The pain and sufferings of physical abuse may once be tolerated, but when it is combined with psychological attack, it is beyond any imagination how deeply it could damage. It not only hurts a person, it kills the personality. It is more damaging when it happens to a gender for which metaphors like, “Macho”, “Powerful”, “Manly” are framed.

Aniket reached home with Ritvik after getting him first aid. Immediate medical help was very much required which was evident from Ritvik’s condition. He took him to a private nursing home to avoid un-necessary legal burden and formalities. There were not many options either at this early morning except to go for an emergency center.

Throughout the way, there were unstoppable tears coming out of Ritvik’s eyes. Ritvik’s eyes were open, but he was in some sort of unconsciousness.  There was not any response to Aniket’s questions or anything happening around him. His eyes were open, looking down and filled with tears all the time. There was no voice coming out, no reaction and no response.  It was Aniket who was carrying Ritvik’s otherwise dead body, it appeared as there were not many symptoms of a “living being”. The only sign of life was that he appeared to be dragging with Aniket’s support.

After reaching the home Aniket helped Ritvik lay on bed. Ritvik was wrapped in a bed sheet, so there were not any clothes to be changed for a comfortable sleep. Aniket started unwrapping the bedsheet from Ritvik’s body to make him more comfortable. He did not want to keep any memoirs of that incident. As he uncovered the chest, his eyes got wet when he noticed bruises and bites on Ritvik’s fair skin. The hard-bites and scratches from nails at several places were enough to show what inhumane torture Ritvik had undergone. Some of the bites around his nipple were so hard that his pinkish-fair skin had turned to navy-blue with impressions of teeth-marks. Aniket could not control his cry seeing such a condition of his love, whom he never even touched with slightest force. He remembered, the soft and sensitive skin of Ritvik used to turn red, with slight pressure of his lips when he kissed or licked. His skin was baby-soft, beating the softness of fresh rose petals. Same Ritvik was badly hurt today and was lying in front of his eyes in almost a vegetative-state of mind. Aniket called his name many times, but all in vain as if there was no one in Ritvik’s body to answer his calls. Even there was not much of the movement in Ritvik’s eyes. He was staring at infinite, with constant tears rolling out. Aniket moved his hand on Ritvik’s head, caressing his hair, expecting he would now probably identify his presence around him and respond but there was only slight trembling of Ritvik’s lips as if it were the strong walls of a dam, controlling the tremendous pain, and crying inside, opening it would  flood the outside world with it.

Aniket could no longer tolerate Ritvik’s condition. His love and affection for Ritvik was so strong that he was able to feel Ritvik’s pain and happiness before it reached Ritvik. He had a very strong understanding of what could make Ritvik happy at any particular moment and what could upset him. He understood all about his mood, and his reactions so perfectly that sometimes even Ritvik got surprised. He knew Ritvik better than Ritvik himself. His helplessness in being any help to Ritvik came out as a cry and he instantly moved his head away and got up. He did not want to cry or bring it to attention of Ritvik.

After some time, he wiped his tears, and came back to Ritvik. He took his head in his hands and rested it on his chest. He lied next to Ritvik on the bed and embraced him close to his heart. That night, both kept weeping, Ritvik almost in another world, unaware of what was happening around him, and Aniket whenever he looked at Ritvik. He kept remembering the happy moments when they were together, and then his attention was drawn to current situation where Ritvik was in this trauma. He cursed himself many times and started blaming himself for it. He started feeling guilty that it was because of him that his love was in this condition today. He felt guilty why he could not reach for help earlier. If he could have just checked his mobile earlier, he could have probably prevented all the misshappening tonight.