Her breath caught as she read between the lines. Was he implying her father, Dilip Goel, did this? She recalled Karan telling her how, even while being in prison, her father had tried to harm him and Avni in the past. Was this another attempt?
Before she could process further, Karan ended the call. Her chain of thoughts broke. Her body was still trembling uncontrollably. Karan pulled her closer, holding her against him with whatever strength he had left.
“Stop crying,” he said softly. “Nothing is going to happen to me. I’ll be fine. I’m not going anywhere.”
She nodded weakly and leaned into him, one hand gripping his shirt tightly.
“Drive fast, please,” she asked the driver in a shaking voice.
Karan pressed her closer to his chest, then shut his eyes, focusing on his breathing, and forcing himself to stay calm despite the intense pain shooting through his arm.
***************
Hospital
Karan was wheeled in immediately to the emergency unit, his arm already wrapped in Mishti’s scarf. Blood had soaked through it anyway, dark and alarming against the fabric.
Mishti walked beside the stretcher, her fingers clenched around the rail so tightly her knuckles had turned pale. She did not let go. Even when the nurse asked her to step aside, she only shifted enough to allow them access, her eyes never leaving his face.
The doctor arrived moments later, asking short, precise questions. How it happened. Where the pain was localised. Whether there was numbness or tingling. Karan answeredeverything himself, but it was Mishti who hovered close, instinctively stepping in whenever his jaw tightened or his breathing changed.
They cut away the sleeve of his shirt. The wound was ugly but mercifully shallow. The bullet had only grazed the outer muscle of his arm without lodging inside. Blood oozed steadily, but there was no catastrophic damage.
Mishti exhaled shakily when the doctor said, “It’s a soft tissue injury. Painful, yes, but not life-threatening.”
The cleaning was the worst part. Karan’s jaw clenched hard as saline was flushed through the wound. His free hand tightened into a fist. Mishti immediately reached for it, threading her fingers through his without thinking.
He did not pull away. Instead, he squeezed back.
“It hurts,” she whispered, wanting to somehow take the pain from him.
He turned his face toward her again. “I’ve had worse,” he said with a faint smile. “This… this I can bear.”
She knew what he meant. He wasn’t talking about the physical pain but the emotional trauma he had been living with ever since his mom died. And it only made her eyes sting more.
An X-ray was ordered to rule out fractures or retained fragments. Then came the tetanus shot, antibiotics, suturing, and bandaging.
Time moved strangely inside the emergency unit. Minutes stretched into hours. Mishti stayed rooted beside him through it all. She barely noticed when Abhimanyu arrived, taking over conversations with the doctors, handling paperwork, speaking to the police officers who had come in quietly to take an initial report.
By the time the doctor finally returned with the discharge papers, it had been nearly four hours. Karan was deemed stable.No admission required. Strict instructions were given. Follow-ups scheduled. Warnings issued about strain and movement.
Mishti nodded through it all, while Abhimanyu arranged the security escort to take them home. Mishti slipped her arm carefully around Karan’s waist, supporting him without a word. He leaned into her slightly, not because he could not walk, but because, for the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to. Abhimanyu assisted him to get into the car and then drove them out.
*****************
Wadhwa Mansion
The car came to a halt outside the Wadhwa mansion. Abhimanyu opened Karan’s side door, and Mishti immediately stepped out from the other side, moving to support him. She slipped her fingers into his uninjured arm, holding on firmly as she helped him walk.
They had almost reached the entrance when Karan suddenly stopped.
Mishti turned to him at once. “What happened?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he lifted his gaze to Abhimanyu, who caught the look. A slow grin spread across his face. “I’ll be right back,” he said, and without another word, hurried inside the house.
Mishti frowned, still holding Karan. “What’s going on?”
“Wait,” Karan said. “Have some patience.”
