His Extreme Care and her breakdown

"Bondita, walk carefully. Your wrist is not hurting too much right?"-Anirudh anxiously asked her, displaying the signs of a worried mother hen.

Bondita was irritated at Anirudh's behaviour. Anirudh was behaving like, she had got the worst injury possible. And on top of that, he had made such a scene with Uday.

"Patibabu, I am fine. You don't need to worry so much about me. Don't you have cases to prepare for?"-she asked him and Anirudh made a face at her.

He didn't answer her but carefully made her sit in their bed and arranged the pillows to support her as she was sitting.

"Bondita, don't lie to me. I know you've also hurt your back a little. I noticed your painful expression in the practice room"-Anirudh told her gently. But he was seething inside as wanted to give Bondita a piece of his mind.

"Ohh, you noticed"-she blandly responded to his answer making him furious.

"What did you mean by your words Bondita? You are my wife. Why will I not notice your pain!!"-Anirudh asked her stunned at her words.

"No Patibabu, I am just your unwanted responsibility that you are stuck with"-Bondita unconsciously said the words aloud making Anirudh gasp at her.

While, Bondita cursed herself for letting out her true feelings.

Anirudh looked like, his world had come crashing down. He was sporting a pained expression on his face. His eyes looked red to Bondita. In pain or in anger that she didn't know.

"Bondita, how can you say that or even think of yourself like that?"-Anirudh asked her slowly as if he was having a hard time believing this nightmare. Of his wife believing that she was just a burden on him.

"It's true, isn't it Barrister Babu! You are stuck with me unwantedly against your wishes. You have faced too much loss in your fitoor to save me from the fire of Sati. Barrister Babu, you have lost your happiness and love because of me. I have constantly put you in difficult situations. You even had to risk your life for my sake. Even getting stabbed"-Bondita said avoiding Anirudh's eyes as it was taking her a lot of courage to say all this.

She didn't even want to have this conversation with him before her departure from his life like she had planned.

She was crying inside as her own words had brought her the realisation that she had ruined his life and had snatched every happiness from him. Simply by being alive. She wanted to rewind the time and never come across him during that fateful day in Devipur.

"Bondita...I"-Anirudh said furiously for he was angry at her for thinking of herself as some kind of a burden that he was forced to endure.

He knew, he had once uttered the words in front of her but today hearing those words from her made him want to smash everything in his vicinity. He wanted to punch something or scream loudly.

He wanted to shake her and wanted her to look in his eyes.

He knew, the way she was avoiding his eyes was because she didn't want to show her emotions in front of him.

Her avoidance and words made Anirudh more determined and suspicious about her feelings.

"Bondita, you have become mad to think that you are a burden for me. You are the most beautiful part of my life. I know, the way our marriage started or the way I behaved in the beginning is not something that can be forgotten or forgiven"-he stopped to gulp down his emotions that were threatening to erupt at this moment,

"Bondita, you have not put me in any life-threatening situations. It all happened, for it was destined by your Durga maa. It was our fate to endure. It was a test for us that we passed and we became better than before. I married you to save your life and that's true"-he stopped again as Bondita looked at him for the first time during their conversation.

Her eyes were tearing up and she was displaying some emotions on her face that Anirudh couldn't decipher at that moment.

"But I married you in my full senses. When, I filled your mang (Partition) with sindoor; I did it willingly knowing the full consequences of my actions. I may have later behaved irrationally after our marriage but Bondita, I have never in my wildest dreams, considered you to be someone, who snatched away my everything. I know I say things in my anger"-he again paused at her scoff and glared at her.

"Hey, let me focus on my words bou (wife in Bangla)"-he told her and Bondita let out the smallest of giggles at his words and his irritated expression.

"Bondita, you matter a lot to me. Your entrance in my life may have been chaotic and messy but you have given a shape to my life. I had come back with dreams to change our country but I may have succumbed to the persuasion of some people and dropped my aim but you gave my dreams a direction. You gave me a certain direction to focus my aspirations for kranti. Bondita, you may think I am"-his words remained incomplete for Somnath had come to check her wound.

"Dada, I need to check Boudi's wrist"-his entrance had made Anirudh irritated as it had halted their conversation.

"Som dada, it's just a small wound. Don't bother too much"-Bondita feebly tried to avoid inspection of the future doctor but Anirudh's fierce glare along with Somnath's red eyes made her cower.

"Let him do his work, Bondita"-Anirudh said with pure anger in his face. For he was already irritated at her words.

"Som, she has also hurt her back a little. Do you think she needs painkillers?"-Anirudh asked him with concern dripping down his voice.

Somnath inspected her wounds silently but didn't answer his queries.

"Som, I am asking you something"-Anirudh asked irritated with Somnath's ignorance.

"Dada, Boudi's wrist will not heal with only haldi (Turmeric). You need to apply a antiseptic cream on that area. And Boudi, is your back hurting too much? Can you stand up straight?"-he asked Bondita and she stood up in front of him but let out a 'ahh' in pain as soon as she did so.

Making Anirudh rush to her. "Sit down Bondita. Don't get up"-he told her in a panicky voice, while Somnath sighed at his overprotective brother as it was only a small back pain.

"Dada, Boudi's back isn't too hurt and she has no visible injuries in her back so painkillers will do"-he told Anirudh in a very flat voice devoid of emotions as he was treating Bondita like one of his patients only.

"Do you have the medicine and the cream Somnath?"-Anirudh asked him for he wanted to relieve Bondita of any pain possible.

"No dada, you need to get them from the bazaar. There is a British shop that sells them"-he informed a worried Anirudh and he just absorbed the information that Somnath had imparted.

"Bondita, rest here. Don't get up and call koyeli if you need any help. I'll get the medicines from the bazaar immediately. Somnath, give me the names of the medicines!"-Anirudh patted a bewildered Bondita's head and was going to walk out of their room after taking the prescription but Bondita had interrupted him,

"Patibabu, you don't need to take so much trouble"-Anirudh looked at her calmly and answered in a threatening voice,

"Stay in bed Bondita, I'll be back after getting the medicines. I know, what to do for my wife"-he didn't wait for her reply and walked out of the room.

"Dada, wait"-Anirudh's pace was interrupted by Somnath.

"What Somnath?"-he asked irritated as he had to hurry to the shop as it would soon close down.

"Dada, if boudi feels pain in her back at night, then apply warm oil if you can"-Anirudh blushed at his blunt words. For it was too embarrassing for him to discuss about applying oil on Bondita's back with his little brother.

"There's nothing to blush dada. She's injured and I just said this as her doctor"-Somnath spoke as he was irritated at the way Anirudh was constantly blushing.

"Thank you Som"-Anirudh replied hurriedly and quickly went to start his car as he wanted to avoid Somnath seeing him blushing furiously.

Bondita sat in her room cursing herself for the blunder she had created. She didn't want to hear Anirudh's words of consolation. She didn't need to hear from him to know that she had snatched everything away from him. She wanted to kill herself at that moment because she had opened Pandora's box of his inquiries.

"Boudi, may i come in?"-Batuk asked her slowly as if he was afraid to disturb her.

"Batuk, you don't need to ask me for permission"-Bondita told him with a smile as it was the first time the teenager had looked hesitated to enter her room.

"Actually boudi, you share this room with Dada now. Both of you need your privacy as a couple. So, I thought..."-he didn't get to finish his words as Bondita spoke up.

"Batuk, even though Patibabu shares this room with me now. But we are not a couple that would need privacy. There is nothing like that between us and you don't need to ask permission or hesitate at all before entering this room chote zamindar"-Bondita reassured him and gave him a gentle smile.

Batuk smiled at her and sat down in the other corner of the bed.

"By the way, Boudi, did you enjoy dancing today?"-he asked teasingly to her as he knew her love for dance.

"It was everything I dreamt of Batuk. I felt as if I am a free bird without anything shackling me in this earth. And Uday was very respectful you know...He had so much patience in him today. I always knew him as a brash and overexcited guy but he really was a perfect gentleman today. He understood my hesitation and didn't touch my back at all. I am feeling bad for the way Patibabu reacted with him. It was not his fault"-she told Batuk as she genuinely felt Anirudh had overreacted with her friend.

Today, Uday had invoked a sense of longing in her and she for one moment had seen some inexplicable emotions in his eyes that made her want to read him closely.

"Was it the same attraction Patibabu felt for Manorama?"-Bondita asked herself but soon got rid of that thought as if it burned her.

"Shut up Bondita, what are you even thinking!! You are just hallucinating due to your pain. Uday knows, you are married. He won't feel anything romantic for you. Neither should you think of him as anything other than your friend"-she told herself and quickly put her attention on what Batuk was saying.

"Boudi, imagine if dada was dancing like that with you!! Then he would have scolded you thousand times and would get so impatient and he would have made your ears bleed with his words"-Batuk was giggling hard at his own words.

Unknown to the fact that, Anirudh was standing outside the room listening to them.

Bondita felt a pang in her heart as the vision of her dancing with Anirudh came to her mind. She nearly smiled to herself but soon her smile vanished, when she remembered her situation.

"Batuk, don't dream of impossible things. Patibabu would never dance with me and he would never even think of something like that with me"-Bondita said with a little melancholy in her voice and Batuk sobered at her words.

While Anirudh felt a pang in his heart at her words of distrust.

"Very soon, we'll dance together Bondita. I promise you that"-he said with a determined glint in his eyes and walked to their room. Announcing his arrival.

"Batuk, tell Kaka to send both of our dinner to our room"-he abruptly announced and shooed Batuk off hurriedly.

"Rakshas dada, always ordering me and everyone"-he muttered to himself and gave a final smile to Bondita before walking out.

"Patibabu, there's no need for you to do that. Have dinner with the family downstairs. I'll have it here by myself"-she demurely told him for she was suddenly feeling afraid of his anger.

"Bondita, I know what I should do. They can have dinner by themselves, but I can not let my wife eat alone in our room. You are eating with me here and that's final"-he said with a finality in his voice and Bondita muttered.

"Rakshas babu, always shouting at poor Bondita"-and it brought a tiny smile on his face for he was seeing his little Bondita's reflection today in her actions.

"Chote Malik, I have bought dinner"-koyeli's voice made Anirudh take a deep breath and he took the dinner tray from her and told her,

"Koyeli, bring a bottle of Ayurvedic oil a little later and keep it outside of our room. Don't disturb us"-she nodded at him and Anirudh without paying a heed to her words took the plate and placed it in the bed.

"Bondita, see all of it is your favourite. Here, open your mouth"-he told a stunned Bondita, who was looking at him with her eyes wide open. Stunned at his actions.

Anirudh was internally smiling at her comical reaction and simply glared at her to open her mouth.

"Patibabu, I can eat by myself. You...umm"-her words remained incomplete for Anirudh had made her surprised by shoving the morsel of food in her mouth.

"Shut up Bondita, your wrist is injured. Do you want to aggravate your wrist further? Remember you have the dance in a few days"-he reminded her sternly for he realized Bondita was being extremely stubborn in his case.

Anirudh made Bondita finish her entire plate of food and she silently ate all of it for today it looked as if her husband would snap any moment if she uttered anything at all.

"Swallow this painkiller"-he gave the painkiller for her back to Bondita and she like a little child made a face at him, not wanting to have it.

"Bondita"-Anirudh nearly screamed at her and she quickly finished her medicine.

"Patibabu, you didn't have your dinner yet. Quickly have it, before it gets cold"-she told Anirudh wanting to divert his attention away from her as she was feeling irritated at his constant whining regarding her injury.

Anirudh smiled at her and simply started by having his food. He was nearly done eating, when Bondita spoke up,

"My baba used to hold my nose tightly to feed me thakumaa's Ayurvedic concoctions, when I used to get sick. I used to get so angry at him for his actions as I hated Thakumaa's medicines and her rigid thoughts on what a girl should be like. But do you know, my father always shielded me from her and others. She couldn't say anything to him as the Haveli was in his name and she feared my Baba"-she let out a painful chuckle at her own words not looking at Anirudh.

Anirudh was looking at Bondita's expressions carefully as it was the first time she was sharing anything about her father. She was always tight lipped about her life before Devipur.

And whenever, Anirudh or anyone inquired her about it, she used to get a look of pure hatred in her eyes. And he used to feel pain for that little soul.

"My Kaka was more favoured by my Thakumaa as he was her perfect puppet that danced on her tunes. My father was not someone, who listened to her orthodox thoughts at all and always fought with her for my mother and me. You know, he had married my maa; who was from a family that was not as rich as the bloody Das family of Krishna Nagar. So, she and my kaki always tortured her a lot. She also hated me for not being a boy and my mother for not giving a heir to the Haveli"-she stopped as her tears were falling off and Anirudh simply held her gaze,

"Bondita, you don't need to say all this"-he told her quitely as she was on the verge of a breakdown.

He didn't know, what brought this conversation tonight but he never imagined the torture and pain she had gone though in Krishna Nagar.

"Let me finish, Patibabu. I want to speak today"-she softly interrupted him, as if she wasn't hurting at all, while speaking of her past.

"I was my father's darling and she hated me for having so much of his attention. She hated my Tarks even more. Always punishing me and trying to make me silent. She even after being a women made another women's life miserable. But my happy life came crashing down after Baba's death. You see, he was planning to shift to Bombay with maa and me and permanently cut off his ties with them for some reason. For he had some plans that only maa knew about along with his friend Basu Kaka. A night before our departure, he died from a snake bite at the Haveli in his room "-she took a deep breath and Anirudh painfully looked at her teary eyes.

He didn't know, why she was sharing this as the thought of his Bondita in pain was killing him from inside.

"The next day, that lady threw us out of the house that on papers belonged to my father. My father's body was being taken by the people on the Riverside to burn but that lady didn't let us see him one last time. She snatched everything from us. My mother and I was thrown out of our house even before my father's body had started burning. I witnessed his last rites from afar. She and that man, my father's so called puppet brother didn't let me put mukh agni. I wasn't allowed to...they"-this time Bondita broke down crying like never before and Anirudh quickly came closer to her and held her tenderly in his arms.

His heart was breaking for that little Bondita. Who was forced to endure so much at such an young age. To not even get a chance to see your father for one last time was truly trumatising for that little soul. And Anirudh today understood, her reluctance to ever name those people that had snatched everything from her.

"My father always made sure, I had everything that was the best. He always brought me my favourite Roshogolla's, anklets that would chime beautifully, necklaces that he would give me as gifts. He was very wealthy you know, Patibabu"-she was again speaking as if she was in a trance remembering the beautiful moments spent with her father.

"My Bondita is my princess. I will give her everything I want"- he used to preach, whenever he was questioned by that lady. His so called aunt.

She said with a beautiful smile and Anirudh smiled along with Bondita for he could see her happiness at remembering her father.

"But when she threw us out of my Haveli, she didn't let us take anything at all. My father's picture, my all clothes that maa and Baba had purchased for me so lovingly.....She didn't even let us take the jewelleries that belonged to me as part of my father's legacy. We only had two sarees of maa and some jewelleries that she had sneaked in later though the help of a servant Kamala. Maa took shelter in Devipur"-she grimaced at remembering her mami's torture. And Anirudh felt a bile rise in his mouth at remembering the same.

"I hated it there for it was so different than my home. But I adjusted as good as I can. Maa shielded me to the best of her abilities but still I was going to be Sati due to her family"-Bondita was crying as she was reliving her worst nightmare.

She didn't know, why she was sharing all this today with her Patibabu but she wanted him to comfort her and tell her everything will be okay.

"I hate them Patibabu, I hate her so much. She snatched every from me. My childhood and my father's every memory and my home. I hate them"-Anirudh was shocked at the way Bondita was uttering her hatred for the Das family. Her voice held pure poison at that moment.

"I wish, I never come across them, Patibabu. For I don't know, what will I do!!"-she looked at Anirudh suddenly and then silently hugged him under the influence of the painkillers.

Making him astonished at her actions. For it was the first time in years, she had came closer to him.

"Shhh, meri Bondita Shhh. Stop crying. You are my brave Bondita na..Shhh"-he was repeatedly trying to stop her tears but she was crying uncontrollably as it was the first time in years, she had shared her feelings about that family.

"Bondita, I promise you; I will not leave them for hurting you like this. I will stand by you in your every decisions. You will never be thrown out of this house, even if I die. I promise you this meri Jaan"-Anirudh was whispering to her, while he was repeatedly cradling her in his arms like a mother does to her little frightened baby.

But suddenly, her crying stopped and he realized that she had fallen asleep under the influence of the powerful medicine in his arms.

He silently laid her on the bed and went to leave the dirty dishes out of their room to be collected by koyeli later and saw a bottle of Ayurvedic oil in the little table outside of his room.

He silently took the bottle and latched his room's door.

As he fell asleep that night, he vowed to himself,

"You will never face such pain again Bondita. I promise that, I will never let you face those monsters again by yourself. I will be your shield. I may have failed before in protecting you but this time your Patibabu will not be a failure in his Bondita's case"-he told her sleeping self and silently looked at her for a long time before falling into a restless sleep.

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Sorry, if I added too much angst in today's chapter but I wanted show a little bonding between them by this chapter. The narrative of this chapter will set the storyline for the later part of the story.

I took too many creative liberties in the events of her father's death probably but I just wanted to give my version of how they went from living in a Haveli to a small village house.