Chapter- 21

Mahir walked into the canteen and scanned the crowd, his eyes darting from table to table. The place was loud, with clattering plates, murmured conversations, and the occasional burst of laughter, but none of it reached him.

Finally, he spotted Arjun and Shreya sitting in the farthest corner of the room. Shreya was leaning forward, saying something; Arjun, however, looked nothing like himself.

His shoulders were stiff, knuckles white around the untouched cup in his hands. His face was pale, almost gray with exhaustion and something else... guilt? Mahir didn't understand what was wrong with his brother. Why did his posture look so rigid and tense? What was uncalled guilt about?

"Say something, Arjun..." That's what Mahir heard Shreya saying, encouraging his brother to snap out of whatever it was as he walked up to them.

"What happened?" He asked, taking his seat right in front of Arjun, who stiffened, refusing eye contact or even looking at him.

Shreya sighed deeply, rising to her feet. "I will go and meet Radha. I think your brother needs to say something to you." She glanced at Arjun before walking away, giving brothers space to talk.

What she heard from Arjun, the guilt he was drowning himself in, made her angry. But she held herself back from snapping at him. It wasn't her place to do so. It should be Mahir who needed to talk some sense into his dense brother, and she knew he would. Mahir Dhanrajgir never left his siblings alone to deal with their emotions, and that's what she admired in the man.

Even though she wished to stay by Mahir's side and hold him, knowing how many emotions he was bottling up within himself until now, she knew Mahir wouldn't let himself fall apart until he was satisfied that everything was under control. It was on her to make sure to hold the man when he finally decided to let go, and she would.

Mahir stared at Arjun, who was busy glaring at his coffee. He simply leaned back in the chair, relaxed, giving his brother time to speak.

Arjun, on the other hand, tightened his grip on the warm coffee mug. He knew he needed to start from somewhere. His Bhaiya had the patience of a saints, and so did that kind of understanding.

Arjun was relieved that Radha was finally fine, awake. But his heart crumbled at the sight of yesterday, flashing before his eyes. The pills, or even the way Radha's body was hit by the car and thrown, flew away in the air, hitting the ground, the way Radha lay in a pool of her own blood, each horrible moment flashed before his eyes on repeat. He visibly flinched as he felt Mahir's hand on his. Despite the warm coffee, his hands were ice cold.

Mahir instinctively reached for his hands, rubbing them between his own, providing all the warmth he could. He looked at Arjun, worried. Now the silence was getting to him. This was definitely something else.

"Look at me, Arjun," Mahir commanded firmly, making the latter comply on autopilot mode.

"What happened?" His tone softened. "How will I understand if you won't explain, beta?"

Arjun's eyes filled with tears instantly. The word "beta" was his last straw to hold on to. The softness of such words, when he expected them from his parents, only came when any of them wanted to manipulate him into doing something they wanted and he did being his naïve self. But as he grew up, he realized the harsh games played with his trust by his own parents.

It was only because of Mahir that Arjun managed to hold on to whatever sanity he still had in that broken, messed-up household. His Bhaiya had been everything his father was supposed to be: unconditional love, steady guidance, a silent protector. All of it came from Mahir. And that was why Arjun leaned on his elder brother more than he ever could on the man who called himself their father.

Mahir rose to his feet and pulled Arjun up swiftly before guiding his brother away from the crowd. The tears in Arjun's eyes unsettled him. The world might know Arjun Dhanrajgir as a ruthless lawyer, the man who never bent, never broke, never faltered. But Mahir knew better. Beneath that armor lived someone heartbreakingly sensitive, someone who shattered easily when it came to his siblings.

Mahir had already guessed what storm was tearing his brother apart, but he didn’t push. He didn’t force it. He simply stood there, steady and patient, giving his brother the space to speak first, as sometimes loving someone meant waiting for their walls to crack on their own. But was getting out of hand now.

Once they stepped into the empty hospital lobby, Arjun didn't wait even a second. He wrapped his arms tightly around Mahir, burying his face in his brother's shoulder before Mahir could utter a word.

Everything he had held in; his fear, his panic, his helplessness, his self-blame.... poured out in the form of uncontrollable tears. His body trembled with every breath he took, shaking under the weight of everything he had witnessed and the rush of a brutal wave, choking him until guilt crawled up his throat, burning and suffocating him.

"I'm sorry, Bhaiya…" Arjun croaked, his voice thick and broken from crying.

Mahir held onto Arjun firmly, grounding him, letting him empty his system. But the moment he heard the apology, Mahir instinctively pulled Arjun away from his warmth.

"Why are you apologizing?" Mahir demanded. His voice came out sharp, his eyes searching Arjun's tear-stained face.

Arjun's gaze lowered on its own accord, unable to meet his Bhaiya's eyes. "This... this everything is happening because of me. I am responsible for everything. I promised you before leaving that I would take care of Radha in your absence, and I failed. I failed to fulfill what you asked me to do. To look after her. To..."

"So you mean you already knew that Radha was going to take those pills?" Mahir interjected calmly.

Arjun looked at him, shocked, shaking his head vigorously. "What are you saying, Bhaiya? How would I... In fact, if I had been there, I would have stopped her, knocked some sense into her..."

"Toh tere bolne ka yeh matlab hai ki tujhe yeh pta tha ki Radha ghr se bhar jaane wali hai bina security ke? (So what you're trying to say is that you knew Radha was going to leave the house without any security?) Did she inform you before leaving? Call? Message? Anything?" Mahir continued with the same calmness.

Arjun froze. How did his Bhaiya find out? They hadn't informed him about the whole matter. And then, the reality struck him. His mother's words from the morning, and for the whole confirmation on the matter, Mahir might have called their head guard, Vishal.

"I am waiting for the answer, Arjun." Mahir's voice startled him out of his thoughts.

Slowly, he shook his head.

"Toh shayad tujhe yeh pata tha ki Radha ka car se accident hone wala hai. (Then maybe you knew that Radha was going to have a car accident.)"

Arjun swallowed hard. He understood where this was going.

"Arjun!" Mahir called out sternly.

Arjun immediately shook his head again, staring at the white marble.

Mahir raised his chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. "Then stop feeling guilty or even apologizing for something you didn't do. Jo bhi hua usme Radha ki galti hai aur usse bhi pehle un logo ki jinhone usse yeh kadam uthane pr majboor kiya.... (Whatever happened is Radha's fault... and before her, it's the fault of those people who forced her to take that step…)"

"Nahi, Bhaiya, isme Radha ki koi galti nahi hai...(No, Bhaiya, none of this is Radha's fault…)"

"Radha ki galti hai! (It is Radha's fault!)" Mahir shot back, "She very well knows how much I hate when Abhi steps out of the house without informing me or without guards. She was falling apart, I understand, but that doesn't excuse her recklessness in any way. Anything worse than this could've happened to her. But first, I want her to recover before we both have a good conversation on this matter."

He held Arjun's gaze, "And you better stay out of this. She doesn't need her savior this time. Clear?"

Arjun so badly wanted to deny it to defend his sister like his usual self, but he knew he wouldn't be able to when his Bhaiya sounded so determined. Without a word, he nodded his head, hoping against hope that their Bhaiya would go a bit easy on Radha.

✨✨✨

Mahir finally entered Radha's ward after he sent Arjun and Abhi home for some much-needed rest. Even though he asked Shreya to do the same, she refused to leave, and Mahir let her be. In a way, Shreya being around him was helping him to stay calm, keeping him from falling apart. The fear of seeing Radha injured, the image of her lying unconscious, refused to leave his mind. Shreya's quiet, unwavering presence was grounding him.

Radha looked up as Mahir entered the room. She was waiting for him. But now that he was here, she looked away immediately as soon as their eyes met.

For some reason, her Bhaiyu was not angry. He didn't even say anything about the stunt she pulled nor did he point out the scene he might have seen in her room. Abhi was also behaving naturally, which somewhat annoyed her. She hated indifference. If it had been Abhi doing everything she did, he would have heard it from both Mahir and Arjun, even before he could get discharged.

So, like every time her brain walked down the wrong track, she thought her brothers weren't reacting because they were obliged to do what they were doing.

They loved her. There was no other way to it. Yet, they still refused to remove the boundaries they had set, treating her so differently. Any other time, she would have understood it like her ever so understanding self.

But for the first time in all those years, she was angry at her brothers. They should scold her, punish her, get angry at her for all her stupid actions rather than behaving so calmly. At least, their anger would have shown that she mattered. That whatever she did was wrong. In fact, a crime. Otherwise, her heart was already regretting that she was fine, safe, and... Alive. That she didn't die and...

Her thoughts trailed off as Mahir quietly adjusted the bed, raising her up with careful hands, as if she were made of glass. The soft whir of the mechanism filled the silence between them, heavy, thick, uncomfortable.

Radha's eyes flickered toward him, then toward the tray he had brought earlier. The same bland, watery, poisonous hospital soup.

She hated that soup. She hated the smell and the taste; neither was she in the mood to eat anything.

Just as Mahir reached for the tray, Radha turned her face away.

"I'm not hungry," She said quietly.

"I wasn't even asking you." Mahir retorted a bit sharply, gently arranging the pillow behind her and taking his seat in the chair beside her bed.

Radha's head snapped toward him. He didn't sound angry, but there was an edge in his tone that somewhat scared her. Not the bad kind of fear she always felt with her parents' tone, but a kind of fear that unnaturally warmed her heart. At this rate, she was convinced the accident hadn't just shattered her bones, but had successfully evicted her last few remaining brain cells as well!

Mahir ignored the shocked look on her face and blew on the hot soup, bringing it near her mouth.

Radha glanced at the spoon, her face crunched in disgust. She wasn't choosy or picky about food, but the liquid looked very much less appetizing for her liking. She hated predicting the taste already.

"Abhi ke liye kha le Radha...(Have it for now, Radha,)" Mahir said softly, noticing her reluctance, "You need to eat your medicines."

Radha gave him a pleading look, "I know prr aap ghar se aapke haath ka bana soup nahi laa sakte? (I know, but couldn't you bring some soup made by your own hands from home?) I’ll actually eat it... anything you make is a thousand times better than this hospital food."

Mahir nodded, "I will. Once you are back at home, I will make everything you ask for. For now, have this... Mere liye (for me)... Please..."

Radha opened her mouth without any protest. She didn't like her Bhaiya saying please. Already the exhaustion in his eyes worried her. She already guessed he hadn't slept all night worrying for her and taking care of his brothers. Her brother could think about everyone except for himself.

Mahir relaxed as Radha drank the soup silently. What he didn't tell her was that he didn't know how to make a simple soup. Maybe it wasn't rocket science, yet he hadn't learned it as there was never a need for that.

And with just months into cooking, he spent learning every dish his sister liked first and then what his brothers liked, not wanting to be biased to anyone. He should probably ask Shreya. She could teach him so that he can bring that tomorrow. From Radha's expression, he was sure she wouldn't survive another round of that liquid.

Radha gulped down the tablets Mahir passed her, and the brother-sister sat in silence. She glanced at him from under her lashes.

"Why are you so quiet?" Radha asked, unable to hold back.

Mahir frowned, "What do you want to talk about?"

Radha fidgeted with her fingers, staring at her hands, "Aapko kuch puchna nahi hai? (You don't want to ask anything?)"

Mahir looked at her blankly, "We will talk, Radha, but first I want you to get well and out of these things." He stated, pointing at the cast on her hand.

Radha's eyes welled up with tears. She looked at Mahir, slowly meeting his gaze, "I am sorry."

For her, what she did was not wrong; she was really tired of everything, but she didn't mean to scare her Bhaiya like that.

Mahir looked away. He didn't want to get into that conversation with her, at least not now. He was barely holding himself back from giving his child much-needed peace of his mind. Just for the injuries she was in and the pain she was suffering from, he was restraining himself. Exhaling sharply, he rose to his feet.

"We will talk about this later, Radha." Mahir's tone firmed, "You should rest now." He turned on his heel to lower the bed.

Radha saw him turning away and thought the worst. Before she could think about what she was doing, she pushed her body forward, reaching out to hold Mahir's wrist, forgetting about the injuries.

"Ahhhh..." A painful yelp escaped her lips as she leaned back abruptly. Her eyes instantly filled with tears as the sharp pain shot through her entire body.

Mahir instantly reached out to hold her. Panic flashed in his eyes, "What are you doing, Radha?" He chided, reaching for painkillers. "Can't you see that you aren't in condition to move around like that? Itni carelessness, Radha?"

Radha swallowed the pills without a word. Blinking away the tears, she looked at Mahir, "Mujhe laga aap jaa rahe the. (I thought you were leaving.)"

Mahir froze for a beat before he looked into her eyes, "Aaj tak jab bhi tu bimaar padi hai, kabhi tujhe akele chhod ke gaya hoon main? (Till today, whenever you've fallen sick, have I ever left you alone and walked away?)"

Radha shook her head immediately. It was always her parents who left her side, regardless of her panic attacks or her burning fevers. When business or other things were more important to them, whereas for her Bhaiya, she was always his priority. She had seen him canceling his recordings or even postponing his events in the name of emergency to stay by her side.

"Then why did you think that I will leave you now?" Mahir asked a bit sternly.

"Because you are angry with me for the first time," Radha replied softly. The edge of honesty and innocence in her tone melted Mahir's heart like a puddle.

He shook his head firmly, "No matter how angry I am at you or how much hurt I might be, you will always find me beside you, Radha. Just because, for the first time in my life, I want to scold you and set you straight… that does not mean I'll ever turn my back on you. Agar tere Bhai ko tujhse pyaar karne ka, teri parwaah karne ka haq hai toh tujhe teri galti par dattne ka haq hai mujhe. Hai na? (If I have the right to love you and care for you… then I also have the right to scold you when you're wrong. Don't I?)"

Radha nodded immediately. The simple assurance from him warmed her cold heart like sunlight breaking through a winter morning, and without meaning to, tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Can I get a hug?" Her voice barely above a whisper.

Mahir stepped forward, gently wrapping his arms around her shoulders, careful not to hurt her. As Radha sobbed in his warmth, clutching his shirt with her unharmed hand, he held her closer, caressing her head, letting her cry out everything.

Just as difficult as it was for him to take in the news that his sister was about to commit suici... he shook his head, pushing away the thoughts, holding back the tears that fogged his eyes, giving all the comfort he could offer to Radha at the moment, who was suffering more than him.

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