Chapter 31
CHAPTER 31
SUNAINA
I raised my head groggily as soon as the door opened, waiting eagerly to see the look on Viren’s face when he saw me awake after all these days.
To my surprise, it was Aisha who came in. She cried at the sight of all the needles and tubes inside me, and I reassured her as best as I could, wondering why Viren put her through this experience alone. He could have come in with her because the poor dear needed a tight hug, and there was no way I could hug her right now.
Come to think of it, I needed a hug, too, so why was my husband not here? It was his god-given duty to hug me, especially after his incessant nagging of the past two days. I couldn’t open my eyes, but I heard him all right.
When Aisha went out, I was sure he would come next. But Daya Bua came in after Aisha and then Sufi. They both did not mention Viren, and neither did I because I was sure he would come after they did. After all, this was just like him - to allow everyone else to visit first.
But the door shut behind Sufi and didn’t open for a while until they rolled in another patient. I got tired of keeping my eyes glued to the door and gave in to the demands of my body and the heavy medication, allowing sleep to claim me.
I sensed something different about Daya Bua the next morning when she dropped in to visit me. It took me some time to figure it out - she was furious about something. But Sufi was even worse. He looked absolutely devastated.
I still didn’t ask them anything.
It was only when I had been awake for two days, and Viren had neither dropped in to see me nor called nor sent a message that I mustered the courage to check with Sufi.
“Where is he?” I asked softly.
He knew what I meant, of course, and didn’t meet my eyes as he brushed my hair out of my face gently.
“In Dubai,” he whispered finally.
The machine above my head beeped loudly as my heart gave a huge jolt, and the nurse came running.
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to take a deep breath. When the machine piped down, she left us alone again with a warning glance at Sufi, who was almost in tears.
“When did he go?”
“The night you came out of the coma.”
“And when is he coming back?”
“I don’t know, Sue. I don’t know anything anymore.”
Wow!
Viren Chaudhry had finally proved that he did not love me. It didn’t matter if it was because I was unloveable or because he was incapable of love. He just didn’t love me.
As for the words I’d been hearing while I was in a coma, they must have been some weird medicine-induced hallucination. Because there was no way the man who said all those things and begged me to wake up could have abandoned me as soon as I opened my eyes.
And still, I couldn’t help but keep my eyes trained on the door every single day, waiting for him to come. But he didn’t come.
Not even when they discharged me from the ICU and moved me into a private ward that cost an arm and a leg. Aisha, Daya Bua, Sufi and all the friends I had made since I married Viren filled my room with flowers and presents, but there wasn’t even a get-well-soon card from my husband.
My fake husband, I corrected myself. It was time to start using the correct terminology for our fake relationship.
I didn’t ask if Viren had returned from Dubai, and nobody mentioned him. As the days passed and he was still a no-show, it began to make even our visitors uncomfortable, though they didn’t say anything. Except for Sarang.
“I’ll go to Dubai and drag him back home by his ear, Daima,” he growled one evening, thinking I was fast asleep. “He can’t do this! He must be out of his mind.”
“It won’t do any good, beta,” she said with a sob, and my heart sank at her words. “Our Viren has changed overnight, Sarang. His heart has really turned to stone.”
I struggled to hold back my sobs, and thankfully, they left right away. I turned my face away from the door and allowed my tears to fall silently, crying for what I thought I had lost, but which wasn’t mine to lose in the first place.
Dhruv broached the topic when it was clear I would be discharged the next week.
“What the hell is going on between you and Viren, Sue? Why hasn’t he been in to see you?”
I turned a weary face to him and smiled bleakly.
“I think that’s self-evident, Dhruv. We’re not together anymore.”
“Bullshit! That man was here from the moment you were brought in right until the moment you opened your eyes. He didn’t eat, sleep or move from your side when you were critical. He held on to you as tightly as you held on to life. So what happened to make him vanish overnight?”
“Haven’t any of your patients been ghosted by a partner after an accident?” I asked cynically.
“Of course,” he replied. “It’s sadly more common than you think. But none of those partners was as steadfast in their care as your husband.”
“It was the funeral, in my opinion,” said Sufi, with a giant sniff as he rearranged my flowers.
“What funeral?” I asked in confusion.
“Ramesh’s funeral. I saw Mr C during the last rites. Something happened to him, and when we left the crematorium, it was as if something was broken inside him.”
“Find out what’s wrong with him and fix this, Sufi. Because this is just wrong,” said Dhruv severely before he left the room.
“I don’t know how to fix this, Sue,” whispered Sufi in dismay. “For the first time in my life, I have no quick fix or jugaad for a problem.”
“It can’t be fixed, Sufi Singh. Sometimes, it’s important to know when a problem is past fixing,” I said, feeling exhausted and broken.
“This is your marriage we’re talking about, Sue. You can’t give up so easily,” he exclaimed.
“Why not?” I snapped. “When it’s clear that Viren has given up already. There’s nothing left to save.”
And I was proved right the day I was to be discharged from the hospital.
Sufi and Dhruv were completing all the formalities and billing, and Daya Bua and Aisha were helping me pack my things. This room had been my home for a month now, and I had grown attached to it. I didn’t know how I could go back to Chaudhry House when I knew Viren didn’t want me there anymore.
There was a knock at the door, and Aisha squealed with joy.
“He’s here! Chachu is finally here!”
She ran to him, and he picked her up easily, giving her a tight hug. He then greeted Daya Bua, who gave him a very cold welcome. And I noticed he still wasn’t looking at me, the coward.
Did he really think I was going to fall on his chest and cry about his absence? I mean, I would if I could, but I knew it wouldn’t make any difference to his stony heart. So why bother?
I didn’t say a word, just went on packing my stuff into the holdall Sufi had placed on my bed. Eventually, Daya Bua hustled Aisha out of the room, and I braced myself for whatever was coming next.
I snuck a quick look at his face and was surprised to see him looking haggard. Must have been partying hard with European supermodels in Dubai, I told myself sternly.
My disobedient heart still skipped a beat when he moved towards me. I kept my eyes on what I was doing, pretending he wasn’t in the room until he cleared his throat.
It took every bit of willpower I had not to cry when I met his eyes. To present a blank face to my husband, who had dumped me in a hospital and ghosted me when I needed him the most.
“The doctors tell me you’re doing better now,” he said gruffly, not meeting my eyes.
I said nothing. He could see for himself that I was standing on my two feet. Considering I was in a very different state the last time he saw me, there was nothing I needed to say.
Viren waited for a minute, and when I didn’t reply, he held out a sheaf of papers. I stared at it as if it were a snake, and didn’t reach out to take it until he spoke.
“I’m filing for divorce,” he announced. “You need to sign this document too.”
My chest suddenly went tight, and it felt as if the bottom had dropped out of my world. I focussed on taking slow, deep breaths and still said nothing.
With a sigh, he placed the papers on the bed in front of me.
“Let’s not make this difficult,” he began. “We knew this day was coming.”
I didn’t want to hear his excuses. I didn’t want to hear anything anymore. I just wanted to be done with this farce of a marriage.
So I held up a hand, and when he stopped talking in surprise, I pulled out a pen from the bedside drawer and scribbled my signature wherever it was marked in the document. Then, I flung the papers on the floor in front of Viren to show him what I thought of him and turned my back, still without saying a word.
He left the room as quietly as he entered, and when the door shut behind him, I sat on the bed and wept. I don’t know when the door opened again, but Daya Bua came and sat next to me.
“I’m so sorry, beta,” she said, holding me as I cried my heart out. “This is all my fault. I should never have brought him into your life.”
“No, Bua. This is all on Viren. This has nothing to do with any of us,” I said firmly.
Sufi came in just then, looking thunderous.
“I heard what he did, Sue. Why did you sign the papers so easily? You should have made him sweat.”
“I just want to move on with my life, Sufi. I’m sick of feeling so broken from inside.”
“Cool, I have the car waiting outside. Let’s get you home and into bed,” he said briskly.
“I have no home, Sufi. Not anymore.”
“Babe, you’re coming to Chaudhry House,” he argued. “That’s where you belong.”
“Not anymore,” I repeated. “Starting now, Viren and I are in the cooling-off period for the divorce. We cannot live under the same roof anymore. And I don’t even want to live in his house. Take me to a hotel for now, until I find an apartment of my own.”
“Arre, why should you go to a hotel? We’ll take you to the flat at Malabar Hill. That’s coming to you in your divorce settlement anyway,” said Daya Bua.
“I don’t want it,” I said desperately. “I don’t want anything from Viren Chaudhry ever again.”
They realised I wasn’t in a good place emotionally and spared me the stress of an argument.
Sufi booked me a room at the Taj right away and charged it to Viren over my protests.
After they settled me into my room, I asked them to leave.
“Haye haye! How can we leave you in this state, beta? You can’t take care of yourself,” said Daya Bua.
“Bua, I’ve been taking care of myself for years. I’ll manage somehow,” I replied and sent them on their way.
I scrolled through the internet looking for places to rent, but I soon realised that the renting process could take ages. I needed something right now. So I called Perpetua and gave her a full update on my health before she allowed me to get to the reason I had called.
“Hey, can I ask a favour? Do you have a spare room in your house that I can rent?”
She was happy to have me move in immediately, and we agreed on what I considered a very reasonable rent. She even promised to help me move.