"Ab dekhna Swara... ki mai kya karti hu." Kavita hissed, looking through the door with a smirk for she knew she had made a good plan.

Saying her few last words, she set off to do the first job in her plan -- lock the door and tucked the keys deep into her jeans skirt pocket. And that was the first part of her plan.

Because no matter what, she wasn't going to let Swara win from her at any costs.

Inside the store room, however, Swara was searching everywhere for the file but ended up hearing a sound as if somebody was locking the door... she immediately turned towards the door and a type of fear pulled her heart down from it's original place.

Swara was shocked to the core as the door was found to be shut. No. No!!! This shouldn't be happening! Not at all!

"Wait!" Swara left everything behind her and ran towards the door for her life. She got hold of the knob that now seemed to be not working at all as the door was locked from outside. "Hello! Open the door! I am inside! Please, darwaza khol do!!!" She yelled in panic.

In no way she expected things getting this worse...

On the other hand, Kavita smirked at the lack of ingratitude that she had for that made her succeed in her plans. What was Swara anyway? A mere little intern who had joined this hospital just a month ago and she... had been here since a year and still couldn't win Sanskar's heart! The jealousy and hatred she felt for Swara because of this, no words would be enough to express her anger.

"You should have thought once before getting on my nerves that day, Sanskar Maheshwari." She smirked. "Now see how I torture her and make her suffer. You find her better than me? Her, better than me?! No chance! Now just wait and watch to see how I take my revenge on her."

She turned around on her heels, walking away from the store room as far as possible so that no body would notice her. She left Swara locked inside the store room all alone.

Here, Swara tried her best to push the door open.

She tapped on her wooden door, tried several ways to open it by twisting the knob at odd angles, did everything she could, but all in vain...

"Bahar nikalo mujhe! Mai andar bandh hoon! Please, please open the door!" She was almost on a verge of crying.

How scary this store room was! Supposedly untouched since years, too much dust and too many cobwebs, and next she saw was... alive cockroaches... as if her day wasn't any worse.

Swara was frightened to a bad extent and she shouted loudly as she saw a cockroach running away right across her. Her whole body shivered as there was hardly any light in the room, it was all dark, and yet there was so much to deal with in this room. Her heartbeats were getting faster and with every moment she was losing herself. She almost embraced herself in fear.

She began one more time. She tapped the door more wildly. "Please open the door! Koi darwaza kholo! Somebody has locked me here! Please, please darwaza kholo!"

Tears had finally started flowing from her eyes but she decided not to give up. She was very scared, but she knew she had to be strong.

Finally, something stroke her and she searched through her jeans pockets to find her phone. She finally got her phone, turned the screen on, and tried dialing Anushka's number.

But a thought had stopped her from dialing her number...

"No! No, Anushka must be in that complicated surgery she was talking about, she can't pick up the phone then." She concluded and then again began wandering, fear threatening her from her insides. "Kise phone karu..." Her breaths became uneven with every passing moment she spent in this dark room.

"Haan! Y-yes, Sanskar ko call karti hoon!" Swara decided and then she painstakingly dialed Sanskar's number in her phone records, her hands trembling in fear and with that her phone moved, too.

But when she dialed the number, the shock that she got then made her knees go weak for her to stand. Because the robotic voice said that there was no range in the area Swara was in.

"Y-y-yaha pe toh n-network hi nahi hai!" She paniced and covered her mouth in extreme fear. "Ab mai kya karungi." Her voice came out as a mere whisper.

There were so many scary things in this store room that she couldn't lessen her fear anymore. Darkness, lack of fresh air, dust, cobwebs, cockroaches, they were all suffocating her. Her body was shivering and her fingers were trembling. She had no idea what she would do if somebody did not get her out from here as soon as possible, because this store room was nearly at an isolated area in the hospital where usually very few people go. She had no idea what to do anymore.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Okay papa, no problem! Yes, don't worry," Sanskar continued talking on his phone with his father. "Situation is under control. The surgery is successful. Mr Agnihotri will be all right soon."

Like an amazing person he was, he updated his father everything about his friend who had undergone a kidney transplant recently and Sanskar was here to tell him that it worked.

"Yeah, okay..." Sanskar ended the call after some greetings and then tucked his phone inside his pocket.

Whole day he had a tremendous schedule. Surgeries after surgeries, check-up after check-up, there had barely been a second where he had made himself sit down somewhere and relax a bit. Being a person with so many responsibilities did that to you.

Sanskar walked across the main hall of the hospital when suddenly he heard a voice... a female voice... which made him stop for a while. Something sounded suspicious!

"Swara!" Kavita said aloud but then she lowered her voice so that no one could hear her. "And you know what..." She was laughing softly while talking to her friend, who seemed to be laughing back in response. "She was so frightened that I could hear her panicstriken voice even from outside! And man was it so fun, to see that little meek Swara shouting for help."

Sanskar failed to hear the words but could exactly see the kind of attitude she was holding.

"I don't understand what is this girl's problem." Sanskar thought in his mind. "Even after giving her so much work today, she is gossiping and laughing around like this place is owned by her. Huh! But..." He looked at her from a distance more clearly. "Why did she say Swara? I heard her mentioning Swara. What was she saying about her? And what the heck is she laughing about?"

He could see Kavita walking away from there taking her friend and they departed towards their duties, even before he could approach her.

"And where is Swara?" Sanskar voiced his concerns to himself. "It has been a long time since I last saw her. And seeing Kavita laughing like this... No, I think something is wrong." Sanskar finally wondered. "It's better if I keep my eyes on Kavita for some time. Ultimately, I'll come to know what is going on."

And with that hope, he stepped ahead, taking slow steps, finally following Kavita, without letting her notice him following her.

But all he was concerned about was only Swara. There's got to be some connection between all these things!

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Please! Please open the door! Please..."

Swara ended up coughing and suffocating in this dusty area of the store room. She held her own neck to protect her windpipe from all this dirt that had gathered in this untouched room. If Swara had known this was going to happen with her, she would had never come here.

But she messed up.

Once again!

If only she hadn't tried to help Kavita, she would not had been in this mess. She knew well that Kavita was never fond of her, so it was possible for Kavita only to pull this stunt to trouble her. She was not sure, but yeah, still, if someone had done this with her on purpose, it had to be no one else but Kavita.

She wished she had known it before...

Swara tried dialing Sanskar's number so many times and even Anushka's number once but it was all in vain as there was no range due to lack of connectivity. Even worse, her phone was going to die soon of low battery. Talk about misfortune.

She was shut here for a long time, and every time she feared that those huge cockroaches would kill her alive. Her body shaked as she saw too many cockroaches loitering here and there, and she wanted nothing more than to just get out of this room. Her entire body was cold and the room being devoid of fresh air, she was clearly falling ill here. She felt herself getting suffocated with every passing minute. And the fact that people didn't usually come in this isolated area made her even more hopeless. She had tears in her eyes, but she knew crying would get her nowhere. She had to be strong enough, for herself.

She didn't give up. She tapped the door on irregular intervals. Everytime she mustered up courage, she used that courage to bang the door and shout for somebody to open the door and get her out of this room as soon as possible.

She banged the door with full force. "Please, open the door! Please! HELP!"

But she could feel nothing coming to her rescue.

"I'll try calling Sanskar once again." She immediately dialed her phone again. She had lost count of times she dialed Sanskar's number.

Swara put the phone against her ear in the hope that this time the range could work. But the female robotic voice said her the same thing that she had said her more than thirty times.

"Abhi bhi network nahi hai!" Swara literally jerked the phone in frustration and she held her head with her palms. "Kya karu mai..." She whispered to herself, losing the last bit of patience she was having, letting out a shaky sob. She stepped somewhere to be at a safer place but felt something shaking her entire body and she fell over a wooden board straight on the ground. "Aahh!" She shouted.

She banged her head against something made of glass and that shooted a sharp pain against her head. She sobbed, covering her forehead that was now reddish with scratch that was caused by the glass thing.

"PLEASE GET ME OUTTT!" She shouted but nothing seemed to come out.

And her tears broke free. And she sobbed out of fright.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sanskar suddenly lost track of Kavita and now he was just simply walking around, with less stability and more anxiety.

Such a long time of Swara's absence wasn't something to be taken lightly. Sanskar was sure, there was definitely something really wrong going on around. He could just feel it right through his veins.

There was no trace of Swara's whereabouts, her duties were long done, and there was no idea where she was right now. He tried findibg her everywhere, but found her nowhere where he assumed her to be. There was a small corner of his heart that was disquiet for a while now. There was a kind of fear that he felt.

And hours before, him hearing Kavita saying something about Swara brought him at the edge.

He was walking aimlessly, and ended up trespassing Rajat, much to his dismay. Rajat followed him as Sanskar walked on.

"Sanskar... what's wrong?"

"I don't know..." was the reply that Rajat got from Sanskar as he just walked on. "Something is going on here."

"But what?" Rajat asked him, unable to keep up with Sanskar's walking speed.

"Just something, Rajat." Sanskar answered him hastily.

"Then... where are you going?" Rajat asked him and Sanskar huffed.

"Can you please just..." Sanskar trailed off as if he just felt as if he bumped into someone. "Aah!"

"Ouch!" Came Anushka's voice, and all three looked up at each other, with all three of them not able to understand anything.

"Anushka?" Sanskar asked.

"Sanskar!" Anushka whispered back in shock.

"Where is Swara?!" They both asked each other at the same time, panic evident in their voices.

Sanskar was baffled. "Wait, so you also haven't seen Swara?"

"No!" Anushka replied back in anxiety. "Even I am finding her. I haven't seen her since long time. Actually I just had an important surgery so... but now I am trying to call Swara, but the voice says that there is no range. I wonder how is that so! And even when now I am finding her... I tried finding her everywhere I could, Sanskar, but I am not able to find her."

Sanskar closed his eyes in regret. His suspicion was for real. Something was very very wrong! What if Swara was in some trouble?

Rajat frowned. "So this is what everything is all about. What's wrong guys? Even I didn't see Swara much today, especially in last two hours or something."

"Yes Rajat, you know I am worried." Sanskar expressed his concerns to them. "Something tells me that Swara is... is in some trouble! I don't know why but I just feel like that."

"You are right." Anushka admitted in worry. "This is quite unlike her of not answering the call or even calling back. Even I am worried."

"Guys, don't panic." Rajat comforted both Sanskar and Anushka. "See, I think she must be somewhere around here only, maybe out of the hospital to bring some supplies for the..."

"No Rajat!" Sanskar denied immediately. "I know her. She is not the kind of person who goes somewhere without informing somebody. This can't be." He took a deep breath calming himself down. "I have hardly seen her today. I don't know why that makes me restless. Also, few hours before, I had seen that Kavita laughing over something related to Swara."

"Kavita?!" Rajat repeated. "Seriously?"

"Yes, I was keeping her track but I don't know how I lost that track. I was observing her for sometime and something about her was giving off the vibe that she was doing something. And the fact that she was having Swara as the subject of her discussion with friend... I am afraid she might have done something to her."

"Wait, wait." Rajat thought for a while. "Isn't it obvious? I think she might know or else she might even have something to do with Swara's disappearance. Sanskar, you know her well." Rajat told him for clarification. "We both know what kind of a girl she is. We always knew it right from day one."

Sanskar looked unstable for a while when suddenly they heard a voice...

"Oh!" Kavita called out from a distance and she walked towards the three, pulling a fake positive aura and Sanskar was taken aback to see her so soon like this. "Hi, Sanskar. I am done with my duties. So now what should I do?"

Sanskar rolled his eyes completely ignoring her and turned towards Rajat and Anushka. "Guys, we have to find Swara. I don't know why but I am scared. Something might have happened..."

"Finding Swara?" Kavita royally caught Sanskar's words and he looked at her in disbelief. "I didn't see her today either. No idea where she must have gone. Kahi fir se bhaag toh nahi gayi duty ke dar se, jaise uss din bhaagi thi?" She commented sarcastically.

"Tum toh chup hi raho, Kavita." Sanskar silenced her getting highly upset, shutting up Kavita entirely and Anushka chuckled. "I never asked you about her whereabouts. Or woh tumhari tarah nahi hai, jo apne duty se bhaagti hai. And yes, who gives you the right to talk rubbish about her?!" Sanskar turned towards her.

Kavita shrugged her shoulders innocently. "I was just suggesting..."

"I don't need your freaking suggestion." Sanskar answered her back. "And just answer the question that I am going to lay upon you now."

Sanskar walked a step closer to Kavita and she was now a bit shocked to see this intimidating side of Sanskar. He was staring at her sharply.

Sanskar was definitely a fire when he had to be.

"Swara kahan hai?" Sanskar asked her.

"H-H-How could I know where she is?" Kavita was shocked at the sudden question. In no where was Sanskar suspecting her responsible for her disappearance, right?

But now he was. Her expressions said it all to him.

"You are stuttering, Kavita." Sanskar concluded after taking note of her body language and he maintained his calm demeanor, but wished to slap the hell out of her to make her speak.

"Listen, I know you have something to do with Swara's disappearance. I am just asking you what, and this is the last time I am being calm to you. Don't expect any kind of lenience from me after this. Kuch toh kiya hi hoga tumne uske saath, the way you were giggling over her name at that time explained it all. Bata do jaldi se ki Swara ke saath tumne kya kiya hai!" Sanskar asked in a higher tone, even shocking Anushka and Rajat highly. This wasn't the Sanskar they knew. He hardly used to lose his cool, but seemed like Kavita had managed to bring out the worst out of him.

"I-I didn't do anything to her. I swear!" Kavita fake-sweared on her life. "I didn't even see Swara anywhere!"

"Okay, so you will not speak up." Sanskar concluded from her reluctance of speaking up. "Okay, then. Now you will be responsible for what will happen next."

Kavita was numb for a moment wondering what would he do when suddenly, to her huge shock, Sanskar maintained his stance and grabbed her arm harshly, his other hand dug deep into her jeans pocket, shocking and infuriating Kavita to a large extent.

"What the HELL, Sanskar!" She shouted loudly. Sanskar finally managed to grab something out of her pocket... which for him, was revealed to be a key.

The key of second floor's store room.

He let go off her, as Anushka and Rajat watched on with shock at Sanskar's latest stunt, and the way Kavita stared at him angrily as Sanskar then turned towards her and held the key right in front of Kavita's eyes.

"Well, then." Sanskar looked sharply through Kavita's eyes. "You say you don't know where Swara is. Then may I know what is this store room key doing with you? Because as far as I know, that room is a restricted area and no one is allowed to go there."

"T-The key..." Kavita was speechless. He had found the key in her pocket now. The key which she had used to lock Swara in the store room.

Was her game gone down?

"Speak up, Kavita!" Sanskar yelled roughly. "Or should I call your father here?!"

"Swara is in the store room!!!" Kavita shouted angrily and for a moment, Sanskar was shocked at the sudden outburst. Even Anushka and Rajat widened their eyes, but finally got an idea of Swara's whereabouts.

Sanskar was more like shocked rather than disappointed. "Store room?! Wahan kya karne gayi thi Swara?"

"I don't know." Kavita told him roughly.

"Cut this shit Kavita!" Sanskar argued with her. "You know what, I have never seen such a pathetic human being like you in my entire life. Now I know for one thing, it's definitely you who pulled out something to get Swara go inside the room so that you can lock her!" Sanskar had finally concluded after joining all the dots together. "Say the truth! Or else why would you keep this store room key with you?! And..."

The thought of Swara being locked in that dirty, air lacking, dark store room made his heart sink in deep.

Suddenly, Sanskar was feeling scared. Too scared. He would be restless to death if he didn't save her soon.

"I will deal with you later." Sanskar muttered to her in a soft yet venomous tone. "First I have to let Swara out. She must be in so..." Sanskar mumbled to himself, tension arising his insides replacing his anger for Kavita completely. With every moment, Sanskar felt this urge to see Swara just for once, and that too, fine and good. He just felt like he would burn Kavita alive if something wrong happened with Swara.

Rajat immediately agreed with him. "Yes Sanskar, I agree with you."

"I-I'll come too!" Anushka mumbled to him.

Just then all three... Sanskar, Anushka and Rajat... left from there, with Sanskar running as fast as he could, and Anushka and Rajat following him infuriating Kavita totally as her plan of torturing Swara seemed to be failing.

As Kavita had some moment diving into self pity because of her plan's failure, her friend popped out from somewhere and stood besides her.

"Kavita darling, chhod de yeh sab." She muttered to her and Kavita looked at her in disbelief. "You know what?! You are not trying to separate them. In fact I think it's the other way round. You are actually bringing them closer to each other. Didn't you see the way Sanskar was worried about that Swara?"

"Cut the crap, you idiot." Kavita bursted on her. "I don't understand what does he see in that Swara and not in me."

She folded her arms in extreme disappointment as she stared at the same spot where Sanskar was before he disappeared completely.

"Swara... I. Won't. Leave. You." Kavita muttered to herself venomously.

This was not going to end well, she promised to herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

The store room of second floor.

The most isolated area of the entire hospital.

The area that was restricted.

No person was allowed to go there, no one! Sanskar still couldn't understand what was it that Kavita pulled to get Swara into going there? For the record, he knew Kavita was one of the list of several people whom Sanskar disliked in his life to a strong extent. But after the stunt that Kavita pulled on Swara today, his disliking towards her grew into extreme hatred.

But right now, not even his hatred for Kavita stopped him from feeling anxious about Swara. How she would be? How could she feel? How scared she must be?! He couldn't help but wonder... why only Swara? Didn't God find someone else's life to make mess of?

Sanskar always knew Swara had been going through many things in her life and that there was more into what she showed above the surface. And after the talk that he just had with her friend hours ago, he wanted nothing more than to make her problems, his... her worries, his... her feelings, his. But that was something that Sanskar couldn't realise even till now, and honestly, he didn't want to. He wanted to give Swara her own space like she always wished for. Even if he was feeling something for her, he decided to suppress them for some more time. Once he came to know that 'some time' would be his time, he would talk his heart out and would tell Swara how deeply he felt for her.

Sanskar was at his speed, the key in his hand, and Anushka and Rajat following him but not being able to match Sanskar's speed.

Sanskar stopped in front of the store room door that he knew if he would break it, he would find the person he had been searching for so desperately all this time. Sanskar inserted the key through the door knob, twisting his hastily, slightly taken aback by the fact that there was no shouting or no response from inside the room. He wondered what if something happened to Swara inside?! No, he had to open the door to make sure, for he knew Swara was in this room only.

Inside the room, though, Swara was completely breathless and anxious and blank. She was sitting down with her knees towards her chest, not even getting rid of those little insects that would cause harm to her mental health. This time, not even the sensation of the door being unlocked outside could reach her. She doubt if anyone would be able to save her.

So, she just simply got up, as she realised the door was finally opened and the first person holding the door was... Sanskar.

Sanskar's eyes widened as he not only took in that Swara was right in front of him, but also he took in how her condition was worse than he thought it would be. Her hairs disheveled, those dark circles under her eyes, and those tear marks on her cheeks, indicating that she was crying. Swara... was crying.

Sanskar was internally shattered to see her in such a terrible condition. Even the stare of recognition from Swara's eyes could do nothing to make him feel relieved. He never inagined he would ever see Swara like this. And now that he had, it broke his heart, like a lot...

"Swara..." Sanskar called her, staring at her with an estranged expression.

And that was all it took for Swara to break from her reverie. The fact that Sanskar just saved her yet again... from this horrible situation took it all to shake her tough demeanor that she had made for him. Her face crumbled as the fear of not being seen by anyone ever again took her mind over and Sanskar immediately took a step forward towards her to support her in case if she wanted to.

And she did... to let her heart out she let her fear get the worst of her and she leaned towards Sanskar, immediately letting her arms go around his torso, and her head against his chest. She hugged him as tightly as she could, she was still scared. Her heartbeat rate was fast, and so were her breaths. What if someone hadn't saved her...

Sanskar was totally taken aback as just within a minute, Swara sobbed silently in his embrace, yearning for warmth and assurance that no one had ever given her in her chaotic life. Yes, her family gave, but... that was when they were with her. Otherwise, most of the times she was alone. Understanding her fear, he hugged her back, taking her in his embrace, to let her know that there wasn't anything to fear from anymore, for he was there with her.

"Swara... don't cry." All that Sanskar could tell her, still shocked by the fact that how close they were right now.

"T-T-Those cock-cockroaches... I am scared of them. Please get me out of here. Please, Sanskar!"

"Yes, Swara. Daro mat! Kuch nahi hua hai. Mai hoon na tumhare saath." Sanskar gave her the assurance. "And you are no more inside that store room. Calm down, you are okay now. See, you are now with m..." Sanskar stopped as he just realised what he was saying. "I mean... you are now safe. We got you out. There is nothing to fear from anymore."

Swara breathed evenly in his embrace and Sanskar let her. Anushka and Rajat had arrived right before Swara was gotten out, and right now seeing these two people together... they couldn't help but adore these two. At one moment, they always had nokjhoks, and at other moment, they were finally like nothing happened between them.

"I swear, they are so cute." Anushka commented, forgetting the terrible situation that was there before and smiled.

Rajat smiled. "Seriously. Now I am shipping them!" He chuckled and looked at Anushka.

Swara finally broke the hug, wiping her tears, somewhere feeling that what she just did was awkward.

"I-I'm sorry." Swara murmured to him in a meek voice, and Sanskar frowned. "I was just... s-scared... I thought no one may save me..."

"It's okay Swara." Sanskar convinced her as if she was a child. "Don't say sorry. Or ab tum shant ho jao."

Swara nodded her head, still a bit shaken. "I was not supposed to go there, I have realised it now. I should have asked someone."

"But why did you go there Swara?" Sanskar asked her in concern. "That area is restricted. You were not supposed to go in that store room. Tum kya waha pe koi nahi jaa sakta! Who asked you to go there?"

"W-Woh..." Swara was speechless. Should she tell him that Kavita did that?

"Don't say it, Swara." Sanskar's expressions turned harder, with the thought of Kavita creeping up in his mind. "I know who did it, I know it very well. It's Kavita." He dropped the shock, being straight forward enough.

"No Sanskar, you are getting it wrong." Swara reasoned with him, a bit taken aback by the anger he was holding for...

Anushka frowned looking at them. She was about to go towards them when suddenly Rajat held her hand.

'Wait, Anushka."

"But Rajat, Swara should know the truth."

'Yes, I know. But let her hear it from Sanskar. Let them argue. Let them reason with each other. Let them discuss things through. And let them come closer to each other." Rajat winked towards her in the end, and Anushka finally smiled looking at him.

"No, I'm right, Swara. I know it's Kavita who did that. She had planned it." Sanskar confirmed it, knowing it all very well.

"Kavita can't do it." Swara reasoned him. "She wanted my help. She requested me to bring some files for her from that store room. I went in the store room, but I think while I was searching for the files, somebody... probably a security guard... must have locked the store room and must have not seen me."

"Seriously, Swara?" Sanskar asked her in disbelief. "Can't you see that Kavita did it all on purpose only to put you in trouble? Are you seriously so naive or are you just defending her?"

"I am not defending anyone, Sanskar!" Swara told him, shocked by her own risen tone on him. So, she lowered her tone. "I am just telling you... that you can't suspect anyone just like that. It might have been someone else too, okay?"

"And what if I tell you that I have just confronted 'that' someone and just tried to get the truth out of 'that' someone?" Sanskar asked her back confidently, and this time Swara was the one who was shocked. "What if I tell you that I found this store room key with 'that' someone and I have finally managed to get the truth out of 'that' someone? Would you still not believe that it is 'that' one person?" This time, Sanskar arised the question between their distance, and by now, Swara was completely speechless and flabbergasted.

She knew for a fact that Kavita might had done that with her, but she didn't want to admit it to Sanskar, because she knew she had no right to do it. Kavita was in this hospital right before her, and she was new. She didn't get to say something that might or might not had happened, not atleast till she came to know the truth.

But after Sanskar revealing all that to her... how he confronted Kavita and how he found the key with her, and how he got her to tell the truth, Swara finally believed what Sanskar told her.

And she regretted for doing that with him before.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Precap : 'Her condition seems very critical. I doubt if she will survive.'

Only one statement and Swara's world crumbled upside down right in front of her.

A/N : Swara's breakdown coming up in the next chapter. It's going to be crucial, guys, because this is the point from where things about Swara are going to get unravelled slowly. You can say that this is where the actual twist starts.

With Sanskar struggling with his feelings and Swara struggling with her fate, things, from here on, are going to take an emotional turn. Now, feelings and emotions will be brought in with more frequency.

Hope you like how it goes ❤❤❤