CHAPTER 55! WOULD HE? #3
?She looked at herself in the mirror. "She was happy." Her voice cracked. "She was finally happy."
?A sob escaped. "Then why her?" She gripped the edge of the sink.
"Why?"
?Her knees weakened. She slid down against the cabinet and sat on the cold floor. For several seconds, she simply stared at the tiles.
Then the tears came-not delicate tears, not silent ones, but the kind she had been refusing to let herself cry for months.
?She covered her mouth. Kashvi's voice echoed in her mind: I want annoying mornings.
?Aadhira sobbed.
Stupid fights.
?She pressed her forehead against her knees.
Stealing his shirts.
?"Stop..."
?Growing old with him.
?Aadhira shook her head. "You were supposed to have that." Her voice barely existed. "You were supposed to get your tomorrow."
?She wiped her face with trembling fingers. "You were supposed to be happy."
?For several minutes, there was nothing but her crying. Then slowly, the tears stopped-not because she felt better, but because something else had surfaced.
?A memory. The road. The truck. The crowd.
?And the man.
?Aadhira's breathing changed. She remembered the black mask, the dark clothes, the earpiece.
But most of all, his eyes. He hadn't looked at Kashvi. He hadn't looked at the truck. He had looked at her.
?Aadhira frowned, her mind struggling to reconstruct the moment.
She remembered his hand, a phone, a brief flash, then nothing.
?Her stomach tightened. "Why..." she whispered.
"Why would someone take my picture?"
?She stared at her reflection. The question frightened her more than the accident itself, because accidents happened, but photographs were deliberate.
?Aadhira slowly stood. Her face was wet, her hands still stained. She looked nothing like the woman who had been laughing beneath the banyan tree an hour ago.
But she still wasn't thinking anything suspicious-not yet. She was simply afraid, and she didn't know why.
?A knock sounded against the restroom door. "Aadhira?"
?She froze. The door opened slightly, and Reyansh stood outside.
His expression changed the instant he saw her.
He didn't ask what happened; he could see it-the blood, the swollen eyes, the trembling hands.
?He stepped inside. "Aadhi."
?She looked at him. "She's still inside."
?Reyansh nodded. "I know, guards told me."
?Aadhira's face crumpled again.
"I couldn't stop it."
?Reyansh stepped closer.
"You couldn't have."
?"She saved Ayaan."
?"I know."
?Aadhira shook her head.
"I was right there."
?"Aadhi."
?"I was right there."
?Reyansh caught her shoulders. "Look at me."
?She did.
?"This was not your fault."
?Her eyes filled again. "She was laughing twenty minutes before that."
?"I know."
?"She was talking about Vivaan."
?"She will be fine."
?"She was happy."
?Reyansh's jaw tightened.
?Aadhira finally leaned forward. Reyansh caught her before she could collapse, holding her against his chest as she cried-exhausted, broken, the kind of crying that came after fear had nowhere else to go.
?Reyansh held her until her breathing steadied. Only then did he ask quietly, "Did you call shourya bhai?"
?"Yes, his phone is switched off"
?"Ok"
?Aadhira wiped her face. "I need to go back."
?"You don't have to be strong every second."
?"I have to be."
?"No," his voice was gentle. "You're allowed to fall apart."
?Aadhira looked at him. Then the operating-room doors opened somewhere down the corridor.
Both of them turned. Nothing-a nurse hurried past, and Aadhira's heart sank again.
?Reyansh noticed. "We'll wait."
?Nearly another hour passed. Aadhira sat beside Ayaan, who was still asleep with his head resting against her thigh.
Reyansh sat opposite her while the guard remained near the corridor. Nobody spoke. The hospital clock ticked.
?Tick. Tick. Tick.
?Aadhira stared at the operating-room doors. Then finally, "Reyansh."
?He looked up. "Yes?"
?"I remembered something."
?His expression sharpened.
"What?"
?"The man near the road."
?"What man?"
?Aadhira hesitated. "I don't know." She rubbed her palms together.
"He was wearing a black mask. And watching me."
?Reyansh frowned. "Did you see his face?"
?"No."
?"Then how do you know he was watching you?"
?Aadhira looked toward the floor. "Because he didn't react."
?"To the accident?"
?She nodded. "Everyone was screaming. Everyone was running." Her voice dropped. "He just stood there."
?Reyansh leaned forward.
"What did he do?"
?Aadhira swallowed. "He took out his phone. I think he took a picture."
?Reyansh's expression hardened. "You're sure?"
?"No." Aadhira looked at him. "I don't know anymore."
?Reyansh didn't push her. He simply watched her for several seconds. Then his phone rang. He glanced at the screen, his expression changing, and answered.
?"Yes?" A pause. "Say that again."
?Aadhira watched him as Reyansh stood. "What time?" Another pause. "Understood."
?He ended the call. Aadhira immediately looked at him. "What happened?"
?Reyansh didn't answer immediately.
?"Reyansh?"
?He looked toward her. "That road."
?Aadhira frowned. "What about it?"
?His jaw tightened. "The road where it happened. It's restricted."
?She stared blankly. "What?"
?"No commercial traffic is permitted on that stretch."
?Aadhira's brows drew together.
"I don't understand."
?"Delivery trucks aren't allowed there."
?Silence.
?Reyansh continued. "There are barricades before that section. A security checkpoint."
?Aadhira stared at him. "But there was a truck."
?"That's the problem."
?"How?"
?"That is what I'm trying to find out."