40. Mayukhi
FORTY
Mayukhi
Mayukhi shivered, her hands and legs cramping, as someone moved them around. A soft coat was wrapped around her, her hands pushed into the sleeves, the extra-large material cocooning her. She opened her eyes, squinting against the bright light. Everything around her looked hazy, like she was looking through a grimy filter. She blinked and tried to wipe her eyes but her hands wouldn’t cooperate. Her body felt like a lead balloon.
“Yukhi, baby, can you hear me?” Someone was saying desperately, the words choppy to her ears. Her brow furrowed. That voice sounded familiar. Why did it make her want to cry?
She sniffled though she tried to stop it. Mayukhi Chatterjee never cried. A tear dripped down her cheek, trailed over her chin and on to the soft coat she seemed to be wearing. Was it a new look for the launch? She would never do something as tacky as put a coat on a woman and nothing else, would she? She was losing her touch. More tears streamed down her cheek. This was embarrassing.
“Baby please no. Please don’t cry. I’m begging you.”
She felt herself being lifted off her feet, cradled gently against a hard chest as she was carried out of the room. She was being carried again. Again! Something tugged at her memory, a sliver of warning, here and then gone before she could grab hold of it, examine it, and make it make sense.
Nothing made sense anymore. Nothing.
Another voice joined the frantic one. This one was more steady, measured…calming even. Mayukhi’s tears didn’t stop. They continued down her cheeks, a steady drip.
“They’re gone. The staff at the house are claiming they haven’t been here in over a month,” the calm voice said.
Whoever was carrying her was running now. Fresh air slapped her cheeks a moment later. Was that the ocean she smelt? What a nice dream this was. She’d always loved the ocean. She could spend hours on vacation, just sitting on the beach and staring out at it.
“We’ll go there soon. You can sit by the ocean for as long as you want. I’ll charter a yacht so you can sit on it.” That frantic voice promised. Huh! Had she said that out loud or was Frantic Voice reading her mind? It was a puzzle…
“I’ve called Amay. He’s waiting for you at the hospital.” Calm Voice sounded pissed. She didn’t know how she knew that but she knew. Calm or not, this voice was a raging volcano.
“Where did they go?”
“We don’t know, Ish. It’s like they poofed into thin air.”
Mayukhi could feel herself being loaded into a car.
“Go now,” calm yet enraged voice said. “Take care of her. I’ll handle things here.”
And then the car doors shut with a slam that made her brain rattle painfully. She snuggled into the chest and closed her blurry eyes, the dark interior of the car making it all better.
“Hang in there, Kraken,” he murmured. “We’re going to get help.”
“Don’t call me that,” she mumbled. “Only he can. No one else.”
She felt him take a shuddering breath at that and then something wet hit her cheek. She frowned. She was crying again? She raised a heavy hand to her cheek but no, she wasn’t crying. This was someone else crying. Over her? On top of her? She was still puzzling that out when the darkness claimed her.
When she woke the next time, it was to sudden, shocking clarity. Panic slammed through her as she sat up, her body cooperating this time. All around her machines started to beep. A nurse came running into the room, gently pushing her back down on the bed.
Hospital. She was in a hospital. A second later, the door opened and Amay walked in, his serious expression taking her in.
“Hey there,” he said. “You gave us quite a scare.”
“Us?” she said, forcing a calming breath through her lungs. “I sure as hell scared myself.”
“You’re going to be fine,” he said reassuringly. “Whatever they injected you with is already out of your system. You have a few cuts and bruises that have been cleaned and dressed. All your blood work came back clean. We’ll keep you overnight for observation and if all is still well tomorrow, we’ll send you home.”
Her heart thudded in her chest as she looked at him. “Did they-“ Words failed her as she stared helplessly at him.
“We found no evidence of sexual assault. Other than drugging you and kidnapping you, they didn’t do anything else. I promise.”
She nodded, her heartrate slowing as his calm competence sank in.
“We’ve informed your parents,” he said now, his gaze scanning her face as he spoke. “They’re on their way. Dhrithi’s coming too. Virat’s with her.”
“You should get her security,” she said, her voice hoarse with disuse.
“On it,” he said quietly. “I’m going to let you rest now, okay? The more you sleep, the faster you’ll heal from this.”
“Is that your medical opinion, Doctor?”
“It’s my opinion both as your doctor and your friend,” he said gently. “Get some rest okay?”
“Where is he?”
Her question stopped him before he yanked the door open to leave. Amay hesitated for a second before meeting her gaze.
“Outside,” he said, quietly.
“He won’t come in?”
Amay shook his head. “But he won’t go home either. He just sits there like a catatonic bodyguard.”
Her heart shook a little but she ignored it.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He nodded once, giving her another stare that seemed to see right into her soul. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised. And then he was gone, leaving her to her muddled thoughts.
After a moment, she pushed herself to her feet, grabbed her IV pole and shuffled towards the door. If he wouldn’t come to her, she’d go to him.
She pulled the door open and peeked out. He was right there, like Amay said, sitting on a hard metal bench right outside her door. She shuffled over and sat down beside him. She saw his shoulders slump, his head fall forward as she landed on the bench beside him with a hard thump.
They sat in silence for several minutes before he took her hand with a shaky one of his own, lifting it to his mouth and kissing it. He would have let go immediately but Mayukhi wouldn’t let him. She wrapped her fingers around his and held on.
“The last thing I remember is wandering the office lobby trying to find signal on my phone that night. They took me, didn’t they?” she asked, her eyes on the uninteresting white wall in front of her.
His fingers tightened painfully around her own. He nodded, still not looking at her, his gaze like hers on the stupid wall.
“Did they rape me?”
He sucked in a harsh breath, gripping her hand like it was his only hold on sanity. He shook his head, a hard negative.
“I asked Amay but I still needed to hear it from you.” She wiped the back of her hand against her mouth. “I’m sorry but I needed to hear it from you. If there is one thing I know about you, Adajania, it’s that you won’t sugarcoat the truth for me. I always know exactly where I stand with you.”
His eyes closed, anguish tightening the lines of his face as he thumped his head against the wall.
“I want them to burn in hell for this,” she whispered, rage igniting inside her.
Ishaan turned to look at her, for the first time that evening, his eyes a blazing inferno of fury and vengeance. “Consider it done. I swear to you, Yukhi, I will make sure this happens even if it’s the last thing I do before I die.”
She nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Okay. But don’t die alright? There’s no need for extra drama.”
He buried his face in her neck, a desperate, wet, sobbing laugh escaping him. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Why?” she asked, tunnelling her fingers through his hair and gripping his head, holding him close to her. “Did you kidnap me?”
He didn’t respond so she did for him. “No? Then stop being fucking sorry. You carry enough weight on your shoulders, Adajania. Don’t add their shit to it.”
“I’m going to bury them in their shit, so deep that they’ll never see daylight again.”
“Now, that’s a plan I can get behind.” She smiled, a shaky but savage smile. “I’ll bring the shovel.”