522 No loose ends!
He was unable to stand the ruckus that was being created by Vikram. He wanted to do something about the whole situation. He had dialled 911, but he knew that it was going to take some time before the police could arrive and anything could happen between now and then.
He didn't want to come in front of her. Didn't want to look her in the eye for he knew that he would not be able to hide his feeling any more. Hiding away from her was the best thing that he could do, but when he saw her slump on the stage, his heart just stopped.
He could not think of right or wrong any more and his head was clouded when he heard a familiar voice in his head.
"Help her out!"
"Go and help her Jaby!"
"You cannot be a coward now!"
So he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them. Mustering a bit of courage, he walked towards the stage area when heard the vile man say those words.
"You will hate this filth Akira... You will regret Akira... This man ...."
He knew the consequences of those words. He knew the weight of that ugly truth. He knew it was something that could destroy them both. He had left everything in New York for her sake but this man was going to ruin everything.
So he looked around to find something handy and his eyes targetted the champagne bottle that was left unattended by some staff members who had probably fled the scene. So in the next second without even flinching for a bit, he lifted that bottle and struck it on his head.
He made sure that he had just hit him hard enough to knock him out.
'Thud.....'
And fell down Vikram, without being able to complete his sentence that stayed unuttered at the tip of his tongue.
He immediately bent down to hold him, as his head had started to bleed a bit because of the impact but before he could even look at his wound, he heard her voice amidst all the chaos.
"Jaby!"
And it seemed like the world had just stopped.
He looked at her, and he could see that beneath that surprised look on her face, there was a part of her that was happy, that felt comforted seeing his presence.
Without saying a word he just gave a nod to that stunning bride for he didn't dare to look at her for a second more. Not because he didn't want to, but because next to her was standing a man who probably would mind it.
"Can anyone fetch a medical kit? Or any emergency kit available from the car? Anything?"
Hearing which a couple of people ran towards their cars.
"Just let him be! Why are you trying to save someone who could have killed someone if you hadn't intervened!" queried Teddy.
"A doctor can't distinguish between a murder and a common man. It's my duty to save him," said Dr. Nelson as he applied pressure on the spot.
"Ladies and gentlemen. We are really extremely sorry for this interruption, but everything is under control now. So please do not crowd the area and please be seated. The police team is about to arrive, and we would like you to stay calm till then," said David and looked at Raymond who now bent down to pick up Akira.
"It's OK! It's all OK Akira."
Said Raymond and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
She staggered a bit but then got up with his support for she was too shocked with the recent events. Even though her heart was happy to see Jaby back, a part of her was pained to see Vikram hurt even after all that he had done to her.
She looked into her eyes and asked,
"Why today Raymond? Why today?"
He had no answer with him. All that he could do was to hold her. She slowly tilted her head on his arms and asked,
"Will he be all right?"
"I guess! It's not that big of a wound," replied Raymond and turned a bit so that she didn't directly look at the area where Dr. Nelson was treating Vikram.
"Call for an ambulance," said Raymond looking at David who just gave him a nod. An equally shaken Katherine came close to Akira and asked,
"Do you want to go back to your room?"
"Go back? But... But what about the ring exchange? What about that part where I say - 'I DO'?" asked Akira, with a look of desperation in her eyes. She wanted to get married today. Not any other day, TODAY.
Even Raymond wanted the same. But given the circumstances, given that police were on the way, given what had happened, he didn't want the marriage to be tagged along with unhappy memories.
So he looked at the priest, who stood in the corner, unsure about what was to be done next, and asked,
"Father! Can we continue the ceremony tomorrow?"
"Not until I investigate the claim of the man," replied the priest.
"Investigate?" exclaimed Katherine. "Didn't you see that state of mind of that person? That man is madly in love with her and just to get her that man even had hatched a plan to kill my brother. He had a narrow escape but has been scarred for life. And you want to still consider the words of that vile man?"
Even though the tone of Katherine was extremely disrespectful, the priest kept his demeanour calm as before and said,
"I am no God to distinguish the right from the wrong. That would be the job of God. He punished him already for his sins. You, too, need to let the past go and start a new beginning."
"A beginning that has no loose ends!"
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