A walk in the clouds

Twenty three/ giving chase

Why was my head throbbing!! UHmmnnmn..... Aauuch......... it was hurting badly........ i moaned again with pain.... my mouth felt so dry, as if filled with saw-dust........I slowly opened my eyes...... why was it so dark..... I tried to lift my hands but......I....I couldn't.... w....why can't I move my hands!!!! I tried to move but..... I seemed to be stuck.....then it all came back me to......aghhhh.... th..... the.... men......Inderavadan.......my god!!! Inderavadan, was he okay!! It all came back to me!! I....They... the men had put a sack over my head and one of them had hit me with something hard when I had put up a struggle!!
I..... and... now....obviously the sack was still covering my face and my hands...... they too were tied up ........I struggled trying to get into a comfortable position, not that it was helping but lying down in one position, my body was starting to go numb and now.....I ... auch!! Another bump jerked me around hitting my head against the side of the jeep...... the tossing and turning was bad enough... but get hit on the head again and again was not helping... my headache had become roaring migraine. I needed to hold on to something to avoid being tossed around. This sack was not helping in the least, but I could feel the leg of a seat and I tried to hold on to it. I realised I was lying on the floor of a vehicle, an open vehicle..... maybe a jeep..... since I could feel the heat of the sun cloyingly inside the enclosed space, and  the air blowing all around me......and I was stuck between the two seats.....the jeep.. it was going zigzag....up hill.....I could feel the movement of the jeep and with the angle that I was lying at in the back of the jeep.....for a while it seems they were simply driving up hill and then downhill, fast yes but then as they reached the plains they picked up speed and started driving recklessly. I could hear the men shouting!! The voices were muffled, I could barely hear anything, I tried to keep still........
"Shoot them........!"
Huuhhhhh..... shoot them!!! Shoot whom...... that voice... it was Chaudhary Himmat Singh!! So he and my step mother were behind all this!!! In that moment I finally realised that what ever I may do Rani Charumitra will still hate me. She did not need a reason to hate me, she simply did. slowly I realised that there were other sounds too.... horses and another vehicle too!! They were being chased.......
Maybe Abhi was giving chase!!! Thank god Abhi had found out about my abduction and given chase.......why had these men abducted me... w....what d..did they want from me....!! A sharp and loud sound made her jump with fear.... what was that!!..... again.... gun firing!!.....oh!! My God!! Please God don't let Abhi get hurt!!! I could feel fear as I had never before not even when that nights I had hidden from the bandits. At that time it had seemed like the worst night of my life but this....... th.... this... this was so much  worse... it was Abhi!!! I just wished I could reach out and remove the sack, at least I could see what was happening. I wouldn't have to fear the unknown. Suddenly I was being jerked around, the driver yelling had started driving more roughly...
Lying on the floor of the jeep I could feel every bump every turn. The not knowing was killing me. All that I could hear was the gun firing and the men yelling at each other. But then one moment I was on the floor of the jeep and the next I was flying through the air....I... screamed in fear....Aghhhhhhhh......... before I hit something hard and thankfully knew nothing after that!!!!!!! As I blacked out.

Seeing the jeep overturn was bad enough but with it Adira flew out flying through the air and landing hard on a slanted tree trunk. She was slumped over.
Bharat was stopping the car but it wasn't fast enough for me, all I could think of was getting to Adira.
"Abhi! You go see to Adira. The men and I will see to these thugs. Go! Don't worry!!" Bharat yelled out, as soon as the jeep stopped.
Thankful for his presence I out of the jeep, holding my pistol, I ran over to where she had fallen I kept hoping for some movement but there were none. She was lying as she had fallen.
"Adira!! Adira!! Darling!!"
Kneeling down beside her I gently picked her lifeless form, too fearful of what I would see. Turning her over as gently as I could, I pulled her into my arms. Putting her head on my lap, I quickly untied the sack from around her face. Throwing the offensive thing away. I untied the rope that were cutting into her wrists. Her wrists were raw from the rope having rubbed into them, the skin had cut through in many places. Bruises had started to form all over. It pained to see her like this. I should have been more careful. When I knew that she was the target, I should have stayed at her side at all times. I was not going to let that sleazy scumbag get away with hurting my Adira.
Her hair was all disheveled, her face pale. I felt a slow pulse beating, her breath barely visible, but she was still breathing!! Thank god!!
"Adira!! Sweetheart!! Can you hear me!! Wake up!! Please I need to know you are fine!Adira!!"
Bharat came running with a flask of water and some rifles in his hands.
"She is unconscious!! She is not waking up!!"he spoke desperately to Bharat.
"Here....!" Said Bharat.....
Handing a bottle of water.....
"Sprinkle some on her face may be she will wake up."
Doing as Bharat had suggested I took some of the water he was offering into my palms and sprinkled it on her face. There was no reaction.
"Take some more!!"
I took some more and sprinkled it too.
"Adira!! Wake up darling!!"
This time I got the reaction that I had hoped for. She moved her face a bit. Just a slight movement but it was there. Breathing in relief I ran my palm gently around the side of my wife's face. My thumb rubbed her cheeks.
She slowly opened her eyes.
"A..Abhi... " tears were flowing down her face.
"Yes darling !! I am here." He gently wiped them with his thumbs. He hated seeing her cry.
"My ribs....ahhh?"She winced in pain, as she moved, clutching her upper abdomen.
He moved the saree from her abdomen, there seemed to be no cut, then softly touching her lower rib she felt to check the extent of damage done. Everything seemed fine, but it looked like it was swelling up. The bruises were already quite red. Obviously when she had fallen on the tree trunk, the entire chest had taken the entire impact. Hopefully nothing was broken, just superficial bruising which would heal in a few days time. Removing his shirt he as gently as he could tied it around the hurt area, creating a temporary plaster. This would have to do till they reached the palace and the doctor could come.