Prejudice

14. The Only One

Pranav rushed to his chamber and opened the door to his bedroom.

Shraddha was surprised to see her ever poised husband, disheveled.

He had the ends of his blazer tightly fisted in his palm. His hair were messy and he was in extreme hurry as he rushed towards the bathroom.

He snapped the door close and heaved a deep breath. He pulled his blazer apart and looked down at his red stained shirt. He peeled off the clothes from his upper body and sat down on the closed toilet seat.

Shraddha was still thinking if she should go down and bring him a cup of coffee to make him feel better, when she heard the impatient knock. The door was not closed, but Jay was trying to get her attention. She looked at him and he entered without permission.

"Please leave." He said curtly.

She widened her eyes.
"It's my room."

"I don't have time. Just leave." He whispered.

She could see a threat in his eyes. With the mind to complain about him to Pranav later, she quickly walked out and heard the door of her bedroom shut.
Jay twisted open the door of the bathroom and there he saw his brother seated with his palm pressed on his wound.

Jay did not ask anything as he pulled open a cabinet and fetched a first aid box. He skillfully cleaned the not so deep wound and wrapped it in Bandage after applying the necessary ointments.

"I need a bath. Why did you bandage it?" Pranav asked.

Jay looked up at him.
"How much is the blood loss?"

"Nothing to worry about. It's not that deep. The weapon was a small one." Pranav replied.

Jay just nodded and filled a large bucket with warm water.

"Strip." He said looking back at his brother.

Pranav raised his eyebrows.
"What are you trying to do?"

"I will give you a sponge bath. No playing with water for a few days." Jay commanded.

Pranav twisted his lips in annoyance.
"Sometimes you forget that I am your elder brother."

Jay did not wait any longer and helped Pranav stand. He then opened the hooks of his pants and looked up at him.
"Sometimes you forget that you are the only brother I have."

Pranav was taken aback by the rare affection Jay displayed. He silently sighed as Jay wiped his body with warm water, sprayed with cologne.

Pranav winced when he was trying to pull down a T-shirt over his head. Jay immediately rushed to help and threw the garment away. He then rummaged through the closet and found a dark coloured cotton shirt that was soft with the fabric. He helped Pranav lie down on the bed and called up the kitchen for the food to be served in the room.

"She must be worried." Pranav said thoughtfully.

"And may be upset too." Jay added.

That same moment, Pranav's phone gave away a familiar ringtone. Jay looked at his brother and received the call, without giving him the time. The call was from Siddharth and Jay assumed that it was for the inquiry of Pranav's health.

But he was taken aback when Siddharth gave out an unexpected information, assuming it was Pranav on the other end.

"My suspicions were true. He was the younger brother of the man we killed for following Kite. Why didn't you take it seriously when he was stalking  you?" Siddharth asked annoyed.

"He was stalking Dau?" Jay asked back and Siddharth went silent.

Pranav slapped his forehead.

"Listen Jay. It is not what you think. We were just suspicious about his activities. We did not know that he would take such a step." Siddharth tried to pacify him.

"We will talk about it." Jay said, indicating that the talk would be a real detailed one.

"How is he? By the way he drove home, I was sure, it was nothing serious."

"Yeah. Nothing much. But it could have turned fatal." Jay replied.

When Siddharth disconnected the call, Jay had his brows furrowed in confusion and concern.

"Why did you kill someone for following Kite? It's just a bird. Why are you so obsessed about him?" Jay questioned.

Pranav sighed in defeat.
"I love him."

Jay rolled his eyes.

"Take care of your wife. She might complain about me to you." Jay said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Jay met Neetu just outside the room, carrying a tray of food. He stopped her and opened the cloche to look at the food in the tray. He was not happy with the dessert, that was panna cotta, topped with blue berries in sugar syrup.

"Take this off. Don't give him artificial sugars for a few days." Jay commanded.

She just nodded. She knew that she was not supposed to question the reason and she would not receive the answers.

She went in the bedroom and placed the tray of food on the small bed table. He looked at the plate and noticed that she picked up the plate of desert before leaving. He understood that she was given a few special instructions by Jay.

"Your brother kicked me out of my room." Shraddha snapped as she entered in and found her husband eating peacefully.

"Come. Eat with me." He said calmly.

She furrowed her eyebrows.
"I am telling you something. And you are least bothered."

"No. I understand your situation. But he has his reasons. He did not mean to insult you."

She sighed in frustration.
"What is it Pranav? I feel like there is a deep dark secret behind your every move."

Pranav looked at her and smiled.
"Come." he said, patting beside him, inviting her to sit.

She shook her head in denial.

"Come here." He cooed lovingly, and stretched out his hand.

She could not resist and walked closer to him and sat down. But she did no move to hold his outstretched hand. He smiled and tore a small piece of roti, dipped it in the curry and lifted it to her mouth. She looked at him surprised. Her eyes brimmed with tears. She quietly opened her mouth and took the morsel and chewed on it.

"Don't think too much. Let me do that for you. You just try to enjoy yourself."
He said when he feeded her another morsel.

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