Thank you so much for all the comments. I’m fine now. I don’t know whether you will like the chapter or not but I tried my best. So here is the next chapter :
Life is strange. Isn’t it? The moment you think everything is under your control, your life suddenly flips out and you are left wondering.
Perched on a chair outside the ICU, head down with both hands gripping the hair in a tight hold, all he can do is regret.
Grief makes a monster out of us sometimes….and sometimes you say and do things to the people you love that you can’t forgive yourself for.
The ugly feeling of guilt was eating him out.
If only he would have turned back. He could’ve seen her calling out to him.
She wouldn’t have been here if only he would have kept his emotions in check.
She…..His Angel.
He vowed before, that he’ll never let her be hurt again.
Alas!! Here she is.
Her frail body attached to several wired machines as a slow but steady beap resonate through the room every once in a while.
He can’t lose her.
Seeing her unconscious body create the illusions of past.
His breathing came out in short breaths as a de ja vu washed over him and wrecked havoc on his thoughts and feelings, bringing back the memories he tried so hard to bury somewhere deep within him, for them to never return back.
Life is never that easy the much we expect.
He knew that thought beforehand. But it never occurred to him that everything he knew, he has, will drastically overturn that fateful day.
The voices from the past arose like ghosts, demanding to be heard.
*******///////
FLASHBACK :
“Mumma.” Whimpered an eight year old boy, terrified to the bones as another loud bang boomed loudly through the entire house.
The sound of a door being shut.
“Ssh Baccha. You’re mumma’s brave boy right? No need to be afraid. Mumma is here with you. But we have to be very quiet for now okay? You will do that right?” Whispered the lady in a low tone in the fear of their location being traced.
“I’m a good boy Mumma. But where is dad?”
Her breath hitched in her throat as the sounds of approaching footsteps reached her ears.
Collecting the last bit of strength left, she gently cupped her son’s face. Resting her forehead on his, she closed her eyes as tears trickled down her cheeks.
Placing a gentle kiss on his forehead, she savoured as many moments as she could as a soft smile graced her lips which immediately calmed the nerves of little Sanskar.
“Mumma will always love you baby. Never forget that.” Patting his cheek lightly, she continued, “Now you have to do something for Mumma okay?”
The little boy nodded his head, eager to fulfill his mother’s wish.
The lady smiled at him through teary eyes.
“You would’ve to hide inside the closet okay? And promise me Sanskar that no matter what, you will not come out.”
“I promise but you’ll also be there with me right?” Tilting his head slightly, he asked nervously.
She was about to answer when the gruff voice of a man shouted.
“Find them anyhow. I know they are hidden somewhere here only”.
Listening to the voice she panicked.
Sprinting to the closet she made him sit in the farthest corner and covered him with clothes so that no one will be able to recognize.
Just then the door got knocked down and entered a man in his late thirties followed by three others.
“Oh look at that. Whom do we have here?” Mocked the man with a smirk.
“Dhiren.” Spitted the woman as if his name was an acid on her tongue.
“The very one.” He smiled a cruel smile.
“Now I’m not here to play games. Let’s keep it simple and straight. You’ve two choices. Either be a mistress to me or simply die”.
“Never. I would rather die than cheating on my husband”. Her voice laced with venom.
“Okay then.” He aimed the gun at her.
Sanskar who was witnessing everything from the slight ajar space got frightened. His heart drop and he was about to come to his mother’s rescue when she shook her head in negative which went unnoticed by the four buff men.
“You see your husband snatched away everything from me. He has everything. Business, respect, money and family.”
“You were supposed to be mine. That business belonged to me. But that ba****d took all of that away and now he’ll pay”. He all but shouted.
“They were never yours to begin with and I-”
Before another word could be exchanged further, an ear-splitting noise rang in throughout the room accompanied by a loud thud.
“Your choice then.”
With that the four men marched out of the room leaving behind a dead woman shot straight on her forehead, with an evil smirk unknown to a pair of wide, fearful eyes peaking through the keyhole who watched the whole ordeal with a baited breath.
SILENCE.
Silence is valued every once in a while.
When things are too much to handle, you become quiet to process everything that is happening so you can fix it. When you don’t feel like being bothered, you live in silence so people don’t come close to you. When things don’t go your way, the silence is there to comfort you because no one else can.
However, the silence can be deafening. Though nothing is being heard and no one is there to bother you, you live in your head. Pondering about everything to nothing.
The silence in the room was nothing compared to the quietness inside of him.
The feeling of emptiness as the innocent eight year old child stared at the soulless eyes of his mother peering straight at him.
At that moment he felt nothing.
No grief.
Neither sadness nor pain.
He just continued to stare at the lifeless body of his mother for what could be considered seconds, minutes or hours he can’t comprehend.
They say death hurts. But losing the one dearest to you is something far worse.
Sometimes you have to realize that although some people can stay in our hearts, they cannot afford to stay in our lives forever”.
And it took him years to accept the bitter truth.
*******////////
“Mr. Maheshwari.” A voice interrupted his chain of thoughts.
Those thoughts are blades, and there is no point reopening the cuts.
He sighed. Looking up he was met with a concerned doctor.
“Look Mr. Maheshwari I don’t like to sugarcoat things. Ms. Suryavanshi’s condition is stable for now but she still is not completely out of danger. You are well aware about her medical condition. We will discharge her after 48 hours but mind my words sir. Her body is not enough to handle the trauma again and I’m sorry to say it will be hard for us to save the patient next time.”
Sitting on a stool beside her he gently caressed her hair with the fingers of their right hands intertwined together.
Placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand, he whispered, “You are going to be okay baby. No one is ever going to hurt you and I’ll make sure of that. I know I broke my promise twice but not again. This time I swear on my last my breath Angel, I’ll protect you from anything and everything”.
The black orbs of his held a promise behind them.
A barely visible smile tugged onto his lips as he looked at the girl laying before him.
An Angel that had him enchanted from the first sight.
With midnight black hair and shiny black hues, full of life and innocence that seem to enrapture his soul every time they stare back at him.
With this Angel, the energy he needed to jump start his heart never stopped. No matter how much time he spent with her, every single time she is something different. Something new.
Each of her words are precious – her laughter a remedy.
She is just like a little child. Scared and in need of protection.
He lost too much in his life. But he WILL NOT lose her.
‘Together and forever’ they promised each other and “together and forever they will be”.