6 Months Later 

Aarav's POV 

Life has been extremely difficult over the past six months. After the four weeks of leave, Mr. Kumar asked me to return to work but when I begged even further Mr. Kumar extended my leave to another one month. After that Mr. Kumar had enough of it, he asked me to come back otherwise he threatened to fire me. I would visit Sakshi every other weekend, of course It wasn't easy but being away from her made me feel lonely and depressed.

Currently, Damini aunty was in Chennai. The government was funding Sakshi's treatment but from my savings, I too helped Damini aunty financially as she had no other active income. 

Through these six months Keshav and Meera were a big pillar of support for me. Words are not enough for me to thank them for understanding and respecting my choices. Honestly, I didn't think Sakshi would make it when she suffered a cardiac arrest on her transfer from Bangalore to Chennai, due to the doctors efficiency CPR was given on time and due to the grace of God Sakshi escaped death. To me all the doctors who are looking after Sakshi is equivalent to God in my heart.

 There have been numerous instances where Dr Ravi who was handling Sakshi's case in Chennai pressured Damini aunty to turn the life support off as Sakshi was deteriorating instead of improving.  Every time the doctor mentioned it Damini aunty would ring me and cry, but we had confidence that Sakshi would come back to life therefore, we went against the idea of turning off her life support. There also came numerous instances where Sakshi's blood platelets went way below the normal range, Sakshi's blood type being rare made things more difficult. Me being in Bangalore didn't help either but we fought through all that and currently Sakshi is in the road to recovery. She has been moved out from the ICU to the wards, no longer needs the life support however, a page is not enough when listing the number of medications she has to take. Her body is extremely weak from all the medications and the side-effects of it but I have confidence that we will fight through all of this. Sakshi is very well aware of her surroundings and is conscious but she does not speak much, constantly stares at the wall opposite to her. Often I notice tears streaming down her eyes, other than that Sakshi doesn't respond to any conversations to engage with anyone.  I know it will take Sakshi time to come back to her old self or she may never come back to her old self, no matter what I will be there to support Sakshi. 

I've currently boarded the flight to to Chennai. The flight should land in the next five minutes. Because It was Sakshi's birthday today, I got her a small gold chain with diamond studs to gift her. She may not appreciate it at this instance but that is understandable. Once the flight had landed I rushed to the hospital, like usual, Sakshi was staring onto the wall opposite her. 

"Happiest Birthday Sakshi" I wished her but Sakshi looked at me as if I was an alien. Gently I stroked her hair but Sakshi shuddered to that as a reaction. After a couple of seconds I got my gift out but before I could give it to her, Sakshi grabbed hold of the gift and threw it across the room. Sakshi then stormed out of the bed and started running out of the ward, various nurses and I ran behind her. Eventually, a nurse grabbed hold of her but Sakshi unintentionally attacked the nurse, started screaming and crying. Understanding that it was becoming difficult for the nurses to cope and control her I went ahead and wrapped Sakshi against my big frame, immediately utilising this moment the nurse injected a sleeping medications into Sakshi arms, within a couple of seconds Sakshi collapsed onto me. 

Seeing Sakshi in such a situation was painful, I cannot even find the right words to express it. All I wish is for the criminals to rot in earth and hell.

Meera's POV

Can you believe it has been six months since the incident? Not even in my dreams I had imagined a situation such as this. It is shocking as well as heart-breaking to see my dearest friend in such a situation. No matter what I will be there till the end to ensure Sakshi gets justice, sexual violence against women is a crime more than that a inhumane act. Life has been very different after the attack. After Sakshi's transfer to Chennai, I had to come back to Bangalore after a week. At the end of the day your job and your employers won't understand how much of a tough situation you are travelling in. After my parents got to know about the incident they are pressuring me to resign my job and return to my native but it is after so many hardships and difficulty I got this job. I am not willing to just resign it. 

 Coming back to the flat without Sakshi felt different, each corner of the flat had her memories. Even going out to buy some groceries felt scary.

 During the initial months Aarav was in Chennai with Sakshi meaning only Keshav was there in the flat next to us. As you all know Keshav and I met through a matrimony couple of months ago and so far it is going well. One thing that has attracted me towards Keshav is his honesty. He has been open and transparent to me about everything that has happened in his life. I do feel bad for lying to him about my identity. Not one day passes without Keshav asking me to reveal myself by video call or something. I don't know what it is but I am not ready to reveal my identity with him. Playing around with him has turned into a hobby of mine. But as soon as my Sakshi recovers properly I am planning to propose Keshav officially. 

Flashback 

 Six Months Back 

"Oh my God! It is almost 12:30 AM. Where the hell is Sakshi ?" I asked myself panicking. She wasn't answering my calls or anything. Obviously she was assigned to the field work section today, she was definitely not pleased with it. Normally, Sakshi would always return home as soon as she can, If ever she is late (which is rare) she either calls or texts me. But today she hadn't left a text or rang me. I wanted to ring Damini aunty in case Sakshi is with them but in case is Sakshi is not with them then I will have to answer Damini aunties questions and stress her out further. Another person I could ask is Aarav, ever since the entry of Aarav in Sakshi's life she has changed a lot. She's totally a new person now, no longer depressed due to her divorce with her first husband  but a joyful and a happier Sakshi she was now. Once I asked Sakshi frankly whether she liked Aarav in a romantic way she declined but then eventually confessed that she likes Aarav but believed that he'll be able to find someone much better than her. Sakshi is very insecure due the fact that she has been divorced once no matter how much I persuade Sakshi that divorce is not something to be insecure about.

 Aarav had gone home as his father had suffered from a mini heart attack recently. 

After a few rings Aarav finally picked up the phone .

"Hey Aarav"

"Hey Meera. Are you ok, how come your calling me at this time?" He asked me questionably.

"Oh nothing Aarav just rang to enquire about your father" I lied

"Oh at this time? Anyway he's a lot better now Meera, my employer wants me back asap so I'll be back tomorrow morning. Is Sakshi asleep, I had rung her a few times earlier." He asked me. From this it was evident that Aarav didn't have any idea where Sakshi was so without delay I ended the call. I didn't want to stress Aarav out further so I decided against informing Aarav about my concerns regarding Sakshi. 

That is when I remembered about Keshav, he is unlikely to know anything about Sakshi's whereabouts however, it is almost 1 and I need to tell someone who will actually be able to help me about this. So quickly I got out of my flat, locked it and knocked on Keshav's door. He didn't open it for ages but finally when I banged on it really hard he finally opened it. It was obvious that Keshav had just woken up from his beauty sleep as his eyes were all puffy and sleepy. 

"What the hell do you want at 1:00 at night?" Keshav asked me clearly annoyed.

"Sakshi has not yet arrived from work. I tried ringing her numerous times but she isn't picking up the phone" I said nearly in tears. "Oh no! Come in" he told me almost panicking. 

"Is she at her mothers?" he asked me 

"I don't know" I replied

"Why didn't you ring Damini aunty?" he asked me annoyed once again

"Meera you are getting on my nerves. Why couldn't have you rung her earlier ?"

"I didn't want to stress her out in case if Sakshi isn't there" I said silently

"What if Sakshi's with her friends or if she is with her mother?" he asked me 

"She doesn't have a lot of friends and Sakshi's not been in good terms with her mother recently. I don't think Sakshi will be with her mother. Also, if there is anything Sakshi will never go without informing me" I said as a lone tear escaped.

"Are you confident about it?" Keshav asked me

"Come on lets go the police station" He ordered 

"What?" I asked him confused

"From what I can tell something is not right. We need to do something to ensure Sakshi is safe" Keshav said a lot more softly this time to which I nodded hesitantly. "Go and change quickly, by that time I'll  get changed as well "  Keshav said and went away to get changed. 

Quickly I changed into a black kurti, tied my hair into a low pony tail. Once I got ready I waited outside his flat for him to come out. After what felt like five minutes Keshav too came out wearing a long sleeved black shirt which was neatly tucked in to his pants. I just gave out a sigh to which he frowned at me.

"What ?" I asked him

"Such a nuisance you are. Weren't you able to find another colour?" he asked me as if I committed a grave sin.

"As if I knew you were going to wear black as well. Wait did you come around and stalk me? Otherwise how would have you known that I was wearing this colour as well? Clearly I was ready before you..." I asked him back. Keshav did not reply to any of this but definitely did mutter something very bad under his breath. Just to fool his highness Keshav I decided to leave a message on his phone when we were going down the stairs to the parking lot (the lifts were broken). Keshav was way ahead of me so he wouldn't notice me typing on my phone. 

"Hey baby, can you sing 'Raataan Lambiyan' for me? Bored! Dying to hear your voice ... Don't ignore me, saw that you were online a minute ago." When his phone beeped Keshav immediately checked his phone and started to get agitated. I then saw Keshav typing something on his phone, luckily my phone was on silent which meant I was safe. When I checked my phone after a few more seconds I saw Keshav's text. It read 'Aren't you asleep? I'm a bit busy now babe, will talk to you in the morning!' 

I wasn't going to let go of Keshav that easily so I replied ' If you don't sent me an audio of you singing in five minutes then I will never talk to you.'

"Shit! This girl' Keshav said quickly glancing at my side

'Excuse me for a second' Keshav told me when we got to his bike. 'Be quick don't waste my time' I said making him frown but again he didn't reply to me and rushed  to the back of this big tree.  I was dying with laughter from the inside. I chuckled as I was him go. Was it cruel of me to make Keshav such a fool? 

Soon after not seeing him for a good five minutes. I followed to where Keshav and heard Keshav singing ...

Teri meri gallan ho gayi mash-hoor
Kar na kabhi tu mujhe nazron se door
Kithe chaliye tu kithe chaliye
Tu kithe chaliye kithe chaliye

I would be lying if I said my eyes did not water. Of course it did, my man was doing all this for me not even knowing my actual identity. Even if it meant he was being a fool. I loved Keshav a lot, as the days pass by my love for Keshav is only becoming stronger and very soon I shall confess to Keshav about the Meera he too loves. 

"Hahahahaha!" I laughed evilly at Keshav. Immediately Keshav paused and looked at me all red. Embarrassment was evident from his facial expressions.   "Why the fuck are you stalking me?" he shouted at me to which I continued laughing evilly. 

'Teri meri gallan ho gayi mash-hoor..' I started singing to irritate Keshav even further. "Meera swear I will kill you if you don't shut up" Keshav said and stormed of  to were his bike was. Once Keshav got onto the bike I too got onto the back seat. As soon as Keshav started the bike I resumed my singing 'Kithe chaliye tu kithe chaliye...'

"Meera if you won't stop then I will kick you out of this bike" Keshav warned me increasing his speed. Of course I didn't want my boyfriend to kick me out of his bike so I stopped teasing him and decided to keep my mouth shut. That's when I remembered Sakshi, worry had once again started to engulf me. To distract my nasty thoughts I decided to annoy Keshav further. Just when I was thinking for ideas to annoy Keshav a car cut across us. This made me jump, quickly in fear I wrapped my hands around Keshav's torso tightly and placed my head on his back. 

. . . . . .

Hello Everyone,

Hope your all doing well :) And has enjoyed chapter 15!

Who's relived as Sakshi's finally recovered? 

Poor Aarav has really gone through a lot for Sakshi. Not just Aarav in fact Keshav seems to be doing a lot for his girl as well lol 

Is Meera being harsh? Should she reveal herself to Keshav?

What did you all like the most about this chapter ?

A big thanks to all who has given this book a chance and to the ones who comments on all my updates without a failure. Not mentioning any names, you know who you are !