Kavin was quietly driving his car, with purvi right beside him on the passenger's seat, as equm quietly sat at the back, looking out the window. Purvi, quietly looked over to kavin with concern, before she opened her mouth to utter her next words. 

"kavin kya zaroorat thi early discharge ki, doctor ne kaha tha na 3-4 din observation mein, before they start your physical therapy...you just cannot start doing things like nothing happened, you had a heart attack!" exclaimed purvi, as kavin got the exact trigger he needed. 

"toh tumpe sab chod do? as if you are so responsible....clearly tumhara toh koi role nahi hai aaj iss situation ke hone pe!" raised kavin his voice, as equm already started to rub the temple of his forehead, while sighing in distress. 

"tum the responsible! tumhe toh pata bhi nahi chala kab hamara beta drug addict ban gaya...you were so busy telling our children that i suck as a mother, that you actually stopped doing the parenting...which you were supposed to do!" yelled purvi too, as equm was already starting to loose it, and took out cannabis from his pocket, as he spread it out in his hands, to snort it. 

only one snort was all it needed, it seemed, for him to feel better. 

"tumne usse uske 14th birthday pe gift ki jagah drugs di thi!" yelled kavin in disbelief, as purvi was about to retort back, when she noticed equm, sniffing up the drugs already. kavin noticed this, as he too looked back at equm, and it took only a second for equm to realise, he can't sneak up drugs in between his parents' argument anymore.

"what is wrong with you! tumhe literally rehab lekar jaaya jaa raha hai, aur tum abhi bhi drugs le rahe ho! thodi si bhi akal hai tum mein?" kavin was pissed off, pushed to his limits, as equm, well was too high to care. 

"see?" signaled kavin to prove exactly what he was talking about, as purvi rolled her eyes. 

"you know what! tum jaante the ki maine puri life mein ek hi sapna dekha tha, i wanted to be an impactful journalist....and before i could even get an internship, we had bani. with a toddler, i had to be a travelling journalist, i would work all day, try talking to you both at night, come home after a few days of work on a night, only to take care of bani...and guess what? just when i thought i was going somewhere, my boss, the owner of a so-called 'independent news outlet' which tells 'real news', LITERALLY said to me ki the real journalism doesn't sell....nobody cares about it....sapna tootte dekha hai maine apna! i was..heartbroken....i didn't even know if what i was doing was even worth it...and..so when di told me she can get me a job at a news outlet, where i can actually have control over what stories i get to tell, i took it. i got hope again...but, that dream shattered too...because even there, i was just running after all this masala entertainment we call news...because that's what kept my job! i didn't want to fail kavin, it would hurt too much...i couldn't bare it. so, i, lost my way...i'm not proud of the things i did..it's just...if i could....i-i would do it better, i promi---se...." broke down purvi in tears, as she hid her face away , to the window side, the tears came out incessantly. 

kavin, couldn't help but empathise, he had felt betrayed too, hopeless as he saw his dream vanish. he too worked at a job he was demoted to, just because he didn't know what else to do, he felt resentful and bitter, maybe she left the same way, driving her to this behavior. As he processed all this, he just quietly drove, his eyes on the road, as all these thoughts constantly hit his head. 

purvi had wiped off her tears by now, as she just looked straight ahead on the road, so did equm and kavin, all of them filled with the doom in their eyes, which was maybe what they saw lie ahead. 

                                                                                 ***

Bani opened her eyes in the hospital room, as she looked around, the lifeless white walls, she was no longer having a panic attack, but the depression she felt was too real. her eyes averted to her side, where she was nihaal standing, his arms crossed, his eyes, filled with anguish. 

"tum, kab aaye?" asked bani, as she tried to sit up, not that she was assisted by him, he just quickly wiped his eyes, walking over to her. 

"bas, abhi...equm ko rehab le jaa rahe the chachu-chachi, kabhi socha nahi tha saale haraamkhor ke jaane ka itna dukh lagega..." expressed nihaal his sorrow,  scoffing, as bani was just shocked, still processing it. 

"what a crazy few days, huh?" remarked nihaal, as he couldn't avoid the mental exhaustion that was starting to dawn on him. 

"kabhi-kabhi mujhe lagta hai main hi kyun nahi bhaag gayi..." confessed bani, as nihaal had a piercing glare on her. 

"main bhi wahi soch raha tha....jasmine, deepika, dono ne hi milkar tumhare saath kiya tha saumya ka murder, ab kyun tumhe chod diya unhone?" interrogated nihaal, as bani looked over to nihaal in shock, as she looked at horror with his angry glare. 

"tum, kya, yeh kisne kaha tumse?" asked bani, confused, still processing this. 

"yaad hai, arjun tumhe tang kar raha tha, toh main gaya tha uske ghar,  usse samjhaane ki tujhe bhi jasmine ki tarah hi na dukhi karein, main gusse mein tha, hatta-paai ho gayi, aur tab, woh mujhe batata hai ki usse tumse kyun itni problem hai...maine vishwas nahi kiya uspe pehle, aur jor se maara usse gusse mein...phir mujhe pata chala, ki tum, kitni badi--" nihaal's palpable anger was starting to rise, as his earlier calm tone was now rising to his temper. 

"nihaal, i'm sorry..." attempted bani to apologise, when nihaal walked upto her what appeared to be in a flash, his hands forming a tight grip around her throat, making her gasp. 

"KYUN!" yelled nihaal at the top of his voice, scaring bani. 

"kyun, kyun kiya tumne aisa?" yelled nihaal even more, as tears were starting to roll down his eyes, as he let go of her throat, looking away, trying to wipe his tears, controlling them. 

"sabse pehle tumhe hi bataya tha jab usse i love you bola tha pehli baar....how could you, do this to me bani!" demanded nihaal for an answer, feeling utterly betrayed. 

"nihaal, i---" attempted bani to respond, but was shut down quickly. 

"you know what, it doesn't even matter....i thought i was mad at you...i thought i needed some closure...but i, i can't even look at you now. you are fucking dead to me." stated nihaal, as he stormed out of the ward, as it finally dawned on bani, that she was now, all alone, all because of what she did. 

                                                                         ***