Posted:
10 years ago
Chapter 4(a)
On every page of my fate,during my life, after my death,in all my future, in all my moments,you write her to be mine..in all stories and fables,in the true relations of the heart's world,in all parts of life,you write her to be mine.She should live within me,she should never be separated, not even for the just the sake of saying..O God, whenever you make me, make me hers..
~*~*~
He didn't remember how exactly he got to the hospital within minutes.. maybe because all those minutes he had been praying to the God up there whom he never believed, to grant him a last chance.. a few more minutes.
A life.
With every passing moment, his lifetime was running short and becoming a burden on himself..She couldn't be dead.
After building him up from the ashes.. she couldn't just go away.
No..no..no..no...
This had been his chant for the last few hours. This can't be happening.. he stumbled and ran towards the ICU.. Sameer noticed him and voiced out,
"Arjun.."
But Arjun was nowhere near stopping his pace.. he passed several people trying to restrain him from getting inside the ICU; including Sameer and the team. He barged in and stopped.
A cluster of doctors and nurses were surrounding her bed, blocking his view which only added to his misery. There were mumbling among the doctors..they were shaking their heads and sighing.
She's gone.. he dreaded when the doctors shot him wretched looks.. Arjun rubbed his eyes, harshly wiping the tears away. By then Sameer and rest of them had entered. Sameer dreaded the same and put a hand on Arjun's shoulder.
Another nurse walked in bringing the white sheets..obviously to cover up her dead body. Dead.. Arjun cringed out at that and croaked, "No..you're not dead."
He'd been on the floor by now if Sameer wasn't behind him.She was dead.
His voice grabbed the doctors attention and they walked towards him in unison. One of the doctors patted him on his shoulder while he noticed her pale body lying in a pool of wires and needles. Arjun couldn't look at the doctor knowing well that the doctor would tell him about her time of death, cause and a sorry which wouldn't mean anything.
"Bohot brave hai.. maut se bhi lad padi..aur jeet bhi gayi." Arjun heard the doctor saying.. confused and shocked he looked upto the doctors to see them smiling.
Stunned.. he stared at her bed while the doctor went on saying how she survived.. he couldn't concentrate enough on their words.. "missed by half an inch".. "she's a fighter".. "miracle" words and sentences like these were thrown on there somewhere.
A chorus of relieved sighs and "thank you" were sent.. Sameer wiped his eyes and held Ayesha's hand who was weeping, hiding her face on the croak of his neck. He turned to look at his other team members and actually chuckled.
Shree and chotu both were howling like little kids and Liza was having a tough time controlling her laughter and them, as they were using her petite shoulder to cry on. Ek six feet ka aadmi aur techie with chashma jab fut fut k rote hai toh bohot cute lagte hai!
Sameer nudged Arjun to go in first as only a person at time can be in."Hum bahar hi hai."
He smiled at his friend and was happy after a long.. he knew how hard it must be for him but yet, he couldn't ever imagine the pain Arjun must have been going through.. that too, for a second time.
Taking the nudge as a cue, Arjun slowly walked towards her bed. He was scared.. scared because he couldn't believe it was real.. that she was actually in front of him.. breathing even though using quite a few pipes but she was alive and not dead.
An older nurse smiled at his horrified face and touched him gently on the arms giving him an assuring nod as if affirming his thought.. that she was actually there.. with him.
Arjun slowly took her form in.. as if capturing every single details of her, still afraid that it just must be a dream and he would wake up the next moment with her being gone.
She looked so tiny and fragile.. so unlike her real self; fierce, brave and kind. Her face was pale.. confirming how drained she must be.. there was a bruise, pink and raw on her left cheek.
Must be from when Sikander had slapped her hard.. Arjun's jaw tightened. He closed his eyes, trying to rewind the time so that he could go back kill that ba*tard before he hurt her.
He softly ran the back of his right point finger over the bruise.. expecting her to wince and wake up to yell the daylight out of him. He was excited to even deal with her tantrums right now, but Alas, she lay still.
Panic rose within him and he frantically shot for her hand.. taking her other good hand which wasn't attached with IV's.. he felt for her pulse. He searched for her pulse and finding none, he glanced at the heart monitor. "She's fine." A voice soothingly told him from behind.
He turned to see a young girl in a doctors uniform making her way to him, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Doctor.. her pulse.. mujhe..woh" He practically stammered. She just smiled and did her check-up on Saakshi.
"Relax. She's fine, trust me. Inhe bas hosh mein aane mein thodi time lagegi." She re-assured him. "And raha sawal pulse ki.." cutting him short, "she's just weak.. isiliye aapko feel nehi hua. But her vitals are getting stronger, woh bohot jald theek ho jayegi."
"She's a fighter. Trust me on that."
Arjun let out the breath he didn't even remember holding back. He nodded at the doctor and she patted him on his back, "Kuch unusual ho to iss button press kar dena, someone will come in. Go ahead and pull her back from her beauty sleep." She grinned at him and left.
Arjun slid back to the sit beside her bed and took her hand on his. He ran his thumb over her wrist, finding her pulse point.. feeling how warm it was getting with every second. But he kept doing so.. over and over again. Maybe it was his way to finally accepting that she was here.. she didn't leave him. She kept her promise.
A muffled sound came out from his throat and he tasted his tears.. and this time, it was out of relief and joy.
If hospitals have seen tears and grief, they sure have seen miracles too. A new baby born - a new life coming to this world.. a man leaving with a surreal heart.. A cancer patient surviving.. and his only hope coming back to life.. all a miracle by some unseen force.
So who was he to deny it?
Taking her hand in his both of his, Arjun lifted his head and said, "Thank you."
~*~*~
Oh, she wanted to open her eyes.. but she was too tired. She felt a overflow of oxygen and wondered if she was placed under a tree or something.Urghh.. she groaned; feeling like she had just ran a 8k race and got dropped on her butt.
Yes, her butt hurt.. like really really bad.
She wanted to tell that to the voices that were talking beside her along with the beeps and bells.But how can she talk about her butt to her chief?
Chi..chi
"Arjun.. ghar jaake change karke aao." Sameer told him for the 100th time in last 10 hours. Arjun didn't even move from the hospital neither he slept. He got his wounds dressed after getting verbal warning from Sameer and ate a sandwich chotu had brought.
Arjun totally ignored him.. as usual and glanced at the heart monitor. Noting her risen heart beat, he nudged Sameer towards it. Sameer rolled his eyes at him. "Relax, she must be stirring in her dream or something. Yeh normal rate hai, chart pe likkha hai."
"Then why isn't she waking up?" Arjun groaned.
"Give her a break Rawte. Usse daante bina tumhara khana hazam nehi hota kya?" Sameer chuckled. "Huh.. funny!" Arjun deadpanned.
"But most probably because you stink.. seriously, go home, shower and get some rest. Tabtak hum sab yaha hai." Sameer teased him, chuckling.
Saakshi wanted to laugh out loud.. imagining what infamous glare Arjun must be shooting at Sameer.
Then the voice became fizzy again.. and felt herself falling in a deep abyss.But she really wanted to know if he'd agreed to Sameer, though.
~*~*~
The next time she came back, Saakshi could actually open her eyes a little. She flattered her eyes, adjusting to the lights that were coming through the window.
She tried to yawn but her jaw hurt as well as her side. "Kis kambaqt ne tractor chalaya mujhpe?" She groaned inwardly.
"Saakshi!" An urgent voiced called out to her.. from a far, it seemed though. She knew that voice well enough.. aur kaun? Khadoos hi hoga.
She tried to open her eyes again and managed to open a millimeter. An unfocused white silhouette is what she could see through her drowsy eyelids.. but it didn't take the genius inside of her to realize who it must be.
Par, yeh Raavan itna heavenly angel kabse bann gaya? She chuckled at her own thought.
"Saakshi." He called out, softly. "Hmmm." She hummed but then the nerves residing on her brain bee-lined for a break and she fell asleep.. again.
Arjun waited patiently for her to open her eyes and look at him but she felt asleep again.
Come on Saakshi, get up already! He groaned rather pleaded her. But beauty queen was nowhere near mercy.
~*~*~
Arjun tucked the sheet neatly around her side, taking full care to avoid the bandaged side.After he was satisfied with her neat and clean fluffy pillows and sheets, he leaned down.. but stopped himself before his lips could touch her forehead.
He straightened up, feeling a punch in his heart.
She deserved better than this.She deserved better than him.
So he touched her cheek ever so lightly before walking towards the window.He looked outside.. gazing at the sea, shimmering under the moonlight.
So calm.. yet shattering waves trying to get to the horizon. But no matter how hard they try, they'll never get to the horizon.
Just like him.
Her presence gave him solace.. something he craved for so badly.What was this undefined tie that bonded her to him, he didn't know.
He needed her, that's all he knew.But then again, he couldn't have her to himself.. not in the future.
And it scared him.
-*~*-
Har kahaani mein, saare kisson meinDil ki duniya ke sachche rishton meinZindagani ke saare hisson meinTu likh de mera use
Edited by despicable_me - 10 years ago
