THE RIYA MATHUR CASE

HER INCOMPLETE FUNERAL- PART 2

CONTINUED...

" relax monu. mai hoo yaha tumhare saath" 
But Monami couldn't control her tears now. She kept on weeping still hiding her face. The hug was comforting but it wasn't lessening her pain. How could it?? Karan knew nothing about Riya. How could he comfort her when he didn't know the cause of the agony. 
All he could do was hug her. 
" i may not know your pain, but i am willing to stand by you in it " 
love does that. It makes you see the pain that one is not willing to speak. You understand the other person. You make efforts. You take a stand. You are ready to stay with that person in the middle of the night, hug her and assure her that she is safe. Karan was learning this. Karan was learning to love again. 

After a while, Monami pulled away from the hug. Her head still lowered. She raised her hands to wipe her tears and saw her hand was bandaged. She looked up at Karan with moist eyes. She muttered a thankyou and shifted back taking support of the head rest. 
But he wasn't leaving. He shifted near her and wiped her face. His hand still resting on her cheek. He shifted nearer and hugged her again. This time he brought his hand to her back and patted her. Like a mother would comfort a child. Monami could not understand what he was doing. But she felt safe. like the chaos in her head had vanished for a moment. She could hear him breathing and realised that their rhythm matched. She closed her eyes and lived in the moment. 

For Karan, he wanted to just pull her out from that nightmare. He didn't know that there were so many similarities between them. He was comforting her. Not because she was scared but because he loves her and does not want to leave her like this. 
For Monami, this was comforting, but she didn't know his real feelings. She felt maybe because he also has nightmares. Monami's feelings for Karan hadn't changed but she knew the shell he was living in and thinking about all that she pulled back but did not shift behind. Both their faces were inches apart. His hand was still on her face. 
" Better??" he asked in a low voice. 
" hmmm". 

" kya hua??'' his other hand now on Monami's wounded hand. She nodded in a no, not ready to burden him with any of it. 

His grip on her face tightened a little that made her look up. He brought his face near hers and said in a very soft tone, " mai jaan na chahta hoo Monami".  
His thumb caressing her cheek softly. Monami sighed. 

" wo meri best friend thi. Hum dono school se saath me the. Mai , Riya aur Sid. College me bhi hum sab saath me the.  12th me humne decide kiya ki hum doctor banenge. Use cardiologist ban na tha. Humne same med school join kiya. medical school  shuru hone ke thode time baad uske papa ki death ho gayi. But she was strong. usne haar nahi maani. lekin kuch time baad, she started showing signs of depression. to usne studies se break le liye for a month. Wo in house lectures attend kar rahi thi, par ye sab uski academic performance me count nahi hota. i tried ki mai uski help kar pau but studies ki wajah se maine use neglect kiya. ek din hamara microbiology ka lecture tha, morning me 9.30 am ka. mai use uthane gayi, but usne kaha wo baadme mere notes se padh legi. wo so rahi thi. maine use sone diya. mai class ke liye late ho rahi thi to mai chali gayi. pata hai jaane se pehle usne mujhe kya kaha, ' i love you, Monu. Apna dhyaan rakhna' with the same usual warm smile. lecture shuru hone ke 10 min baad emergency call aaya ki kisi student ne dorm room me phaasi laga li hai. Room no. 1003. class me pucha gaya ki us student ka room mate kaun hai.".......
She could not continue anymore. She started crying again. Karan hugged her again. But she had to complete it. 

" mai bhaagte bhaagte gayi but.....  she was dead by the time i reached" 
" college authorities ko apni reputation bachani thi aur police investigation ke liye koi bhi student witness banne ke liye ready nahi tha. warna unhe college se rusticate kar dete. 3 din me case close ho gaya. uski itni saari cheeze missing thi. uske phone ka doosra sim. uski diary. uska favorite dress. Par kisi ne kuch nahi kiya. 2 din bhi nahi lage sabko use bhoolne me...." 

There. She said it. All the pain was poured out. But some part of the story was still remaining. But it was too much for Karan. She had to stop otherwise Karan would get involved in everything and she did not want this. 
" I AM SORRY" she muttered and shifted back from his embrace. She did not want to leave his hug but agar wo wahi rehti to shayad apna saara dard karan ko bata deti. 

This night was long. His heart ached seeing her like this but wo kuch nahi kar paya. Apne dil ki baat bhi nahi bata paya. Apni feelings, apna pyaar....monami ke dard ke aage wo kuch soch nahi paya. 

SID's ROOM 

" Bala bro, mujhe Aneesh ke room se wo pen drive chahiye" Sid made up a story so that he could somehow make Bala help him. There was no pen drive. He just wanted to check if there was any wire tapping device in Aneesh's room. 
" are bhaiji, appke liye to jaan hazir hai, par ye pen drive ka chakkar kya hai??" bala asked unknown that he was just a part of Sid's plan. 
" wo us pen drive me kaafi saari purani yaadein hai, to mujhe phirse dekhne ka man ho raha hai" he lied. 
they made a plan on how they would distract Aneesh along with chitra and Sid would go in the room to check the wiretapping device. 
" par #handsome doctor to tumhara dost hai na, to unse directly maang lo" chitra replied after listening to the plan. 
" are, tu help karegi ya nahi??" bala asked and chitra quickly nodded. 

NOW THAT KARAN KNOWS ABOUT RIYA, WHAT DO YOU THINK HE WILL DO?? 
WHAT WILL SIMI DO NEXT?? 

KEEP READING!!!
BYEEEE!!!