chapter 42
Author’s POV
Rudra stood near the window, the dim light of the hospital corridor spilling faintly across his face. His eyes were fixed outside, but his mind was lost somewhere far away trapped between grief and guilt. Life… how cruelly unfair it had been to him.
He had fought countless battles, faced death, conquered enemies but this… this was a war he could never win. The pain of losing his child before even holding him once was a wound no power could heal. He didn’t even get a chance to see his baby’s face, to feel that tiny heartbeat against his chest.
For the first time, revenge didn’t matter. Power, pride, blood all seemed meaningless.
All he could think about… was Ishni.
Her fragile body lying on that hospital bed, unaware of the storm waiting for her when she opened her eyes.
His fists clenched, his eyes burned, but his soul it just stood still.
Because at that moment, Rudra Singh Rajput wasn’t a name, a power, or a man feared by all.
He was just a broken husband… and a father who lost everything before it even began.
Next Day
Rudra was standing near the window, talking to Vipul on the phone, his voice low but heavy with exhaustion.
"Yeah... keep everything ready, I’ll handle the rest once she—"
Before he could finish, a fragile, trembling voice broke through the silence.
“Rud... Rudra…”
He froze. The phone slipped slightly from his grip as he turned around.
There she was Ishni. Her eyes barely open, her hand weakly clutching the blanket as she tried to sit up.
“Jaan…” he whispered, disbelief flooding his chest. He rushed to her, hanging up the call without another word.
She blinked slowly, her lips parting, trying to say something but before she could, Rudra leaned in and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as if afraid she’d disappear again.
“Jaan…” his voice cracked against her hair, “is it your daily routine to give me heart attacks?”
He let out a shaky laugh, one that was more pain than relief.
Ishni weakly smiled, her fingers brushing his back. “You… were crying, weren’t you?” she whispered.
Rudra froze for a second, then pulled back just enough to look at her. His eyes were red, his jaw tight, his heart aching with words he couldn’t say yet.
“You scared the hell out of me,” he murmured, cupping her face gently. “Don’t ever… ever do that again, Ishni.”
"Now you won’t do anything… you’ll obey me, understood?" Rudra said firmly, his tone soft but edged with fear and authority.
Ishni looked at him, her lips curving into a faint smile. “Rudra—?” she tried to speak, her voice weak and broken.
Before she could finish, he gently placed his finger on her lips. “Shh…” he whispered, brushing a strand of hair off her face. “You need to rest, no more talking.”
His thumb lingered near her cheek as if afraid she’d vanish if he let go. Ishni blinked slowly, still smiling, her eyes heavy with sleep and trust.
Rudra sat beside her, holding her hand close to his chest. “You’re safe now, jaan… I won’t let anything happen to you again,” he murmured, his voice barely audible, more like a promise to himself than her.
Ishni’s POV
Something felt off… the way his eyes avoided mine, the way his smile didn’t reach them. There was something he was hiding something heavy, something that made his shoulders tremble every time he exhaled.
“You rest now, I’ll get something for you,” he said softly and stood up, brushing my hand off gently.
But I couldn’t let him walk away. My fingers reached for his wrist, gripping it tightly even though my hands were trembling.
“Rudra…” I whispered.
He froze. Slowly, he turned toward me his face pale, eyes filled with something I’d never seen before… guilt, fear… pain.
“Rudra…” my voice broke, my heart pounding so loud it hurt. “Where is our baby…?”
The silence that followed felt like death. His throat moved as he tried to speak, but no words came out.
“Jaan… we’ll talk later about it, you rest for—” he tried to say, his voice trembling.
“Rudra, I’m asking something!” I interrupted, my voice cracking. “Where is my baby!!”
He froze. His lips parted, but no words came out. My heartbeat grew louder, faster.
“Tell me, Rudra!” I screamed this time, tears spilling down my face. “Mera baccha kaha hai?!”
The air between us felt suffocating. He clenched his fists, his eyes glistening with pain as if each word I spoke stabbed him deeper.
“Please… batao Rudra… please,” I whispered again, breaking down, my body shaking.
“Jaan…” he whispered, sitting beside me, his hands trembling as they cupped my cheeks. His eyes refused to meet mine.
“Rudra, are you telling me or not?” I said, my voice breaking, fear already crawling up my chest.
He swallowed hard, his throat tightening. “Jaan… vo… vo hamare dil ka tukda tha…” his voice cracked, “…par vo chala gaya…”
I froze. My breath caught.
“Jaan…” his tears finally fell, his voice shaking, “vo… is duniya ko kabhi dekh hi nahi paya…nah hum usse dekha paye"
For a moment, everything inside me went silent no heartbeat, no air, nothing. Just a sharp pain tearing through my chest as his words echoed again and again in my ears.
My body felt numb… as if every vein, every nerve inside me had frozen. I couldn’t move, couldn’t blink, couldn’t even breathe. His words kept echoing in my mind — “vo is duniya ko kabhi dekh hi nahi paya nah hum"
Everything around me blurred the room, the light, even his voice.
“Jaa… jaan?” Rudra’s voice broke through the fog. “Jaan?? Please… look at me!”
He held my shoulders and shook me gently, panic in his eyes.
I flinched, gasping for air as if I had just woken up from the worst nightmare. My eyes met his and that’s when the tears I didn’t even know I was holding back began to fall.
“Mera… bacha… mera… bacha, Rudra… Rudra… mera bacha!!”
The words tore out of my throat, breaking like glass. Tears streamed down my face as I clutched his arms, my nails digging into his skin. Panic flooded through me, my chest tightening, breath coming in broken gasps.
“Jaan… please, shhh… calm down, please…” Rudra tried to hold me, his voice trembling, but I couldn’t stop. I shook my head again and again, crying harder.
“Why, Rudra… why didn’t you save him?! Mera bacha… mera chhota sa bacha…” I sobbed, hitting his chest weakly, my voice cracking under the weight of grief.
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close as I screamed into his chest the pain too deep for words, too real for comfort.
“No… leave me! Mujhe bhi jana do, mere bache ke paas!” I screamed, my voice breaking as tears blurred my sight. I pushed him with all the strength left in my trembling body, but Rudra only held me tighter, refusing to let go.
“Ishni! Stop—jaan please stop!” he pleaded, his voice shaking, but I couldn’t hear anything anymore. My pain was louder than his words. I yanked the wires from my veins, blood trickling down my arm, yet I didn’t care.
“Rudra… please…” I whispered through my sobs, my voice fading. “I just want to go… to my baby…”
I stumbled off the bed, my bare feet hitting the cold floor. Rudra quickly caught me in his arms before I could fall, holding me so tightly as if trying to stop my soul from slipping away.
“You can’t leave me, jaan,” he said, his voice breaking.
“Agar aap gayi… toh main bhi mar jaunga…”
But I kept crying, my hands weakly hitting his chest, whispering again and again, “Mera bacha… mujhe mere bache ke paas jana hai…”
“Nahi… mujhe jaane do!” I screamed, pushing him with all my strength, my voice echoing through the cold hospital room.
My throat burned, my tears blurred everything.
I didn’t even realize when the door burst open doctors and nurses rushed in, panic filling the air. Rudra’s men stood frozen near the door, helpless.
“Mera bacha… please de do mujhe mera bacha!” I cried, falling to my knees, my hands trembling. “Please… I’ll die… mujhe jeena nahi… I just want my child back…” My voice cracked into a thousand broken pieces.
I stood up, my mind blank, searching wildly kuch toh hoga, something, anything that could end this unbearable pain. I turned, stumbling toward the tray near the bed, when suddenly I felt familiar arms wrap tightly around my legs.
“Ishni, bas!” Rudra’s voice broke, trembling.
He fell to his knees, hugging my legs, his forehead pressed against them as he cried, “Jaan, please… mujhe mat chhodo…aapke bina main kuch nahi hoon… please stop…”
But I just stood there, trembling, staring ahead my world shattered, my heart buried with the child I never got to hold.
Author’s POV
Rudra sank to his knees, clutching Ishni’s legs as if holding onto the only anchor left in his shattered world.
His sobs tore through the room, loud and raw, echoing the unbearable pain in his chest. Tears streaked down his face, soaking the floor, soaking her feet, soaking every shred of control he had left.
“Jaaaan… please forgive me…” he choked out between gasps.
“I couldn’t… I couldn’t save our child… please…
par mujhe chhoda kare… mata jao… I’ll die…
Jaan… please… mujhe… par yeh asasan karee doo…
jaan… please…”
Every word was a jagged shard of his broken heart.
His entire world had collapsed, yet he clung to her, pleading, begging, desperate for even a sliver of her forgiveness, for even a fraction of hope.
The room fell into a suffocating silence.
Ishni stood frozen her face pale, her eyes blank as if her soul had already drifted somewhere else.
Rudra’s men stood near the door, their heads bowed low, powerless… helpless. They had seen their boss furious, strong, unshakable but never like this.
Even the doctors, who were used to tragedies, stood still. The nurses’ eyes shimmered with unshed tears as they watched the couple broken, shattered grieving something far beyond wounds or blood.
Only the soft beeping of the monitor filled the air, the faint sound of life surrounded by unbearable loss.
Rudra’s sobs were the only thing that moved in that frozen room a sound so raw, that it made even the strongest hearts tremble.
Just then, Ishni’s body gave up.
She collapsed into Rudra’s arms, her knees weak, her hands trembling. She buried her face deep in his chest and screamed
“AHHHHH! AHHHHHH!”
The sound ripped through the room like thunder.
It wasn’t just a scream… it was pain, grief, anger, and loss everything breaking out at once.
Everyone froze. The nurses gasped. Even the guards who’d faced bullets flinched back.
Rudra held her tighter, his own tears falling into her hair as her scream echoed against the sterile hospital walls.
It was a sound no one would ever forget the sound of a mother mourning her unborn child, and a man realizing he couldn’t protect the only reason he lived.
And slowly, slowly, Ishni’s trembling body began to relax as she clung to Rudra, her fingers gripping his shirt like it was the only lifeline left. Her panicked eyes darted around the room, finally landing on the doctor.
The doctor stepped forward calmly, placing a reassuring hand on Rudra’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Mr. Rajput. She’s just exhausted… that’s all. She needs rest, nothing more.”
Rudra nodded, his own breaths heavy, his arms never leaving her.
He pressed his forehead to hers, whispering softly, “I’m here, jaan…
I won’t leave you… I promise…”
The room, once filled with chaos and terror, slowly settled into a fragile silence as both of them clung to the only certainty left their love, and each other.