ABHIMANYU PERSPECTIVE:

The faint light from my phone cut through the darkness of the farmhouse, but it couldn't cut through the smell. The air was thick and heavy with the metallic, coppery tang of fresh blood. My heart wasn't just beating; it was a frantic drum, slamming against my ribs so hard I thought they would snap.

Then I saw him. Rajveer. Her so-called father.

He was sprawled on the floor, a still shadow in the dust. My mind didn't even care that he was dead. I didn't care about the law or the horror of the scene. My eyes were already screaming, searching for the only soul that kept my world turning.

And then I saw her.

I saw her, and the world stopped.

"Aarushi...."

She was tied to a chair, her body slumped, her head hanging low. She was so still. Too still. For one horrifying, soul-crushing second, I thought I was too late. I thought I had lost her.

She was curled on her side, her wrists raw and red from the ropes binding her to an overturned table. Her clothes; the clothes I had seen her in just this morning were torn and stained, hanging lossely off her bruised shoulder. Thin lines of dried blood traced her skin like a map.

Her small hands were pressed weakly against her chest, as if she had been trying to hold her own heart together, whispering to it to beat just one more time.

Then, I heard it. A sound that will play in my nightmares forever.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The light from my phone hit the floor. It wasn't water. It was bright, crimson blood, falling from her fingertips and pooling in the dust. A single drop welled from her nose, tracing a path down her pale cheek before landing on her thigh.

"MOON!"

My legs gave out. I stumbled, sliding across the floor until I reached her. My hands were shaking so violently I could barely touch her as I began to saw at the ropes.

"Aaru...." my voice broke into a jagged sob, shaking her shoulders with desperate gentleness. "Moon. Open your eyes. Please."

Her skin was like ice. Her lashes didn't move. I pressed my ear to her lips, holding my breath, praying to a God I hadn't spoken to in years.

A faint warmth. A shallow, broken breath.

"Thank God," I choked out, the air finally leaving my lungs in a rush. I ripped my jacket off, wrapping it around her small, shivering frame. "Moon.... Moon.... I'm here. Your Abhi's here."

Her eyelids fluttered. Slowly, painfully, her eyes opened. When she finally looked at me, her eyes were glazed, filled with a terrifying emptiness.

Suddenly, she surged forward. With a strength that came from pure terror, she lunged into my chest, clinging to my shirt as if it were the only thing keeping her from drowning.

"I.... I killed him," she sobbed, the words tearing out of her throat, raspy and broken. She buried her face against my heart, her whole body shaking with a trauma I couldn't even imagine.

I held her so tight I was afraid I'd break her further. I looked over her shoulder at the monster on the floor. I knew I had to save her; not just from him, but from the guilt of what she'd done. I had to protect her mind as much as her life. I couldn't let her carry the weight of a life taken, even if it was a monster's.

"No, Moon, you didn't," I lied. I made my voice as firm as iron, even as my own tears blurred my vision. "He's alive. I.... I can see him breathing. Look at me, Aaru. Only at me."

She tried to pull back, her gaze wandering toward the body. "But-"

"No!" I tightened my grip, burying her face back into my chest.

With my free hand, I reached for the pistol tucked into my waistband. I didn't hesitate. I didn't feel guilt. I only felt a primal, murderous need to make sure he never breathed again, so she could believe my lie.

CRACK.

The sound was deafening. She flinched, a guttural sob escaping her as her body finally went limp. I didn't look at the man. I only looked at her.

"Shhh, it's alright," I whispered, kissing her temple, tasting the salt and the copper. "He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore. You're safe now. I'm here."

"I'm tired.... Abhi...." she murmured, her head falling back against my arm. "I'm so.... tired."

"Don't you dare close your eyes!" I screamed, my voice echoing off the rotting walls. The panic was back, sharper than before. "Stay with me, Moon! Aarushi, look at me! STAY WITH ME!"

The drive to the hospital was a descent into hell. Every time her head lolled against my shoulder, every time her breathing hitched or grew too quiet, I felt like my own soul was being ripped out of my chest.

"Aarushi, stay with me. Talk to me, Moon," I pleaded, my voice sounding like a stranger's; cracked, desperate, and raw.

I ignored every red light. I drove over sidewalks and through the pouring rain, my hand never leaving hers. I needed to feel her pulse. I needed to know that the blood soaking into my shirt hadn't taken everything from me yet.

I didn't wait for a stretcher. I didn't wait for the doors to open. I carried her in, my home slippers skidding on the polished white tiles, screaming for help until the entire ER was in motion.

"Help! Please! Someone help her!"

Nurses rushed forward. A stretcher was pushed into place. I didn't want to let her go. My fingers cramped as they pulled her away from me, her small, limp hand slipping out of mine.

"Sir, you have to stay back!"

"She's not responding!" I roared, trying to push past them. "Look at her! Do something!"

I watched them disappear through the double doors. The bright fluorescent lights felt like needles in my eyes. I stood there, my hands covered in her blood, my chest heaving. The silence of the waiting room was louder than the gunshot I'd fired just an hour ago.

I sat on a plastic chair, my head buried in my hands. The silence of the hospital hallway was suffocating.

I was still wearing the clothes from the farmhouse; my shirt was stiff, stained with the mud of the road and the drying blood of the woman I couldn't protect. I refused to wash it. I refused to move. I felt like if I left this spot, the thin, invisible thread holding her to this world would simply snap.

My mind kept looping. The ring. The GPS. The way she had clung to me in that farmhouse, sobbing that she had killed him. I closed my eyes and could still feel the phantom recoil of the gun in my hand. I had ended a life tonight.

And I'd do it again. A thousand times over.

"Abhi? Is she....?"

Aarav's voice broke through my trance. He was breathless, his face a ghostly pale. I couldn't even look at him. I just shook my head, my jaw tight. "They won't tell me anything. There was.... there was so much blood, Aarav."

Aarav turned toward me, his eyes bloodshot and wild.

"You said she'd be safe!" his voice was a low, dangerous hiss that cut through me. "You told me you'd protect her, Abhi! How did that monster get to her? How did a dead man's photos end up in her car?"

I didn't look up. My voice felt dead, like it was coming from someone else. "I failed. I knew something was wrong in my gut, and I let her drive away anyway. I let her seek the independence that killed her."

"She didn't die because of independence," Aarav stepped closer, his voice breaking into a thousand pieces. "She died because the monster we thought we buried were still breathing."

The heavy double doors of the ICU swung open. A surgeon stepped out, pulling off his mask. His face was a mask of pure exhaustion. We both lunged forward.

"Is she....?" Aarav couldn't finish the sentence.

"The surgery was successful in stopping the internal bleeding from the crash," the doctor said, his voice measured. "But the trauma.... it's not just physical. Her body is in deep shock. She's in a medically induced coma. Now, we wait to see if she wants to wake up."

A long, jagged breath escaped me. My knees hit the floor. I didn't care who saw. I didn't care about my pride or the eyes of the nurses.

"Can I see her?" I choked out.

"No," the doctor replied firmly. "She isn't awake yet. You can see her from the viewing window."

I dragged myself up and stood outside the glass door. The room inside was dark, save for the glowing monitors that beeped in a slow, agonizing crawl. She looked so small in that massive hospital bed. Her head was wrapped in heavy bandages, her skin almost the same color as the sheets. Her small hands; the hands that had held a gun just hours ago were draped in IV lines.

But she was breathing. The monitor showed a steady, fragile rhythm.

"Moon," I whispered, my voice cracking as I pressed my forehead against the cool glass. "You told me you were happy. You told me you wanted to celebrate. You can't leave the party before it starts."

I stared at her through the pane, my vision blurring. "I saw the photos, Aarushi. I saw what he tried to do. But he's dead. And your uncle is dead. There are no more monsters left, I promise. You've killed them all. Now just.... come back to me."

I looked at her closed eyes, praying for a flicker, a twitch, anything. But she remained still. I knew then that if she didn't wake up, two lives would end in that room tonight.

The weight of it all; the blood on my shirt, the smell of the farmhouse, the sound of the gunshot, and the sight of her lifeless eyes finally crushed me. My legs turned to water. I didn't just sit; I collapsed. My back hit the cold wall next to the door and I slid down until my knees hit the floor.

I didn't care about my pride. I didn't care that I was Abhimanyu Singhania. I buried my face in my blood-stained hands and let out a sound that wasn't human; a raw, guttural wail of absolute agony.

"It's my fault," I choked out, my chest heaving so hard it hurt. "Aarav, it's all my fault. I knew.... that something was wrong, and I let her drive away. I let her go!"

Aarav, who had been standing a few feet away, rushed to me. He dropped to the floor and pulled me into a crushing embrace, his arms locking around my shaking shoulders. He didn't say I was wrong. He didn't offer empty platitudes. He just held me while I broke into a million pieces.

"Shh, Abhi. Breathe," Aarav whispered, his own voice thick with tears as he pressed his forehead against mine, trying to anchor me. "You found her. You saved her life. She's breathing because of you. Just breathe, brother."

He kept one hand on the back of my neck, grounding me as my sobs tore through the silent hallway.

"Abhimanyu Singhania?"

The voice was cold, professional, and loud.

I froze. I didn't pull away from Aarav immediately. I just leaned my head back against the wall, my eyes red and hollow, looking up at the three officers standing over us. The heavy, rhythmic thud of their boots felt like the final count of my execution.

I slowly stood up, my joints stiff, my shirt crackling with dried blood. I didn't look at the inspector. I turned my head one last time to the glass window, looking at the woman I have to leave behind.

I knew the truth; it was her accident, her panic but I would never let the world blame her. If there was a price for the blood on the floor and the crash on the road, I would pay it.

I held out my wrists.

The silver handcuffs glinted under the harsh fluorescent lights. The click was sharp, metallic, and final. The metal cuffs were cold, a sharp contrast to the heat of the tears still on my face.

Aarav stood frozen, his breath hitching in his throat. His eyes darted from my shackled wrists to the lead inspector, his face a mask of pure, frantic confusion. He knew the truth; he knew I wasn't the one responsible for this and he knew exactly why I was trying to bury the truth.

"Wait.... no!" Aarav stepped forward, his voice cracking. "Inspector, you don't understand. He was with me, he didn't.... Abhi, tell them! Tell them you weren't...."

I turned my head slightly, catching his gaze. I didn't need words. I gave him a slow, firm shake of my head, my eyes burning with a silent, desperate command. No. Please. No.

"Mr. Abhimanyu Singhania," the inspector's voice boomed through the hallway. "You are under arrest."

To be continued....

Thank you for reading.