Recap

"Bhaiya... Save me..."

"But where are you?" Aaryan felt Agasthya's sound coming from a distance.

"Aaryan..." Whispered Simran while running towards the fallen shelf.

"He is stuck under the shelf..."

***************

"Are you alright?"
Asked Aaryan to Agasthya after pulling him out of the shelf and a bunch of books.

"Thank God that it wasn't much heavy..." Simran sighed in relief.

"Are you hurt, August?"

Agasthya first glared at Aaryan. He was shocked because everything happened within fraction of a second.

Aaryan exhaled looking at his numb brother and started to check him. There weren't any serious injuries in his head or face except few scratches and a small swelling.

"I am fine bhaiya..." said Agasthya after a moment and tried to get up but ended up with a loud cry.

"What happened?"

Agasthya felt a sharp pain when he tried to move his right hand and that gained Aaryan's attention.

"Don't move it Agasthya... Let me check..."

Aaryan gently touched on Agasthya's hand but the latter hissed in pain.
"It is hurting bhaiya... Don't touch it..."

"Sorry, sorry... You relax..." Whispered Aaryan patting on Agasthya's head and turned to Simran.
"Will you inform Bhabi, please..."

"Yeah, sure..." She replied and left for Meghna immediately.

Aaryan picked Agasthya in his hands and lied him on the bed. Agasthya was weeping all time because of pain and the fear that he broke his hand.

"It's ok... It's ok... Don't cry..." Aaryan wiped his tears but Agasthya was inconsolable.

"What happened?" Meghna almost shouted when she entered the room.

Agasthya lost all his control when he saw his bhabi and started to cry louder.
"I broke my hand, Bhabi..."

Coming back to sense, Meghna sat near to him and checked his hand and pressed it slowly.
"August, just move it up and down... Like this..."

"No..." Agasthya who was already afraid denied doing so.

"Once... Please... I don't think your hand is broken..."

She helped him to do so.

"It's not a crack bone. There may be a minor fracture. I will bandage your hand now so that you can avoid moving it..."

"It will be fine soon... Won't it, Bhabi?"

A small smile formed on Meghna's face watching Agasthya's tension. The fear was troubling him more, not the pain.

"Believe me August... I would have taken you to the hospital already if it was serious... Nothing to worry about..."

Aaryan helped Agasthya to sit and placed a pillow on his lap so that he could rest his hand properly. After that Meghna gave him some painkillers and that played a huge role in making Agasthya relaxed.

"But... How did this happen?"
Asked Aaryan to Agasthya. He was with him just before Aaryan going to meet Simran.

Agasthya bowed his head instead of answering.

"Agasthya, Answer me..."

"I... I was trying to get my Video game set..."

"What?"

"Yes. It was on the top of the shelf... I was trying to take it by standing on a chair, but suddenly the chair slipped. I was about to fall when I caught hold of the shelf but it came with me... to down..."

"You should have called me..." said Aaryan.

"But you said you won't allow me to play anymore video games... It is you who placed it on the top of the shelf..."
Agasthya complained.

Aaryan sighed. Agasthya's words were true.
"I am sorry for that, August... But it is my responsibility to guide you... "

"Leave it you two..." Whispered Meghna looking at the mess Agasthya created in the room. "We have to arrange the shelf as soon as possible, Anirudh is 'terribly' sensitive about his books and stuff you know..."

"Yes."

"Let's do it..." Exclaimed Agasthya and was about to jump out of the bed but Meghna pulled him back.

"Stay there, you little monkey..."

Aaryan and Simran couldn't help but laugh at Agasthya's gloomy angry pouty face. Agasthya didn't want to take rest but he was afraid of Meghna. No one can help him to escape from her orders, not even his Ani bhaiya. So it's better to stay calm like a good boy.

Aaryan was arranging all the books back in a manner but a file caught his attention. It had the logo of F4 Medicare as its cover.
"Simran... Look at this..."

Simran took it from his hand and opened it.

"Aaryan... It is them..."
She murmured pointing towards a set of photos in it.

"Who?"

"Prathap Deshmukh and family... and it is Karan Chowdary in the second one..."

"What?" Aaryan felt his heartbeats increasing widely.
"But how did Anirudh get this all?"

"What are you guys doing there?" Asked Meghna from the other side.

"Nothing bhabi..." Aaryan replied with a jerk and pulled that file into his shirt pocket.

"Then speed up... Anirudh will be here soon... He is gonna kill us for paying no attention to his baby August..."
Meghna said that in a kidding way but it was a half-truth. Anirudh had instructed Aaryan to be with Agasthya whenever he is not in the home.

"Ok..." said Aaryan and indicated Simran to stay silent. "Keep this between two of us..."

She nodded. 'Yes'.

***************

"How can you both be this much irresponsible?"
Anirudh yelled to Meghna and Aaryan.
"What if he hit his head? What if anything serious happened?"

"Calm down Anirudh..." said Meghna in a very low voice. "Why are you shouting?"

Opposite to their expectations, Anirudh seemed to be very composed when he saw Agasthya hurt. He consoled him and made him eat well and sleep. Just after that called Aaryan and Meghna to another room and scolded them pouring all his anger and frustration out.

"Why should I keep quiet, Meghna?
How many times... How many times I had told you both to be with August in my absence... I expected you people would be more careful but..."

"He is not a child Anirudh... and not that we are that much irresponsible... I was attending a meeting with my patients and Aaryan also had some important work..."

"He is my youngest brother, that means he is a child for me forever... Ok, you were busy but..." Anirudh turned to Aaryan." What important work you had, Mr Aaryan Thakur?"

Meghna was expecting an argument between the brothers because Anirudh was blaming Aaryan without any reason but Aaryan neither shouted nor argued.

"I am sorry." He said. He wished to stop that as soon as possible.

"Hmm... Be more careful next time..." said Anirudh being normal. He felt bad for blaming Aaryan in such a way.

Meghna sighed in relief. She was happy that they both left the topic easily.

Aaryan walked back to his room immediately. He paid least attention to Anirudh's words because there was something in his mind. Something he got from that file...

**************

Anirudh was never a deep sleeper. Especially after dealing with Agasthya's panic attacks and nightmares, he was conscious every time.

That's why he woke up at the very next moment when he felt Agasthya who was sleeping beside him being restless.

"August... Are you alright?"
He asked while making him drink water.

Agasthya hugged Anirudh and kept his head on his chest.

"Be careful... Don't hurt your hand..."

Agasthya smiled but didn't reply.

Anirudh felt something different.
"Was it a nightmare August?"

But Agasthya shook his head as no.
"It was a dream bhaiya..."

"Really? Seems it was very beautiful... Tell me, what was it?"

"It was about Papa's family... Papa, you, Aary bhaiya and your mother..."

Anirudh also smiled. "And August..."

"No bhaiya... I wasn't there..."

"I know you are lying..."

"I never lied to you, Did I?"

Anirudh moved his head closer to Agasthya to see his face. He was innocent, it wasn't a lie.

Anirudh had heard about dreams. Many of them are related to our life. Thoughts we always have in our mind get stored in our subconscious mind and sometimes reproduced as dreams. If it is true, that means Agasthya doesn't want to be with them. That realisation gave Anirudh a shock.

"Our family is incomplete without you..."
Anirudh kissed Agasthya's cheek but it was teary.

"Why are you crying..."

"I am happy for you bhaiya... That dream was complete without me..."

"How could you think that we can be happy without you? You are my brother... Papa's baby... And I am sure that my mother also loves you as her own, from heaven..."

"I am not worthy for that bhaiya... I know..."

Anirudh never felt this much sorrow. He was so helpless that he couldn't find a single word to correct his brother.
"Agasthya..."

"Bhaiya... Have you ever thought about Papa?"

Anirudh couldn't digest what he meant.
"What?"

"I am not saying that what you suffered was less... But have you ever thought about a father who had to live away from his first two sons... For a lifetime?"

Agasthya paused for a second to wipe his tears.

"I had seen him crying bhaiya... I had seen him sitting silently for hours, thinking about something... A thousand times... I was an attention seeker boy... I always forced him to be with me... I am the one who didn't allow him to come back to your life... I didn't know that he had a family and two children other than me... I am sorry for that, bhaiya..."

"Stop it Agasthya..." Anirudh said in a cracked voice. "Do you want to see I am breaking down?"

Agasthya smiled and wiped Anirudh's tears with his fingers.
"You are my Superman... You can't break down..."

"Yes, I can't... Because I am your Superman..." Anirudh was completely defeated by his baby brother at that time.

"I don't know who is my mother, I don't want to know that... I was so blessed to have a father like our Papa... And... Brothers like you and Aary bhaiya... I know it is really hard to love a stepbrother and in our case, I am an illegitimate child... Simply unwanted..."

Anirudh's mind was yelling to make Agasthya stop but he couldn't gather enough strength. Agasthya was serious and it was unusual...

"I know Papa's love for me was pure... I know both my brothers love me more than their life. But, sometimes I think that if I wasn't born... Or if I had died early... Then nothing like this would ever happen... Your life would be peaceful... Forever... "

"You are crossing all limits Agasthya..." Said Anirudh. "I can't think about living even a single day without you and you are..."

"I am sorry bhaiya... I didn't mean to hurt you... But... I always feel selfish... Everything you lost has been my happiness... Unknowingly I became the villain of your life... And..."

Anirudh hugged Agasthya tightly running his fingers through his hair calming him.

"No one in this story is selfish August... Or if anyone is there as selfish, then it's only me..."

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Precap

Simran felt a cold shiver passing through her spine. She had never seen Aaryan this much angry before...

He whispered glaring at the phone.

"He is a cheater... Just like his father..."