You Are Missing In My Heart!

Recap (to help you, awesome readers, after this long gap): Abhinay and Nethra on their way back home met with an accident, which turns out to be a planned one. Abhinay recovers in a hospital, where he learns that Nethra was missing from the accident spot and the truck driver and two other men were shot dead on the spot. Meanwhile, Nethra was unconscious and guarded by a mysterious man in a secretive place. There was another mysterious man in coma at a hospital in Goa. There was another man, angry that he lost Nethra and giving instructions to find her. To Abhinay’s surprise, Arjun was reluctant in the case and as he was discussing this with Mithun, suddenly Abhinay remembers something very important.

Episode 34:

Mithun stared at Abhinay in utter disbelief.

“Are you thinking that I have lost my mind?” Abhinay asked, his tone mildly irritant.

“Eh? Err.. No.. I.. I am just trying to wrap my mind around what you are saying”, Mithun stammered, still looking baffled.

“I don’t understand how I could have forgotten this in the first place!” Abhinay added talking more to himself while Mithun still stared at him lost in his own thoughts.

“But, from the beginning I had a feeling that I was missing something very important. It kept slipping from my memory. Damn all these sedatives!” he cursed.

“So, you are saying that you saw Arjun in the accident spot before you lost consciousness?!” Mithun asked like a person trying to comprehend a complex theory.

“Finally, you are done wrapping your mind?” Abhinay commented sarcastically.

“Don’t blame me dude! This really sounds bizarre. If I had not known you, I would have doubted your credibility” Mithun said and added, “Tell me everything Machan.. Whatever you remember and in the order it happened or you remember them happen”

Abhi frowned, as he tried to recollect the happenings of the evening, ignoring the pain it caused to his facial muscles. He let out a sigh remembering how the journey would have turned if not for the accident. A fresh wave of anxiety washed over him and he squeezed his eyes shut as a piercing pain shot through one of his temples.

He pulled himself together in a few seconds and started to speak, “As I said earlier, I did not notice the truck coming as its headlights were turned off. Suddenly I saw the headlights turn on and the truck rushing towards my car. I did not have enough time to think or react. I remember turning the car, instinctively, to my left to reduce the impact on the passenger side. She was sleeping and I believe we were hit before she even woke up” he paused and skipping the painful details of the hit, he continued, “When I regained my consciousness, it took an effort to open my eyes, but I was worried about her. I didn’t … I didn’t know whether she was.. I didn’t know what happened to her! I struggled to open my eyes and see her. I searched for her near me, but I couldn’t find her. Then I felt like I was being pulled out and I heard some voices, I was afraid that I would blank out again. So, I tried and opened my eyes to tell them that they have to save her, but when I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was him. He was walking towards the car. I was relieved that he would take care of her and the last thing I felt that evening was that relief!” his tone turned bitter as he uttered the last few words, blaming himself for trusting Arjun to that extent.

“Are you sure it’s him?” Mithun asked and added, “because you said you saw him coming towards your car. Does that mean you saw him at a distance?”

“Not very far away! And I am hundred percent sure that it was him! The sight of him walking towards my car is now so clear that its plays like a recording again and again in my head”

“Hmm.. but..” Mithun started something and stopped himself.

“Were you about to ask whether it’s possible that I am imagining things?”

Mithun just smiled and continued as his expression turned serious, “what does this imply da?”

“Will he go to the extent of hurting Nethra to separate her from you? Is he a kind of Pshyco who tries to kill the girl just because she like someone else, like we read in the newspapers? I don’t understand!” he added.

“I am clueless too. Did I misjudge him from the very beginning? The kind of affection I saw in his eyes for Nethra! Could that be fake too?! Or is he that much a skilled actor?! I don’t know!” Abhi sighed helplessly.

“What should we do now?”

“We should play innocent” replied Abhi, thoughtfully. “He didn’t know that I saw him! We should play accordingly. He shouldn’t have even the tiniest of doubt that I saw him. That would be dangerous for Nethra!” he added.

“You mean.. he has Nethra?”

“That explains his reluctance in the case. Of course, why would he panic, when it’s he who had kidnapped her!”

Mithun nodded and added suddenly, "Then, he must have killed those in the truck!" as he said, he was shocked by his own statement.

Abhi's head shot up, his eyes wide in shock and realization!


“Where am I?”

“In a safe place!”

Nethra glared at the man who answered. She did not like him at the very first glance. His expressionless face irked her.

She had thousand questions in her mind but the most important of all was that one question – ‘what happened to Abhi?’ She knew she will not get any answers from that man – the only other living organism in that room.

“Why have you kidnapped me?”

“It’s you who had broken into my house in Bangalore, hadn’t you?” The man threw her a strange look but said nothing.

She got up and with some difficulty sat on the edge of the bed. Her sore muscles ached as she tried to move them again.

On any other occasion, she would have appreciated the thoughtful interiors of the room, which is her prison then, but she was oblivious to all those at that moment. Abhi’s bewildered face, as the car took a sudden turn, was the only thing she could remember.

As it was typical that the value of something we think we lost increases exponentially, Nethra realized her love for Abhinay in its whole magnitude. All the little things he said and did haunted her and tears rolled down her cheeks!

“What happened to him?” she asked the man, unable to help herself and she burst out crying, “Please tell me what happened to him! Please! Please tell me! Please! Please!”

(Contd.)

P.S. Thanks everyone for your love, encouragement and patience! Again, sorry for making you all wait!