The Rose & Her Thorn

Part 18

"Well, what will you do if your sister herself acknowledges the relationship with me, Ms. Sunaina?"

A condescending and sarcastic smirk distorted the frown on Sunaina's face. "Mr. Singhal, I always regarded you to be pragmatic. Relentless, but pragmatic. Looks like you are losing your touch. You are being delusional."

Her sharp words would have stung if Vikram had not grown a thick skin over the years.

He had seen it in her eyes. Shikha held him in high esteem. She also craved for his presence in her life if her obsessive search for his social media profiles were any sign. But her dear sister, Sunaina, was blissfully blind to the latest developments in the matters of Shikha's heart.

"The patient is conscious. You may meet her. However, since the reason for her unconsciousness was acute stress, it is best if permit only two members at a time to meet her."

Vikram nodded at the doctor curtly and turned to Rohan. "You are accompanying me."

There was no way he would leave Rohan with Sunaina and Rajeev to divulge the chain of events which caused Shikha to land up in the hospital. Rohan was not naïve enough to believe that he had a choice of refusing Vikram.

To add to the reasons for following the man without resistance was being able to see his dear friend and her condition by himself. There was nothing Vikram could say to satisfy him: she was in the best of health. Only seeing her conscious, even if it meant seeing her lament at her fate, would soothe his tempestuous heart.

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Shikha's eyes were glistening with tears and her breaths came out as gasps. She could not shrug away the terrifying feeling of the walls closing in upon her as she felt trapped. That man, Vikram Singhal, was undoubtedly shrewd and masterful manipulator, but her naivete was the one that helped him clinch his victory.

He wanted her to marry him, and the mere thought of being married to the mafia overlord made shivers run across her spine. She crumpled the bedsheet in her fist as she struggled to not scream in despair by biting down on her lower lip. The painful lump in her throat was choking her and before she could realize, Shikha was pulling at her hairs for allowing him to take advantage of her by exposing her vulnerabilities in front of him.

The burning at her scalp distracted her from the throbbing ache of her head and the constricting pain in her chest. She wanted to scream her lungs out and destroy everything she could lay her hand on, but she could not find the strength to move an inch. She also wanted to curl into a foetal position and hide in a corner where no one could find her.

Several questions about the past and of the future ravaged her mind, but she had answers for none of them. Warm tears, filled with melancholy and repressed anger, rolled down her flushed cheeks. She raked her fingers through her hair and tugged at her voluminous black hair with more force than the previous time as sobs slipped out of her bruised lips.

"Shikha!"

Rohan's concerned voice tore through the reverie of agony, and the sight of him rushing to her side felt like a ray of light tearing through the darkness of an endless abyss.

"Rohan!"

The hoarse whisper hurt her parched mouth. His trembling and icy hands rushed to wipe the tears away from her cheeks as he burst into tears himself. She held his clammy hands against her cheeks, relishing the semblance of normalcy it brought along.

Rohan's fear of Vikram had succumbed to the worry after seeing her devastated form, and compelled him to rush to her side, not caring of the consequences.