The siren of the ambulance brought her out of her absorption. As soon as the Paramedics arrived,they took over.She went with them to the hospital and completed all the formalities.They wheeled him into the emergency room and Swara waited. Only then did she remember that she had to tell his family about the accident. Now, whom should she call. If she told Ragini,she would be worried.So she called up her mother and informed.

'Shona, tu kya bol rahi hai?' her mother got worried

'Haan ma ... baba ko bolo, Maheshwari house mein kisiko inform karne'

She gave the hospital address and number. Meanwhile the doctor came back from the emergency and asked her to come in.

'We have managed to remove the bullet and stitch up his arm. Thankfully, it hit only his arm. A few inches to the right, it would have killed him.' He said bluntly. A shudder went through Swara on remembering the moment.

'Have you informed the police?' He asked

'No, Let his family arrive. I am only an employee of the company.' She said

'But you are an eye witness. Anyway, let us wait for the family.' The doctor announced

Swara waited patiently for her parents to come.She remembered Ragini telling her that Sujata aunty was a heart patient. Swara wondered how she was taking the news.

He packed his bags and got ready to leave the dingy room.His job was done.His boss was going to be happy.He would pick up the packet from the same location.He saw the girl who was standing with Sanskar looking at him when he fired.He wanted to shoot her also but his phone distracted him.By then, he saw that the man had fallen down dead.So he sped away before anyone could notice.There was a knock on the door and he frowned.Who could be knocking his door at this hour? He slowly opened the door but there was no one.He bent down to see if there was a packet. He heard the sound of something whizzing through the air and hitting him. He fell down....

Shekhar Gadodia went to Maheshwari house personally to inform them of Sanskar's accident. Swara's mother reached the hospital first and hugged Swara.

'Shona, are you OK?' Swara nodded and hugged her mother. The impact of the whole incident hit her slowly. If she had been a second late, Sanskar would have been killed. For the time being, she controlled herself and maintained a stoic grace.

The Maheshwari men arrived soon and they met the doctor. Sanskar was declared to be out of danger. While the men discussed with the doctor, the police arrived and took Swara's statement. She was not sure who called them but she gave all the details. She could not remember the person who shot because there was tinted glass on the window of the car.She saw only the pistol that jutted out of the window.They told her that she would have to be ready anytime to come to police station and answer their queries.

Swara left home with her mom. Shekhar stayed back with DurgaPrasad and RamPrasad.

The first thing that came to Sanskar's mind was Swara when he opened his eyes.His father and uncle were standing near the bed but she was nowhere to be seen. Where was she? A terrible thought gripped his heart and sweat broke out.

'Sanskar,beta how are you?' DurgaPrasad asked. Sanskar wanted to ask about Swara but his throat was drying up.He signaled the nurse for water. She helped him to swallow drops of water.He waited for her to leave and then asked slowly

'Dad, where is Swara?'

'She is fine beta. She was the one who brought you to the hospital.' He explained

Sanskar heaved a sigh of relief. For a second, he thought he had lost her. His left arm felt numb. The doctor came and explained the injury to all of them.

'Few inches to the right and the bullet would have hit your chest. Thank god, the girl pushed him away..'He said

Sanskar remembered the moment when Swara pushed him away and toppled over him. He was relieved that it did not hit her.

'The police was here and inquired about it.'

Sanskar became alert 'Who called them?' he asked the doctor

'Any such cases and the hospital automatically inform them. It is the norm here.' He said

"Doctor, can we take him home?'

'You can but I would advise you to keep him under observation for a night. You can take him in the morning.' RamPrasad decided to stay the night at the hospital and Durga Prasad went home to tell the family about the crisis.

Though he was given pain killer, sleep evaded Sanskar. He lay on the bed thinking about the events of the past days.Somebody was trying to kill him but why? What could be the reason? Was it some business rival or people behind some operation that his news channels uncovered? There was a drug network that his news channel exposed with their sting operation. Then six months ago,they came upon an organisation that was trafficking young girls from Bangladesh through Kolkata. The organisation was publicised as an adoption centre but underneath it,was a loathsome racket running. His people uncovered their crime and the owners of the organisation were ultimately jailed. As far as he knew, they were still in jail. So who could it be?

If Swara had not been with him, he might have got hit by the bullet. He could not forget the way she shouted his name and pushed him aside. He thought over his intentions of taking revenge on her. He knew that she thought he was punishing her for her rudeness with him or for her so called affair with Laksh. He was already aware that she was not interested in Laksh even before she told him. As he got to know her, he realized that a girl as bold and intelligent as Swara Bose would never fall for a guy like Laksh. He was not sure about that long haired guy. He and Swara seemed to share a close bond which Sanskar did not like but he did not make any assumptions about their relationship.

He wondered whether he was right in taking revenge on Swara for something she did not do. Was she even aware of the whole incident?She must have been young at that time.Something about her attitude told him that she did not have any clue. Maybe her mother knew...........The memory of the most harrowing event of his life still brought the chills. His father often asked him to let go of the past but he just could not.

Swara slept very badly that night. The horrifying incident of the night, when Sanskar was hit with a bullet kept appearing in her dreams and she would wake up all of a sudden shivering and sweating. By morning she was running high fever.The doctor was called and she was asked to take complete rest.

Adarsh woke up in cold sweat. The nightmare was occurring again. He turned to see Parineeta who was sleeping. He went down to the kitchen stealthily. It was just 2am. He switched on the night lamp and drank a whole bottle of water.His mind flashed images of the warm summer day......Boating in the club........the fight.........and finally watching him drown......the beautiful face of Nivedita still haunted him....Will he ever get over her or this incident? What if Sanskar comes to know of it? He waited for his mother to appear but she did not. He left the kitchen and went to his apartment on the top floor and hit the bottle.

Sanskar was discharged from the hospital but he was asked to take complete rest at home for a few days. As soon as he reached home, Sanskar called up all his resources to investigate the incident. He made sure that the incident was not leaked to the media or business circles. He engaged his highly confidential team on the work. He also asked his channel's crime investigating team to snoop around and get a clue on who was after his blood.

Rest of the time, he spent thinking and worrying about Swara. When her phone was switched off, he called up her mother to find out. She was the one who informed him about her running high fever. On the third day after the incident, Sanskar went to see Swara.

Swara's fever came down on the third day. She was able to sit up and go to bathroom. Her mother gave her a sponge bath and let her play the guitar. Hridoy came to visit her every day with a bar of chocolate and flowers.This evening too,he was sitting with her. She tried to strum the guitar slowly and softly when Hridoy started to sing

Pal bhar thahar jaao
Dil ye sambhal jaaye
Kaise tumhe roka karun
Meri taraf aata har gham phisal jaaye
Aankhon mein tum ko bharun
Bin bole baatein tumse karun
'gar tum saath ho..
Agar tum saath ho..........

The lyrics of the song reminded her of Sanskar. Was he recovering well? How was he? Who was trying to harm him? Thoughts of Sanskar kept circling in her mind.

She was trying to match Hridoy's tune with her guitar when Sanskar walked in with dida and dadi following him. He stopped midway when he saw Hridoy and Swara practicing their music.

Swara stopped playing the guitar and gaped at him. His arm was bandaged but he looked tired. He was probably coming straight from office.But was he allowed to go to office this soon? He carried a bunch of red orchids...

Sanskar glared at Hridoy who looked back at him with equal displeasure. Dadi was the first one to speak

'Main ne socha koi ladki baiti hai.....' she commented looking at Hridoy's ponytail.

'Dadi, please.....'Swara appealed to her dadi

'Parvati, tumhare aankhen bhi buddhaa ho gaya hai......' Dida saved the situation with her broken Hindi.

'Tum logo baitke baat karo, mein chai leke aati hoon.. Parvati aa rahe ho?'She asked dadi

All the time Swara was aware of Sanskar watching her and she could feel him looking around her room.She hoped he didn't see her clothes strewn around.After her grandmothers left, Sanskar spoke

'Can I speak to you alone?' he asked tersely

Swara looked at Hridoy but he was not budging.Both Hridoy and Sanskar looked at each other as if they were going to enter the boxing arena,sizing up one another....

'Hridoy, Can you please?' she asked, knowing very well that Hridoy was going to sulk for weeks after this. He left unwillingly, glaring at Sanskar.

They were finally alone.......

Sanskar gave the flowers to Swara.....Swara was touched.......It was probably her physical weakness but Swara was emotionally moved to see Sanskar hale and hearty.The sight of him on the road, pale and helpless, still gave her shudders. She preferred this arrogant Sanskar to a vulnerable Sanskar.

'Does he not leave you alone anytime of the day?'Sanskar asked

'Who?' Swara asked distractedly putting the flowers carefully in the vase on her writing table..

'That hippie singer..' Sanskar always managed to annoy Swara with his sarcastic comments about her friends but this time she did not react.

She tried to take out her guitar but it was getting stuck in her hair. She stumbled. Sanskar immediately caught her with both his hands,

'Wait.....let me' he said

And very gently he took out the guitar from her and kept it carefully on the couch. He turned back to see a pale Swara standing in the same spot but looking little dizzy and faint. He rushed back to her.He bent and lifted her up like a child. He laid her delicately on the bed.

'Are you feeling OK?' he asked, leaning towards her with his arms on both side of her shoulders..

She nodded and looked up at him with her eyes wide and confused. His face was so close to hers.She tried to imprint his chiseled features in some corner of her brain. His finger knuckles stroked her cheek softly and he brushed her hair back from her forehead...

Annapurna welcomed the girl and her parents...She was a beautiful girl with high credentials. She introduced her to Sujata

'Sujata, this is Mrinal Tarachand. She is a wildlife photographer and she already knows our Sanskar well.' Annapurna announced. She was glad that DurgaPrasad and RamPrasad were not at home. She had invited Mrinal and her parents' home so that she could convince Sujata about the alliance.

Sujata was not convinced. Mrinal was beautiful and well educated. She looked like the ideal girl for the family. Sujata also valued Annapurna's judgement. However,since the shooting incident of Sanskar,she had other thoughts occupying her mind..She could not forget that Swara was the one who saved him from being hit in the chest.When she discussed the matter with Annapurna yesterday,

'But Sujata, you are forgetting that because of Swara he stopped the car in the first place..How can you say that Swara saved him?' Annapurna admonished her

Sujata kept quiet but Swara's brave deed gave her hope. She wanted to meet Swara. In the meantime Annapurna arranged for Mrinal and her family's visit.....

PRECAP

What is haunting Adarsh? Why is he scared of Sanskar finding out the truth? Will love blossom between Swara and Sanskar?