Plz note- not proofread

Late night-

Avni knew that after recollecting his past, neil might again suffer all the nightmares& hence decided to stay with him in his room for the night
She slept on the couch &he slept on the bed& unfortunately​ the unwanted thought came true-

N-no...no...no...plz no...
Neil was tossing in his bed

Plz dont...plz dont beat me...i promise i will score well this time...

Its very painful...plz dont hit me& give me1 last chance...plz dont get my name off...

I have quit all my interests& also i dont interact/spend time with my classmates

Plz dont lock me in that room again...plz dont...no...no...plz no...dont do this...

Neil woke up with a jolt- his forehead& face filled with sweat beads-his breath was uneasy&-eyes filled with tears& extreme ammount of fear

Avni woke up as well& immediately came to him

A-neil have some water first(she gave him the glass which he finished in 1go)& hugged avni with all his strength-not bothered about his surroundings which sent chills down avni's spine while she kept on rubbing his back to sooth him down

N(nervous tone)-they will come back avni
They will come back& wont spare me this time as well-even your life is under threat cz u saved me from the hospital& my parents

Avni became silent cz the dean had informed her the previous day that the authorities of xyz hospital are going crazy after neil's discharge
Now that avni knew about neil's past,she knew that the people involved in all this are'nt just the hospital authorities- even his parents are involved who are currently underground as there was no update about their whereabouts- they might have given a fake address or might have shifted to some other place

She came out of her trance when neil started coughing- she was already rubbing his back& once his coughing stopped, she sat facing him

A-neil relax
U are neither in the spare room nor the in the hospital &i promise that i wont let anyone send u there again

N(still shivering)-avni u wont treat me the hospital staff& my parents treated me na?
U wont break my trust na?
U are my one& only hope avni-plz dont do this with me...i wont be able to take it this time...I really wont be able to
With that, neil's eyes turn wattery& avni's heart ached upon seeing him so helpless

A-now u should go to sleep
Neil did lay down but as avni was gonna move towards the couch, he held her hand from behind &signalled her not to go
She sat on the bed& he shifted his head from the pillow to her lap
She starts caressing his hair

N-im sorry i broke yr sleep

A-you need not feel sorry neil-i cud happen with anyone who wud be in your place

N-those memories still haunt me the most-they were the worst years of my life

A-im extremely sorry neil
I shouldn't have let you start sharing your past-the fact that recollecting yr past will refresh all your wounds just didnt strike my mind

N-u need not blame yourself avni
I had to open up to someone, someday& i dont think that their cud be anyone else better than u who cud understand me-whome i cud trust

A-neil at that time you were a child after which you became mentally disturbed but now that everything is getting better, dont you want justice for what you face in childhood?

N-whatever faith i have regained in myself is bcz of u avni
I feel so weak that im not in the state to stand against those ppl who tortured me- especially my parents
Parents? actually now i get confused before addressing them as parents bcz they did exactly what parents dont do

A-as you wish
I wont pressurise u for anything (sincere smile)

Neil smiled back at her

Avni kept on caressing his cheek& hair lovingly& once he was asleep, she moves towards the couch& drifts off to sleep

Next morning-

Avni, riya& aman went to there respective jobs-tho avni was highly doubtful about leaving neil all alone in the house(as the fam vication was planned for a week) but neil assured her& aman too, was gonna return early so she agreed to go to her hospital

Afternoon, avni's hospital-

Avni was in her cabin, busy searching for a file when she realised that she had left it at home on her bed& thought of rushing back home

Mehta house-

Avni returned &fetched the file when she thought of checking on neil once
She went to his room & knocked the door

A-neil?
Neil open the door

**No response***

A(to herself)- shayad washroom men h but uske liye room lock krne ki kya zrurat h?
I hope its not what im thinking
She tried brushing off her negative thoughts but it didnt work& her nervousness went on its peak
At last, she decided to unlock the door by her hairpin& she barged into the room but found it empty
Now she was sure that he was in the loo cz she cud hear the noise of a running shower but was still worried- was he just taking a shower or was it something else?

She knocked on the door but didnt get any response& hence broke the lock& barged into the loo- only to widen her eyes in shock-
There he was, with a blade in 1hand& his other wrist from which blood was oozing out constantly

NEIL!!! Avni screamed on the top of her lungs- so much so that her voice wudve echoed in the entire empty house

She picked him up by his arms around her neck& brought him out of the loo &made him sit on the edge of the bed& fetched the first aid kit& after drying out his wound with cotton,she started nursing his wound while he admired her concern towards him

Avni understood that he had suffered a suicide attempt attack but her concern cudnt stop her from bursting out on him

A(still nursing his wound)- pagal hogye ho tum??
Esa kon krta h bhala?
I understand k tum akele pad gye they toh muje call kr lia hota- tumhe hospital le aati checkup k liye par nahi- tumhe toh khudko burden samajna h& isiliye duniya ko khudke bojh se door krna h, right?
Theek hore ho par jaan booj ke symptoms dikha rahe ho k depressive attack ka ek hi solution h- suicide, right?
A(facing him)- neil why dont u understand- ab tumhari zindagi sirf tumhari nhi h-tum akele nhi ho

N(regretting his actions)- jaanta hu

A(concerned tone)-toh phir kyu khudko uss15 saal ka baccha samaj rhe ho?

N-muje achaanak se bebe ki yaad aane lagi- unn5 saloo ko yaad krra tha jo mene unke saath spend kiye- meri life k sabse khoobsurat 5saal they wo
Muje unke jitna pyaar aur koi nhi krta tha- mom dad bhi nahi
Aur phir wo din aaya jab muje meri life ka sabse pehla shock laga- unki death ka
Almost ek saal lag gya muje unki death k shock se ubharne men
Itni yaad aane lagi k dil kiya k seedha unke paas hi chala jao

A(angry tone)- chup! bilkul chup!!
Phir kabhi esa socha na toh mujse bura koi nhi hoga

Neil smiled

N-avni

A-hmmm

N-kuch puchu tumse?

A-mmm

N-tumhe meri inti fiqr kyu h?

Avni became silent on this question by neil

Her grip on the bandage loosened- she didnt know what to say

She finally spoke- tum mere patient ho aur men tumhari doc& har doc ko apne patient ki fiqr rehti h

With that, she got up& left

She called up the hospital& told that she will be working from home

She was thinking abt what neil said-was she falling in love with her patient?

naah

She was lost in her thoughts when her phone rang, bringing her out of her thoughts

on call-

Ali- hi Avi

busy h?

A-Nahi bol?

Ali-ek kaam tha yaar

A-actually muje bhi tujse ek kaam tha

milke baat kre?

Ali- sure

tomorrow afternoon, yr hospital canteen?

A-done

call disconnected

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