Of broken hearts | Ishqbaaaz (Chapter 3)

CHAPTER THREE

THE MISERY OF LOSING YOU

Shivaay’s phone buzzed. He opened his eyes and picked up his phone. Squinting his eyes, he saw the caller ID ‘Om’. He sighed, Om must be worried about him. Even though he didn’t see a reason to be worried but he knew his brother was. He picked up the call and held it to his ear.

“How are you feeling?” he heard Om’s calm voice from the other end yet he could hear the slight note of panic in his voice.

“I’m fine, don’t worry” Shivaay replied. He rubbed his temple. The aftereffects of medicine were starting to kick in. He was anything but fine.

He was becoming tired of lying but he didn’t want to trouble OmRu. They already had enough on their plate at the moment. They had their own lives. Om should be spending quality time with his wife, Gauri and Rudra should be getting married by now and yet here they were, worrying about him, Shivaay thought.

“Stop lying, Shivaay ” Om sighed. “I wish I was there for you… “

“Concentrate on your exhibition Om. I should be least of your worries right now”

“Shut it Shivaay. You know that I didn’t want to be here yet you forced me into this and you expect me to not worry about you when I know what you are going through?” Om hissed.

Nobody does, Shivaay thought. Nobody knows what it feels like.

Without her, his world didn’t end. It had simply stopped spinning. He was breathing yet he wasn’t living. Drowning himself in work didn’t help either. Sitting around wasn’t of help.

He didn’t know what he wanted to do anymore- everything seemed blurry without her. His life was messed up. There was this empty feeling in his heart, like a hole… where she had been. He felt lost… Empty… Broken. His heart was getting crushed in a million pieces. He tried and tried to hold himself together, collect the pieces of his broken heart but he couldn’t do it alone. He wanted her. He needed her.

She was all he needed.

And he knew when she will come back, everything will fall in place. She had this magical aura. She could set anything right. She guided him through whatever came in his way. She sticked to him through his thick and thins.

If only she will come back.

If only he had asked what was bothering her. If only he hadn’t let her go. If only he had held tighter.

None of this would have happened. They would have been happy, she would be here smiling.

“Om, this meant a lot to you-” Shivaay started but was cut off by Om.

“Shivaay nothing means more to me than family. Family matters the most to me- it always will. “

“I’ll call you later, I’m sleepy ” Shivaay lied. He didn’t want to continue this conversation. They exhausted him mentally.

He hung up and set the phone down. His eyes wandered to a piece of paper neatly folded, lying on the top of table. He picked it up. It was probably from the anonymous person again.

Things have changed, mister Oberoi, once she was your support system but now you need to be her support system.

She’ll need you more than anything.

~anonymous

Shivaay read the note twice, thrice but to no avail. Who was this anonymous? What did this anonymous know about his Anika? And what did he mean? What had happened to his Anika? Was she fine?

Shivaay’s head was buzzing with questions. And the place reminded him too much of Anika, which wasn’t helping either. He felt sick. Suffocated.

He stepped off the bed and plodded to the door. He turned the door knob and the fresh air greeted him. The corridor seemed to be quite empty.

Just then a nurse came out dashing from the ward in front of his own. She seemed horror struck. She ran and soon vanished from his sight.

He slowly walked to the ward from which the nurse had dashed out and enveloped the door knob. He didn’t know why but he wanted to go in there. His heart wanted him to.

Should I? He wondered.

His heart wanted him to and sometimes you should go where your heart wants to….

So he did. He opened the door and from what he could make out, there was a woman lying on the stretcher. Her body was making no movement.

“Is it true Sanskriti?” Shivaay heard some muffled voice from the corridor.

“Yes doctor. It’s doctor Anika ” he heard a female voice, who he assumed was Sanskriti.

“I can’t believe it. You mean as in doctor Anika- the wife of Mister Shivaay Singh Oberoi “

“Yes. I have seen her with my own eyes but she doesn’t seem to be in a very good condition doctor. “

“Very well then. We shall hurry up. And it’s good Mister Oberoi is here only. It will be easier to tell him directly than on phone. What is the ward number you were telling me?”

“Coincidence it is that it’s exactly opposite to Shivaay sir’s ward. “

Shivaay couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Anika. It was his Anika. His life.

He inched closer, taking small baby steps. Careful not to disturb the person.

The sight made his heart stop. Sure enough, lying there was his wife, Anika, who had been missing from past six months.