to be there by her side?" Madhav asks.

"You can but only if you thoroughly wash your hands and wear the surgical guest scrubs."

Madhav nods.

Madhav's heart sinks as he enters the Operation Theatre. He was wearing a surgical cap and mask, but there was no mistaking Madhav's warm eyes. The surgeons and the nurses around Shree were preparing the incision knives and the cots for the babies. Shree was to go under partial anaesthesia. He runs to her and holds her hand. Shree sighs in relief as she sees him between her heavy eye lids.

"I should have never left you, Shree Chellam." He cries holding her bandaged hand. "I shouldn't have left even when you yelled at me to leave. I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you from the evil man."

He caresses her face tenderly.

"Next time I see him, I swear to rip him into pieces for what he did to you and Madhu." Madhav whispers.

"Sir, we're going to start with the incision. Do you mind moving a little to the back of the bed?" The surgeon asks.

Madhav nods and as he walks towards the back of the bed he noticed another surgeon taking to his colleague on the best way of making a smooth incision on Shree's lower stomach. Madhav shakes and holds her hand again.

She looks at him with a weak smile and eyes with pooling tears.

He kisses her forehead and holds her shoulders tenderly.

"Madhu?" Shree asks feebly.

"Oh, chellam, our Madhu is alright." Madhav crooned into her ear, smoothing her hair back from her forehead.

"Sir, we need to inject this on her lower spine." The nurse says.

Madhav pulled Shree to him, making her lean against his warm chest. She felt the cold sterilizing wipe against her skin, then the prick of the needle. Fresh tears sprang forth from her eyes as the needle sunk into her skin. Madhav winced a little.

The nurses helped Shree to lie down afterwards. Madhav held Shree's hand.

"Don't worry chellam. I'm here." He whispers. "The surgeon said you'll only feel a slight pinching in your abdomen and then a something like a mild punch on your chest towards the end."

Shree nods.

"You'll be fine chellam. You and both our lovely babies."

He was thankful indeed when the flap of cloth with the hospital logo was placed in the space between them - covering his eyes from whatever they would be doing.

As soon as everything was set up, the crew was fast.

Shree looked at Madhav as the caesarian happened. He kept her right hand clasped between both his hands. He kissed her knuckles and continued to tell her how much he loved her.

Shree let out a loud gasp minutes later which was followed by the cry of an infant.

Madhav squeezed her hand as tears started to roll down his eyes.

"Congratulations! Infant Number One is a baby girl." The chief surgeon announces, handing over the infant to a nurse. "Cut the cord and put a tag on the infant."

"Infant Number Two is due in a few more minutes." He announces once more.

Shree pants and Madhav presses his forehead to her temple.

Madhav quickly sits up and turns towards the surgeon as the second twin emerges.

"Congratulations! Infant Number Two is also a baby girl." The surgeon announces. "Two healthy baby girls, Mr. Ramakrishna! You and your wife are lucky indeed!"

Shree sighs as she softly wipes the tears off Madhav's eyes. He looks at her and she gives a soft smile.

"You heard that, chellam?" He asks removing his mask as he holds her hand near his heart. "Two little baby girls."

Shree nods as she smiles.

"Three daughters in total." He says elated. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." She whispers weakly and Madhav kisses her forehead.

To be continued....

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