Dushyant, with his one ear on the phone, and one hand covering his mouth, while he tried to talk to someone in the very loud party music blasting through the speakers, just wanted to find a quiet corner to talk, which he did, and wasted no second to go there. 

"haan, ab awaaz aayi?" asked dushyant, taking a sigh of relief after the respondent replying yes.

"yaar, ek cake mangwaya hai, kitna time lagega tujhe...dekh, already 7 baj chuke hain...." complaint dushyant, as the receiver on the other end kept on blabbering, when dushyant started to get another call.

"ek second, bhai tereko hold pe dal raha hoon, dusra call aa raha hai.." stated dushyant, picking up the other call. 

"haan jasmine bolo.." stated dushyant. 

"papa, 7 baj gaye hain, kab aaoge!" exclaimed jasmine, as dushyant just realised that he completely forgot. 

"beta, i'm really sorry...main abhi nahi aa sakta, woh cake...acha, ruko, main nihaal ko bhejta hoon..." stated dushyant, looking for his son, when jasmine just shook her head in disbelief. 

"phirse.." she said, but was unheard by dushyant, only to get on the call later. 

"beta, tum andar hi rehna tab tak, huh..aa raha hai nihaal..." assured dushyant. 

"papa, main..." attempted jasmine to respond, but he had already hung up. 

his phone rang again, only for him to realise late that his phone was not ringing as a dream, when he picked it up immediately.

"hello..commissioner sahab.." received dushyant the phone, as ishita , who was sleeping next to him, got up too. 

"kya? aise-kaise kahi nahi mili, arre yaar woh auto....aap ghar aa rahe hain? thik hai, tab baat karte hain..." kept dushyant his phone back, rubbing his eyes, trying to get up. 

"kya hua? kya keh rahe hain?" asked ishita, as dushyant just got up from the bed. 

"dushyant!" called ishita, as he just got out of the room, banging the door shut, before leaving. 

ishita rested her face on her hand, as she grabbed her hair, sighing deeply, only for it to cover her forehead, when she just closed her eyes.

ishita, was sitting by a 5 year old jasmine at the time, who was peacefully, far away from the visible anxiety on her father's face, who had just entered with some medicines in his hand, which he handed over to ishita. 

ishita, just kept them by the nightstand beside the bed, that had been turned into a mini-pharmacy, with all the medicines the little girl could need, as dushyant just take his glance off her, the concern still there, which ishita noticed. 

"dushyant..." brought ishita, dushyant back to earth, as his glance went over to her now.

"viral hua hai bas, thik ho jayegi..." assured ishita, as dushyant nodded, sitting by his daughter on the bed. 

"mujhe notice karna chahiye tha, school chodne jaata tha tab khaas rahi hoti thi itna...kitni beemar thi..." expressed dushyant his guilt, as ishita placed her hand on to his. 

"dushyant, bachon ka koi immune system kahan hota hai, ab 14-15 saal ki age tak toh yahi sab chalta rahega, kabhi viral, pneumonia, chicken-pox...baad mein phir kuch immunity ban jayegi inn cheezon se, toh phir khaasi-zukham mushkil se hafte bhar rahega..." explained ishita, as dushyant looked over to her. 

"tumhare hi kaaran hai, main toh kabhi itna beemar nahi padha!" exclaimed dushyant, as ishita glared at him. 

"acha, main thi na, jisse nihaal ke fever ka khayal rakhe ke, khudh hi fever ho gaya..." retorted ishita, as dushyant was about to argue back, when jasmine woke up. 

"mumma.." she called softly, clearly her throat was in a bad condition. 

"bhook lagi hai.." she stated, as ishita sighed in relief.

"chalo, kya khaoge batao...finger chips banao..." asked ishita with a pretended happiness, as jasmine nodded in agreement, excitedly. 

"arre woh heavy hota hai...gale se nahi utrega iske..." argued dushyant, as ishita just got up in frustration. 

"uska gaala hai, usse pata hoga ki tumhein, ab dekho isko...main aa rahi hoon..." left ishita, as dushyant sat by his daughter. 

"aaja mera bacha, baith jao thodi der..hmm..." helped dushyant, in making her sit, placing a pillow behind for her. 

"dawai khaiyi?" asked dushyant, as she shook her head in no. 

"arre dopeher ho gayi hai, abhi time haina dawai ka..." explained dushyant, picking up the bottle of the medecine, and a spoon. 

"kadwi hai..." retorted jasmine, as dushyant chuckled. 

"kitni, karele jitni?" asked dushyant, making a face, as she shook her head in no. 

"usse bhi zyada.." replied jasmine, as dushyant opened the bottle. 

"chalo, abhi main apne haath se piloanga, aeroplane waala, huh?" dushyant, put the medecine syrup on the spoon, making his hand move like an aeroplane, as jasmine opened her mouth to drink it. 

"ab mumma ko bhi sorry bolke aata hoon....warna woh mujhe aeroplane waale haath se maarengi..." remarked dushyant, imitating such a hand movement that he gave jasmine a little pat on her cheek, as she just chuckled. 

 ishita, was woken up from the dream by a knock on the door. 

"nihaal?" asked ishita, as he came and sat on the foot of the bed, not facing his mother. 

"kya hua bache, practice nahi gaye aaj?" questioned ishita, as she sat closer to him. 

"mom, bahar police aayi hui hain...i mean, samajh nahi aa raha hai school jaana chahiye ki nahi...ajeeb sa lag raha hai..." expressed nihaal his dilemma, as ishita gave him a side hug. 

"sach kahoon...mujhe khudh nahi samajh aa raha, office jaaon ke nahi, gayi bhi nahi toh yahan rehkar kya karungi...toh agar mann nahi kar raha, mat jao...sab normal hone mein thoda time lagega..." explained ishita, as nihaal nodded. 

"let me see police kya keh rahi hai, i'll tell you okay, but abhi jaake breakfast karo chalo, shyaam bhaiya ko bolo joh khaana hai, bana denge..." stated ishita, as nihaal nodded and left. 

                                                                       ***

bani and equm were sitting on the bed together, faces of what would be expected as utterly filled with fear, but instead, it was just one. bani turned to equm. 

"koi ransom call hi nahi aaya, crime patrol mein dekha hai maine, maar diya hai kya unhone usse?" questioned bani, as equm just nodded. 

"maar diya usse!" exclaimed bani, as he just looked at her in disbelief.

"mere ko kya pata, mere mama thodi hai kidnapper!" exclaimed equm, as bani just hit him with the a pillow. 

"tu itna useless kyun hai! tera koi ganjaa dene waala tereko kyun nahi uthake le jaata! pata nahi, jasmine hi kyun mili thi uthane ke liye.." blurted bani, as nihaal entered. 

"kya hua, kuch pata chala?" asked bani, as nihaal shook his head in no. 

"school toh nahi jaana na...kyunki already 7 baj gaye hain, main bahaut late ho jaungi.." stated bani, as equm chuckled. 

"kya hua?" questioned bani. 

"yaar maine kitni baar kaha hai tujhe, lunch tak rook jaya kar!" exclaimed nihaal. 

"dekho, hum sab ki life, ek bus mein hoti hai, aur uske driver raju bhaiya hain, woh kisika wait nahi karte hain, woh bas chalte hain...toh late kya, hamesha jaldi hona chahiye, warna nahi jaana chahiye..." explained equm, and bani and nihaal had nothing but 'what the fuck', written all over it. 

"chachi ko bolo, iske 4 chaped lagayan kare roz subha-shaam, phir iske raju bhaiya bhi rukenge, aur isko bus bhi lekar jaayegi.." remarked nihaal. 

"iska toh kuch nahi ho sakta, par tum actually pareshaan lag rahe ho...i mean, no offence, par, aisa toh nahi hai ki tumare liye jasmine, sister of the year thi..." confessed bani, as nihaal just lied down on the bed. 

"tumhe toh pata hi hai, jasmine toh kabhi kuch galat nahi kar sakti....sab galtiyan mujhse hi hoti hain...ab lagta hai sab bolenge usse gayab bhi maine hi kiya hai..." stated nihaal, as equm looked over at him with sympathy. 

"bro, tu aaj mera hissa le le...main lunch ke liye nahi lunga aaj.." handed equm to nihaal some of his cannabis, as bani just glared at him, and he took it back. 

                                                                  ***

author's note: firstly guys,the response has been mindblowing for both the stories, and this story has been an interesting challenge to write, as even though i have the vision, the possibilities for execution are just so many, and picking one has been hard, but now i have found my path, this one will be updated more.