Meanwhile Riddhima had woken up and realized she trapped.

"Oh no....mujhe yahan se nikalna varna Dhruvji...."

"HELP! HELP!!!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Riddhima kept banging on the trunk, crying and screaming....just trying to get out. Slowly it was getting harder to breathe as she was running out of oxygen.

"Somebody HELP!" Riddhima yelled again. "God pls...pls let me out. Dhruvji maar denge Nandini aur Manik bhai ko...I need to get out! Pls kisi ko meri madat ke liye bhej do!"

Suddenly, it was if God heard her prayer and at that moment Rehan walked past Dhruv's room.

BANG! BANG!

Riddhima managed to hit the trunk lid two more times before she lost consciousness. That was enough....Rehan heard the sound and stopped in his tracks.

"Yeh kya tha?" Rehan wondered. He entered Dhruv's room and looked around but saw that it was empty. "Yahan toh koi bhi nahi hai..."

Just as Rehan was about to turn and leave he noticed a piece of cloth sticking out of the truck and recognized it immediately. "Riddhima ka dress yahan.....Riddhima!"

He ran over and tried to open the truck lid but there was a giant padlock on it. "Riddhima!"

Rehan ran to his room and got a crowbar (Dont ask why its there...it just is.) then ran back and used it to break the lock. Finally he opened the lid and found Riddhima unconscious. "Riddhima! Oh god...kya hua tumhe?" 

Rehan picked her up and lay her on the bed, rubbing the palms of her hand. "Riddhima...ankhe kholo....wake up pls...Riddhima!"

GASP!!

Riddhima woke up gasping for air.

"Thank god....Riddhima, tum thik ho?" Rehan asked.

"Rehan....Dhruvji..."

"Woh bahar gaye hai shayad. Par tum yeh batao tum sandook mein kya kar rahe they?" Rehan asked.

"Dhruvji ne mujhe andar dala!" Riddhima said shocking Rehan.

"WHAT? Kya bol rahi ho tum Riddhima?"

"Haan....he....he is the one jo saare attacks kar rahe hai. Harshad ke saath milke....maine khud usse bolte hue sunna ki woh Manik bhai aur Nandini ko maarna chahte hai!"

"No...thats not....why? Why would he do this?"

"Mujhe nahi paata Rehan par woh maar dega! We have to stop him....Manik bhai aur Nandini ke paas jaana hoga!"

"Ok relax...relax. Tum aaram karo. Main Cabir aur Abhi ko bhejta hoon unke paas...kuch nahi hoga." 

"Par-"

"Kuch nahi hoga Riddhima!"

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

"KOI HAII!" Manik was yelling for help but the street was empty. He was in full panic mode seeing Nandini bleeding so badly. "PLS SOMEBODY HELP!"

"Kya karun main...what do I do?" Manik looked around to see if there were any cars going by thats when he saw a thela with some heavy looking bags on top of it. He ran over and threw the bags off before running back to Nandini.

Manik lay Nandini down on the thela and looked at her. "Im taking you to the hospital. Kuch nahi hoga tumhe...main hone nahi dunga. Just hold on...pls...bas thodi der."

He then started pushing the heavy thela down the road....towards the hospital. His feet were starting to bleed as he pushed....then suddenly one wheel broke off and Nandini almost rolled off the thela but Manik caught her in time.

"Shit...ab main hospital kaise le jaunga...I-Nandini?" While holding Nandini, Manik realized she wasnt breathing. Manik lay her on the ground and held a finger under her nose. "Yeh saans nahi le rahi hai..."

He then placed two fingers by her neck to feel for a pulse but felt none. "No..No No No....Nandini! Tum mujhe chodke nahi jaa sakti...NANDINI!"

Manik remembered when Nandini did CPR on him and helped revive him so he decided to do the same. He started chest compressions and then a car drove upto them.

"Manik! Nandini!" Abhi & Cabir got out and ran over. They were shocked to see Nandini's condition.

"Call the ambulance!" Manik told them as he continued with the CPR. The Dhawan brothers were just frozen in their spots. "ABHI! CABIR! NOW!"

Cabir bent down next to Manik, and held Nandini's hand, tears in his eyes as Abhi pulled out his phone and called the ambulance. Moments later, the ambulance arrived and an EMT took over with the compressions. Another EMT brought the defibrillator and connected it to Nandini.

"Hands off." The woman told Cabir & Manik. They moved away and then she pressed the button, sending a shock through Nandini. Manik gasped and closed his eyes. Then they continued with the compressions and defibed her two more times before Nandini finally started breathing again. Manik let out his breathe in relief. 

Nandini was placed on a gurney and taken into the back of the ambulance, Manik went with her while Cabir & Abhi got in their car and followed.

In the ambulance, the EMT placed an oxygen mask on Nandini's face and were monitoring her as they drove to the hospital.

"We're almost there...bas abhi pauch jayenge." Manik whispered, as he held Nandini's hand and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

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

Both families were informed of Nandini's accidents by Abhi and everyone...expect for Dhruv came. 

Neelam & Nyonika were both sobbing badly while, Vasudha who was also devastated consoled them.

"Yeh kya ho gaya meri bachi ke saath....kyun? Kya bigara Nandini ne kisi ka?" Neelam sobbed.

"DHRUV....Dhruv did this." Manik growled. Abhi. Cabir & Rehan looked at him surprised as they hadnt informed him yet because they were focussing on Nandini. While the Malhotra's didnt want to believe their own son would do this.

"Kya? Manik...yeh kya bol rahe ho? Dhruv aisa kyun karega?" Nyonika asked.

"Kyun yeh toh nahi paata...but I saw him....gadi wohi chala raha tha. The window was blacked out par....Nandini ko maarne ke baad he opened the windo to check and tabhi maine usse dekh liya." Manik said in an emotionless voice.

"Haan...aunty, Manik bhai sahi bol rahe hai. Maine khud Dhruvji ko Harshad se bat karte hue sunna...ki woh Manik bhai aur Nandini ko maarna chahte hai." Riddhima spoke up.

"And then he locked Riddhima in a truck taa ki woh kisi k bol na saake....maine nikala usse." Rehan added. Everyone was fully shocked.

"Par kyun? Dhruv apne bhai aur bhabhi ko kyun marna chahta hai?" Raj asked. 

"Woh toh usse pakarne ke baad hi paata chalega uncle." Cabir said. "IF I leave him alive long enough for him to reply. Uski vajah se Nandini ki yeh halat hai...Im not gonna leave him!"

The doctor then came out and Manik ran over to him.

"Doctor...Nandini kaisi hai?" Manik asked. The doctor looked down. "Doctor?"

"Dr Sinha...sach sach bataye, Nandini kaisi hai?" Nyonika stood up.

"Im sorry Dr Nyonika...she has slipped into a coma. We had to intubate her....kyunki woh khud se saans nahi le paa rahi thi." Dr Sinha informed everyone. Manik went all numb and Nyonika fell back onto the chair with a thud. Everyone started crying harder.

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

Dhruv...in a full black outfit and a mask covering his face came to Nandini's hospital room. Nandini was laying there, needles in her arm, she was intubated with a tube going into her mouth and she was connected to a machine that showed zig zag lined indicating her heart rate.

He took out a scissors and.....

Manik grabbed him from his neck and pushed him up against the wall roughly and glared angrily. Abhi ripped his mask off. Dhruv was shocked to see Manik Rehan, Cabit & Dhruv all pointing guns at him.

"B..B..Bhai..main-"

"SHUT UP! Mujhe tere muh se bhai nahi sunna....just tell me....WHY? Mera bhai hoke tune mujhe itna bada dhokha diya, Harshad se jaa ke mil gaya, Nandini ko maarne ki koshish ki...KYUN??"

"Because I hate you!" Dhruv shouted. "Tum sirf mujhse ek saal bade ho but you got f*cking everything! You got to be the Mafia King...iss gang ki leader! Everyone listens to you....and even I was expected to. Tu mujhe order deta tha aur main...mujhe chup chap sunna tha....NO! I wanted to be the Mafia King...lekin woh tab tak mumkin nahi tha jab tak tu zinda hai. Isi liye tujhe marna zaroori ho gaya tha...and honestly speaking, Nandini se mujhe koi problem nahi thi par woh baar baar beech mein aa rahi thi. Baar baar tujhe bacha rahi thi so I had to get rid of her!"

SLAP!

Riddhima slapped Dhruv cross the face.  "I cant believe meri shaadi tumhare jaise ek janwaar ke saath hone jaa raha tha!"

"Haan toh mujhe bhi kaunse tumse shaadi karna tha! Dhruvji Dhruvji Dhruvji...GOD, you were so annoying! Mujhe toh bas apna image rakhna tha isi liye tumhe bardasht karta tha main."

"Bardasht?" Riddhima looked heart broken and Rehan got furious to hear Dhruv talk about her like that. He placed one hand on her shoulder to console her.

"Im gonna kill you Dhruv! Tujge mujhe maarna tha toh maar dete par Nandini ko hurt karke tune BOHOT badi galati kar di...now you are dead!" Manik pointed his gun at Dhruv's head and was about to pull the trigger. 

"Fine....I may have lost, but its not like you have won Manik Malhotra. Tujhe main nahi toh Harshad maar dega...par filhal ke liye....tu aadha toh definitely marne wala hai."

"What?" Everyone looked confused. Manik just decided to ignore him and pressed the trigger.

BANG!

Dhruv's brains splattered against the wall and he fell to the ground dead. Nyonika gasped, sobbing because no matter what Dhruv was her son

Suddenly Nandini started gasping for air...and the machine that was connected to her started going crazy. Everyone turned to look at her. 

"Nandini..." Manik ran over to her. "Mom...yeh kya ho raha hai Nandini ko?"

Nyonika wiped her tears and ran over to check. Then she noticed the oxygen pipe was cut. "Oh no...Dhruv ne..."

"Nurse! jaldi se naya oxygen pipe le aao!" Nyonika told a nurse.

BEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPP!

Nandini stopped gasping and her head fell to the side, there was a long beep and the line on the screen was now straight.

"NANDINIIIIIII!"

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Thoughts on this chapter?

Is this the end of Nandini?

What do you think will happen now?