JAAN ( Darr 2 )

The confrontation

The nurse nodded, and with one helpless glance at Kiran, Rahul turned and hurried out, fighting the urge to look back.

---

The next thing Kiran knew, she was being lifted—carefully, almost tenderly. There was warmth in the touch that held her, a strange sense of familiarity that she couldn't quite place. 

She could feel the steady rhythm of a heartbeat against her, the murmur of a voice too faint to hear clearly.

 She tried to open her eyes, to see who was carrying her, but the darkness was too strong, and she slipped back into unconsciousness.

When she finally woke, she found herself lying on a soft cot in a small room. The sharp scent of antiseptic filled the air, and she realized she was in the sick room. A nurse was standing nearby, checking her pulse with a kind smile.

"You fainted," the nurse said softly, "but you're alright now. Just take it easy."

Kiran struggled to sit up, her head still spinning slightly. "How did I get here?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

 Fuzzy memories swirled in her mind, a figure, a voice, the sensation of being carried. "There was someone..."

The nurse nodded. "Yes, the stockroom clerk found you. He brought you here when you collapsed."

A chill ran down Kiran's spine. The memory of those strong arms around her resurfaced, along with the warmth of a presence she couldn't ignore. Could it really have been him?

"Who was it?" Kiran asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

The nurse, seemingly oblivious to Kiran's turmoil, answered casually. "His name is Rahul. Rahul I believe, Rahul Mehra"

" How long ?.... How long has he been working here?" trying to hide the panic in her voice.

" Ah ...about a year. I think he is indian too do you know him?"

"No" Kiran answered quickly.

The world seemed to tilt as the nurse's words sank in. It hadn't been a dream. It had been real.

 "He" had been real.

 After all these years, after everything she thought she had escaped, he was here. 

He had carried her, cared for her without a word. And now, Kiran wasn't sure what to feel, fear, confusion, or something far more unsettling.

Kiran went home in a daze, her mind spinning with thoughts about her encounter with Rahul.

 Seeing him again, so unexpectedly, had rattled her more than she wanted to admit. The memory of his touch,the way he had carefully lifted her, replayed over and over. 

The very idea that Rahul, someone she had thought was long gone, could re-enter her life felt unreal.

But he was here, and now, she faced an impossible decision: should she tell Sunil?

Her stomach tightened with the thought of how Sunil might react. Kiran knew his temper too well.

If she told him Rahul was alive, his first instinct would be to confront him, maybe worse.

 The possibility of an another violent confrontation terrified her.

Sunil was so quick to anger, and the last time he had faced Rahul, it had nearly cost him his life. 

She couldn't bear the thought of losing him, or of the irreversible consequences of another encounter.

What if Sunil ended up in jail or if he was badly hurt?