Dedicated to everyone who read this story till the end, those eleven people who voted for the updates and the six who had taken time to leave a feedback  .

Three Months Later

Gauri woke up that day with same dread as the past one month , she walked to his room and saw his pale face and inched near him to see if he was still breathing and let out a sigh when he did just like the last two weeks .

Then turned to find Marcus , the forty year old caretaker,  Arun hired to take care of him ,looking at her with compassion as she continued to struggle with accepting the inevitable. 

As she stepped outside his room , Marcus followed her and so she turned to see if he had anything to say about last night.

" He is in pain mam ,and letting him go will be the kindest thing for him,  " he spoke up,  and walked back inside but why does he fail to understand she wasn't ready to lose him forever .

She knew he was in pain , she knew how much struggle it has been for him to eat or even sleep . And she knew how much it hurts him to not be able to lift his son anymore ,she know all of that and yet she didn't want to let him go. 

She walked inside her son's room to see him still asleep with a tear stained face and her heart broke all over again , he sensed the change in atmosphere at the house and it was getting harder for her everyday to get him bid goodnight to Arun as he refused to leave his father's side.

As she stepped into the kitchen ,she found it was already occupied by her mother. She had been Gauri rock the past two weeks and without her support Gauri would have probably collapsed under the stress of everything .

" Coffee ?" her mother asked, as she poured a cup for her and placed it gently in her arms before continuing to cook.

" Dad called ?" she asked,  after a sip trying to keep her mind fixed on mundane conversation at the moment .

" No ,we talked last night . He is at work. Apparently there had been an homicide and Ishaan is at Meera's house,  " her mother answered back,  as she flipped through the stack of pancakes which was Rahul's favorite.

" How did you do it maa ,send dad out for work everyday with the knowledge he deals with criminals and murders on every day basis. I know it got better when he was promoted that he wasn't on the field anymore but that was not the case when you got married ,  "  Gauri spoke up , wondering how her mother survived through it. 

For Gauri ,she always considered her father as a hero that she never actually thought of the perils he can get into in the line of fire. 

" Gauri, danger doesn't lie in your chosen career alone. It everywhere around us and death comes in all forms as well. The only way to survive is to accept the risks that comes with it, it was the first thing your father  told me before asking me to marry him.  That I need to be strong enough to accept the risks that comes along with his job,  " her mother spoke up,  leaving her with new found knowledge about her parents .

" And beta, no one can ever be prepared to face death of their loved ones. We all learn to live with the grief because that is the way of life,  " her mother spoke up , at her silence and before she could respond Marcus walked out of Arun room and one look at his face , she was running back to his room .

" Maa, Wake Rahul up, "  she called out to her mother,  as she rushed inside the room to find Arun, short of breath .

" I am here Arun ,right here , " She answered back , as she held his hand tightly intertwined with hers looking at him without falling apart. Then her mom entered holding a sleeping Rahul right beside her who looked scared to see his father sick that he hid his face in his grandmother shoulder.

" Rahul, dad is fine . Relax Gauri not yet,   " he spoke up,  which made her son turn back to him and Gauri relaxed as well when his breathing returned back to normal, yet another false alarm that only came as a breath of relief to her. 

Her mother took Rahul out with the promise of pancakes while Marcus shift ended and  he left after confirming that the  day time caretaker Tarun was on the way,  which left Gauri alone with Arun in the meantime.

" You can't keep doing it all the time , I don't want Rahul to be scared every single time , I said everything I need to tell to the little one. Next time don't bring him inside the room and promise me you won't let him see me after as well, I may have not been able to protect him from seeing me get sick everyday but I rather not traumatized him with death at such an young age,  " he spoke up ,those sentence were hardly clear as his voice lost the strength but she got what he meant as she could only nod her head in answer .

" What about me , you haven't said anything to me. I know, you talked with mom ,dad ,Ishaan and Rahul but you haven't said a word to me ,why didn't I get no parting words,  " she asked , unable to let go of the terror she felt an hour ago.

" Because I don't know what to say to you Gauri, what could possibly make it bearable to you. There is so much I can say but none will lessen your pain, " he answered back,  which only made her cry all the more ,tears seemed to be her constant companion this last one week. 

" Uff again ,you are crying . Poor Arun married to you ." the familiar voice of Tarun ,  broke out the tension in the room ,he was total opposite of Marcus who was a simply a strong silent support while tarun  believed infusing laughter to his patients was the best way to help them .

Gauri was fortunate that those two were around because she would be at loss without them , " Get out and don't come back in unless you have my coffee . " Tarun  spoke up,  earning a chuckle of laughter from Arun that she was glad to leave even for a short awhile ,even if her heart was still inside the room wondering about him 24*7.

                      ******************

" Honestly I get why she cries every single day ,you haven't once told her that you love her in the last three months I have been working for you  . What wife could possibly not want to hear it from their husband who is dying , " Tarun  kept speaking , and it was like he has no stop button once he started which was why Marcus was the perfect solution in night as Arun wouldn't have  been able to get the few hours of sleep if Tarun was on night duty.

" She knows how I  feel,  " Arun replied back,  as Tarun set everything in place and proceeded  to help him wash , it was at times like this when his body is too weak to even do the mundane tasks ,the knowledge of death threatens to overwhelm him .

" Yes ,she does but you still can tell her once , " Tarun  spoke up,  in his usual way where he tend to believe that he understands humans better but he was off the mark when it comes to Gauri and him .

What Gauri needed wasn't the words that he couldn't possible mean ,what she needed was someone she can say those words to and who can say it back to her unlike him .

And he had made sure it will happen in her near future and all he can hope is the man who she loves won't let her down ,  he did everything he could possibly do as a friend and as a father to Rahul but making Gauri truly happy wasn't something that he can do even if he wished for it .

Arun had plenty of time in his hands to contemplate life and he hoped that he had chosen wisely for Gauri and Rahul's sake.

And then it hit him ,the sudden sleepiness , he was sure it will forever lock him from waking up ever again .Somehow he knew this will probably be the last, that he asked Tarun  to call Gauri .

" Finally you have come to your senses , tell your wife that you love her and she will be able to let you go , I will even give you both a moment if privacy, "  Tarun answered back,  as he covered him with the blanket and went to fetch his wife whose face lost the color once she noticed him .

" Tell Archana , you love her and she will probably forgive you for your driving skills. Tell Riya ,she got a little brother named Rahul who will miss you every single day .

And Arun , Thank you for saving my life and I just don't mean that night . You were the reason I am alive until now , so let go of your guilt at least now because your saved my life and Rahul's life. Our son is lucky to have you as his father even if it was for a short awhile and I will forever be grateful for having a friend like you  " Gauri had been the one with the parting words when it really came down the clock .

"And I think it time for you to let go of the past as well  Gauri , and I hope you  can find your happiness with someone you  love  and tell Rahul that I love him and that I am sorry to leave him soon,  " Arun  spoke up , and then said no more as the  silence slowly  engulfed the room amidst her tears that fell freely.  As Arun Prasad long fought battle ends .

In the silence of the room ,Gauri Prasad bid goodbye to her friend , her husband and the father of her son . A man who had been like a guardian angel to her when she was surrounded by darkness and couldn't see a way out of the pain.

P.S :" The End  . Let me know your thoughts and feedbacks. Hit the votes if you liked it "

Juanita Reid