"Nooooooooooo!" he screamed.
He woke up suddenly. His own scream had woken him up. It was loud. Very loud. He could hear a few windows open. He realized that he had disturbed quite a few of his neighbors. 'Strange', he thought to himself as he reached out to switch on his night lamp. The light gave him a sort of reassurance. He felt his forehead – it was covered in sweat. He reached for the glass of water as he tried to reason out with himself.
It was the third time this week that his sleep was being disturbed: all thanks to the nightmare – the same one. 'Why should I be disturbed? Why should I care?', thought he, for the umpteenth time that night. He couldn't really deny it. The truth was that, HE DID CARE!
…
It all started about 2 weeks ago when Freddy had come up with this brilliant idea of going on a holiday – to the butterfly village. It was a quiet place, atop a hill; its name owing to innumerable butterflies and moths found around. Though the rest of the team initially, hadn't shown much of an interest, it was he, Dr. Salunkhe, who had convinced them to go ahead. He had always wanted to go on a holiday with the team, and was glad when Freddy suggested it. He wanted to bond better with the new boy and get to know him more. And what better idea than a visit to the butterfly village?
It was almost 3 months since Pankaj had joined the CID. And there wasn't much the others knew about him – apart from the fact that he had been brought in by DCP Chitrole, so he could keep an eye on the others and report their doings to him. But during his tenure with the team, he not only proved himself as a loyal and trustworthy officer, but also worked a lot on self-improvement and teamwork that the others soon warmed up to him. Sadly, the cases on hand took up most of their time and did not give them a chance to get to know him better. 'This holiday will give everyone a chance to bond with him and learn more about him. It will also give us the time to catch up on our other interests. Ah.. This will be nice. I only hope we don't stumble on a case like the last time', thought he, as he packed his bags.
The D-day dawned bright and clear and everyone – ACP, Abhijeet, Daya, Rajat, Freddy, Sachin, Vineet, Nikhil, Pankaj, Purvi, Shreya accompanied by Dr. Tarika and Dr. Salunkhe reached the bureau, bags and all – ready for the trip. The journey to the village was very similar to their last one. Abhijeet tried hard to get Tarika to sit with him. The only solace was that since Purvi and Shreya always flanked Tarika, Abhijeet didn't stand a chance.
After almost a day's drive, they reached the butterfly village. The village was beautiful – and the scenery, exquisite. Butterflies here. Butterflies there. Butterflies everywhere. 'This is a visit to die for', he had thought when he first reached the place. Four rooms awaited them at the only resort, situated right in the middle of the biggest butterfly farm in the village. The rooms were huge and they all loved it. Abhijeet, Sachin, Rajat and Vineet shared a room while Daya, Freddy, Nikhil and Pankaj shared another right across theirs on the ground floor. The girls' room was closer to that of the ACP's and Dr. Salunkhe's on the first floor.
'Good, Now I can keep an eye on them', Dr. Salunkhe thought to himself 'so far, so good'.
The team, like they had planned, made the most of their holiday. They explored the hills and the valleys on day 1, the caves and the jungles on day 2 – they even went looking for a case in an old abandoned bungalow that night. This was the best holiday they ever had. A well deserved one - with no interruptions whatsoever. And they were enjoying every minute of it.
The doctor was glad that they chose to come here. He was happy. It did a world of good to the team that had been solving cases after cases tirelessly for 16 whole years. He looked across at ACP Pradyuman, who now sat solving a crossword puzzle. He had been very touchy and irritable the last few days and almost impossible to work with. The holiday seemed to have done him a lot of good for he looked more cheerful now. Daya was catching up on his sleep. Nikhil, who was very fond of food, chose to explore the resort's restaurant and kitchen with Pankaj following him around like a shadow. Purvi and Shreya sat cooped up in their room discussing fashion, the current trends and nail paints. They had done enough exploring and now they wanted to concentrate on the more 'girly' things.
Freddy sat in the corner with a writing pad and a wad of papers – he was trying his hand at writing a poem on the scenic beauty of the village. From the look of it, it didn't seem as if he was making any progress at all. Crumpled paper lay all around. A smile escaped his lips as he sat observing him. Rajat, Sachin and Vineet were more ambitious. Since they weren't very content with just exploring this village, they went to the next village in search of an adventure. And he, Dr. Salunkhe sat on a chair in the corridor enjoying everything around him – Freddy with his pen and paper, the smell of good food, the fresh air, the butterflies that knew no fear and even came and sat on his hands…. Everything.
'Oh. Wait! There were two others. Where were they?' No sooner than he thought of them, he saw them walk in - hand in hand. Their clothes were soiled. It looked like they rolled over in some slush. Tarika gave him an embarrassed, yet sweet smile as they came nearer. 'Be ready in 5 minutes, Tarika-ji', he heard Abhijeet say to her just before she headed upstairs, towards her room.
'Tarika', he called out to her.
But even before she could turn back and come down to him, he heard Abhijeet say 'No time now doctor. We have to leave in 5 minutes'. 'I was talking to Tarika', he said irritated at Abhijeet's interruption. 'What happened?' he asked her. 'We fell down. Sorry. I have to go now and have a wash and change, all in 5 minutes' she said before dashing off to her room. He was upset. She hadn't given him a chance to speak, to show his concern, to tell her he cared – and to make things worse, she was going out again.
Barely 5 minutes later, while he was still lost in thoughts, he saw them go out again. 'Bye sir', they had yelled across before leaving. But he was too stunned to react. Tarika, usually never ignored him. But now… His lips trembled as he looked on.
No. Tarika wasn't really ignoring him. She was busy. She had work to do. And she couldn't afford to be late. If only Dr. Salunkhe understood that!
He was still sitting in the same chair, his eyes searching for Tarika when Rajat, Sachin and Vineet got back. 'Come up to the terrace sir, the girls have planned some games' said Vineet before going up. No. He wasn't going to go. How could he? It was past 9 and Tarika hadn't returned. True. Abhijeet was there with her, and he wouldn't let any harm befall her. But…. What was she doing with him? So late? With these thoughts running in his head, he continued to wait.
'Come on up Salunkhe!', he heard the call. This time it was the ACP. He didn't want to tell of his fears. Pradyuman was sure to dismiss it off as his imagination. He was sure it wasn't. Tarika was beginning to spend more and more time with Abhijeet these days. 'Umm.. Maybe it IS my imagination', he thought to himself before he allowed himself to be led up to the terrace by Rajat who had come down again, in search of him.
But as the days went by, he began noticing it even more. Abhijeet and Tarika went off in the mornings, and came back very late. What were they up to? Where were they going? He was sure that the others noticed it too. But since no one gave it much of a thought, he decided to ignore it too - only for the time being though. He intended to talk to her when they got back. How was he to know that things would take a turn, and a very unexpected one at that?
He needn't have worried at all - atleast then. They weren't doing any wrong. Abhijeet had seen a school for special children just outside the village. And he, along with Tarika was going there everyday to help take care of the children. He was fond of kids – and that was an indisputable fact. Tarika had seen him going out the first day, and questioned him and when she got to know of the reason, chose to go along and help. They spent all their time there teaching them songs and playing with them. And it was during one such game that they fell down and soiled their clothes.
As their holiday came to an end, this love of theirs for the special children, brought them closer, even closer than they ever were - and this closeness of theirs culminated in a most unexpected decision – MARRIAGE! And that too soon! ACP was ecstatic. Daya was overjoyed. The girls were delighted and the boys, thrilled. Freddy was making plans for the ceremony. And the girls sat arguing over the honeymoon destination.
There was just one person who was disinterested in this conversation. And that was himself. He was shocked beyond measure. The decision came in when he the least expected it. No. He was happy for Tarika. And he did like Abhijeet. He was sure she would only make a right decision. But there was this one thing that kept bothering him.
…
And it was that thing that disturbed him throughout. He thought of it in his sleep, he thought of it when he was awake. He thought of it while he worked and while he took a break. He couldn't help but think of it. It was disturbing him so much that he was even losing his appetite. For the past week he had been repeatedly thinking of it.
Abhijeet's memory loss!
'Everyone knows that a CID officer's life has no guarantee. And Tarika was fully aware of it, and yet ready to get married to one. Good. She is prepared for any eventuality. But is she really prepared for ANY eventuality', he thought as he sat up in bed. 'What if he loses his memory again and fails to recollect her as his wife? Or worse still, if he regains his lost memory and realizes that he is already married with kids? Is she prepared for this?'
These thoughts were driving him crazy. He was going insane thinking of all possible answers for his own questions. He was having nightmares. And he always woke up screaming. Tarika was like a daughter. He loved her dearly. And he couldn't bear to see her in distress – No! Not even in a dream!
As he sat up in bed, he did the only thing he could: With tears in his eyes, truth in his heart and earnestness in his mind, he folded his hands - reverently in prayer as he said, 'May your will be done on earth; as it is in heaven dear Lord' before drifting off into sleep.
A/N: And thats it folks! I hope you liked it. Like I always say, I am honored if you do, and if you don't, I'll work towards making myself better. Do leave a review behind to let me know what you think! Cheers.