The room was dark, with moonlight pouring in, giving him the partial visibility that he needed. The crimson carpet reeked of formaldehyde from the morgue, and the stuffed carcass of a tiger's head mounted to the wall stared back at him with angry eyes. It was the governor's drawing room, Batakrishna realised, but it smelled like the hospital he studied at.

"Mira..."
He let out a suppressed scream, as a pair of soft hands embraced him from behind.
Batuk shivered.
"Let's go from here Mira... This isn't a nice place."
Batakrishna urged, but Mira came infront of him slowly, her eyes fixated on his lips, her eyes piercing deep in his. Mira looked different, paler, and her orbs had a hint of blue that matched the hue of the sky.
"Mira... " Batuk held her chin and brought her face closer to take a good look at her, and she smiled.
There was something a miss, and Batuk narrowed his eyes, but before he could fathom anything else, Mira spoke up... Her voice alluring, and strong.

"I love you... Roy... I love you so much!"

"Nooo...." Batuk screamed, and with all his might be tried to move her away from him, for she wasn't Mira anymore but the woman he despised.

"Why no...?" Candice was approaching him, but to his utter surprise she wore the same saree as Raimoti Mukherjee, her forehead was bleeding, and she was smiling cruelly at him.

"Nooo..." Batuk whimpered, but nothing came out from his throat, his limbs felt glued to the air too.

"Why no, Daktar Babu?" Raimoti asked, but it wasn't her voice anymore, but a distorted version of Mahamaya's tone, laughing, giggling, and slowly she stretched her hands infront, her head bent to the side in a fearful visual aversion, inching closer to his neck every moment, trying to choke him to death...
The hands were white, gloved!
Batuk closed his eyes at once.

"Nooo...." He breathed.

"Choto Zamindar Babu?"

The sweet voice broke Batakrishna's trance in a second, waking him up from the unholy nightmare. He stirred, and opened his eyes to look around, internalising the existence of the reality he currently dwelled in.

"Mira?" His lips let out a concerned murmured in response.

It was night, rather the prelude to it, and sitting by the skinny campfire, against the trunk of the neem tree, Batakrishna had dozed off for a moment, letting his mind slip into the deep dark scarry secrets of his life.
Mira, however, was lying down, her head in his lap, and the rest of her on the dry grass bed facing the fire. That touch was their only physical contact, and none attempted to explore any further, each lost in their own minds, battling their own demons.

"Was it a nightmare?" Mira asked, slowly trying around, and Batuk noticed the gloss in her dark orbs, the golden fire burning in her eyes.

"Hm." He hummed, and very tenderly touched her forehead to tuck away a few stands of stray hair.
"How are you feeling now?" He asked her .

"My head hurts."

"The wild berries." He murmured and leaned against the trunk once again, a naughty smile curved on his lips.
"And, do you still want babies with me?"

"Issh!"
Mira moved her face to bury in his lap, hiding the scarlet hue of shame on her cheeks.

"My conditions were very clear though..." Batuk decided to pull her leg a little. "You'll have to marry me to have my babies."

"Dhaatt!" Mira bit her tongue, and Batakrishna laughed.
"No seriously, I'm not a man who'd have babies outside wedlock."
Batuk chortled and Mira buried her face further.
"Did you get any sleep?" He finally asked.

"No."

"Why?" He asked again, and after a long silence, Mira slowly opened her lips to speak.

"Why were you saying No? In your sleep."

"Was I?" Batuk countered, as a soft sigh escaped his lips.

"Was it that bad?"

"Worst!" He replied.

The fire burnt, slowly, lazily, making it almost unbearable to keep a track of the night, and barring the constant hooting of the night owl, the distant cricket's chirping, and the unknown sinister howls, there was no human sounds that existed in that moment.
Batakrishna was counting his own breathing, and Mira kept staring vacantly at the fire, her head still on his lap, and his arms folded to his chest.

"There was someone, before I met you, the real you I mean,", he suddenly spoke up, and Mira stirred a little.
"Although just for a day, but she existed in my life, until she chose to break my heart."

"Hm..!" Mira just hummed.

"Not even a full day Mira, she was in my life for... let's say less than twenty four hours, and it was enough to break me completely... strange isn't it? Batuk chuckled, and Mira let out a soft exhale.

"That firangi woman... from the hotel."
She murmured.

"She has a name."

"I don't want to know."

Batuk sighed and smiled at her response.
"Ofcourse. Why would you? I don't mean anything to you... And why would you want to know anything about me, or my life!"

Batuk tightened his own grip around his chest and closed his eyes, and in response, Mira slowly got up from his stretched legs and sat upright, gathering the loosened saree around her body.

"You never wanted to know about the old man from the mountains." She slowly spoke, "the one who married me, and used to beat me... Why?"

Batuk opened his eyes and frowned.
"Because... Well, because he means nothing to..."
Suddenly he couldn't complete his words, as a soft smile stretched across Mira's aesthetic face, glowing in the soft flame of the fire.

"Same." She smiled.

"Mira?" Batakrishna gasped at her answer, and raised his hand at her, and she lowered her face, yet extending her fingers to touch his.
"Do I mean anything to you? Anything at all?"
The urge in his voice was unmistakable, and Mira nodded her head slowly.

"Choto Zamindar Babu, I did not know you when you met that firangi woman, or anyone else, and hence it doesn't concern me if it doesn't concerns you."

"Really?"
His own words sounded weak to his ears, and yet he asked.

"Yes. And, I want you to be happy."

"My happiness lies with you Mira." He squeezed her hand a little and Mira shivered.

"Happy and alive."
She murmured.
"You won't live if I'm with you Choto Zamindar Babu, and i know that... Hence..."

Batuk didn't respond, neither did he felt the need to argue at that moment. The only comfort he needed was her, and her closeness.
"Fine, but now that I'm alive, could you please come a little closer, I'm cold."
He demanded, and after a little hesitation, Mira slowly moved slightly closer to his chest, and Batuk did the rest.
With a gentle tug, he pulled her yet closer and made her head rest on his chest, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, and Mira started to breath rapidly pressing her eyes shut.

"Calm down." He murmured, "I won't kiss you... Don't worry."

'I'm not worried Choto Zamindar Babu, not a bit... But this closeness does unknown things to me, it ruffles my existence, my entire being, and all I'm left with is a strong urge to melt in you... I'm not worried Choto Zamindar Babu, I'm scared, very scared!'

Mira thought the words, and then gulped nervously at the thought of him hearing her thoughts, and then a subtle unseen smile stretched across her lips.

Would she ever be able to say this out loud?
Perhaps not... And, perhaps it's for good.

"Sleep Mira..." Batuk hushed, and Mira smiled again, none able to see each other's face, but they heard the sound of each other's heartbeat prominantly.
"We have a long day tomorrow... And, once you find your son, we'll have to return back to Tulsipur before Dada's birthday."

"We?"Mira asked softly, and Batuk closed his eyes and rested his head against the tree trunk.

"Sorry, I." He sighed.

...........................................................

The hospital was built long ago, like the city that surrounded it. Outside the streets were built for horses and carts, they were narrow and twisting. Inside the hospital the hallways were the same, never wide enough for the modern equipment that must pass in opposite directions. But even odder still was that they may go up and down hill, the rooms being built at sightly different levels to one another. Whoever the architect probably didn't care much to draw a plan, the entire building has an organic and eclectic feel, even when the era it was built in was taken into consideration.

Beenapani Ganguly had followed her unconscious friend and the over protective husband to the hospital, and she had volunteered to drive the British lady who needed to be in the hospital too. In one of the small cabin rooms had laid the white lady, whose name she hadn't had the chance to know. And across the hallway, in a similarly fashioned different room lay her friend, Bondita, her husband hovering over her face like an eager anxious teenager.
The hallway had as much personality as the rest of the hospital. The floor was slate grey and the walls dove. Above, the ceiling was made from those polystyrene squares laid on a grid-like frame. The light was too bright for Beena's eyes after the darkening gloom outside, she found it abrasive, enough perhaps to bring on one of her own fearful nightmare induced migraines. Beena decided to walk around a little at first, eyeing across. Above every door she passed was a large cardboard sign, dark with white lettering- no fancy fonts, just bold and all-caps. Her eyes fell on her own hands, trembling, and glimpse of memories flooded her mind slowly, the memories of the night when her boy husband had died!

"How are you feeling now Shona?" Anirudh's eager, concerned voice slowly helped Bondita to transition from a state of complete unconscious to a faint reality. She slowly opened her eyelids, and infront of her was the face she loved the most.

"Barrister babu..." She tried to speak, and the dryness in her throat made her choke.

"Water Bondita..." Anirudh had promptly held a steel glass to her lips, and with the support of another hand he held Bondita's neck to lift her head.

"What happened to me?" She muttered.

"You fainted. Doctor said it's stress, and you've not been eating properly." He sighed.
"It's all my fault Bondita, I should have taken better care of you."

"You have... Always." Bondita tried to smile, but her cheeks hurt, and her lips felt dried.

"How did you fell so sick Shona? I am... I mean..."
Anirudh couldn't complete his sentences as with an urgent longing he grabbed Bondita's hands and brought them close to his chest.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight anymore... I'm soo sorry Bondita... "

"No, I'm sorry." Bondita murmured in return.
"I misunderstood you... I thought... I thought you've come to proclaim..."

"I don't need to proclaim anything Shona. You're mine, and that's as true as the existence of the sun. I don't need to prove anything to anyone."
Anirudh's voice broke, and it broke Bondita's heart too.

"I'm sorry."
She breathed.

"No, I am... It's all because of me... I should have told you everything about my past. How foolishly I had thought them to be irreverent, and see, here we are... My wife stressing and falling sick."
Anirudh squeezed her hand a little more and brought them to his lips, planting baby kisses on her knuckles, and Bondita smiled.

"Candice means nothing to me, she never did..."
Anirudh started, and the name brought back fragments of memories back to Bondita's mind, raising her heartbeat, and making her grow visibly impatient.

"Bondita, Shona... What happened? Are you feeling unwell?" Anirudh stood up from the small wooden chair and leaned on her, cupping her face in anxious concern.

"She said your blood... She said a Roy Chowdhury growing in her... Barrister Babu.... Barrister Babu what did she mean?" Bondita tried to get up, and Anirudh promptly cradled her in his strong arms as if she was a small baby, his baby!
"Tell me Barrister Babu... What was she speaking about!"

Bondita's feeble yet agitated urges wretched Anirudh's heart, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt a growing anger fuming inside him against his brother.
How could he?
How could he do this to his family?

"Calm down Shona... " He pressed Bondita's face to his chest, and planted a kiss on her forehead.
"Batuk did some mistake... And, it seems we'll have to pay for it with our sanity."

"What do you mean?"
Bondita was crying, for she knew very well what he meant, the consciousness slowly bringing back all the memories afresh, yet her heart denied the truth of its existence.

"Candice is expecting Bondita... She's claiming the father to be Batuk."

"Our Batuk?" Bondita sobbed the words, grabbing Anirudh's shirt, and Anirudh let out a deep sigh.

"I can't tell you how ashamed I am... And heartbroken..."

"But he can't do it barrister Babu... I know he can't."

"But I don't know anything for sure, not anymore!" Anirudh swallowed, caressing his wife's head to calm her down.

"The doctors confirmed she's three months pregnant... Exactly what she had claimed."
He sighed, and Bondita looked up to him with teary eyes.

"Now?"

"Now we wait for Batuk to return. And if what she's saying is true then he'll have to take the responsibility Bondita. There is no way out!"

"But..."

"There can't be any but Bondita... If this is true then Batuk is done one of the worst crimes known to mankind, and he'll now have to atone for it."

Bondita buried her face back in Anirudh's chest, her sobs slowly subsiding to his continuous caressing.
And, in its place she felt her head feeling dizzy once again.

"For a moment... I... I thought she's talking about you." She murmured, and a frown formed on Anirudh's forehead at her words

"You don't trust me for a penny, do you?"
He asked her, and she squeezed his shirt firmer.

"I was scared."

"Yet, how could you even think I'd look at some other woman who isn't you? I'd never do anything that would break your heart Bondita."

"I know."

"You know, and yet you fall sick stressing on what you want to believe than the truth."

Bondita sighed at his words.
"I'm a mess Barrister Babu, forgive me."

"That you are... and yes, all forgiven." He smiled.
"And remember Bondita, you are my mess."

"And what about you? The way you messed up last night?"

Bondita rounded her eyes at him, and he smiled.

"I'll seek your forgiveness for that Milord... Once we're home... would you forgive me?"

"Depends." Bondita smiled.
"Home Barrister Babu?"

"Yes, Tulsipur. Enough with Calcutta for now Shona... I too want to go home, to our baby girl, to Kaka... And I'll take care of you there properly."

"And Candice?"

"She'll go back to her husband. Nothing can be done till Batuk comes back."

"Will she agree?"

"She has to."
Anirudh exhaled.

The duo sat in silence, hand in hand, her head against his chest, until a soft knock on the door make her lift her head and look up.
Beenapani was standing at the door.

"Beena..." Bondita smiled, and Anirudh turned around, smiling too.
"Come inside."

Beena walked inside.
"The lady is all set to leave. She wants to see you once Sir."
She remarked, and Anirudh nodded his head.

"I'm sorry Miss Ganguly, for dragging you into this mess, and thank you so much for being there."
He folded his hands and them in gratitude to her.

"No, Sir, it's... Well, consider it my atonement... For, for misunderstanding you and Bondita... And..." She looked away, trying to find appropriate words, and Bondita smiled and touched her hand.

"All forgiven."

"Shotti?"
Beenapani gasped, and Bondita quickly exchanged a glance with her husband, both of them breaking into a familiar smile.

"Shotti, Shotti, Shotti."
Bondita grinned.

............................................................
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Dear Readers,
Thank you for coming this far in our Unventured journey...
A little more way to go, and very soon we'll move to the next part of this same book.

Also, I had mentioned I'll post only after a get a certain number of followers, but I couldn't wait to post as i know you're waiting. I'm still short of 3 followers.
The next chapter would be posted once i get the same. ❤️❤️☺️
Thanks for being there.
Also, barring few of my dear regular readers, i hardly see anyone commenting.
Come on guys ....
I'd really want to know your views and perspectives.
Please leave a comment.