As the morning rays entered the room, Nandini blinked her eyes tiredly as she patted Aarav while feeding him. Due to the pain in his gums, he had kept waking up every hour at night, making it extremely hard for Nandini to even sleep a wink the whole night. She didn't wake up Manik since he had an important presentation to give at the office, for which he had been working extremely hard the past few days and without sleep he would be exhausted at work.

When Aarav went back to sleep, Nandini unlatched him and settled her bra before she lowered the kurti. Sitting up, she tied her hair in a loose bum as she looked for her slippers on the floor and wore them. Getting up, she held onto the bed post as a sudden wave of drowsiness hit her.

Pouring some water in the glass, she drank it before walking to the washroom slowly. After she peed, while washing her hands, she looked at the mirror, noticing the dark circles under her eyes before her gaze moved down to the small bulge where a life was still growing inside her. It had been two weeks since the news. Her hand moved to her stomach, her thumb caressing it involuntarily.

Realizing what she was doing she immediately moved her hand away. They were still going for the abortion but since the doctor was not in town they had to wait for a few weeks before the treatment started. Since she had monitored Nandini during Aarav's pregnancy and this pregnancy involved complications, so Manik didn't want to take any risk by taking her to any other doctor for abortion treatment.

After showering, she dressed in a loose cotton suit and woke up Manik before she walked downstairs to the small temple they had built in house. Finishing her morning prayer, she went to prepare morning tea for her in laws along with Manik and her own. A few minutes later, the rich aroma filled around as she poured the hot liquid in four cups. Going to her in laws room, she greeted them while handing over the cups before carrying over the tray to their room.

By the time she entered, Manik had brushed his teeth and was sitting on the bed. Placing the tray on the bed, she handed over his mug to him and sat in front of him on the bed with her own cup. They silently had their tea as Manik was busy going through something on his phone while Nandini was lost in her own world. However, she snapped out as Aarav's shrill cries rang out.

Manik picked him up but Aarav raised his arms towards Nandini. Keeping her mug aside, she leaned forward and grabbed him. His hand fisted her dupatta, whining as his head lowered towards her chest. Laying him in her lap, Nandini took off the dupatta and as he dug his face in her bosom, she pulled him off slightly to raise the kurti, making him throw his arms and legs in frustration while she gently assured, "Doh minute mere bache."

(Just two minutes.)

As soon as she had her kurti up, Aarav latched onto her breast, suckling the milk hungrily. Even though she drank the tea while feeding Aarav, she felt her body draining off energy since she had been feeding him occasionally the whole night and now in morning too without a single morsel. Although, she had started shifting him to food but he still relied heavily on her breastmilk and she wasn't going to forcefully stop it until he was a year and a half atleast. She usually didn't had any problem feeding him but the pregnancy wasn't helping her out, her body unable to function properly as it basically nourished two children at once.

When she placed the empty cup back, Manik looked up as she suddenly placed Aarav on the bed, making him cry aloud while she rushed to the washroom. Getting up, he followed her to the bathroom as she retched in the toilet bowl. He patted her back as she heaved, her eyes tearing up in pain before she breathed deeply as she leaned against the wall. Hearing Aarav's loud cries echoing in the room, Nandini whispered, "I can't bear this anymore. I'll die like this, Manik. Just get this done with."

"Shh. I'll call the doctor today. She will be returning today or tomorrow most probably," Manik assured, making Nandini nod before he helped her get up from floor. Washing her mouth and face, she walked to Aarav, taking care of him while Manik got ready for his office.

*****

Nandini stared out of the window at the passing scenery, lost far away, as Manik drove to the hospital after getting an evening appointment. After they reached hospital, when they walked to the cabin, the doctor informed them about medical and surgical abortion. Since they were still in early weeks and for privacy purposes, they decided for medical abortion.

"Mr, Malhotra. We need to run a few tests before proceeding with the procedure. So, I request you to kindly wait in the waiting area and we will call you after the tests," Manik nodded, looking at Nandini, who was miles away from the situation and although unsure of leaving her alone, he pressed her hand gently in assurance before stepping out of the room.

"Mrs. Malhotra," the doctor called out to Nandini, making Nandini snap her eyes to the middle aged woman as she gently asked, "Right now, it's just me, your doctor and you as my patient. The words exchanged between both of us will be not be disclosed to any third person without your consent. So, I will just ask this once and you can trust me to answer it truthfully. Is this decision to terminate the baby is as much yours as your husband's? No one is pressuring you for it?"

"Yeah. This is just not the right time to welcome this baby," Nandini swallowed and completed the sentence, "No one is forcing me for it. I want it."

The doctor nodded her head and proceeded with a urine and blood test before she asked the nurse to call Manik. When he entered, the doctor asked them to fill out the patient agreement form. After filling it, Manik handed it over to the doctor along with making the necessary payment for the treatment before she explained to them the entire procedure.

However, although every word out of the doctor's mouth was difficult to hear for them but Nandini was totally blank when the doctor said, "Since you have a baby that is breastfed but you can't feed him during this procedure and the following few days. These medicines pass through the breast milk and we aren't sure of how they can affect your baby."

Nandini nodded in understanding, her body draining emotionally and physically even before the procedure began. A few minutes later, as the doctor walked out, a nurse came in with the pill and glass of water and asked Nandini to have it, moving out of the room to give the couple privacy.

Manik sat beside Nandini on the hospital bed, draping his arm around her shoulder as she stared at the pill in her hand silently. Her hand shook slightly as she swallowed the pill with water which will stop the hormone progesterone from working and break the lining of the uterus which will stop the pregnancy from continuing further. She pushed off Manik's arm and stepped out of the room without a single word.

As Manik was following her, the doctor, who was passing by, observed Nandini's behaviour as she walked by her and stopped Manik to say, "Did she take the pill?" When he nodded, she instructed, "Just keep monitoring her these days. This phase can be extremely difficult for a mother. Mentally and physically. Be there for her and be patient. Don't let her guilt herself. Otherwise, there is a high possibility of her going into postpartum depression."

Manik nodded, thanking the doctor for her advice before walking towards the parking area where Nandini was waiting by their car for him. Unlocking it, he opened the door for her, helping her in before they drove back to their apartment in silence with his hand on hers, silently assuring that he was there for her.

*****

Amidst the pain and the heartbreak due to Aarav's constant cries as he craved for his mother's milk, Nandini and Manik managed to pass away the next two days, until the day she was dreading catched up to her.

Nandini blinked her eyes as she felt Manik pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. He faintly smiled towards her and said, "I'm leaving for office. Just give me a call if you need anything."

Nandini nodded but before he could leave, she asked, "Can you please feed Aarav the formula milk before you go? He won't drink it from Ma without force. And if I try to, he just cries."

"Sure," Manik replied. Nandini got up and grabbed her dupatta from the chair, walking downstairs to prepare Aarav's formula milk. After she was done, she handed over the feeder to Manik and while he picked up Aarav, she walked to the bathroom to bathe, knowing he wouldn't have it if he saw her around. She turned on the faucet to avoid hearing the loud cries that echoed in the room, her own tears of helplessness washing away with the water.

*****

Nandini was working in the kitchen, mindless to everything happening around her until she heard someone gasping behind her.

"Nandini! Tera dhyan kidhar hai? Abhi saara dudh dul jaata," her mother in law scolded her as she turned off the extinguisher. When Nandini didn't speak up anything, she shook her head and said, "Woh Aarav roh raha hai. Usse feed dede."

(Nandini, where are you lost? **The milk would have spilled out.)

Neyonika silently observed Nandini as she took out the formula box milk and couldn't help herself as she commented, "Nandini, chaar mahine ka bacha hai voh. Aafat nahi aajayegi koi agar thoda waqt aur feed dedigi usse. Ye dudh pata hai kitna kharab hai unke liye." When Nandini didn't say anything, simply preparing the milk, her moves suddenly turned clumsy as her hands shook. But Neyonika missed it, and shook her head, taking the bottle from her, her voice echoing in Nandini's ears as she mumbled while going out, "Aaj kal ki ladkiya. Bilkul fikar ni hai apne bacho ki."

(*Nandini, he is just four months. There won't be a problem if you feed him some more time. Do you know how harmful formula milk is for children? **The girls nowadays. Don't even care about their children.)

Nandini didn't let out the tears threatening to escape as she walked towards their room upstairs frantically. She latched the door behind her, her hands shaking as she tried to find Manik's contact but before she could place a call, she whimpered in pain, her eyes closing tightly and she dropped the phone, walking towards the bathroom on shaky legs, turning on the water as she slid down on the floor, her hand pressing against her stomach in pain as her eyes teared up as the pill she took an hour ago started working, her uterus contracting.

Her heart stopped in horror before the most wretched cry echoed as her clothes stained with blood. She whimpered in pain as her stomach and legs cramped, her hands shaking as she tried to breathe as she felt another wave of heavy bleeding. Nandini didn't realise how long she sat on the floor, as wave after wave of unbearable pain hit her, her own heart bleeding as she bleeded out the innocent child inside her.

Few hours later, it was all over. She sat on the floor, gasping her breath with her hands wrapped around her. She needed a hug, even the soothing words would have sufficed, but she sat all alone with the four walls as the only witness of the blood washing away and her heart breaking cries, draining her physically and emotionally.

Gradually, her eyes dried as the water washed away the blood as if nothing happened even though it failed to wash the scars it had left behind for life, drowning her in its darkness.

Hi everyone! Hope I did justice to this chapter. Please vote and do comment your views. They are highly appreciable and helps me working on upcoming story.

Take care!❤️