Chapter 7
A/N: Here is the complete update! :D Sorry the update was later than my deadline because I was busy with my internal exams. :) This chapter too, like the previous one, is a filler. The real investigation will begin again from the next chapter. :D To those who read the excerpt and liked it, I'm really glad you did, and apologies for the cliffhanger.
Aditi, first and foremost, thank you for following my story. :) Now, coming to your query, if you've read my A/N in the first chapter, I've mentioned that this story is a sort of AU, where the climax scene of AKAKR 10 never takes place, and Abhijeet still has no clue about the existence of the guy in his dreams.
Sorry I'm running short of time, so a BIG, BIG, BIG thank you to all the reviewers and viewers! :D
Now, Happy Reading! :D
Abhijeet entered his room and crashed on his bed. He did not have any strength to argue any further on something he knew no one would ever understand. Adjusting himself on the bed, Abhijeet looked at his bedstand, where Daya had placed the case file before hand for him, and started reading it. But he could not get himself to concentrate on the case right now. His mind was fuzzy with a turbo of thoughts rounding around. The thing that terrified him the most was the panic attack he suddenly got. It was stopped completely ever since he switched back to his right medications, but what happened at that moment could not be explained. Strange thoughts floated through his head while he blankly gazed at the file, before he began getting the smell of food.
And that brought with it a realization. He was starving. Sighing with frustration, he shut the file close and kept it back on the side drawer. He now drew his hand up and gently began massaging his temples. It gave him a soothing feel, which set his mind at ease. After what felt like decades, Daya entered the room with a tray in hand, containing food for both of them.
Daya had prepared a simple tomatp soup and a couple if mayonnaise sandwiches, that was simple on the stomach before Abhijeet could take his medicines. Both if them ate silently throughout the meal, while they kept giving each other missed glances. At more than one point Abhijeet tried to talk to Daya, but words wouldn't escape him. He felt deeply ashamed for the way he had behaved with earlier, but he couldn't help himself. He just felt so angry all the time.
Once dinner was done, Daya cleared up evrything from the kitchen and after a gap of one hour, gave Abhijeet his medicines and put the covers on for him as he made him lay down on the bed. As soon as Daya was about the room, Abhijeey caught hold of his hand.
"Thanks yaar. Agar aaj tum na hote toh..."
"Main hamesha se tumhaare saath hi tha. Yeh baat ab bas tumhein samajhni hai." Giving him a sad smile, Daya left the room, leaving Abhijeet deeply pondering over a decision.
He tossed about restlessly in his sleep, beads of perspiration were dripping steadily, while he moaned in manner of one disoriented of their surroundings. He was trapped - trapped in a world where he was not himself, for he simply couldn't be that man. The only thing common between them was their face, but in their hearts and deeds, they are thousand miles and poles apart. He had been down this road before several times, and yet somehow, it was for the first time that he was down this road.
It was different, because he was no longer viewing the actual episode of his past but instead, he was viewing an altered version of it; a version much scarier than he could have fathomed. Everything about the memory was the same ; save for the main feature - the guy tied to the chair was not Dilip.
It was Daya.
The memory proceeded the exact same way as it always went, exceot this time, Daya's face was strangely highlighted in the memory, particularly when he did it. But this time, it was not a one-time encounter. The memory repeated itself over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
And over.
Until he could not see a way to escape. All of a sudden, he felt himself get mobolised, mobilised enough to run, to put an end to his infinite miseries, to finally have a way out of it. He swung himself off the bed and headed towards the balcony door and tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge. He banged his head over the glass in a desperate attempt to open the door, but it didn't help either, except in creating small bruises on his head.
He now ran towards the hall and tried to repeat the same feat, but all he met with was several more bruising on his head, while tears now escaped his eyes. He scanned the rrom steadily for another way to complete the job until his eyes found his service gun lying on the sofa from back in the evening. His eyesight was blurry, yet he mananged to navigate his way across the room and pick it up. A rush of joy coursed through him as he caressed the gun and he held the gun to his temple. He could still hear the voices and the repeated gunshots going off in his mind from back in the scene, until he managed to pull the trigger successfully.
Only, Daya redirected the gun towards the ceiling, and the bullet seared through the lights, glass sprinkling over them. The noise broke Abhijeet out of his trance. But the scene that played out in front of his eyes was not pretty. Daya shook him violently that jerked him back into his sense before pushing him back roughly.
"Tum kya kar rahe the haan! Pagal ho gaye ho tum!"
Abhijeet could only return a frightened gaze at Daya. If he had thought that he had ever seen Daya at his angriest, he was totally mistaken. Daya had turned on the lights, which made Abhijeet squint for a few moments before he re-opened his eyes, only to find Daya looking at him with his entire face red and a pulse vein throbbing at his temple.
Daya felt betrayed. It was not an emotion fitting for the moment, yet he could not have felt more betrayed than then. He was quite close to slapping ABhijeet hard enough to smack sense into him, but controlled himself in time. Instead, he now chose a new way of letting off the steam by putting on a cold demeanor with an eyebrow cocked up in Abhijeet's direction, which was his cue to begin explaining himself.
But before Daya could know anything, Abhijeet slumped down on the sofa, his face buried in his hand, before his muffled voice could be heard.
"Daya please doctor ko bulao."
Daya was thoroughly taken aback. Abhijeet, in nearly 99% cases was a person who eluded doctors as much as he could, and yet, here he was, asking for a doctor right now. Daya could not understand what was happening to his friend. He looked around until his sight fell on the clock. It was one in the night. Which doctor would be willing to come to someone's place at 1?
He turned to Abhijeet to try and explain to him in a calm way withput letting his anger seep in that it was not possible, and the sight that greeted him made Daya cringe. He had not scrutinized Abhijeet closely in these many days and what he saw shattered his heart. Abhijeet no longer had the sparkle in his eyes that he usually held. Instead, his eyes were now only the ghost or the shadow of the intensity that his eyes held. His eyes had dark circles and were forming eyebags. He looked weaker than his usual health and there seemed to be a lack to will in him.
Daya thought the better of it and shed aside all of his emotions. The man before him was his inspiration, the man who taught him to fight life against all odds. Before being his friend, he was someone he looked up to, someone he deeply cared about, someone he considered family. He gently sat by Abhijeet and put a hand on his shoulder. Taking the gun away that was still clutched in Abhijeet's hand, Daya made him turn his face towards him, and spoke in a warm voice.
"Abhijeet apne kamre mein jaake thoda aaram karo, main doctor ko abhi bula laata hoon."
Abhijeet looked at him, without directly meeting his gaze, and nodded, before getting up and going into his room. Daya opened one of the study table drawer's once Abhijeet that gone to his room, and removed a phone book, and searched for the particluar number until he found it. Giving a call, he explained the entire scenario to the person on the other side, before hanging up the phone.
It was finally time that he got the answers to some questions that had been nagging him forever and some solutions that his friend had been seeking since forever.
Dr. Vardaan left the room. Daya, who had been sitting on the sofa since the last 15 minutes, looked up towards the doctor, who in turn signaled him to remain seated. The doctor accompanied Daya now by taking a seat on the single sofa opposite the couch. Daya gave him an apprehensive look, to which the doctor replied with a small smile, "Maine unhein abhi sedatives de diye hai, unhein ab kal subah ko hi hosh aayega."
Daya nodded his head. It was a temporary relief, but he needed to know it's permanent solution.
"Doctor sahib, sorry aapko itne raat mein disturb kiya."
"It's alright Daya, infact accha hua ki tumne mujhe bula liya."
"Doctor, Abhijeet ko ho kya raha hai?"
"Daya, tumne jis tarah se mujhe Abhijeet ka scenario explain kiya hai, these are classic signs of night terrors."
"Night terrors?"
"Haan Daya, yeh usually traumatic incidents ka ek side-effect hota hai. Ismein, insaan ka subconscious part of the ind, uske conscious mind ko overpower kar deta hai, aur uss insaan ko koi samajh nahi rehta ki uske saath kya ho raha hai ki who kya kar raha hai. Uss insaan ka dimaag ek daraawni image ko reply karta rehta hai, jisse aadmi apna santulan kho baithta hai, aur us image ko khatam karne ke liye kuch bhi kar guzar jaate hai. Abhijeet ke saath bhi wahi hua hai."
"Par doctor, aisi bimaari ke bare mein maine toh pehli baar suni hai."
"Daya, ek traumatic incident ke baad, body alag alag methods se side-effects release karta hai. Night terrors bohot kam logon ko hota hai."
"Aur Abhijeet ke panic attacks?"
"Yeh panic attacks to uske sapne mein dikhne waali memory ke wajah se trigger ho rahi hai. Daya, human brain ek bohot complicated organ hoti hai jiski bohot saari cheezein aaj bhi scientists aur doctors theek se nahi jaante ya samajh paaye hai. Maine Abhijeet ko pehle bhi kaha hai ki uske panic attacks sirf aur sirf uske mind mein created ek guilt ki wajah se ho rahi hai, jo use kam karna hoga, warna yeh uske health pe hi sabse zyada asar karega."
"Abhijeet itne dino case mein itna uljha hua tha ki use yeh sab ke bare mein sochne ka time hi nahi mila. Abhijeet aaj keh raha tha ki yeh use itne dino mein pehli baar hua hai, aur last time yeh tabhi hota tha jab who galat dawayi khata tha. Par iss time to yeh case bhi nahi hai."
Dr. Vardaan looked at Daya for a second before he asked, "Aaj tumne Abhijeet ko kaunsi dawayi di?"
Daya looked startled for a moment before he thought back and replied, "Bureau mein the tab maine use abhi prescribed medicines diye aur Abhijeet ne saath saath ek aur tablet khaayi, yeh keh ke ki aapne prescribe kiya tha, aur raat mein bhi same."
Dr. Vardaan gave a serious look.
"Toh issiliye yeh sab hua. Abhijeet ko yeh panic attack aur night terrors inn do tablets ke side effects ke basis par hua hai."
"Matlab?"
"Matlab yeh, ki Abhijeet ke yeh do dawai saath mein khaane ki wajah se side effect trigger ho gaya. Yeh dono dawaiya , jismein se ek antidepressants hai jo maine use prescribe kiye the, agar saath mein le, toh brain pe bohot zyada heavy ho jaata hai jiske wajah se panic attacks kam hone ke badle mein zyada ho jaate hai. Ek kaam karo, filhaal use sirf prescribed medicines hi do aur use panic attack ke medicines dena band kar do. Woh theek ho jayega. Aur jitna ho sake, use antidepressants ki zyaada aadat mat lagaane dega."
Daya looked at the doctor in shock. He could not belief the mishap that could have happened would have been entirely his fault. The doctor scrutinized his expression carefully before gently tapping Daya's shoulder, which brought him out of his thoughts.
"Daya, galti tumhaari nahi hai. Tum nahi jaante the ki dono dawaiyon ka saath mein yeh asar hoga. Bas ab aage se thoda careful raho. Abhi main chalta hoon, kuch zaroorat ho toh mujhe bejhijag call kar dena."
Daya nodded at him absent-mindedly. He got up and escorted the doctor till his car, and thanked him once again for the trouble and inconvenience caused to him, while the doctor shook hands with him. Returning home once again, he headed straight for Abhijeet's room, where ABhijeet was now sleeping peacefully, the effect of the sedative working wonders. Daya didn't feel like sleeping; not after what happened today. The sight that Daya was greeted with seeing a desperate and frantic Abhijeet banging his head on the balcony window was scary, what happened after that was even worse.
Shaking his head to rid himself of the memory, Daya now took the case file Abhijeet found in the room, and sat in the living room, where he tried to make sense of the only thing that was in his hand right now.
There! Ho gaya update! :D Sorry guys, next update will again be late as I have my practical exams as well as orals going on right now, so sorry in advance! :D
Constructive criticisms will be more than welcome! :D