CRASH

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Adhira was working in the laboratory.  She had lost substantial amount of work in the past 2 weeks she away. Thankfully, her professors and friends had been super supportive and helped catch up fairly quickly. This also meant that this past week she had time for nothing but her books. 

It felt good- to have her mind occupied with things she enjoyed doing. Staying at a hospital for two weeks gave her a lot of time to ponder and think about things, she felt happier than ever to be honest. To be away from all the heartbreak and devastation, she felt at peace. There were moments when she missed Rudra and they good times they shared. More than anything, she missed herself. The person she used to be before any relationships. The carefree Adhira who didn't have a care in the world. She had changed herself so much for Rudra that she didn't recognize herself anymore. 

She wanted to focus on her happiness, not on anyone else. She wasn't bitter about their break-up, she was happy for the love Rudra and her shared. People go through their life without ever experiencing a love like theirs. She was thankful for the love. She was thankful for everything. 

If the universe wanted them together, they would be together. She would always pray for Rudra's happiness that was something even their feuding families couldn't away from her. 

She poured the saline solution into the beaker and measured exactly 4 ml of it. The graduated cylinder shook slightly in her hands. Lately, the medicines had been taking a toll on her. She felt woozy and dizzy whenever she went without eating for interval of four hours. Dr. Kapoor said that after her internal wounds recovered, the symptoms would fade. 

She was only one left in the lab. Her professor had been kind enough to let her use the lab for rest of the day. The windows showed that the sun was setting, it was late in the evening. Adhira checked her phone and it was indeed, 9 pm. New Jersey was strange- in the summer, the sun set so late into the night. 

She sighed, the lab glasses were beginning to leave red marks on her skin. Suddenly there was a Crash. She looked up to see Mrs. Shah, Rudra's mother standing at the lab's entrance, she had knocked over flask on the front counter. In the mess of the shattered glass- Mrs. Shah's eyes were stormy, her clothes drenched in the sky's showers. 

She smiled at Adhira. But there was nothing friendly in the smile. 

"Stay away from my son."

  ____  

"Aditya" Rudra stood in his brother's room, starting incredulously at him. These past three weeks Rudra had been chasing the clues- the breaks in Adhira's car had been tempered with. The police dismissed the investigation saying that the crash was caused by Adhira's recklessness.  Somehow, something was missing. 

Rudra had taken Adhira's car for servicing couple months ago and gotten new breaks. Yet the reports indicated that the breaks were old. From the security guard at the Indian cultural center, Rudra found out that Aditya had parked Adhira's car. But before parking the car, he had left the venue with her car. To do what? Rudra exactly knew. He had gotten her brakes replaced by a fault set. 

Rudra grabbed Aditya by the collar. "Why the f_ck did you do this?"

"Bhai (brother), Bhai.." Aditya was instantly shaking from fear. His light brown eyes wide. "It wasn't me. I swear. It wasn't me."

Rudra pushed him against the wall. "If it wasn't you, then who tried to kill Adhira."

"It was mom. I tried stopping her but she threatened that she would sign-off my inheritance."

   ____    

"We broke up," Adhira ignored her presence and continued working on her project. She didn't have time for Mrs. Shah and her bullshit. "What more do you want?"

Mrs. Shah walked towards Adhira. Adhira could hear her heels click against the cold floors. "I meant disappear. Pack your bags and disappear from our sight. Move to a different state if you will please. "

Adhira furrowed her eyebrows. "And why would I do that?"

"Because, if you don't" She smiled and gripped her neck, almost choking her. "There will be deadly consequences."