"I say hell is so close
And heaven's out of reach
I ain't giving up quite yet
I got too much to lose"

Sweet and low, Augustana

Arundhati's POV

You want to know what went through my mind when he asked me to run away with him?

I don't remember.

Funny, right?

It was the question of a lifetime, and I don't even remember what was going on in my head as I thought about it. I wonder if I even did think at all. I know I turned to see Penny busy in the kitchen, whipping up dinner. Shantanu was back from whatever he had been up to. George was in front of the television, eyes glued to some sitcom.

I heard Neil's calm voice, and the undercurrent of excitement in it. The promise of adventure in it.

Do you want to embark on an adventure with me? He had asked all those months ago.

"Convention has never worked for us" he said now, "Does it matter, as long as we're together?"

"Run away with me?" I asked, my voice hushed.

"I thought I was the one proposing" I heard him chuckle softly on the other side.

"Convention be damned, right?" a small smile made it on to my face.

"Convention be damned." He repeated, his voice softer.

"We'll face all our demons together."

"We'll work through everything."

"We'll start our forever."

"Yes."

"MOM! Aunt Penny has been calling you!!"

My head whipped up to see George waving his arms wildly in front of me, trying to gain my attention. My eyes flitted to Penny, whose face was dead serious as she clutched onto our landline connection. Shantanu, too, was sitting up straight, full attention on the situation.

"What?" I asked, confused, putting away the phone.

"There's a call for you..." Penny's voice was shaking.

"What call?" my voice quavered on noticing how shaken she seemed. She gestured towards the phone. Without thinking, I cut the call on my cellphone without a goodbye or warning. Her hands shook as she handed me the receiver.

"Hello?" I started, because she hadn't even told me who I was even talking to.

"Dhati?"

My world slowed down as I heard the voice. It was Bhabhi, and she was crying on the other side.

"Bhabhi?" my voice was barely a whisper, my worst fears coming to the fore.

"It's Ashok" her voice broke, "ICU...Ashok...ICU..."

**

Neil's POV

She was the one who finally asked me to run away with her. We were talking about, well, us, when without warning, she cut the call. I didn't call her back immediately. Well, because...people cut calls when it's an emergency and something else needs their undivided attention. I figured that she would call me back soon anyway.

Elated at the turn of events, I hummed my way through the day. Work got over at record speed, and Leonard was happy about that. The Apple project was handed over to the Project managers for construction and further discussion with the architect team.

It was close to half past six, when I was leaving, that my phone rang. Guessing it to be Dhati I picked up the phone with a huge smile plastered on my face.

"Hey"

"Oi, she's going to India tonight."

I took off the phone from my ear and stared at it. Shantanu, read my caller-id.

"Hello?"

"I offered to go with her. It's fine, right?"

My mind spun.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, unable to believe the turn of events.

"Look, bro, I haven't gone home in ages, so I can get a leave granted for a couple of weeks easily...her brother was in a serious accident or something, I don't really know...we have a flight in an hour or so, I'm just letting you know."

"But-"

"Thank god I got my passport, haha...the kid is coming too. Call her sometime after we land there, okay?"

"Wait, give her the phone!" I hollered at my end.

"She's packing like a madwoman" Shantanu sighed, "I have to call Ma and let her know that I'm coming down...that stupid editor of mine too...I'll call you later okay?"

He cut the call neatly. I stood at the elevator lobby of my office, staring at my phone till the screen lit up again.

Thinking maybe it was finally Dhati, I accepted the call.

"Neil! Are you home yet?"

Nope, not Dhati. This voice belonged to Stacie. I closed my eyes at my luck.

"Nope, Stace, not yet" I sighed, finally going for the stairs instead of waiting any longer for the elevator.

"Okay...will you be home in half an hour?"

"Yeah, yeah" I muttered, "But why do you ask?"

"I...wanted to drop by and give you the report...you know..."

"Oh...yeah, no, I trust you, Stace, I don't really need to see it."

How else was I supposed to hint at her to not come by again? I really didn't want to see her face, not after the hellish week I had had because she had answered my phone.

"Yeah, I know, but I think it would finally close...the chapter, you know" her voice softened uncharacteristically.

"Yeah alright then" I sighed, making my way to the parking lot. "See you in thirty."

**

I reached home with a distracted mind. A thousand things ran through it. While I was truly glad that by some miracle, Shantanu was there to help her out, a small part of me really wasn't okay with it. Uneasy is the correct word, I think. I wished I could be there instead, but I had just come back from an unannounced and unaccounted-for leave, and nobody in their right minds was going to grant me any more.

I was just about to walk up the stairs when I noticed a large envelope taped to my mailbox, probably because it was too large to be forced into the slot. I didn't think much of it as I ripped it from there and took it up with me. It was when I had finally collapsed onto the couch in my living room that I finally realized that I recognized that handwriting.

How can anyone forget the handwriting in which one's only hate mail was written in?

It was Michael, alright. The envelope was addressed to me, with a small "MG" inscribed in the bottom right corner. Frustrated at his continued antics, I tore apart the envelope.

He had sent me two A4 sized photographs, quite like the one he had sent me as a warning before.

In the first one, I could clearly make out Dhati's face, and she seemed to be yelling at the figure in front of her. In the second one, the man in front of her had pulled her in for a hug, and she was holding him back. If I narrowed my eyes, I thought I could make out Shantanu's face.

There was a board or a chart or something behind them, and from what I could read, a list of doctors was put up on it. Right next to Dhati's head was the name of an Ob/Gyn, followed by a GP, a dentist, a psychiatrist, a neurologist and others.

Perplexed, I turned the photographs around.

Guess where your beloved fiancée went with your brother? She checked me into a psychiatrist facility, telling me I was crazy. I've doubted her at times, and when I see her do this to you, as a fellow male, I thought it right of me to warn you.

Am I so crazy to doubt her  when I see her do this again?

I had no idea what prompted this crazed man to pull off a stunt like this. I opened the envelope to see if there was anything else this weirdo wanted to warn me about, and true to my suspicion, out floated what looked like a cancelled registration slip.

Name: Arundhati D.

To see: Dr. Renner, Ob/Gyn

**

Phew, I know the update is a day or two late, but there's a reason for that, and it's called college! When work calls, you cannot ignore, right fellas?

Anyway, until the next one, keep reading, commenting and voting!