Prabir walked up to a small shop within the hospital premises and purchased some biscuit packets and a fruit cake. He handed the paper bag to Mr. Pramod, Bhargavi's father, who looked up closely at the handsome young man and patting his shoulder lightly said, " I am sorry for that day's behaviour my boy, when I insulted you in the Mahakali temple."

"But what are you two doing in the hospital?" He questioned with a puzzled look glancing at both of them.

"Uncle we had a friend admitted in the hospital and she is no more. Her Maa is now in the ICU unable to bear the pain and shock", Prabir informed politely.

"Have you informed Raghav and his mother about Raunak's accident?" Bhargavi quizzed.

"No, not yet. I tried to call Raghav many times but I couldn't.

He told me almost a million times to not purchase the racing bike for Raunak. I never paid any heed to his words and made up remarks like, he is not supposed to be riding a racing bike when he turns my age right?

I never knew that I would be inflicting so much of pain upon my child with this decision, I only had wanted to see him happy.

He has ended up in such a pitiable condition all because of me", the old man said dejected.

"Raghav is your younger son?" Prabir asked curious.

"Older, he's twenty-five years old.

I...I had called up my wife and all she said was she never wants to see my face again", Mr.Pramod said with tears tumbling down his cheeks.

The youngsters, the classmates and friends of Raunak, who were gathered up in a corner, were engrossed in making a decision on whether they should stay behind after receiving such gruesome insults or walk out of the hospital.

Prabir opened a packet of biscuits, gliding his hand in the paper bag, held by Mr. Pramod and offered him to have some," I can talk to Raghav Bhaiya, if you want. I am sure he will understand.

Here have something at least, I know you didn't have your lunch".

Bhargavi's gaze was fixed at Dhruv who was standing very close to the crowd of youngsters and listening to their conversations. His crestfallen look was complimented with a look of defiance.

He was brimming with hostility. Bhargavi rapidly strode towards Dhruv and dragged him towards Prabir and her father, as Dhruv turned around giving a death stare at the crowd of people, marinated with resentment.

"Dhruv relax! Please calm down", Bhargavi pleaded.

"No! I can't. You know what they were saying?

They were saying filthy and vile things about you and your father, because Raunak had never before mentioned that he had a sister", Dhruv said enraged clenching his fists.

A fresh swell of rage rose in Prabir and thrusting the biscuit packet in Mr. Pramod's hand he rushed in the direction of the crowd, at the corner.

Bhargavi placed her right hand on his chest and pushed him back uttering under her breath, " No Prabir please. This is a hospital.

Don't waste your energy on useless things, let them say whatever they want behind my back."

Prabir grabbed her arm, at his chest and instantly calmed down, keeping his frustration in check, he nodding at her.

Mr. Pramod quickly gave Prabir Raghav's number, as he was really tensed now, since his wife was not receiving his calls.

Prabir called up Raghav, who received the call immediately.
'Hello! I am Prabir. I called up to inform you that your younger brother Raunak has met with an accident and has been admitted to the hospital. Your father is here and he wants you to go home and check if your mother is okay. She is not receiving any calls", Prabir said thoughtfully.

Bhargavi had taken up to calling her step mother. She called up seven to eight times but there was no answer.

Dhruv couldn't relax and stay put, he swiftly slipped from Prabir and Bhargavi's eyesight while they were busy making calls and then, Bhargavi was poked by her father.

Mr. Pramod hastily pointed out that Dhruv had pinned a boy on the wall with his right arm placed across his neck, his elbow lying parallel to the wall.

"Bloody hell!" She uttered softly and ran in Dhruv's direction.

"Let him go Dhruv", Bhargavi shrieked.

"I have spent seven long years in jail and I don't mind being placed there again", Dhruv retorted angrily.

Bhargavi tried to pull him back grabbing his upper arm, from the scared and tormented eighteen years old kid, pinned on the wall.

Dhruv jerked his hand away and as rage nearly consumed him, he turned around and punched Bhargavi right in her face.

Bhargavi was flummoxed and couldn't dodge the unexpected fist directed at her.

She stumbled loosing her balance and was about to fall, when two strong and powerful arms gripped her, evading her from falling down.

Prabir held her firmly in his arms and was cold with fury. He had noticed Bhargavi race rapidly in Dhruv's direction and then he saw the boy pinned on the wall. He hurriedly disconnected the call and then sprinted to stop the ruckus,created by Dhruv.

She struggled to get free from his hold and stood up straight. She marched towards Dhruv with rage pulsing through her veins, and before Prabir could stop her, she punched Dhruv hard on his face,leaving him ailing on the floor.

"I don't want to...but that doesn't mean that I don't know how to fight back.

Don't you ever dare show ME your MACHISMO.

Next time you lay a finger on me and I'll rip you apart", Bhargavi thundered , breathless with anger and stormed away.

Prabir helped Dhruv stand up, as the kids instantly tried to flee away from the hospital, because of the stark revelation that Dhruv had been in jail for seven long years and Bhargavi seemed to be even more dangerous.

Prabir grabbed Dhruv's arm and tugged him along. He informed Mr. Pramod that he had called up his elder son Raghav, who had ensured to go home and call up his father.

Dhruv looked sombre and somewhat restless. Prabir took him to Mr. Banerjee's cabin, who was making some dentures in his free time, with no patients lined up.

Mr. Banerjee greeted Prabir with a warm smile lifting his head up from his work. A glimpse on Dhruv's face made him shriek, " what happened to his face?"

"You know Baba, what happens when Bhargu is irked and riled by someone", Prabir said bemused.

"She did this to him?" Mr. Banerjee exclaimed unable to believe.

"Yes, ironically, he is the one who provoked her by punching her first and this is his return gift. She tried to beautifully reconstruct his face", Prabir admitted gladly.

"Why on Earth did you punch her? Is she okay Prabir?" Mr. Banerjee barked.

"Well, in order to know that first I need to find her. I'll leave him in your care till then", Prabir said sadly and left.

Prabir did not have the chance to talk to his father about Dhruv and his past, and now he would be having the leisure to probe him.

'Don't infuriate him with your questions Baba, please. Let him calm down and sit quietly for a while.
He had been in jail for seven long years.
He doesn't know how to keep his rage under check.'

Prabir sent this message on his way to Mr. Banerjee before, beginning his search for Bhargavi.

Prabir found Bhargavi sipping cold coffee outside the hospital premises. Her face was swollen. Prabir placed a hand on her shoulder and asked concerned, " Are you okay?"

" That was quite a shocker. I never saw that coming and couldn't dodge it.

The impact is such that, as the swelling sets in, I am seeing stars even in broad daylight.

Even my knuckles hurt real bad, they are not conditioned for blunt trauma since birth", Bhargavi sighed.

"Come with me, we need to place ice packs on your face and knuckles", Prabir said thoughtfully.

"Maa will definitely be upset with me Prabu for my useless participation in knuckle boxing", she giggled and then instantly exclaimed, " Ouch! My jaw hurts."

They walked into Mr. Banerjee's cabin where he was still working on his dentures and Dhruv was watching with sheer amazement.

Mr. Banerjee had been cautious and did not ask a single question to Dhruv after reading Prabir's message, though he had offered him some ice packs to place on his face.

Prabir made Bhargavi sit in Mr. Banerjee's chair and handed her an ice pack, " place that on your knuckles", he said softly as he placed another ice pack gently on her face.

**********************

Later in the evening, many of Mr. Bhairav's relatives had poured in and some of them insisted that Keya's last rites be performed as soon as possible.

Mr. Bhairav's elder brother Mr. Bhadrak, the only relative who was extremely kind to Mrs. Kavya and Mr. Bhairav apologized for not being able to visit the hospital earlier and thanked wholeheartedly Prabir and Bhargavi for their immense support throughout the day in his absence.

He requested them to return to their home,and get some rest as there were a lot of people now and attending the last rites of a person was not a very pleasant thing to do.

Some of the ladies, the relatives of Mr. Bhairav had stayed back for Mrs. Kavya, and two of them were chatting with each other sitting on a bench close to where Bhargavi was seated. Prabir had gone to bring some tea for both of them, while Dhruv was happily munching on some potato chips sitting opposite to Bhargavi.

One of the ladies said, " I really feel pity for the poor woman Mrs. Kavya you know. Keya was her only child and .."

The other women chirped in, " I warned her many times to keep her daughter in check, but she never listened to me and see now what has happened.

Keya never had a good upraising since childhood you know. Can you imagine a twenty three years old girl wearing mid thigh length short skirts and roaming around with boys?

She used to party till late at night and sometimes returned home the next morning.

I didn't want Keya to influence my daughter and thus strictly warned her to stay away from Keya and.."

Before she could have said a word more, Bhargavi plastered her mouth with a tape, that she always carried around with her in her hand bag. The small pen knife gifted by Prabir aided her in cutting the tape.

" Enjoying huh! Speaking ill about a dead person?

You may mind my intrusion but I don't care", Bhargavi said ruefully.

Prabir stood close behind Bhargavi with two paper cups of tea in his hands and called softly, " Bhargu".

Bhargavi turned around and took one cup sipping in her tea, and Prabir quietly observed the lady struggling to pull off the tape from her mouth.

"Hey! Why did you do that Bhargu?" Prabir quizzed.

"I was observing a lady monkey chattering pointlessly and that vexed me so I taped her mouth to shut her up", Bhargavi replied with a ear to ear smile on her face.

The lady finally succeeded in pulling off the tape and screamed, " Did your mother not even teach you to respect your elders?"

"Well, yes she did tell me to be respectful to my elders but she never told me anything about MONKEYS, you know", Bhargavi chortled.

"Girl you are insulting me", the lady retorted with anger.

"Oh! Really? Does that burn? Well I am glad if it does.

Are you annoyed because I called you a monkey?

Ah! You should be called a Barbary Macaque. You don't have a tail right?" Bhargavi beamed.

The lady stood up and yelled, " ridiculous".

She was about to storm away when Bhargavi grabbed her arm with her left hand, and uttered under her breath, " can you even fathom how insanely ugly and gross it feels to listen to you...speaking shit about a girl who passed away just a few hours ago.

How insensitive you are, a sickeningly detestable woman."

"I am only telling the truth and I don't want a foul and shameless person like you.. lecturing me about right and wrong, who grabs the arms of two boys at a time and toils around", the lady blurted angrily.

"Woah!" Bhargavi let out an uproar of laughter and let her arm free.

"Take it back. Take you words back right now", Prabir barked at the lady, as fury roared through his mind.

"Gosh! Seriously you should be thanking God that you are a lady else I would have knocked out all of your teeth by now", Prabir added furiously when she stood immobile.

They saw a bald middle-aged man rapidly approaching them, " what is the matter Prabir?" he enquired.

"Uncle I want this filthy and vile creature to be thrown out from this place right now", Prabir replied with disgust pointing at the lady.

"He doesn't know to behave, you should ask him to leave doctor and this...this girl she taped my mouth", the lady replied back bewildered.

"I am afraid I won't do that to my child and would ask you to leave instead.

I have never before, seen Prabir react this way and I am supposing it has something to do with your behaviour", Vishwesh's father stated calmly.

"But.." the lady had begun and was interrupted by Mr. Nakul, Vishwesh's father , " you want me to call the security?"

This made the lady leave quietly.

"I have never seen such a  horribly ridiculous woman in my life", Prabir blurted with disgust.

A/N: This chapter seems to have turned out longer than I had expected.

Hope you enjoyed reading!! 😊