“I just got a call from Ma. Nimrit is missing,” Amrit ignored Rupali and addressed Paritosh. She was distressed and disoriented.

“I will come back later,” Rupali said and made to go, but Paritosh stopped her, “No Rupali. Wait.” It was the time to come out clean.

“What does she have to do in this?” Amrit broke down, “I don’t know where my sister is. In what condition? I didn’t know she was this immature. How could she… It has been almost two weeks–”

“Nimrit is safe, Amrit. She is fine.”

“What? How do you know?”

“She contacted me.”

“She is in Delhi?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What do you think we should do about her?”

“Why? Send her back to her in-laws, what else?”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

“What do you mean?”

“It has taken her years to gather courage and run away from her oppressive and abusive in-laws. I can’t send her back to that hell.”

“You don’t understand. That’s not how it works. Not in our society. She was always impatient. But I didn’t think she would act so immaturely. She has to go back. What will people say? Her in-laws and my parents have covered it up till now. But for how long?”

“And all this is more important to you than your sister’s life?”

“She exaggerates. That’s how she has always been. She is my baby sister. Take me to her. I will give her a piece of mind. It’s nothing.”

“What you are calling ‘nothing’ is years of abuse according to the doctor.”

“What?”

“Yes.”

“Take me to her.”

“Only if you agree to not tell anyone in the family about it.”

“All the relations will break down when people come to know of this,” Amrit was desolate.

“And why is it so important to you?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” she said, sounding defeated, “You don’t understand the sanctity of relations.” She threw a tearful glance at Rupali.

Rupali stood like a statue, but Paritosh couldn’t. “Stop blaming Rupali, Amrit,” he said, “I was with Nimrit that night. Not with Rupali.”

“What?”

“Why must our relationships become a scourge for us? Can’t they be about protecting each other, instead?”

Amrit sank down on the chair Rupali had occupied earlier.

“Your sister,” Paritosh continued, “Is terrified of everybody. Her in-laws would come after her life if they knew where she was. She knew even you would want to send her back. So, I couldn’t reveal her identity when this murder case popped up all of a sudden. That’s why Rupali had to step in to vouch for me. Rupali did it without even knowing why I wanted to protect Nimrit. What relationship did she have with your sister? But she protected her. And you want to let your sister continue getting abused by those brutes. What relationship is worth that?”

“What do I do?” Amrit mumbled.

“Ma’am. I know I should not be interfering. But you know your husband is an intelligent man. Do what he says,” Rupali pressed Amrit’s shoulders to comfort her. “I will see you later, Dr. Khanna,” she went out of the room.

“Take me to her,” Amrit said finally.

“You promise not to tell anybody about her until I have made some arrangements for her safety.”

“I promise.”

—

“Rupali. Are you free?” Paritosh called her up later in the day.

“Yes. Why?”

“Amrit wants to meet you. Where can I pick you up from?”

“I am in the hostel. I can come on my own.”

“I will be outside your hostel in five minutes.”

“Where is your sister-in-law?” Rupali asked after she climbed into the passenger seat of his car.

“We brought her home.”

“Good for her. Staying alone in a hotel couldn’t have been ideal.”

“Yes.”

“Why does Mrs. Khanna want to meet me?”

“To apologize, I hope!”

Rupali suddenly looked guilty. “It isn’t needed,” she mumbled.

“You are uncomfortable. I can see that. But do me a favor one last time. We need a closure on this.”

“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal,” she forced a smile.

—

“Rupali. I don’t even know how to start apologizing,” Amrit  was so apologetic, and Rupali felt really small.

“It’s okay, Ma’am. How could you have known?” she managed to respond, fighting the urge to just disappear from the scene.

“Even if no one else did, I should have trusted my husband. But when your name came up, it was easy to lose that trust. He talks about you all the time. I never remember the name of any of his students, but you…” Rupali was surprised and her eyes automatically shot over Amrit’s shoulders towards  Paritosh. Away from Amrit’s eyes, even his face reflected unguarded surprise. Did he talk that much about Rupali at home? Amrit continued, “Every time he has to go back to the office, or has to stay late working into the night, it ends up being related to you. I know, of course, that its just because you are as hard-working as he is. But it was easy for me to take it all in the wrong way. Please forgive me, and thank you. Thanks a lot for protecting my husband from the disaster, and for protecting my sister too.”

“That’s enough, Ma’am. It really is. None of it was your fault, and Dr. Khanna is my– my role-model. What I have done was my duty. Anybody in my place would have done it.”

Amrit threw another surprise at her by suddenly hugging her, “You have no idea what you have done for me by protecting my husband. I will never forget this and will forever be indebted to you.”

Rupali hugged her back slightly, but her eyes welled up. Paritosh was still standing behind Amrit and could see her. So, she tried hard, but tears started running down her cheeks. Paritosh noticed and questioned her with a hand gesture, but it was futile. When Amrit broke the hug, Rupali could not control herself at all. She started sobbing and ran away from there.

“What– What happened?” Amrit asked, worried, “Did I say something wrong?”

“No. You didn’t. Must be something else. I will talk to her,” Paritosh assured Amrit, then ran after Rupali.

—

To be continued