"Raj!" 

Ganesh turned to see the family running towards him. It took him a few hours but he finally contacted them and let them know about Raj. He didnt tell them about Nandini's arrest as he was afraid the family would think she was guilty...especially since he has seen how Manik used to treat her.

(Ganesh Kaka: Elderly servant in Malhotra house)

"Ganesh...yeh sab kaise hua?" Aarti Malhotra asked. 

"Woh..." Ganesh was about to respond when the doctor came out.

"Doctor...Dad kaise hai?" Arjun asked.

"Woh ab bilkul thik hai....Sahi waqt pe unko yahan hospital laya gaya tha." The doctor replied. Everyone smiled and hugged each other out of relief. "Aap log chahe toh andar jaa sakte hai."

"Thank you doctor." Nyonika went into the room and saw Raj was awake. Sobbing, she ran to him and hugged her. "Raj...thank god tumhe hosh aa gaya. Jab mujhe paata chala...main kitni darr gayi thi."

"N..N.."

"Haan Raj...kuch bolna chahte ho?" Nyonika asked.

"Na..n..di..ni..K..Ka..han..hai?" Raj asked weakly. 

"Arre haan...Ganesh Kaka...Nandini kahan hai?" Manik asked. "Woh toh ghar pe hi thi na?"

"Chote babu...police wale le gaye Choti bahu ko! Main kuch nahi kar paya!" Ganesh broke down.

"Kya? Police?" Manik got worried. "Par kyun?"

"Kyunki Nandini ne Raj uncle ko maarne ki koshish ki hai Manik! Zeher di thi usne Uncle ko!" Aliya replied from the door. "Mujhe toh vishwas hi nahi hua tha ki Nandini aisa kuch kar sakti hai par..."

"Nahi." Everyone turned back to Raj who was struggling to sit up. Ananya & Shruti helped him. "Yeh...galat hai...Nandini khud mujhe yahan leke aayi...aaj main zinda hoon uske...vajah se."

"Haan uncle...shayad usne dikhane ke liye yeh sab kiya par Doctor ne khud ne bola ki aapko zeher diya gaya aur ghar pe Nandini thi na? Usne aapko chaai di thi na? Ganesh Kaka...aapko toh yaad hoga na?" Aliya said.

"Toh? That doesnt mean Nandini ne Dad ko maarne ki koshish ki hai. She cant ever do that!" Manik spoke up. Aliya fumed as Raj & Manik both supported Nandini.

"Par Baby..."

"Haaye meri bacchi...kabse wahan police station mein hai. Paata nahi kaise bartaav kar rahe honge uske saath." Aarti spoke up, ignoring Aliya.

"Manik...tu abhi ja aur Nandini ko jail se chura ke leke aa!" Nyonika told her son.

"Haan...j..ao... Manik." Raj agreed.

"Ji Dad.." Manik nodded & left. Aliya gritted her teeth in anger.

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

In the police station, Nandini was half unconscious and tied to a chair. The lady inspector came back to her and splashed her face with ice cold water.

"Aah!" Nandini gasped and woke up with a start.

"Ho gaya aaram? Ab bol...tune hi aapne sasur ko maarne ki koshish ki na?"

"Nahi.....Nahi, maine aisa kuch nahi kiya. Pls mujhe jaane dijiye.pls!" Nandini cried. The lady inspector roughly grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. "AAH!"

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL!" The inspector let go of Nandini and turned to see a furious Manik standing there. 

"Manik!" Nandini cried out.

"Let her go right now Inspector!"

"Who are you?" The inspector asked.

"Manik Malhotra...Nandini ka pati!" 

"Nandini ka pati!"

"Nandini ka pati!"

 The last part of Manik's sentence echoed through the police station as Nandini watched emotionally. Even Manik himself was surprised that he just now refered to himself as her husband.

"Mr Malhota...aapke patni ne aapke pitaji ko maarne ki koshish ki." The inspector told him.

"Kisne kaha?"

"Saboot ne...zeher ki bottle iske kamre se mila. Aur akhri baar Mr Raj Malhotra ne iske haath ki chaai piya. Itne saare saboot uske khilaf hai. ki-"

"Bhaad mein gaye saboot! I dont care. Nandini kabhi mere family ko harm nahi kar sakti...main toh kya khud mere Dad bhi yeh believe nahi karte!" Manik yelled. "Mere biwi ko abhi isi vaqt chod do...varna..."

"Varna kya, haan?" The male inspector entered. "Kya kar lega tu?"

"Purey station ko jaala dalunga." Manik threatened. The inspector just smirked. 

"Dhamki dene se kuch nahi hoga Mr Malhotra. Im sorry lekin aapki wife ko hum nahi chod sakte."

"You-"

"Oh yes you can." Dev came in with the lawyer. "Mr Agarwal..."

The lawyer handed the police some papers seeing which, the inspector reluctantly had to let Nandini go. Once she was free, Nandini ran straight to Manik and hugged him tightly, sobbing. 

"Shh..you're okay...kuch nahi hua Nandini." Manik assured her as he held her close to his chest. "Bhai...aap yahan?"

"Hume paata tha ke tu bina soche samjhe yahan aa jayega...isi liye Dad ne mujhe bheja Mr Agarwal ke saath. Chal ab, hospital vapas chalte hai."

"Haan...Nandini chalo.." Manik held her hand to take her but Nandini just stood there, slightly swaying in her spot.

"Nandini?" Dev & Manik looked concerned.  Nandini's eyes rolled back and she fell to the floor unconscious.

"NANDINI!" Manik grabbed her just before she could fall and her head lay on his chest. 

"Manik...isse kitni chot lagi hai." Dev pointed out the wounds from where the lady inspector tortured her.

"You." Manik pointed to the lady inspector and then the male inspector. "And you....main na chodunga nahi tum dono ko! This is police brutality...vardi utarwa dunga main tum dono ka!"

"Abhi nahi Manik...Nandini ko doctor ki zaroorat hai." Dev stopped Manik. Manik then scooped Nandini up in his arms and took her to his car.

The two inspectors looked at each other scared.

"Ab kya kare sir?" The lady inspector asked. "Aliya ma'am ne toh kaha tha ki koi problem nahi hogi. Itni confident thi woh ke isko lene koi nahi aayega...par iska pati aur jet dono aaye hai. Woh Malhotra's hai...barbad kar sakte hai hume."

"Barbad toh Nishant saxena bhi kar sakte hai hume....we had no choice."

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

At the hospital, everyone was with Raj while Manik sat beside an unconscious Nandini in another room.

"Dont worry Mr Malhotra. She is fine....woh bas stress aur trauma ke vajah se behosh hui hai. She should be waking up any moment now. I suggest inko gharpe purey bedrest diya jaaye." 

"Of course Doctor. Main dhyan rakhunga." Manik replied. The doctor then left and Manik stared at Nandini, with his hand he gently moved her hair out of her face. "Kitna kuch sehna paara tumhe....I promise Nandini, main paata lagakar hi rahunga ke yeh sab kisne kiya. Jis insaan ne Dad ko maarne koshish ki...jiski vajah se tum itne ghante se jail mein thi, I wont leave that person."

"Manik!" Cabir burst through the door and looked at Nandini with tears.

"Cabir...tu vapas kab aaya?" Manik asked.

"Kuch vaqt pehle. Jaise hi mujhe paata chala, main yahan aa gaya. Raj Uncle ab kaisa hai? Aur Nandu?"

"Dad is fine now...aur Nandini bhi thik hai Cabir, chinta mat kar."

"Kaise chinta na karun? Kitni behremi se maara meri behen ko unn logo ne..." Cabir gently touched the wounds and bruises on Nandini's arms. "Im gonna kill them!"

"Lekin police walon ne kuch galat toh nahi kiya na?" Aliya walked in. "I mean....Nandini ne Raj Uncle ko maarne ki koshish ki. Zeher di thi usne...uske khilaf saboot mila police ko."

"Listen Aliya-" Cabir was about to yell at Aliya when Manik thought of something.

"Zeher di thi usne Raj uncle ko!"

"Usne aapko chaai di thi na?"

"Ek minute Aliya...." Manik turned to face her. "Yeh tumne pehle bhi kaha tha na?"

"Haan kyunki yahi sach hai."

"Tumhe kaise paata?" Manik asked. "Tum hopsital hum sab ke pauchne ke baad aayi...and tab tak Doctor ne hume bataya nahi tha ki Dad ko zeher diya gaya tha....lekin you knew aur tumhe yeh bhi paata tha ki chaai mein zeher thi...how?"

"Wa...I...main woh..." Aliya couldnt think of what to say. 

"Aliya....ghar mein Dad aur Nandini ke elava...tum bhi thi na?" Manik questioned. "Phir aisa kyun ki Nandini aur Ganesh kaka ne akele...Dad ko hospital le aaya? According to Ganesh Kaka, hospital le aaan toh door ki baat hai, tum apne kamre se bahar hi nahi aayi. Nandini ko driving nahi aati hai....and she still drove dad here. Tum bhi gharpe thi lekin tum hum sab ke baad yahan pauchi and the first thing you did was instigate us against Nandini. Dad kaise hai...yeh bhi nahi pucha."

"Tum..... tum kya kehne ki koshish kar rahe ho? Maine Raj uncle ko zeher diya?" Aliya asked.

"I didnt say that did I?" Manik said. "Haan lekin, itna toh saaf hai ki tum chahte ho ki hum sab Nandini ko blame kare. I know you well enough to know ki tum apne matlab ke liye kuch bhi kar sakte ho....kuch bhi."

"Manik...baby, aisa kuch nahi hai." Aliya explained.

"You better be telling the truth Aliya....kyunki itna sab hone ke baad mein chup toh nahi baitne wali hoon. I will find out what happened. Agar mujhe paata chala ki Dad aur Nandini ki iss halat ki zimmedar tum ho...." Manik took a threatening step closer to Aliya. "...toh mujhse burra purey duniya mein koi nahi hoga."

"Trust me Man-"

"Aliya....I really am not in the mood to talk to you right now...niklo yahan se."

"What?" 

"I said...leave the hospital...now!" Manik repeated.

"M...Manik..." Nandini stirred. Manik's expression immediately softened and he ran to Nandini.

"Nandini, tum thik ho?" 

Cabir meanwhile, smirked and stepped closer to Aliya. "Kya ho gaya Aliya? Kaanpur mein hartal hai kya? Manik ne tumhe hospital se nikalne ko kaha hai...darwaza, wahan tumhare piche hai."

Aliya glared at Cabir angrily before storming out.

"Hey...purane wale fiesty, gundi Nandini kahan gayi?" Manik wiped Nandini's tears away. "Tum aise rohte hue acha nahi lagte."

"Manik...maine Papa ko-"

"I know...I believe you Nandini." Manik replied. Cabir went to Nandini and hugged her tightly.

"Im sorry Nandu...agar main shehar mein hota na toh tujhse kabhi jail jaana hi nahi parta." Cabir kissed the top of Nandini's head.

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Note: Hey readers, pls leave comments and let me know your thoughts.