Anushka is calm and gentle by nature, always composed. I often think, “How lucky I am to have a wife like her.”

But that afternoon — an ordinary day in Bangalore — my faith was shaken. That morning, Anushka had sent me a message:
“I’m very tired… I have a headache and fever, I’ll rest today.”
I asked if she should see a doctor, and she replied:
“No need. I just want to rest a little.”

I was a bit worried, but since I had an important meeting that morning, I didn’t go home immediately.
All day, my mind was not on work.
In the afternoon, I decided to go home early to make poha for my wife and also to check how she was doing.
If she didn’t seem well, I would take the rest of the day off and take her to a doctor.

As soon as I reached our small flat in Bangalore, the first thing that stopped me was that the door was open.
A strange unease rose in me. I shouted:
“Anushka? I’m home.”

No answer came.
I put down my bag and quickly went inside.
Near the bathroom, I heard running water… and then a man’s laughter.
I was stunned.

Every cell in my body froze.
The only image in my mind was: my wife with another man in the bathroom.
My heart seemed to stop.

I couldn’t think anymore; without thinking, I opened the bathroom door.
The door swung open loudly.

In front of my eyes, Anushka was pressed against the wall, soaking wet, her hair clinging to her shoulders.
In front of her was Raju, my younger brother, who lives in the neighboring flat.
He was also soaking wet.We both turned pale and shivered.
Anushka began to stammer…

Anushka began to stammer, her lips trembling.

“It’s… it’s not what you think,” she whispered, her eyes wide with fear rather than guilt.

Before I could say a word, Raju shouted, “Bhaiya, close the door! She almost died!”

My head spun. “What do you mean—?”

Raju grabbed my arm and pulled me inside. Only then did I notice the electric water heater above them, its casing cracked, sparks still faintly sizzling. The floor was flooded. A sharp, burnt smell hung in the air.

“She collapsed while bathing,” Raju said breathlessly. “I heard a loud thud and her scream. The heater short-circuited. She was being electrocuted.”

My knees nearly gave way.

Anushka’s voice was weak. “I couldn’t breathe… my vision went dark. I thought I was going to die.”

Raju continued, his hands shaking, “I broke the door, turned off the main switch, and pulled her away. If I had been one minute late—”

He didn’t finish the sentence.

The image I had imagined just moments ago shattered into dust, replaced by a far more terrifying reality.

I rushed forward and wrapped Anushka in a towel, holding her as she began to cry uncontrollably. Her entire body was trembling.

“I didn’t want to scare you,” she sobbed. “That’s why I said it was just a fever. But I felt dizzy all morning… and there’s something else.”

She looked up at me, tears mixing with water on her face.

“I’m pregnant.”

The room went silent.

My heart pounded—not with suspicion now, but with shock of a different kind. A thousand emotions crashed over me at once: fear, relief, guilt, joy.

Raju quietly stepped back. “I’ll call an auto. She needs a hospital. Now.”

As we rushed down the stairs of our Bangalore apartment, holding my wife close, one truth burned painfully clear in my chest:

I had almost lost my wife…
and my child…
because I chose doubt before trust.

That afternoon, standing in the emergency ward with Anushka’s hand in mine, I promised myself one thing—

Never again would fear speak louder than love.