Stranded

"It's him!" Shreya gasped as she saw the face of the patient through the glass doors. The large scar mark on his forehead was still there.

She hid behind the door of his room as she struggled to reign over her fluttering heart. She inhaled deeply through her widely parted mouth. She felt as choked as she had felt on that terrible night when he had forcefully pressed his mouth on hers. She held on tightly to the tray she was carrying and ran back to the nurses room. She thumped herself on her chair as she became dizzy just like that night when he had overpowered her.

"Arti," Shreya called out to her friend and colleague, "can you give this medicine to the patient in room 105? I'm not well today."

Arti took the tray from her and walked ahead with a smile. After she had left, Shreya opened her bag and drew a paper which was a cut out from a newspaper. She opened it and a cold sweat ran down her forehead as she read it-

"An 18-year-old nursing student subjected to a brutal rape."

Shreya's mind ran back to the incident that had happened 5 years ago. She was a student of nursing then. She used to stay at the hostel and go home every weekend by train. One night, she got down at the railway station and slowly walked out. She hired a cab parked outside the station. As the cab moved ahead on the desolate road, she heard the horns of a matador that was right behind the cab. Shreya smelt a rat and ordered the driver to speed up. But soon, the matador overtook the cab and stopped right in front of the cab. The driver of the cab had to push brakes too. Three robust men rushed out of the matador and pulled the driver out of the cab. They beat him to the pulp and he ran away for life. Shreya sat glued to her seat in the back of the cab as fright drove her to the end of her wits. She gasped as the three men turned towards her. She hurriedly pulled out a few currency notes from her purse.

"Take this," Shreya said offering the notes, "it's all I have."

"You have much more than this!" The men roared a combined laughter making Shreya shiver.

Two men abruptly jumped into the cab beside her and slammed the door on either side. They held her limbs and stretched her on the back seat.

"Leave me!" A frightened Shreya screamed and desperately swayed her hands and legs.

But the men held them tightly and didn't allow her to move much.

"Come on," one of them said, "what are you waiting for? Put the beauty to sleep."

"We must hurry up," the other one said, "we can't afford to lose a dish as gorgeous as her."

"I'm famished too!"

Shreya saw a face with an ugly scar appear at the window. He drew a bottle out of his jacket and emptied its contents on a cloth. After he was done, he threw the bottle into the woods by the side of the road and rushed towards her. Shreya opened her mouth to let out a horrible scream as the ugly face scared the young girl. But before the scream could come out the damp cloth was forcefully pressed on her face. Shreya swayed her head to escape from the mysteriously sweet odor coming from the cloth that dragged her deep into oblivion. She let out some muffled screams in her defence and shook her limbs to break free from the grip of those strong arms. But then she started feeling dizzy and her vision became hazy. Her eyelids started drooping and limbs turned cold. She gave up her struggle and could only moan feebly in protest. She reluctantly breathed in the drug that was inebriating her senses. From her half-opened eyes, she could see the man with the scar, smirk at her helplessness.

"That will be enough," he said as he finally lifted the cloth from Shreya's face, "the chick has fainted."

The two men who had held her limbs got down the car and walked towards the matador. Shreya was still semiconscious. The man with the scar took the girl out of the cab and slug her on his shoulder. Shreya could feel his filthy hands slid inside her skirt and grope her buttocks while he carried her to the matador. He lay her down on the floor. He tied her hands and feet and gagged her. One of his companions started the engine and the matador sped on a dust-laden road through the forest.

"Put the music on," the man seated on the passenger seat said.

An erotic music filled the air in the vehicle. The scared man bent down on Shreya and sucked her lips in a barbaric kiss almost choking her to death. He let go of her lips after an eternity and licked his own. Then his hands played with her breasts and Shreya groaned out of the repugnant feeling that his touch evoked. The men laughed at her meek protest.

"As you say, honey!" The scarred man left her breasts and pulled her shirt tucked inside her skirt exposing her belly. He dug into her belly button and a gasp escaped out of her.

Shreya opened her eyes for a split second but they drooped again. His hands were playing with her delicate folds as she finally fainted.

Hours later, Shreya woke up by the beastly touch of rough hands somewhere on her body. As her vision cleared, she realized that the man with the scar had straddled over her and was groping her naked breasts. He opened his mouth and a drop of saliva dribbled down on her bare chest. His demoniac teeth were stained red due to betel chewing. Shreya screamed as she found her torn shirt and skirt lying on the dirty carpeted floor and her undergarments thrown over them. She was stretched naked over the bed wearing only her sandals. She pushed the scarred man away and drew her limbs close to cover her modesty. The scarred man let out laughter and the other two joined in. One of the men pinned her hands down on the bed from behind. And the other one, streched her legs wide apart. The scarred man flashed his betel stained teeth at her helplessness. Shreya's naked body shivered at the very thought of the inevitable horror that awaited her.

Before she knew, the scarred man jumped over her and placed the damp cloth back on her face. The other two men exchanged mean glances and then grinned as they devoured the charms of the elegantly carved adolescent body stretched beneath him. As drugs made her faint, Shreya's slackened body fell still on the bed. He took the cloth off and kissed her lips for what seemed like an eternity. He then brushed her hair away and dug his teeth on her ear. He intertwined his fingers with hers and spread her hands away from her body while his mouth teased her nipples. Drugs made her sleep unaware of everything as he quenched his lust with her lissom body.

He relished her as many times as he wanted. At times, Shreya would wake up petrified from her drug induced sleep. He knocked her down and pinned her back to bed everytime she woke up. And when he was done with her, he dumped her at a desolate place wrapped in a blanket.

Days later, Shreya woke up in a hospital in a terrified state. The trauma of being abducted and used as an object of carnal pleasure absolutely against her wish tortured her. She woke up screaming every now and then and tried to run out of the hospital as if trying to evade him. The doctors gave her sedatives to calm her down. She used to shudder in her sleep too as it was his horrendous face and the brutal act of passion she saw even in her dreams. She was still battling with the trauma of rape when tragedy shook her again. Some tests revealed that Shreya was pregnant with his child.

"No!" Shreya put her hands over her ears as memories tormented her.

She had finally found peace and solace by nursing her patients. It was two years ago that she had taken charge as a nurse in this hospital. She had almost forgotten about those black days of her life. Now he was back again in her life. He had almost vanished after the incident and the police couldn't trace him till date. She made her mind to get him punished. But she should do her duty first. As he was her patient, she must attend to her duties towards him.

"Yes!" Shreya thought, "I will get him arrested once he gets better."