Breaking out in a cold sweat unable to find her voice, Bhargavi felt a chill down her spine. She raced outside the room and noticed the light still on in the living room. With many apprehensions rummaging in her mind, she almost fell from the stairs missing a step but luckily held on to the banister.

Casting a glance of scrutiny over Bhargavi's petrified features, Prabir slowly raised his head from the laptop screen he was working on, hearing her whisper his name which was almost inaudible.

He listened to her narrative in silent and mute astonishment as she informed him about the role played by Bhawani in pushing Ms. Nalini down the stairs intentionally. "We can't leave Paru alone in her presence, the risks are too high. But in case I wake up Paru in the middle of the night and drag her out of that room, and ask her to sleep with Maa instead, she's going to think that I have definitely lost my mind. If I tell her the truth bluntly either she'll panic or won't believe me at all," she spoke rapidly without even pausing for a breath.

"Bhawani would never harm Paru. Maybe, she was super angry with Maa and thus," Prabir started but she cut off his speech shrieking," No!"

"See you don't understand the gravity of this issue. Now she seeks pleasure from inflicting pain on others,hurting or making them suffer," she added worried.

"Did she suffer from any childhood trauma?" Prabir asked as they swiftly ran upstairs. "Children can grow numb to violence that besiege many communities. Did she ever witness your parents fight? Or was she ever bullied in her childhood as it can leave a deep scar ... tear a child apart emotionally?"

"We went through a series of traumatic events unfortunately, since childhood and I have no clue to what could have effected her this deeply. We grew up in utter misery, poverty,feeling insecure and unsafe at all times. We were  neglected by the society...by all our relatives. My maternal grandparents threw us out on the streets one day,though they had taken us in when Baba was jailed, as Maa finally decided that she will never move back to Baba's house or forgive him and was highly positive about filing a divorce. They had held a preconceived notion that a marriage could never be broken off till death parted the life partners. Before we moved to Parili, which changed our lives all together, we resided in a very nasty place, it was the only place Maa could afford back then.

One night some wicked men broke into our shelter which didn't even have a solid roof, both Bhawani and I were little girls and Maa wasn't strong enough to protect us. Her screams went unheard and no one dared to come to our rescue ... All our clothes were forcibly removed as we protested to be freed from their stranglehold and we were touched inappropriately. They had dragged Maa to the other room, grabbing her by her hair.

When Mayank had kidnapped Bhawani, and tried to...Uh! I had assumed that such damage could jeopardize her mental health. However, she showed no telltale signs that could be concerning.

Growing up without a father in an evil society..." She broke down in his arms. "How did I fail to recognize the hint of madness in her eyes Prabir? What if it's already too late?"

Despair gripped him hard, as he held her firmly in his arms, in mournful silence. Anger consumed him the next instant and he wished he could feed those evil men to vultures. With tears sufficed in his eyes, he said with a trembling voice," Bhargu. We will get the best doctors for her don't worry."

In all honesty he knew that he couldn't promise that life would be okay. Life could keep hitting you with one tragedy after another. It knew how to hit you hard and where it hurts most. Perhaps anxiety and depression was consuming Bhawani from within each day.

Not wasting time, he slowly walked up to Parul's room closely trailed by Bhargavi and lightly knocked on the door. The door was opened by Bhawani who was strolling in the room feeling restless and unable to sleep.

"Why are you awake Bhawu?" He enquired politely. They could see Parul sleeping peacefully.

"What are you both doing here?" She questioned in return.

"We saw the lights in your room still turned on and thought none of you two were asleep," Prabir said managing a strained smile on his face.

" You both aren't asleep either so what is the issue?" Bhawani asked crossing her arms across her chest.

Nodding mutely Prabir gestured Bhargavi to leave.

"Are you still mad at me for having slapped you Bhawu?" He whispered softly and pulled her in his arms when Bhargavi had slowly walked away. " I am sorry baby." He escorted her to her bed and made her lie down, unwillingly she followed his instructions suddenly feeling a bit warm and happy being treated like a child. Softly caressing her face, he removed a strand of her and said,
"You are working so hard on your studies, you should rest well Bhawu. Close your eyes now."

He started gently patting on her head rhythmically, humming a song softly like he was used to do for Parul.

Though she was still wide-awake, she chose not to stir and maintained the pretense of having fallen asleep. "You want to talk about how you feel Bhawu? I am listening, you can tell me," Prabir insisted.

Sitting up straight she stared at him for sometime and then started,"I...I really don't know where to start. Umm...I find it hard to smile when I see others laugh. It's difficult to hide behind a fabricated mask.

I feel worthless as a person, a failure.

I feel tired, exhausted... lonely. I think a smoke could have made me feel better but...I don't want to be humiliated again.

Falling asleep at night is often problematic. It seems there's no way I can ever feel good again. It's getting harder to concentrate on anything with every passing day. My emotions suffocate me at times when I feel a debilitating and crippling anxiety over slightest of things, like when you take a fifteen minutes test on any subject." She opened up to him naturally with a benignant smile, surprised that she was overcome with felicity on being asked by someone, how she actually felt.

When she spoke no further, he cautiously selected the words,
" Bhawu. The night sky is very dark and ideal for stargazing." Looking through the window."Would you accompany me? I too have trouble sleeping."

Nodding mutely she agreed, glad that she wasn't either judged or lectured. Prabir understood well that it is extremely difficult to get rid of toxic feelings.

Slowly walking upstairs to the terrace, he held her hand. They observed the stars for a while in silence. Placing an arm on her shoulder, he held her in a side hug." It's so peaceful right?" He said letting out a deep sigh.

"Bhaiya! You too will hate me like Maa and Ishaan if you learn about all that I did in the past. There were moments when all of my knowledge of right and wrong were whirled and merged into a vortex of intense chaos."

Rigidly, Prabir stood grounded as if he knew nothing of her past deeds. Wanting to challenge her negative thoughts appropriately, he again remained silent letting her speak.

She indeed spoke again breaking the silence of the night,"That day I...I pushed Maa down the stairs," she admitted. "And I kept staring at her unmoved feeling pleasure at her plight, hearing her scream. The look Mayank gave me that day before running towards Maa to help her was like he had seen a ghost."

"Now that you realize...you need help. don't hesitate to go to a therapist," said he subtly with a nuanced spirit and hope. 

"But then...Bhaiya every one will think that I am crazy?" She said dolefully.

This was an uphill battle. He needed to assure that she need not be dragged to her appointments which would turn out to be the least productive if she didn't talk about her issues.

"I'll be taking the therapy sessions as well Bhawu. You know well, what I do when I visit a hospital. We both are kind of crazy don't you think? You can tell everyone that you are only dragging me to my therapist as I have been putting if off since a long time," he said earnestly making her feel relaxed and not embarrassed because of the stigma of visiting a therapist for her mental state.

"Thank you," she replied back politely accepting the offer. With a wide grin he quickly eloped her in his arms, crying out loud,"My little friend, let's go to bed. Tomorrow you need to go to school remember. Ah! And what kind of savouries would you like to have for breakfast?"

"Sandwiches would be great!" She replied back. "But...I don't feel sleepy at all."

"It's okay! Just come with me," he said and gently ushered her to her room. Massaging some hair oil gently on her scalp, and tying her hair up in a loose braid, he sat beside her on her bed, stroking on her head lightly. The massage had a magical affect, it helped her soothe and relax. Prabir left the room when she was finally in the arms of Morpheus.

Pleased to find Bhargavi scratching her head, struggling hard to concentrate; squatted on the floor making notes from a text book borrowed from the library and an e-book, he silently sat down beside her and snatched her notes away. "Are you planning to stay up awake all night?" He murmured softly.

"Ah! You're back. Is she asleep?" She quizzed in lowest whispers. Cradling her up in his arms, he slowly walked out of the room. Dropping her on her feet, he closed the door behind softly without waking up Ms. Nalini and urged her to follow him upstairs.  Sitting on the last stair leading up to the terrace, he pulled her onto his lap and held her firmly at her waist preventing her from slipping.

"Are you a chair? I am not your little Paru," Bhargavi snapped and sat beside him. "First you picked me up like a baby and now...What has gotten into your head?" She said fuming with rage.

"Was I misbehaving Bhargu?" He asked puzzled and stood up firm and erect. A mischievous smile lit up her face and she rejoined," How long did you make me wait for you and I still can't be mad at you? What were you both talking... for so long while I was bored to death? And you even forgot my little treat you were supposed to bring?"
She pleaded him to sit again and slowly sat on his lap clinging to him.

"Now I know which one of you two sisters is scarier and crazier," Prabir smirked. "

"It's her. Isn't it obvious?" She enquired.

"Why? It's you of course?" He replied back smiling. She started to beat him up playfully. "Am I wrong Bhargu? See what you're doing to me," he teased her. Holding her firmly in his arms as she laughed, he softly kissed her on her head saying,"Being brutally honest, I really am sorry for having forgotten all about your chocolate treat."

She had been promised an irresistible and tempting chocolate treat by Prabir earlier during the day, when she had helped him with the household chores rubbing, scrubbing, mopping and dusting the house clean. In addition she had helped him restore the refrigerator with fresh vegetables and the kitchen shelves with groceries. Prabir had forbid Mayank and Bhawani's help and made them study for their upcoming exams. Mr. Banerjee did his part going to the market and fetching all the groceries and vegetables from the market for an entire week, as Prabir was busy explaining concepts of maths and physics to both Bhawani and Mayank.

Searching in his trousers, she found her treat and happily smiled tearing up the wrapping. Handing him half of the dark chocolate, she finally sat beside him and on a serious note  questioned,"What next Prabir?"

"Bhawu has agreed to go to a therapist on a condition that she's able to tell everyone that she's only accompanying me," he sighed. "Paru will be demanding an explanation tomorrow, why she was driven away from the kitchen? And why was Baba so furious with Bhawani?" He went on to say and noticed that Bhargavi was softly snoring, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Goodnight dear!" He whispered, placing his head on her's and closed his eyes still pensive, trying to frame up something in his mind, a believable story that he could narrate to Parul.

As the dawn chorus of melodic birdsong drifted in and the rising sun cast a rosy hue across the morning sky, Bhargavi rubbed her bleary eyes. Lifting her head from his chest, she barely looked at his face which was magically sweet and restful, he fluttered his eyes open.

"I am sorry to wake you up," Bhargavi apologized. The deep and tender feelings stifled in his heart were let loose. Holding her chin up, with his left index finger,he said smiling,"It's overwhelmingly peaceful to hold you in my arms and unbearably painful to part with you love."

While speaking to Parul, Prabir chose to embellish Bhargavi's narrative of the truth with a great many interpolations of his own to keep all the secrets safe.

"Your Bhawani Di is recently pretty bad tempered, you see. She had mimicked Maa word by word, on being scolded for smoking again... caught red-handed by Baba and that's the reason why Baba went to talk to her yesterday.

She kept arguing with him that she has the right to enjoy her life and do whatever she wants to do, making him furious," Prabir had filled in Parul's ears as recordings of the recent incidents making Bhargavi wonder in amazement of how capable a story-teller he was.

Author's Note:

Sometimes I really really really wish that reading could help lose weight😂😂🤣😂🤣

Ah! Well I guess this update is a bit melancholic, with many challenges put forth in the way of the protagonists but it also provides hope and courage, revealing the resilience to never give up,while also helping each other in every way possible.

I am hoping that you'll have enjoy this update. Please let me know your thoughts.

Happy Reading!