Page 16 of Born in Grief

“Painkiller,” the angry lady doctor muttered, her brusque tone not encouraging more conversation.

Dhrithi wished they’d all get out. All of them. Except Amay. She wanted him to stay beside her forever!

“Dhrithi, pay attention.” Her father’s patience on a good day was short. Today was not a good day.

She blinked, trying to clear her head and concentrate but her tenuous grip on consciousness seemed like a slippery slope.

The lawyer pulled out a pen and notepad and crossed his legs looking over at Dhrithi with a benevolent smile. “Did your husband have a registered will?”

“A will?” Dhrithi murmured, her mind fogging over as the pain receded slightly, the never-ending waves of pain changing tides.

“Yes, a will.” Her father inserted himself into the conversation again. “Do you know what he was leaving to you?”

“Was there a prenuptial agreement?” Lawyer Douche was not ready to hand over the reins of the conversation to Dhrithi’s father.

“No.” Dhrithi shook her head. “I didn’t want one.”

“Why?” The man leaned back on the uncomfortable metal attender stool and watched her.

“I didn’t marry Varun for his money. I-“ Dhrithi broke off, her tongue darting out to wet her dry, chapped lips.

“You?” the lawyer prompted.

“She married for love!” Dhrithi’s mother announced dramatically.

Following the loud statement, silence fell on the little group. Dhrithi’s gaze was drawn to Amay who was now fiddling with the speed of her IV line. She saw his fingers clench around the thin plastic tube for a microsecond before he let go and stepped back.

“Dr. Raina will be back to check on you in an hour,” he said formally before heading to the door.

Dr. Raina? Not him?

“Amay,” she called out, her voice a raspy croak.

He stopped but he didn’t turn, his back muscles tensing and bunching under the well-worn scrubs.

“Will you come again?”

He turned his head slightly to look at her, a quick glance over his shoulder. Dark, intense, piercing black eyes met her own pain filled ones.

“Dr. Raina will keep an eye on you,” he said calmly, not a hitch in his voice. “You’re in very good hands.”

Maybe, Dhrithi thought, as she watched him walk out the door. They may be very good hands, but they were not his hands.

And she was shocked by the fact that her illusion of safety seemed to be hinging on his presence. The same presence that was walking out of the door without even glancing back at her.

Chapter Ten

AMAY

Amay walked out of surgery the next day to find the police waiting for him. Inspector Vikram Mathur smiled at him, a shark’s feral baring of teeth.

“May I have a word, Dr. Aatre?”

Amay nodded, gesturing to the other man to follow him. He led him into a small private room where they often spoke with grieving families. It offered a semblance of privacy to people whose lives they shattered with the worst possible news.

Amay braced himself as he faced the cop. He was fairly sure this conversation was not going to be pleasant either.

“Dr. Aatre, I wanted your expert opinion on something.”

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