The Mridangist - Climax

Disclaimer: The story is a figment of my imagination. The characters and incidents does not relate to anybody. This part particularly is a bit longer than the others. Hope the readers will excuse me as it is the climax.

Please find the previous parts here (Previous Parts)

“Sathvikaaa!! Saathvikkaa!!” - screeched some one on the top of their voice.

Sathvika woke up with a start and looked around grumpily. “Maa!” - she cried after she realized that it was her mother who had shouted herself hoarse to wake Sathvika up.

Sathvika groped around for her mobile and checked the time. 16:30 the clock read.

“What the.. Maa.. Can't you wake me up a little early? Now that idiot Kedhar will win the bet.” - Sathvika whined while she turned her cupboard upside down to search for a best suit to wear for the rehearsal.

“Bet? What bet?” - Sathvika's mother appeared behind her shoulder, frowning. “Some silly stuff I believe. If you had had some seriousness then you would also have had the sense to wake up a bit early yourself.” - she said nastily. “And I guess you are looking for this.” - she pulled out a salwar suit from the top shelf and thrust it into a stunned Sathvika's hands. She gave a dirty look at Sathvika before turning on her heals and marching out of the room.

When her clock struck 4:45, her mobile rang loudly. “Kedhaarr!!” - she muttered and answered the call.

“Hiii.. Sathvii..!! I am in front of your dance hall. You lost the bet!!” - he sang from the other end. He was Sathvika's friend and he was a vocalist.

“You are lying Kedhar. I just stepped out of my house. I can be there in ten minutes!! I'll check with secretary uncle.” - she said supremely.

“No point Sathvi. I am already here. See you. Hey by the way, have you ever met Vidhyuth?” - he asked.

Sathvika sat on her bike and puckered her lips, forehead creased. “No. I have never even seen his picture. Why?”

“Oh really? Not even once?” - he asked, frowning.

“Nope. Is that very important right now? Can it wait for ten minutes?” - she asked.

Kedhar didn't seem to have paid attention to Sathvika. He said more to himself - “But he was going on and on about you today on chat. He seems to be very impressed with you di.”

Before Sathvika could voice her doubts, he continued - “He likes you very much di. I have never seen him talk about anyone like this. You must be very lucky to get a guy like him, you know.”

“What nonsense? I don't even know him and you are talking as if I am already engaged with him. Kedhaar, have you gone nuts? Wait till I get hold of you.” - she seethed and disconnected the call.

Thinking about what Kedhar had said on the phone and wondering how Vidhyuth would have gotten so involved with her just by one formal phone call, she accelerated her way on the GST road.

A black pulsar flashed past her very closely and again almost unseated her. She sweared angrily and every cell in her brain screamed that it would be Abhi in action again. She didn't want to slow down and give up on him this time. She wanted to give him a chase and teach him a proper lesson. But before she could make her mind up, the black pulsar had vanished from her view.

She decided that she would definitely stop him short if he comes back for a second round of provocation. She was ready for the attack that was unlikely ever to come. For the next few minutes, every person who rode on a black pulsar looked like criminals to her.

Suddenly, there was a deafening screech, a volley of bangs and an almighty crash. Several people screamed on top of their voices and the next thing Sathvika knew was that she was being held tightly by very strong hands and shaken vigorously.

“Sathvikaa.. Sathvikkaa.. open your eyes.. can you.. can you hear me?” - a male voice said, torn in panic.

He slapped her face lightly and shook her aggressively. Sathvika's eyes flickered open and Abhi's terror-stricken face swam in and out of focus in front of her.

“Sathvikaa..” - he whispered, his face was so close that she felt his hot breath on her.

“Abbhii.. Abhii.. You.. you crashed on me at last.. hap.. happ.. happy now?” - she tried connecting one word with another with difficulty.

Abhi shook his head from left to right as if he wanted to shed water from his hair. “Noo.. Sathvikaa.. it.. it wasn't me.. you are.. you are bleeding.. ambbulancee..” - he stuttered, gaining a little strength and fumbling in his pockets for his phone.

People crowded around them uttered random things like - “Looks like this guy knows the girl”. “Lucky he was around when the other two wheeler hit this girl and sped away”. “He should take her to the hospital”. “If only she had worn a helmet, she wouldn't have got hurt in the head”.

The ambulance was to arrive in ten minutes. Meanwhile, Abhi tried to keep Sathvika awake by trying to make a conversation with her. He pulled his handkerchief out and tried to wipe her face off blood. A small, thick, square plastic card fell on Sathvika's face from Abhi's pocket. In her semi conscious state, Sathvika tried to shove it off from her face but in that attempt, the thick sky blue tag attached to the card got entangled with her bracelet.

It was Abhi's Icard. He tried to remove it from her bracelet but gave up when she flinched hard. “Easy now Sathvikaa. The ambulance is on the way.” - he kept saying over and over.

The blaring siren announced that the ambulance had arrived. People moved away from the path when Sathvika was laid on the stretcher and wheeled towards the ambulance with Abhi on the wake.

Sathvika was not sure whether she was awake or seeing things in her dream. She could feel the rocking of the ambulance, the sound of the siren and Abhi talking to random people on the phone in a hurried but controlled voice.

She felt a sweaty palm pressed tight against her and swayed her other hand to prise the fingers off as it was causing pain. The Icard intertwined with her bracelet swung hopelessly in front of her eyes. With all her might, she focused her eyes on the Icard.

Abhi was smiling down at her from it wearing a maroon formal shirt but the name on the card rang a feeble bell on her numb brain.

“Vidhyuth.. Vidhyuth Kaustuban..” - she breathed and her eyes flickered in tiredness.

“Kedhar, please make them understand that Sathvika has met with an accident and the rehearsal is canceled. Bring her parents to the hospital....” - he stopped speaking and looked around at Sathvika when he heard her weak voice.

He dropped the phone down and leaned close to her, “Sathvikkaaa” - he called tenderly. He touched her shoulder and caressed gently.

“You are.. Abhi.. Vidhyuth.. Kedhar said..” - she said without being able to string one word to another and fell silent. They reached the hospital and Sathvika was admitted into the ICU immediately.

*********

“Machaa, I am not sure whether she realized that I am Abhi da. She became unconscious.” - Vidhyuth said, looking gloomily at his untouched glass of tea.

“You never told me about all these drama da Macha.” - Kedhar said, shaking his head as he sipped his tea and thrust Vidhyuth's tea glass into his hand, insisting on him to drink it.

“I never thought of seeing her like this da. I had imagined a happier scene when I'd reveal to her that Vidhyuth and Abhi are one and the same.” - he said.

Before Kedhar could open his mouth to console Vidhyuth, Sathvika's mother came up to them and held Vidhyuth's hand and thanked him tearfully.

“The doctor said you admitted her at the right time kanna. She's out of danger now. Thank you so much.” - she said, apparently at loss of words.

Before he could stop himself, Vidhyuth blurted out - “Aunty, if you don't mind, can I go and see your daughter please?”

*********

Heart pumping in his throat, Vidhyuth entered the room wearing a sea green kurtha still covered in Sathvika's blood; he was a wearing mask to cover his mouth and nose.

He stood at the foot of Sathvika's bed and looked at her silently. Her face was calm and relaxed; number of wires were running from her body to many monitors around her. He extended his hand slowly and touched her feet. It was cold as stone. He knelt down and held both her feet together between his sweaty hands.

He rubbed his thumb along her feet gently and whispered silently - “Sathvikaa, Please get well soon and come back. We have a long life to live together. We have many duet performances ahead of us. We have a long road to walk hand in hand.”

He squeezed her cold feet and said desperately - “Sathvikaa, soon I want to look into those expressive eyes you have got there and tell you how much I want you in my life. Sathvikaa, I love you.”

**********

Sathvika was sitting on the stage wearing a blue saree and traditional accessories. She turned towards her right and looked at Vidhyuth, who was sitting with his Mridangam in position, wearing a white kurtha and pyjama. She raised her eyebrows at him and he winked back at her and gave the thumbs up, his charismatic smile lighting up his face.

She winked at him in return and smiled calmly. She switched her mic on and spoke into it. “Ellarukum Namaskaaram..” - she went on and explained about the show. After finishing her short speech, she looked at Vidhyuth again. Kedhar spared a sarcastic glance at the pair of them and cleared his throat pointedly; he switched his mic on and started with the prayer song.

**********

“Sathvikaa..” - Vidhyuth called following Sathvika behind the screens while she walked from one end of the stage to another.

Butterflies churning out from the pit of her stomach, Sathvika turned on the spot and looked up at Vidhyuth's dimly lit face. Vidhyuth stood very close to her and she did not retreat. He looked into her dark eyes steadily and asked softly - “Sathvikaa, when are we meeting next?”

Sathvika held his gaze intact and whispered, barely moving her lips - “Oh I don't know.”

Vidhyuth caressed her cheek gently and said - “I will miss you till then.”

Before Sathvika could speak, he bent his head down and pressed his lips softly on her pouty lips. They kissed passionately; Vidhyuth held her against him tightly while Sathvika had both her hands inside his hair, at the back of his head.

***************

P.S: Thank you all for reading my story patiently.