Vikrant

"Thank you for coming at such short notice, Dr. Mehta," I tell the doctor, leading her to my room to check on Nandini.

She was lying on the bed where I had placed after she fainted a while back.

"Would you like to wait outside while I check on Mrs. Sisodiya?" The doctor asks me after entering the room.

Nodding at her, I walk out.

As I pace outside the room, I feel the guilt creep into me when I remember Nandini's teary face and voice.

You fucked up big time, Vikrant. You really did.

"Of all the girls I could have chosen to marry for my revenge, I chose this one. Why?" I feel angry at myself when her heartbreaking wails ring in my ears.

I take a few deep breaths, trying to eliminate the suffocating feeling.

"How could I have known she was an unwanted daughter by her parents? How could I have known she had been suffering at the hands of her parents since her birth? How could I have known her story? No, I'm not at fault. I'm not." I try to reassure myself, but it doesn't help.

The guilt bubbles inside me, and I'm unable to dampen it. I'm unable to remove the pinch I feel every time I remember how I told her not to expect anything from me on our wedding night.

I recount how devastated she had looked when I told her she was the unwanted wife.

"Fuck! Fuck!! Fuck!!!"

How fucking insensitive of me. I wonder how she must have felt at that moment—from being an unwanted daughter her entire life to being an unwanted wife.

No wonder she didn't throw any tantrums or get mad at me when I announced she and our marriage meant nothing to me.

I thought she did it because she had ulterior motives. But now I understand she did it because she was used to it.

She was used to being unwanted all her life, so she simply accepted when I said the same thing.

"And I kept taunting her and reminding her of her status in my life." I shake my head, feeling like an idiot, as I recall those taunts.

I snap out of my reverie when I hear my bedroom door open and see Dr. Mehta walking out of the room.

"How is she now?" I ask her.

"Mrs. Sisodiya has a high fever, and she looks dehydrated too. I injected her with an antipyretic. That will get the fever down. I also suggest you put cold sponges over her forehead, hands, and feet, which will help reduce the fever," the doctor tells me. "Once she wakes up, try to make her eat and drink to hydrate herself. Give her a tablet of paracetamol if her fever doesn't go down in the next six hours. I will come to check on her tomorrow morning."

I nod at her. "Thank you, doctor."

Saying that I'm about to walk her out, but she stops me.

"There is one other thing I need to talk with you about," she says, and I frown at the seriousness in her voice.

"What is it, Dr. Mehta?"

"While I was examining her, Mrs. Sisodiya was mumbling something. It was incoherent initially, but as I listened closely, it sounded like, 'not my fault' and 'they hate me.' Is there something that is bothering her?"

I shuffle hesitantly on my feet. "Umm, yes, she has been distressed about something lately."

The doctor regards me thoughtfully for a second before she says, "I think that distress is the reason behind her condition. If something is bothering her deeply, maybe she would like a consultation with a psychiatrist?"

I'm unsure about how to reply to that. I have refused to accept Nandini as my wife, and she has also made it clear that she doesn't want to give me any rights as her husband. So, I'm sure she won't appreciate it if I ramble about her matters and past with others, even if it's her doctor.

But I can't deny her need for a psychiatrist. After everything she has suffered, she needs therapy to hopefully move on from her past.

That should be her decision, though. Not mine.

"You are coming to check on her tomorrow, right? Perhaps you can ask her about it then?" I tell the doctor.

She frowns at me. "Can't you also ask her about it? Being her doctor, I'll talk with her about it. But I'm sure it will be received better if you, her husband, also discuss it with her."

I'm sure she'll flip out if I even tried to interfere in her matter, let alone suggest she visit a psychiatrist.

"I think you should talk with her first," I say curtly, hoping she won't insist more on it.

Taking the hint, Dr. Mehta nods at me, and bidding her goodnight, I walk her out of the house.

*****

Third Person's POV

Nandini slowly opens her eyes, lowly moaning in pain when she feels her head throbbing with pain.

As she adjusts her vision to her surroundings, she sits on the bed and leans against the headboard.

She frowns, noticing Vikrant at the foot of the bed. He was sleeping with his upper half of the body on the bed and the lower half on the floor.

For a few seconds, she narrows her eyes, wondering why he is sleeping there, but groans when she starts getting flashes of what happened last night.

She remembers how she had not been able to keep the hurt inside anymore, how it had finally burst out of her.

Oh, no! What did I do? How could I have told everything to Vikrant? I should not have. The thought runs through her mind as she squeezes her eyes shut and holds her head in her hands.

"Do you have a headache?"

The question startles her, and she whips her head up to see Vikrant now standing at the foot of the bed.

"I'm fine," she mumbles, about to climb down from the bed, but pauses when he speaks again.

"After you fainted last night, I called the doctor, and she said you had a fever and you looked dehydrated too. She has injected you with the medicine for the fever and has also advised that you should eat and drink adequately to hydrate yourself," he informs her. "I will ask our maid to bring you a glass of milk. Drink that first and rest for the whole day today. Dr. Mehta will come later to check on you again."

After saying that, when he is about to walk away, she stops him.

Halting, he gazes at her, and she climbs down from the bed. Steadying herself as she feels herself wobble due to weakness.

"I'm sorry," she says to him.

Vikrant frowns. "Are you saying sorry for slapping me? Well, although late, I have realized I kind of deserved it. I should not have said all those things to you," he says, slightly hesitating.

"Oh, I didn't say sorry for slapping you. You are right. You did deserve it," Nandini tells him. "I'm apologizing because I should not have vented my feelings to you. We don't have any relationship whatsoever, and I should not have burdened you with my problems. I'm sorry for that. It won't happen again."

Although she has a headache and her entire body feels weak, she can't deny that she feels lighter today.

It might be because she finally cried her heart out and said everything she had suffered out loud. Keeping everything inside was eating her from within, and letting her pain out did have some positive effects.

Yes, the lingering hurt is still there. The angst is still there, and every memory still stings, but at least she feels she can handle it without breaking down completely.

"That's good to know that you won't bother me with your sob story further," Vikrant says.

Hearing him, Nandini looks at him in disbelief for a couple of seconds before shaking her head. "Why am I surprised? I should have expected that from you. I don't know why I thought you would at least show some compassion."

She feels a pinch in her heart due to his behavior, but she tries to shrug it off.

"Well, once a jerk, always a jerk, right?" He tells her, turning and heading out of the room, but he stops and turns back to her when he reaches the door.

"Mom and Dad returned from their trip last time. They had come to meet you but got worried when I told them you were resting after being down with the fever. If you can, go and meet them," he says to her, his voice and demeanor cold. "And one more thing. When are you re-joining the office? You have been on leave after that one day when you showed up. Do tell me if you are no longer interested in working there. I will hire someone else."

Nandini feels like quitting outright, not wanting to work under such an arrogant person, but she holds herself back. She can't afford not to work when she has so much to accomplish before she has to leave this house.

"I'll come to the office tomorrow," she says, smiling wryly at Vikrant. "Thank you for being you. If I had mistaken you for being compassionate, I might have grown to like you, at least as a person, even after everything that has happened between us."

"You are welcome," Vikrant says, a taunting edge in his voice.

Walking out of the room, once he reaches the staircase, he looks back at his bedroom door with a sad smile on his lips.

"I don't deserve to be liked even as a person by you, Nandini. After everything I did to hurt you, I can only repent by helping you move on from your past. And for that, I need to continue being a jerk to you."