Page 36 of Substitute Bride

REALIZATION

Jhankar is very surprised that Vikrant has come to pick her up, but a strange happiness has forced her to smile suddenly.

She is smiling and looking out of the window, and Vikrant, sitting nearby, is probably still laughing and remembering her words, which is why she does not want to look at him at all.

Vikrant is laughing so much that his jaw starts hurting, and he looks out of the other window.

After looking at Jhankar once, he looks ahead and sees that a truck loaded with rods is right in front of them.

That truck suddenly applies brakes, and their car is moving at a very high speed.

He looks at Jhankar, grabs her hand, pulls her toward his side, secures her in his arms, and without any delay throws them into the gap between the front and back seats, comes on top of her, and hides his face in the crook of her neck.

Meanwhile, the car collides violently, forcing him to hold her tightly.

Jhankar, who is taken aback by all these events, becomes even more terrified when the car collides with something forcefully, causing her to grip Vikrant tightly.

With a loud sound, there is complete silence for a second.

Jhankar feels like there is complete silence, especially near her ears, as if all the sounds have suddenly stopped, but the very next moment, they start hearing a lot of sounds.

Jhankar opens her eyes, and there are many iron rods in front of her eyes that are going from above, tearing the front seat, and she has a very good idea that if Vikrant had not suddenly pushed her in the gap, then perhaps these iron rods would have passed through her body.

Seeing all this, she gets even more scared and, with great difficulty, calls out Vikrant's name very softly.

“Vikrant…”

When Vikrant hears her voice, he immediately looks up to see her.

However, the numerous bars above his head prevent him from seeing her properly, so he slowly turns his face toward her.

Their faces are so close that they can only see each other's side profiles very slightly.

The situation is such that Vikrant's right eye is very close to Jhankar's left eye, enabling him to see her fully, but they are very aware of each other.

If he moves even slightly, his lips can touch her cheek, prompting him to communicate with her in a very gentle voice.

"Are you okay?"

"I am okay... Are you okay? ... You are not hurt, are you?"

"I am okay too."

As numerous rods swiftly graze Vikrant's back and pierce into the rear seat, Jhankar comes to understand that Vikrant is deceiving her; he is definitely hurt.

Effortlessly, she raises her hand and touches Vikrant's back.

She tries to bring her hand to her face by touching Vikrant's back, a task that is slightly challenging but not impossible.

Tears come to her eyes as soon as she sees blood on her hand. She says,

"You are bleeding."

Vikrant can feel the panic in her as she sees the blood on her hand because she is starting to tremble. Vikrant says to her softly while looking into her eyes,

"Everything is okay..."

"You are bleeding..."

"I told you everything is absolutely fine; don't panic; the guards will come any moment... I am not feeling much pain, which means that the injury is not too deep. Maybe the rods just grazed past my back, so some blood will definitely come out."

"You are lying..."

"No, I am not..."

"Are you sure?"

He doesn't answer. As soon as she utters these words, Jhankar's eyes begin to well up with tears—a sight Vikrant has also witnessed firsthand, a sight he detests.

Due to this, he turns his eyes away from her and turns his face toward the seat.

He begins to hear the voices of his men, so he shouts loudly,

“Mahesh, Akram…”

And in response, they hear their excited voices confirming their safety.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Absolutely, we are completely fine; we are in the gap between the seats, and there are a lot of rods; they are going right over me, so cut carefully. Jhankar is in perfect condition and should not sustain any injuries from this incident."

While trying to stop her crying, Jhankar takes a deep breath and tells Vikrant,

“What about the driver…”

Vikrant knows very well that the driver cannot be alive because the way the rods are going right over their bodies, they have pierced fast through the seat to the back.

Therefore, given the circumstances, it is impossible for the driver to be alive.

Vikrant placed one hand under her head to protect her from injury during the fall.

It is still under her head, so while caressing her hair lightly, he tries to look at her.

And as he caresses her like this, Jhankar understands very well what he wants to say to her.

As soon as she understands what he means, Jhankar's breathing starts to become uneven with sobs.

Vikrant, who is on top of her, is unable to do anything, so he hides his face in her crook.

Meanwhile, Jhankar, who can only hold onto his shirt with one hand, begins to cry while clutching it tightly.

Soon, they start hearing the sound of a cutter machine, from which they understand very well that efforts are being made to get them out by cutting the car and the iron rods.

Jhankar, who is positioned below Vikrant.

"Are you okay? It’s just a matter of some time, and then we’ll be out of here,” Vikrant said.

Jhankar, without responding, tried to hold back her tears by shutting her eyes tightly.

The thought that the driver had died in the accident and was still in the car with them filled her with fear.

Vikrant continued to gently caress her hair, which helped her relax slightly.

But each time the memories resurfaced, she broke down again.

Vikrant was growing more concerned about her condition.

Accidents were common in his line of work, but looking at Jhankar made him realize just how delicate she truly was—a realization that disturbed him deeply. He tried to explain,

“Some things are beyond our control. It was a minor accident—something could’ve happened to either of us. But I noticed in time, and we acted quickly. The driver was at the front, yet he couldn't react fast enough. Sometimes, even we don’t know what to do in those moments.”

“Hmmm…”

Suddenly, the roof of the car was pulled off, flooding the interior with light and raising the iron rods above Vikrant’s body.

The rescue team began discussing how to cut the rods carefully to avoid hurting the two trapped inside.

Jhankar could now see them clearly. One of the rescuers spoke to her:

“Madam, we’re covering your faces with cloth to protect you from the machine sparks. They’ll scatter quickly and may hurt you. It’s only for a short while.”

A thick cloth was draped over both their faces, casting everything into darkness. Jhankar immediately clung to Vikrant, who reassured her.

“I’m with you.”

“I know…”

The loud, shrieking sound of the cutter slicing through the metal was terrifying.

As Jhankar clutched his shirt tightly, Vikrant continued to stroke her hair, trying to soothe her.

He could feel her skin against him with every breath and noticed she grew even more frightened once their faces were covered.

After nearly half an hour of effort, the team successfully cut through the rods.

Vikrant was slowly lifted off her with help from his men.

Jhankar started rising too, her eyes fixed on the driver’s seat.

Vikrant understood what she was trying to see.

The driver's body had not yet been recovered, still trapped by the rods.

His guards already knew he was dead, so his severely bruised body remained slumped over the seat—a sight too horrifying to witness.

Vikrant quickly placed his hand over Jhankar’s eyes and held her hand tightly.

“We should leave. My men will take care of the rest.”

“The driver…”

“Jhankar, let’s go.”

He held her arm and gently but firmly led her toward another car.

Despite his own injuries, which required immediate medical attention, he prioritized her safety.

His men followed closely, while others stayed behind.

Once they were inside the car, Jhankar looked at Vikrant's back and forcefully turned him toward her.

Blood stained his clothes—he was badly hurt. She gasped in horror and began to cry.

“If you hadn’t saved me…”

Vikrant turned to face her.

“I’m totally okay. This is nothing.”

Despite his reassuring words, Jhankar couldn’t believe him. The sight of his blood kept flashing before her eyes. Overwhelmed by emotion and stress, she suddenly fainted in his arms.

“Jhankar… Get us to the mansion immediately!” Vikrant shouted.

Although Vikrant felt no pain, panic took over as he held the unconscious Jhankar and patted her cheek repeatedly. She remained unresponsive. He splashed water on her face, but she didn’t stir. His concern deepened. As soon as they reached the mansion, Vikrant rushed her to the medical room

“Doctor…”

The doctor, already alerted, was prepared with his team. They immediately attended to Jhankar and then began treating Vikrant’s injuries without delay.