Handcuffed Bliss - Watty Awards... 2012

My daughter

I ran outside to find Caro’s doctor and crashed right into him when I turned around the corner. He caught me to prevent me from falling and I was so relieved to see him, I simply began blurting, “Doctor, how is Caro doing? Why does she have two more drips? Is she going to be all right? She slept out of fatigue but has been crying for hours.”

He nodded understanding my concern. With his hands still on my shoulders he tried to calm me, “She will be fine. The drips are because she panicked when she got up and didn’t find you around; she even refused to take a tranquilizer without you. So we gave her some through drips. She slept when they took effect. She is fine now.”

He continued, “This afternoon, her blood pressure shot up when the lady walked in and began insulting Caro, we had to kick the lady out.  She will not be allowed anywhere near your girl till she is with us. Your mother was ready to murder her. We had to restrain her and calm both of them down. Don’t worry Rudra, she all will be fine.”

“Thank you doctor for taking care of my wife, I will take over now.” Ethan suddenly spoke from behind me. The doctor nodded and turned and left. My husband’s possessiveness was evident in his voice. He apparently did not like the man who had been instrumental on saving my Caro. I giggled when I saw the good doctor leave. Ethan turned me into his arms and held me there like a sweet husband.

We went back to Caro and mom. Mom was talking on her cell, to dad by the sound of it and anger did not even begin to define her feelings. She was complaining to dad about the incident wanting him to do something and soon. Girls were very important to us and Caro was like dad’s favorite granddaughter so I knew he would do something and soon. He pampered her like mad. Mom was my strength and I loved it how she and dad had accepted my family with open arms. There were still problems between dad and Ethan. Although dad tried, Ethan stayed away from him. I don’t know why though but there was great tension between them.

I walked to mom and hugged her tight and then walked to Caro and held her hand. Her hold on my hand tightened and she snuggled in, I smiled at her angelic face and tucked her in under the covers as she continued to sleep. Then, remembering her teddy, I picked it from the bedside table and tucked it next to her, she smiled in her sleep; such an angelic smile could melt any heart.

Within a few minutes dad flew in too. Literally flew in through the door. “What happened to Caro?”  He asked in panic. “How is she now?” Mom walked to him and hugged him. Caro was sleeping while holding my hand so I remained seated. His eyes met Ethan and there was some silent communication between them after which they both nodded their heads and they smiled then a little. I exhaled when I realized that I was holding my breath.

I hoped that things would be better between them. We all sat together, not speaking but waiting for Caro to get up. We all wanted to be there for her when she opened her eyes. To let her know that she wasn’t alone, that she wasn’t a slut Andy’s mom accused her of being that she was not unwanted. Nothing was more important than building her confidence her self-respect.

A psychiatrist was seeing her daily and was impressed with her improvement but after Andy’s mother’s drama, we were worried about the set back if any. Earlier in the day, dad had found Andy’s dad and lawyer and had sent them court orders warning them all to keep distance from us. Dad had also found out who his employer was and warned Andy’s dad about the consequences of harming Caro and losing his job during this recession.  I had never seen him this angry. He was seething like a bull. So was Ethan. He too had spoken to his lawyer and gotten Andy’s mom arrested for threatening Caro. Apparently she was now out on bail. Caro had slept for 24 hours straight, effect of the medicine, the doctor had said, while we all took turns to sleep. No one wanting to sleep too long in case she got up and needed us.

When she eventually did get up, she was much better and seeing her progress, the doctor had allowed us to take her home in two days. That had made us sigh in relief.

This news made us all mad with joy and wanted to celebrate, so we invited all my friends over; they were now Caro’s friends too.  We were planning a surprise welcome home bash for our baby.

Dad had got people from my uncle’s construction business to convert a room downstairs into Caro’s room. They had made an exact replica of her room right down to the color of the window sill. Shades of purple and pink dominated the room. They had shifted her furniture down too. Ethan was also impressed with this. So was I but I knew dad could make anything possible.

We had a huge welcome party organized by my mom and friends when we finally got Caro home. There was a huge banner by Katie saying, “Welcome home CARO” She had decorated it with Barbie images just like those in Caro’s room. For an 18 year old, my girl was surprisingly childlike. She had squealed with delight on seeing it while all of us had laughed our heads out.

Mom had baked her favorite chocolate mousse cake as well as biryani just as she liked it. We had all enjoyed till the wee hours of morning, joking teasing laughing, and playing board games. Dad and Ethan had joined in too. We had also played dare and double dare.

Dad had danced on the couch and Ethan had carried me up the stairs and down 10 times. Mom had to drink vodka after which we got her to dance on the dining table. Caroline had to call up her old bff and insult the living shit out of her. We had put her on speaker and enjoyed Caro blasting her brains out.

It was fun to hear the old Caro back. James and Katie were dared to propose each other which led to a romantic turn to the night. It was late so everyone stayed back and only left after breakfast the next morning.

Ethan had personally walked them out and thanked them all with tears in his eyes, hugging every one of them, even dad.  It was touching and painful to see a father worry about his child like this.

It was now only us, my husband and daughter and me. This was our real test. For Caro it was a test of adjusting to normal life, for me it was about my daughter and my fight to make her strong and healthy again. For Ethan, it was about accepting everything as well as forgiving his daughter.

I just hoped we could pass this test. All of us needed to

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