Between Heaven and Hell (II)

5

Armaan sat in front of Nandini and started staring at her, but her gaze was fixed on her bloody pad.

She was staring at the pad as if she was looking at her dead child.

Armaan didn't take the pad from her hand, but he pulled her into his arms.

His arms were tightly wrapped around her, and his lips rested on her temples.

Now they both were drenched under the shower; because of the water, it was hard to predict whether they were crying out or not, but their eyes were screaming the story of their pain.

The atmosphere around them was too cold; only the flowing water noise had been echoing in the washroom.

That moment appeared in front of Armaan when he came to know about his child, then that moment occurred in his mind when he told those bitter words to his wife in a rage.

Rudra's words were also buzzing in his ears.

He was feeling extremely heavy and guilty from the inside.

He reacted hearing her cold words, but he didn't hear the pain behind her voice.

His grip tightened around; the guilt and pain both were gnawing at him from inside.

He lost count of how long he kept sitting with his wife under the shower.

Armaan's fingers were massaging her head, but his heart was crying in pain over the death of his child.

Because of all the ongoing situations, he hadn't gotten the proper time to cry over his unborn child's death, but now, seeing his wife's state, something has broken inside him.

Nandini was too lost; looking at her, it seemed as if her body was in Armaan's arms, but her soul was burning somewhere in the fire.

Suddenly armaan's gaze fell on Nandini's chest, which was covered with a waterproof bandage.

Coming out of his pain, he instantly turned off the shower and tried to take the bloody pad from Nandini, but unfortunately, her grip was too deadly at it.

Blinking his tears and gulping his pain with his saliva Armaan once again tried to take the pad from her hand, and this time, he succeeded.

Then he got up and helped Nandini get up on her feet.

Armaan noticed that Nandini's gaze was still fixed on her bloody pad, and blood was oozing out through his clothes.

The loss of their child had damaged her deeply,

He had seen what she had tried to do with herself at the hospital. Still, he left her alone.

Armaan started blaming himself; he had lost his child now he can't afford to lose his wife in darkness.

He didn't say anything to her but carefully pulled her out of the shower cubical, and then he was about to throw the pad into the dustbin, but Nandini's voice halted him.

"Please don't, Armaan! " she said, gripping Armaan in her arms tightly while her gaze was still staring at her bloody pad.

Nandini's voice was enough to shake anyone's soul.

This was the pain she was feeling.

Her voice almost slashes Armaan's heart into infinite pieces. He felt as if someone had set his entire body on fire.

The blood over the pad had been reminding her about the child she had lost,

whom she didn't get the chance to hold.

She never thought that after losing her first child, she would again lose her child and that too in such a brutal manner.

Armaan first looked at her deadly grip on his body; then he looked into her eyes which were filled with unbearable emotions.

Looking at the pain in her eyes, his heart almost came into his mouth, and after this, he couldn't hold his tears back anymore.

His tears once again started shamelessly rolling out of his eyes.

Nandini took her bloody pad back from Armaan's palm, then, with stumbling steps, she started moving toward the jacuzzi area.

She was feeling dizzy as she had lost too much blood,

Her every step toward the jacuzzi was scary as it was looking as if she would fall hard any second, but she didn't.

While staring at the pad, all those moments had been appearing in front of her eyes when she was pregnant for the first time.

She remembered how excited she was; she had been feeling as if she was on cloud mine.

Armaan was watching his wife standing in the same place.

Tears were not flowing from her eyes, as if something had died inside her.

Resting her butt on the edge of the Jacuzzi, she put her bloody pad over her lap and once again got lost, staring at her pad.

Armaan moved close to her and sat on her feet, then he picked the pad from her lap and put it aside.

She once again tried to take the pad back, but this time, Armaan grabbed her palms.

"Nandini! "He called her name with so much love, but she turned her face in the other direction.

He brushed her hair from her face, then all of a sudden, picked her in his arms and put her inside the jacuzzi.

The water wasn't touching her waterproof bandaged chest, but still, Armaan released the extra amount of water from the jacuzzi.

Armaan once again tried to throw the pad into the dustbin, but Nandini once again grabbed his arms tightly.

Her nails were dug into his skin

Armaan looked at her grip on his arm then he looked at her face.

"I have lost my child but can't afford to lose my wife ( She instantly removed her gaze from the pad and looked into Armaan's eyes. They both were staring at each other with such intensity as if they could look into each other's eyes)

You have to come back to your senses, Nandini!

(Armaan showed her the bloody pad) this isn't the end of everything, "Armaan said and finally dumped the pad into the bin.

After five minutes:

Nandini was staring at him intensely while Armaan was busy cleaning the blood from her body; he was extremely careful with her as if he wasn't washing an adult but a newborn child.

Armaan looked into her eyes, but they didn't exchange any words.

Then, He carefully made her rest her head on the jacuzzi head edge and started applying shampoo to her hair.

Once he was done washing her, he helped her with the pad, changed her chest bandage, and applied a new waterproof bandage over it. Then he made her wear clothes, making her sit on the chair; he started wiping her hair.

Armaan could feel her gaze on him but didn't ask her why she was staring at him.

Once he was done wiping her hair, he put the towel over her side table.

Cupping her face in his palms, he started looking at her with so many emotions, "Are you feeling any pain in your abdomen? Or any other part of the body? " He asked, concern dripping from his voice.

She didn't say anything, "Your silence is scaring me, Nandini, please at least you don't behave like this," Armaan said, almost in a broken tone.

He was already too devasted, and now his wife's condition was breaking him to the next level.

"Why? "Hearing Nandini's words, Armaan made a confused face as he didn't understand what Nandini had been asking him.

Armaan was about to ask her what she was talking about, but soon he realized that she was talking about their child.

He once again sat on his knees near her and rested his palms over her thigh.

His eyes welled up with tears, and his skin turned red. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out except hot, painful breaths.

Armaan tried to grab her face once again, but this time Nandini grabbed both his palms in the air tightly and smiled, but the smile wasn't a smile, but she could rip anyone's soul.

Her smile was loaded with pain, disappointment, frustration, and anger.

For a second, Armaan's body got numb,

"Why did everything get ruined, Armaan?

Once again!

Once again, after getting everything, Why I lost everything?

Why every time this happens to me?

Why am I the one who gets ripped off every time" Her eyes welled up with tears but refused to fall out of her eyes?

The pool of tears in her eyes was looking like a never-ending ocean. It was holding so many questions, complaints, anger, disappointment, and frustration.

Armaan made her get up and hugged her tightly, his palms were busy rubbing her back, and his lips were occupied kissing her head.

"everything will get fine,

Trust me, everything will get fine, "Armaan tried to assure her, but she rested her palm on his chest and made little distance between them.

Armaan was a little taken aback by her action and looked at her face, but she was staring at him as if he was a stranger to her.

"How could you do that to me, Armaan?

How?

I had started believing in you

I had started considering you as my God,

You were a great person to me,

You, you were my

(She halted, grabbing him by his shoulders and pulling him close to her; she was staring at him keenly.

The man who was standing in front of her couldn't be the Armaan she used to know.

Armaan was clueless and was trying hard to understand what he had done that made his wife too upset)

What have you got by strangling my trust?

Tell me, how could you do that to me?" She yelled at him resting her head on his bare chest.

She was breathing heavily but wasn't wailing.

Armaan embraces her tightly in his arms, "Nandini! "

He didn't know what to say, and seeing her condition, he didn't have the words to ask her why she was upset, so he started consoling her, but it wasn't easy, and on top, he wasn't even properly aware of why she was crying.

After a long pause, Armaan made little distance between them and kissed her head.

"Let me go! " for a second, he didn't understand what she said, then after a few minutes, he started staring at her; his body had gotten frigid due to shock.

She raised her wet lashes and looked into his eyes.

Sucking a deep breath, she rested both her palms on his chest.

She had been planning this for a long time, but she never thought that she would take this decision at this moment.

She knew Armaan needed her presence in his life at this moment the most, but if she stayed, she would destroy all the lives around her.

"I can't bear the burden of all these relationships over my shoulders.

( Nandini closed her eyes for a second, then gulping her emotions with her saliva, she opened her eyes and once again looked into Armaan's eyes)

I'm suffocating here

I want to leave, "Hearing her last line Armaan was about to take a breath in relief as he thought his wife had been asking him to go back to Mumbai but seeing his expression, Nandini corrected him.

"I'm talking about getting out of your life, " Armaan gripped her arms and stared at her with clenched jaws. He couldn't believe that, even at this time, she had been raising such topics.

He can understand she is hurt and suffering from pain but leaving him,

From where did she get such ideas?

He was in a rage, and his veins almost popped out of his skin, and ferociousness was radiating through his body.

"This will never happen! (he said each word loud and clear so that his words could get fit in her brain.

She opened her mouth, but Armaan's deadly tone shut her mouth)

Don't even dare to say a word over this matter,

I am warning you, or else you'll see the worst side of mine, and right now, you aren't in a condition to handle my rage! " his eyes and voice both turned deadly in rage.

"In your outrage, you had left the papers in the ICU and went away, and even if I want to but I still can't forget that instead of talking to me, you played with my body without my concern.

(His face turned pale, and his grip loosened on her arms. She stepped back then, covered her half-face with her palm, and puffed out a heavy but painful breath.

She once again looked into Armaan's eyes, and he was looking stunned)

Armaan! " She was cut off by him.

"Were the papers the reason... " before he finished his words this time, Nandini grabbed his bare arms and started shaking her head with a panicked expression.

"Don't!

Don't even think for a second, Armaan, that you were the reason behind my suicide attempt.

I wasn't in my senses,

The news of my child had shaken me to my core,

I was too lost and devastated, and in my madness, I had taken that step. "She cleared him because she didn't want him to blame himself for her condition.

She wants to get out of here without hurting anyone because she knows that if she stays even after knowing everything, she might not be able to forgive anyone, not even Armaan.

She won't be able to forget how Armaan betrayed her.

They both kept staring at each other for a few minutes,

Armaan had strong reasons to explain his side to her, but still, he was quiet, and he didn't have any idea why he had been standing like a mute doll in front of her.

Instead of her,

he should get angry at her, But Nandini had made him stand in the box where he had nothing to say in his defense.

Her eyes were staring at him in an accusing manner, she wasn't saying anything, but he could feel it looking into her eyes.

Nandini tried to leave, but Armaan grabbed her wrist.

She twirled to look at his grip on her wrist, then she looked at his face, but his back head was facing her.

"Leave me, Armaan, let me go! "she said, but Armaan pulled her back in his arm and snaked his arm around her waist; now there was no space between them.

Their gazes met with each other, "You aren't going anywhere! "He said authoritatively, but hearing his voice, Nandini's expression also turned deadly. Now, there was no emotion on her face except the rage in her eyes.

"I am not your slave who is forced to follow your decisions! "She retorted with an exact voice.

He gripped her jaws tightly and leaned his face close to her; his harsh ferocious breath was fanning her face, and his eyes were looking at her as if he would burn her any second.

"You are my wife, and every pore of my body loves you insanely. That's why I am requesting you.

(His grip tightened on her jaw in a hurtful manner, but still, she didn't moan)

if you were a slave, you would have also known what punishment you would have got for your mistake."Armaan said each word with so much rage, then leaving her jaws, he patted her cheek.

She was too silent seeing this side of Armaan; she never thought that he would treat and talk to her in such a manner.

How could he try to dominate her at this time, especially after using her body without her concern?

Was she wrong about Armaan, or has he been doing everything out of love?

With his flaring nose, Armaan was about to grab her hand, but she raised her palm and slapped Armaan so hard.

Armaan put his palm on his cheek and then looked into her eyes,

"All you men are the same, all the same, for all of you; a woman is just private property,

A toy for your entertainment. "Armaan was silently hearing all her accusations, then all of sudden, he picked her body in his arms and took her to the bed.

He made her lay on the bed and try to spread the quilt over her, but Nandini pushed it away.

She was deeply hurt by Armaan's treatment, and his words recalled that time when she was with that devil who had turned her life into hell and used to consider her as his private pet.

Armaan's words had defeated all those wounds which till now she thought were healed.

"I can turn worst, Nandini, if you don't listen to me, and you know me better than I know myself.

(He sat in front of her and tried to put his palm on her cheek, but she jerked his palm away)

You are mine, Nandini, and I love you the most in this world, "hearing his sincere words, she turned her gaze to him and started looking into his eyes.

"I want to clear one thing for you...!" she said; he thought she would say that she would never love him, she'll never give his place to him, or maybe she hated him so much, but her next words halted his heartbeat.

"He never left me; I left him and fled to India." Yes, she was talking about the guy who had turned her life living hell and used to treat her worst than animals.

Yes, it was nandini who had left that monster, and he didn't come after her.