"You didn't ask about the number of partners?" asked Arjun, shaking his head in disbelief, and Avantika slumped in her chair. She fidgeted with her fingers before she straightened the hem of her ironed out and pristine pencil skirt.

Her upper eyelid flapped against her lower one and she struggled to find the right word to begin her answer. "Sir... I-I couldn't."

Avantika shrugged her shoulders, exhaling a defeated sigh. "She believes seeking pleasure within marriage is a sin for a woman. She's not familiar with the concept of consent; she views sex as her duty, akin to the rest of her chores. How can I ask her about other sexual partners without offending her?"

She gripped the corrugated armrests tightly, her knuckles growing pale. Arjun let out a deep exhale and leaned forward in his chair. "I know it was a difficult interview, Avantika. I'm not saying you didn't handle it well, but we need this information. We can't rely on assumptions or deductions," he said in a gentle tone, which alleviated the dread that had pooled in Avantika's abdomen.

Arjun Malhotra was a tough taskmaster, and she had expected him to give a disdainful lecture about losing her way and not maintaining the distinction between personal and professional lives. It would not be her first time to be on the receiving end of such a lecture, but he had surprised her with his understanding.

"I-I can try going back..."

"No, let Di handle it. She said Madhuri is due for a follow-up, and Di might manage this situation better than either of us. You did a good job, Avantika. However, this won't be the last time you have to ask uncomfortable questions. You need to be prepared for that discomfort in the future," he advised.

She nodded in understanding and flashed him a tight smile. "Thank you for understanding, sir. And yes, I will work on that!"

Arjun offered her a curt nod and trained his gaze over Avantika's scribbles on her notepad - the notes of her eventful interview with Madhuri. He could not imagine fighting a battle against an abusive relationship in his early twenties. At her age, his day started, and night ended with the books of law and the relevant case studies.

How could someone be so naïve? As his eyes looked over the words of Avantika, he wondered, tapping his fingers against the desk. He shook his head and picked his mobile to call his elder sister for her help. He eyed the top left corner of his iPhone, which read '13:48' and it meant his sister had twelve minutes left of her lunch break.

Pressing and holding the '2' button, which was his sister's speed dial, he waited as the phone rang. "Di! I need your help, and I promise I'll help with her Hindi homework," he said, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Vartika let out an amused huff, rolling her eyes at his repeated calls for assistance. "You helped her last week too. Her teacher praised her project during the parent-teacher meeting on Saturday!"

Arjun scratched his chin and cursed himself under his breath. The sarcasm in his sister's words was not lost upon him. "I will make sure her teacher doesn't ask for rewrites this time. She will get full marks this time!"

"Right. That'll remain to be seen!" Vartika shook her head. "What do you need?"

****

"Namaste, Vartika ji! I wanted to call you myself," said Madhuri, with a slight smile and hands joined in a formal greeting. Vartika reciprocated her gesture and asked Madhuri to settle down in the chair across from her.

"Is it? Is everything alright?" asked Vartika, resting her elbows against the desk between them and leaning forward with rapt attention.

Madhuri's resplendent glow, despite her ashen features and the twinkle in her eyes, betrayed her excitement to the observant doctor. "I found a job at the call center. They had vacancies for Hindi speakers, and my training will start on Monday."

"That's amazing, Madhuri! I'm so happy for you!" said Vartika. The doctor knew the younger woman's aspirations led her to the position of a teacher, and the disappointment of rejection had tormented the woman over the last few weeks.

Vartika swallowed the lump in her throat and the unease churning in her stomach. She understood the facade the world often presented, better than the strong-willed woman sitting across from her. The true reason behind Madhuri's rejection, couched in terms of lack of experience and qualifications, was her impending divorce.

"It's a morning shift, so I'm searching for any night colleges giving B. Ed a degree. I still want to be a teacher someday," said Madhuri. Her long eyelashes almost kissed her cheeks as she gazed at the shining granite floor with the corners of her lips angled towards her chin.

It was a Pyrrhic victory for the younger woman, as the doctor had guessed. She wanted and craved more than she had achieved, but that did not wash away the gratitude that had filled her racing heart. "And you will be! I'm sure of that. Just don't wear yourself out. You have a long way to go, Madhuri!"

Madhuri nodded at her and hummed in reply. "Like I said before, we need to do another HIV test to make sure you have not contracted it along with the others. And, I needed to ask you a few questions," she said, intertwining her fingers with each other and maintaining a weak smile.

Madhuri's eyebrows formed an upward slope as they approximated each other. "Of course!"

"I know these questions can be uncomfortable, but I need to ask this. These are for tracing of the contacts. Are you aware of your husband's partners?" asked Vartika in a low tone.

Madhuri's warm smile and the twinkle in her eyes vanished as though someone had slapped her. Vartika did not miss the sharp intake of hair or the abnormal stiffening of her spine. "No."

Vartika nodded in understanding. "I know the answer to this question, but I need to ask this. Was your husband your only..."

"How can you ask that, madam?! What kind of woman do you take me for?!" asked Madhuri. Her chest rose and fell like a window holding away a storm, and her face turned crimson. Warm tears pooled in her eyes, and she scrunched the stiff and rough fabric of her kurta between her quivering fingers.

"Madhuri, I'm sorry! I had to ask that question. I don't mean to offend you," said Vartika in a sincere tone as she locked her compassionate eyes with her patient's stormy ones.

"Then here's the answer! I have never, ever, slept with a man other than my husband, nor did I ever want to! I am sick of everyone's judgmental questions!" Madhuri sunk into her chair and stifled the sobs that rumbled in her throat.

She felt the familiar voices at the back of her mind taunt her for allowing hope to fill her heart. She had hoped to escape the jeers and the distrustful stares thrown in her direction like she would expect in her tiny countryside village. The cynicism at the back of her mind mocked her naivete.

Vartika let out an exasperated sigh. The irate woman across her had no clue what awaited her in the courtroom, and she could only wish the journey would not shatter her further.

****

"We need to arrange for her to see a psychiatrist, Arjun. The upcoming courtroom proceedings and the questions she'll face are too much for her current mental state," Vartika said, pressing her fingers to her temple and massaging her forehead.

Arjun hummed, engrossed in his PvP match in the Jurassic World Alive game. Vartika rolled her eyes and grabbed his phone from his hands, much to his shock. "Di!! I'll lose the match!" he said, trying to take his phone back from his sister, but to no avail.

"If you don't focus on what I'm saying, you might end up losing your case in court," she retorted, pressing the power button on the phone, and ignoring her brother's groan.

"She's naïve, Di. What can we do about that? I will prepare her for the courtroom before the proceedings. It's not my first case, Di!"

"It might be just another case for you, Arjun, but for her, this will redefine her life. She's not equipped to handle this. She'll crumble when faced with the defense attorney's interrogation. I'm convinced she needs therapy and possibly medication," Vartika insisted.

Arjun contemplated his sister's words and rested the back of his head against the sofa. "She was suicidal. She denied counseling when they offered, but I think we need to try again. What if she tries to end her life again?"

Vartika's question made a shudder run down his spine, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Mark my words, Arjun! One day you will see these cases as anguished calls for justice rather than mere trophies to be won by lawyers like you and me, and that day, Advocate Arjun Malhotra, you will lose sleep for the rest of your life!"

The public prosecutor's words reverberated in his ears. He had drowned the empathy that had surfaced to the fore to avoid entangling in the emotions that the empathy brought along.

Advocate Arjun Malhotra needed his corrupt and fallible clients to clinch the fame and money he craved, and he knew he could do so only when he ignored the suffering of the victims of his clients. But the tearful visage of Madhuri and the words of his sister had weakened his resolve.

The sympathy, the conscience, and the sense of justice would be akin to a thorn in the path he had chosen for him, but his resolve had weakened enough. Just this case, or so he told himself when he nodded in affirmation at Vartika. "I will ask Avantika to find an NGO who can help with the psychiatrist."