The Girl Next Door Ch. 02

"Since when is he been doing this to you?" Aditi asked firmly.

Meera hesitated for a while and said, "He raped me and made a video and threatened he would spread it if I told anyone or tried to move away. He told me he'd hurt me more if I didn't do as her says."

Neil could barely contain his anger. "You lying bitch! You threw yourself and your stinking cunt over me! I fucked your worthless holes because you begged me to!" he said as he kicked the helpless girl.

"You did what!?" Aditi shouted in shock and surprise.

Neil suddenly realized that he unwittingly confessed to his infidelity.

"Show me your phone," Aditi demanded.

"What? Why...?" Neil hesitated.

"You said she is lying...prove it, prove her wrong, show me your phone," Aditi demanded.

Neil unlocked his phone and handed it over to Aditi. He knew that the only video he had recorded was Meera consenting to be beaten.

Aditi played the video on his phone. To his shock and surprise, that video of Meera's consent was replaced by another video. It was a footage from a camera hidden in Meera's bedroom. It was cleverly edited and there was no audio. It looked as if Neil had been brutally fucking Meera. Neil suddenly realized that Meera made the switch when she borrowed his phone under the pretext of making a phone call right after he had sex with her. He remembered that he had moved to another room to 'speak to her therapist' and returned a few minutes later. And Neil had been so over-confident about Meera's submission to check the video again.

Aditi looked at Neil with such hate and disgust he had never seen in her eyes before. He looked in rage at Meera who gave him a quick coy smile before she buried her head back into her arms and continued sobbing like a victim.

"I've changed, he says," Aditi said bitterly. She was feeling deeply hurt as she spoke in a low voice, "There's nothing left to talk about now." I'll send you the divorce papers. Just leave now. Please"

Neil felt utterly helpless and angry at himself that he couldn't see through Meera's plan. All he knew that Meera put him into a checkmate position and there was no escape. He left the two women and walked out of his house, a plethora of emotions clouding his mind.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realize he was being followed. As he turned onto a deserted street, he was hit hard on the head. He lost consciousness.

*********

Aarav returned home after the surgeries. He saw missed calls from Armaan and his text. He called back. Meera smiled seeing the caller's name but didn't answer.

The doorbell rang. There was a delivery boy standing with a parcel for him. Aarav received a parcel. It did not contain the details of the sender. He opened it out of curiosity. There was a note and another box inside it.

Dear Aarav,

I have to thank you for the life I've lived. I owe you a debt. You have been ever so calculative. My gift will perhaps help you calculate the possibility of survival of a person, when the very essence of their life is taken away from them.

A friend

Aarav was confused reading the note. He couldn't understand the meaning at all. He decided to open the box carefully. He was surprised to find a strange box inside it. He picked it up to inspect it. And the moment he opened the box and there was an explosion. A loud explosion.

Aarav fell to the floor screaming. His family rushed to his side. He fell to the floor unconscious.

When he woke up, he was in a hospital. His family was by his side. When he looked at the bandages on his hands, he screamed uncontrollably. He had lost both his hands.

His colleague, Dr. Varun came in trying to calm him down. He injected a sedative into his veins.

"I need to have a word with him alone," Dr. Varun requested Aarav's family.

"I understand how you are feeling Aarav," Varun said.

"NO!" Aarav screamed, "You don't understand! You will never understand! I lost EVERYTHING! Can't you see? I can never hold a scalpel again, I can never perform a surgery again. My whole career as a surgeon is over...I am worse than a beggar now!" Aarav couldn't hold back his tears.

Varun was quiet for some time. "I am really sorry," he said after a while, "But this certainly wasn't an accident. The explosives were strong enough to mutilate you, but not to kill you. Whoever did this, pretty much intended it. The police might want to know if you suspect somebody."

"Please do me a favour and don't let anyone in for a while," Aarav requested, "I really need some time to myself."

Dr. Varun nodded and left Aarav alone in his room for a while. The pain and the emotional trauma wouldn't let him rest. Aarav kept wondering who would it be who wanted to cripple him like that.

That note

I have to thank you for the life I've lived. I owe you a debt. You have been ever so calculative. My gift will perhaps help you calculate the possibility of survival of a person, when the very essence of their life is taken away from them.

It kept haunting his thoughts. And then a nurse carried a bouquet into his room. There was a card stuck in the flowers. That read -

Aarav,

You are going to be fine. You may feel a little bad now, but you'll get used to it. Maybe even learn to like it someday.

Love

Naina

That card answered all his doubts. A memory struck him like lighting. A 13 year old memory. Tears of regret flooded his eyes. It was a dark secret of his past he hadn't shared with anyone in his family. He looked at he broken hands once again. Once the hands of an excellent surgeon were now mere stumps. He knew he couldn't survive like his. Once a renowned surgeon, now a cripple and a burden on his family.

His entire life was crumbling down before his eyes. He walked to the window of the room and observed that he was on the tenth floor. The sun had set and the city gleamed beneath like a jewel. The city where he grew up and lived his dreams, that gave him all the joys of life, and so much freedom that for one brief moment, he didn't care about the feeling of someone less fortunate. He pushed open the window and looked down one last time. There was nothing left to hold him back. He jumped and hit the ground in a few seconds. His death was swift, but it was quite some time before they collected all the pieces of his broken body.