Lakshmi looked at Arjun's white shirt turning into red with his bleeding shoulder.

Without wasting another second , she asked Irmaan to take away the kids . Irmaan denied leaving her but she placed an ordered which he had to ultimately accept. He left behind half of the royal guards and drove away with rest of the kids .
.
.
.
Lakshmi passed by the bodies of the royal gaurd lying on the floor while taking a cover. She squatted behind a pillar as soon as she heard the bullets traversing through her direction . She lifted her saree till her knees and removed her gun out from the black thigh holster , and placed her index finger on the screen near the grip to activate automatic loading.

Every passing second , her heart was thumping more loudly with a fear that something might happen to them the next second if she is......late.
She looked down and took in a deep breath trying to control herself. She looked up at the people running haphazardly.

She crouched down, mixing along with them while trying to spot the location of the shooters .

As soon as she reached Arjun, she pulled him towards the wall near the steps while asking her son to stand behind her back. He was partially conscious and gripping on to his shoulder tightly with the other hand .

She observed that a lot of blood has been lost. She tore her saree end quickly and tied it across his shoulder tightly, while keeping an eye on the surrounding .

She crouched beside him and looked around at the surrounding area as she knew that this place is too easy to be spotted .

As soon as her eyes landed on a vehicle on the other side of the road with slender metal tube protruding out of the half shut window glass, she pushed Arjun aside and moved away while aiming at the head of the silhouette behind the glass.
.
.
Blood splashed inside the car and she held her gun in position .

She spotted few men coming towards them and she shot them one after the other while diverting their attention away from Arjun and Advaya by moving around quickly to let them notice her.....

Soon men dressed up in black started marching towards her and she held up her gun to shoot them . But when she a familiar face among the group , she stopped....
she recognised seeing that man with her husband and sighed visibly as they have taken care of rest of the attackers.....

She turned back to see Arjun and quickly went towards him. She saw Advaya crying while holding his father's hand tightly . She tried to help him stand but it was not possible for her to lift his heavy weight.

Viraj ( right hand man of Arjun ) quickly helped his boss along with other man and took him towards the car while the mistress is being guided behind him by the rest of the men. He asked few of his men to stay behind and take care of everything .

As soon as lakshmi sat inside the car beside Arjun, her hands started shivering while looking at his unconscious form and blood soaked shirt.

" maa maa
Papa go....got hu...hurt because o...of me " Advaya said crying while looking at his dad who isn't opening his eyes.

His father covered for him and took the bullet instead of his child...

Lakshmi hugged Advaya consoling him with her arms rubbing on his back. A painful lump in her throat didn't allow words to come out of her mouth.....

His pulse was falling down rapidly and he needs immediate hospitilaziation...
or else he might enter into shock.
.
.
.
.
As soon as they reached the hospital, he was taken away on a stretcher immediately while she stayed behind with her son....
looking at him being taken behind those white doors...

She never thought that one day she would wait outside the theater room feeling anxious,
restless,
pain.... The same way her patient's relatives would feel while she was in that room and operating.....

She looked down at the blood on her hands . His blood.

Seconds passed by
Minutes passed by
Hours passed by

The whole family is waiting outside the OT for Arjun , and are worried about Lakshmi who is still staring at her blood stained hands...

Anita forced lakshmi to clean up herself but she hasn't moved an inch from where she was sitting. Veer went along with the doctors for blood transfusion.

The time was still ticking and the doctors came by, informed Veer Singh Rajput about his son's condition and left along with Veer again .

Lakshmi could only see people moving by
but couldn't hear anything...
It was as if everything is moving by....
leaving her behind....
in her own world.....
.
.
.
.
.
It was almost evening by the time Arjun opened his eyes. He looked around in the white room and recollected those faint memories that landed him in the hospital.
He feared for his son....
he wants to know if he is fine.....

He lifted up himself and leaned on to the bed post .

Anita opened her eyes and looked at her son. She placed a pillow behind him and asked him to drink water. He assured his mom that he was fine while seeing her red eyes... he asked if his son was alright to which Anita replied by saying that 'all are fine' .
Veer patted his other shoulder and the whole time Arjun was thinking of her...

' Of course...
Why would she come for me...
After all this is less compared to what I have given her.... ' but a part his heart knew that she wouldn't be happy with him in here...
in this bed....
It just knew it...
He remembered those faint memories of her pulling him,
shooting someone...
His son clutching on to him and crying for him...

The doctor along with a nurse entered the ICU and said that he can be discharged in the evening after a check up as there are no major complications...
.
.
.
Unkown to Arjun ,
his wife is still sitting outside and staring at the white hospital walls blankly.

She started smiling slowly and then laughed out loudly while Advaya got scared seeing his mother and moved away .
Rahul tried to talk to her but she was having none. She stood up and started walking aimlessly in the corridor with a smile on her face.

Anita and Veer stepped out of the ICU and looked at the commotion between nurse and their daughter in law....

Anita shook as soon as lakshmi's piercing gaze fell on them with a small smile on her face.
She went towards them, looked at their faces and then went inside the ICU.... Veer stopped nurse and Anita and let his daughter enter inside the ICU.
.
.
.
.
Arjun heard the sounds of anklets echoing in the silent room and opened his eyes slowly. He looked up to see his wife walking towards him with a smile.

For a second he was happy seeing her smiling at him but soon it was replaced by fear....because her smile....
It wasn't a normal one...
It's was as if she was not herself anymore.

She sat on a chair beside the bed and looked specifically at the tattoo on his body.
Her eyes moved further up and watched his face.
She smiled a little more.

" Arjun " she called his name for the first time after years and his heart leaped out of his rib cage listening to his name from her mouth.

" you know
I was wrong...
I was totally wrong in your matter..

How can I judge you when I am also like you ha ?
How can I point out at you as if I am a saint?
( Lakshmi laughed out loudly while clasping her hands and her eyes....her eyes were dark pits....)

I saw you like a villain,
A monster.....A demon in my life...
But I forgot that I am also one of them..

I forgot that I survived by turning into a demon .
You killed people and I blamed you for being merciless...

How ignorant of me that I too did the same...
I took many lives but I still do not have any regret...The same like you...
( she said coldly )

How can I do this with you?
( she asked looking at him keenly by moving close to him )

You know what, I'm a bad person from the start... I guess there was no fault of yours...
of course you had no fault !
You asked me right? ha ?
You gave me a chance to speak before abusing me... you gave me a chance.... you did... No....
You gave me many chances!

( she turned away from him unable to bare his eyes on her )
You are good Arjun
You are very good.

I am the bad one here.
I have made you suffer right?
Tell me
( she asked looking at his face )
Tell me that I have made you suffer....

Will my sorry make it alright?
I don't think so...

What should I do? Ha?
What....what should I do? " lakshmi started getting tensed suddenly, she sweated profusely and started having tremors.

Arjun quickly pressed a button on the table and couple of nurses along with a doctor ran inside the unit. They looked at the lady who was thrashing on the floor and took her away while injecting her with a sedative.

They aided Arjun's wound which opened up .
.
.
.

Everyone left the room.

Arjun looked up at the ceiling while a lone tear fell on his hand. A part of him thought that maybe his pain could atleast bring a little sympathy in her for him but later he understood how wrong he was......

Because it only bought her more pain than before.
She totally lost herself...

He went numb when he listened to her words.....she thought that she was the one who hurt him... She thought that it was all her fault...

He couldn't understand who made her think like that....and then he remembered how she ran away yesterday into the forest and cried her heart out. He picked up his phone, called his mother and asked her to come in.

Anita enetered the room and looked at arjun who was deep in thoughts. She sat beside him and arjun looked up at his mother.
" Maa
Did you say anything to lakshmi? " he asked slowly and looked his mother's face with changing colors.

Anita understood that her daughter became like this because of her words....

Arjun sighed looking at his mother's face.

" maa
Don't talk to Lakshmi about anything related to me or my past. She is mentally unstable right now.

By entering back into our lives , she put herself on stake and I don't want anymore burden on her....

Even if you say her as her well wisher, she wouldn't take it in a positive away.
Her condition is worse than what it seems on surface maa.
S.....she stopped hating us and started blaming everything on herself .
She can't take it anymore and I request you to not to talk to her about it....
I can't lo....lose her ag....again maa " Arjun said sternly but his voice wavered in the last. Anita nodded softly while looking down with tears brimming in her eyes.
She patted his head and left from there.

She couldn't bear the thought of her being the reason for her daughter's critical condition .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It's been 4 days since then.
Lakshmi hasn't even stepped out of her room. Everyone were scared by seeing how dejected she is......by always staying in the dark while blankly staring out of the window.

Anita bought in a Psychiartrist but Lakshmi didn't dare to open her mouth. She stared at doctor while he tried to atleast make her speak out a word.
.
.
.
.
.
Kids entered as soon as doctor left. They talked to their mom while she just stared at their faces. Those little children tried their best to make their mother talk but it ended up scaring them in return...

Noor cried alot seeing that her maa didn't take her in her lap or hug her like she always used to...

All the kids went out of the room feeling like crying their guts out but controlled themselves...noor was holding on to Ibbu's hand while crying and rubbing her eyes....she turned back expecting that her mom would come for her.....but no....
Her mom was still sitting silently and staring at the blank walls....

The little girl left the room while crying....

Neelu ran towards the opposite side of the corridor and banged on her dad's door.
Arjun opened the door and looked at his daughter crying. He knew why she was crying, he himself couldn't face Lakshmi with the fear that she might end up doing something to herself after seeing him...

She has become even more unpredictable for everyone...

He lifted his daughter and went inside the room. He sat on his bed while leaning on to the bed rest and made Neelu sit on him.

" papa
Mumma is no talking .
I f....feel c..c....crying pappa. " The little girl poured out her heart while sobbing hard. Arjun rubbed her back and consoled her that she shouldn't cry because her mom will feel bad if she sees it...

Only if one could see those tears running down his face while consoling his daughter....

He looked at a phone in Neelu's hand and asked her who's it was.
" mummy's pone (phone)
I took it " she said with her pink nose and red cheeks which remembered him of his wife...

Neelu unlocked her mom's phone and started scrolling down the album while showing her father a few pictures in the gallery....

" Papa see Ibbu bhaiya!
Hehe " Neelu giggled seeing the same old photo for n'th time. She wasn't even born then....

Arjun stopped at one specific photo while seeing a man beside his child.
" who is he beta? " he asked Neelu .

" that's valior uncle
Mumma's and ale uncles fend (friend)" Neelu said and Arjun nodded silently.
{ valior = Valero, ale = Alexander }

" papa this naty mom took!
Bhaiya naughty naughty " she said and arjun smiled looking at his kids face in flour...

" wait!
I will show you naty mom! " she exclamied while swiping the screen as fast as she can.
{ naty = Natasha, Alexander's second wife }

"see!
This is naty mom!
Naty mom's hair soo pretty right " Neelu said and Arjun murmured
'not more than your mom's'.

" Mumma Mumma! " she pointed at the screen of her mom's pic with enthusiasm, which was taken many years back......
Arjun was shocked to see the way she was dressed up and her style.

" Mumma is cute! , I love kitty , rose didi cat " she said pointing at the little black cat in the photo....

" utkarsh bhaiya broke tap!
Mumma was soo angry
We hid in bubbles " Neelu said pointing at the pic and Arjun laughed heartily seeing how sacred his kids were while looking at Lakshmi and trying to hide themselves...

" noor!
I tie tovel (towel) band " she said pointing at her head in photo and swipped next.......

" This is bhaiya
Look like rabbits " noor said giggling while Arjun touched the phone screen to feel how it would have been like to stay there with his wife....
when their kids were born...
Hold their little bodies in his arms for the first time...

Neelu pushed his father's fingers away so that she could show him next photo.