Words Count - 3300
Attached Song - Yaad hai.
__________
[

Neha Mehra]

3 months later ~

       "Khushi, Where's my tie?" I heard Viraj calling out for Kiara with the sweet nickname, he has chosen for her.

At an instant, Kiara came panting after a small marathon, she did from the garden of our house to their room,where he was standing. She was knotting the tie, around his neck.

I saw them getting all cosy and a red colour creeping up her cheeks as his his thumb caressed her cheeks.

Flashes from the camp, started to cloud over my vision. How he used to make me feel those unknown sensations in the pit of my stomach, without even doing anything, just by his mere brush of thumb over my cheeks. We could've been behaving the similar way, if not for his departure that day.

A clearing of throat dragged me out of my reverie. I turned to see Mom, sitting beside me as I was gazing at the couple, engaged in their own world in the the living hall.

"Don't you have to go to hospital today?" She asked in her usual stern tone, though this is the sweetest voice I've ever heard coming out of her.

" No, mom. Do I make a cup of tea for you?" I asked out of courtesy, which she declined and gestured me to sit beside her.

"Sit and talk it out." She pulled me beside her, making me sit down beside her.

"There's nothing like that, Mom." I answered, still fidgeting with the end of my kurti.

"You call me 'Mom', still dare to lie." She tried to look rude, but failed in attempting so, giving away her motherly love.

They can be strict and bossy, but still they are mothers at heart, who understand their child's trouble without being conveyed!

"If you are still struck on that idiotic son of mine, don't worry. He will come around some day and we both will surely take his good class. What say?" She proposed, to which I laughed out loud.

"Surely, Mom. But, when will he return?" I replied as my voice broke at the end with vulnerabilities. She patted my head softly and hugged me tightly.

"Soon enough." She said calmly and it really soothed my heart a little.

"Now, go and sleep. You don't want to scare him with your dark circles, do you?" She smiled faintly at me, and I nodded.

I stood up to retire to sleep, exactly at 11:00 pm. In this short span of three months, my usual cheery state is somewhat missing. I don't know, whom to prank with? I can't simply sleep, without his arms guarding me. Old habits die hard!

What have you done to me, Raaz?

I grumbled and laid on the bed, trying to sleep. At last, I slipped into slumber.

× ×

Exactly an hour later, I was sitting on the floor with my hand rubbing my forehead, panting really hard.

"How can he throw me out of this house like that?" I mumbled under my breath, still with droopy eyes aftermath a bad dream. As I scanned the room, I banged my head with my hands as soon as I realised that I fell from the bed myself.

"What the hell are you thinking, girl?" Chiding myself, I picked up the blanket that fell down the bed along with me. With that, I did some house chores and read some journals. Strolling through Raaz's big, wooden book shelf, I picked some books to kill my time. It was already around evening, so I got ready for my night duty, after filling my tummy.

Dr. Asmita, Dr. Arush, and Dr. Sabya were alongside me for the night duty today.

Dr. Asmita and Dr. Sabya got themself away for a balloon angioplasty, which was quite less riskier.

Dr. Arush joined me in a bypass surgery of a 45-years old, diabetic woman. It was quite a risky one, as she had high cholestrol and all the major complications, there could have been. She even smoked often, which added to another level of adversity.

The general anaesthesia was already given and I was ready to do the incision dressed in green sheets and the overhead light blazing on us.

The patient was already bathed in hibiclens containing chlorhexidine, last night to keep her body germ free till the surgery, to prevent further infection, post-open heart surgery.

No cardiopulmonary bypass machine was attached to her as it was an off- pump surgery. Step by step, we decoded the two blockages and repaired it, then sutured it back. With the completion of the surgery, I asked Dr. Arush to inform the patient's family about her situation and came to my cabin after freshening myself.

I saw Dr. Asmita, sitting on the canteen. Wait, they had an angioplasty to perform, right.

"Why are you here? There was your surgery now, isn't it?" I asked with a frown.

"Neha, it's cancelled for today. Actually, the patient's BP dropped down due to anxeity in the name of 'operation'. So, her surgery is rescheduled." She answered and I nodded.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you. Do join us in a party next week. It's my fiancè's birthday." She added and smiled at me.

"Tell him 'Happy Birthday' in advance. I will be there. Just ping me the venue and timing, Okay?" I told her gently, and waved at her lightly when a nurse called out for me.

There was a patient, whose heartbeat rate was abruptly dropping, I rushed towards the wards. When I saw him some hours before the surgery, he was fine. What happened so suddenly?

I checked his vitals and did the needful to normalise his heavy breathing due to the mild cardiac arrest. I turned back to drive home, which felt so isolated these days though it was full of men and women.

As the months passed away in the flip of the calender, a week too flew away in the very same fashion.

I miss you, Raaz.

×  ×

"You look stunning!" I got to listen the compliments of Kiara and Mom at the same time after they prepared me for the party tonight.

"Thank you for your efforts, girls!" I breathed out, bored of sitting for so long, while they did the endless strings of makeup on me.

"Try to come back soon. No drinking, Okay." Mom stated in a loud voice, while I was pushing in the black straps of my stiletoes around my ankle.

"Why would I, Mom?" I pouted at her which made her burst into a hearty laughter.

"Okay dramaqueen. Go now, you are getting late." She yelled and I ignited the engine of my car with the turn of the keys.

Asmita welcomed me into the club, along with Arun, her fiancè. I wished him and gifted him a small present. I met all my colleagues and some of the seniors too. The rest were their friends and close knitted young relatives.

I took a glass of watermelon juice and sipped on the straw, nonchalantly. I saw other female doctors approaching me and we finalised on a group dance.

Grabbing another glass of soft drink, I joined them and soon, we were dancing. I've never been a fan of loud pop music so, sidelining myself to a secluded corner, I patted on my heart to calm my throbbing heart.

But, as soon as something familiar caught my sight, my throbbing heart felt being torn apart with a knife.

What's going on?

[Surfraaz Mehta]

     "Why did you call me here?" I barked at the lady seated ahead of me, fully covered with a scarf and her eyes guarded by brown round goggles.

"Sit!" She ordered authoratively, though her voice was quite soft and sounded familiar.

I entered her car and sat beside her to know the reasons for which I blazed fire through my eyes.

"Uncle, drive towards the bar." She gently commanded and the driver uncle obliged.

"Why are we going to a damn bar, when you can say the reasons here?" I yelled at her and expected her to flinch, but in turn her cold reply shut me off.

"If you need the reasons, come or else, you are free to hop out of this car." She countered.

She grabbed the handle on the backside of the passenger seat as the car halted suddenly, near a bar. Her heavy bangles jingled a little and created echos in the closed compartment of the car.

She slowly got rid of the scarf and her white shirt came into view. As soon as, she took off her goggles, realisation dawned upon me. Ms. Maroon Hoodie!

"You are the one, I met that night, isn't it?" I asked and her eyebrows furrowed.

"Where?" She was puzzled. She was really enticing and those blue eyes were captivating alike her voice.

"Remember, trying to fix the pieces of life." As I finished saying, we both shared a smile. Her cute red button nose and her lips stretched out on recognition, it made me laugh after these tumultuous months.

"I am Dr. Surfraaz." I forwarded my hand as a gesture of friendship, forgetting the heated barking we had on each other, just a moment before.

"I am Dr. Priya Aggarwal." She rested her palm on mine, accepting it.

"By the way, you have a beautiful name." I complimented, to which, she reciprocated with a smile.

"Okay, let's get inside the bar. We have a long discussion due." She mumbled. Nodding, I followed her. It was the time to unravel those reasons.

The whole bar was blasting with loud music and a festive cake was adorning the center table, it seemed to be decorated for someone's special day. Priya brought a plate of sandwiches for us.

"Before telling you the reasons, what you need to know is that the man who shot Aisha is my best friend." She confessed with her eyes casted down.

Grasping the new found information, I shot up from my chair and glared at her, how could she be so selfish in hiding it from me.

She dared to inform it to me as if her best friend smeared cream on my Aisha's cheeks, when he freaking pushed my sister to fight with death.

"How dare he?" I croaked.

"Wha-" I was about to yell at her, but a sandwich that was shoved into my mouth gulped all my upcoming shoutings.

I glared at her again, to which she shot me another glare.

"Men will be men. Bloody Judgemental people, who always jump into conclusions." I heard her incoherent ramblings clearly.

"Why the hell did he shoot her? How dare he?" I grunted in a calm yet dangerous tone. But, calmed down as I felt a thumb caressing the epidermis of my fingers and holding them in a grip. I closed my eyes, sighing. I looked up to drown in those mesmerising electric blue eyes, beautifully winged by a thick black eyeliner. Those orbs had a deep centered pain and fear caged inside, which I had an urge to dive through.

"I do know how it feels to see your sister fighting with death. The fear you experience. The feeling of worthlessness, you feel, not able to save her and see them struggling, but still, you can't just grab them in your arms and assure them that they will heal soon. Even after doing everything you can to retrieve them back to life, you fail. At last, losing them, you lose a part of yourself and your soul subsides to be numb forever." Her palm tightened around my fingers with each words as she controlled the violently erupting tears which were begging her to come out.

I could feel her every word. The way my hands were shaking while operating on Aisha and wiping her blood and pulling out the bullet from the depth of her tissues. The bullet had just scratched and passed through her upper tissue of heart. I was still terrified at the fact that just a mili-inch of difference would have made the bullet pierce her septum. But after all these efforts, I failed.

I was still looking at her eyes and swimming in those ocean of brimming raw emotions. She clutched her eyes shut, her upper lashes were already wet and the nook of her right eye was all set to shed a pearl of tear.

Leaving my hand, she immediately wiped her tears, trying to safeguard her vulnerable side. I felt something crawling down my cheek, wiping it off, I realised that I was also giving her company.

"Come, I will show you something." She stood up from her place and I had no idea, why I pulled her to me and hugged her, patting her head. She was just like a long lost friend. Her arms coiled around me with a small distance, demarcating us. I could feel her trembling as if something in her was breaking, but she soon retarded as she realised our closeness.

I heard a ear-piercing sound of shattering of glass from my east. Before I could turn to see who it was, Priya asked me to follow her and I did, ignoring that noise.

She stopped a half metre away from a person, who was busy drinking the whole bottle, maybe thinking of it as the elixir of life.

"He is my bestfriend, IPS Niel Khuranna. The one with best track record of encounters and decoding the warfare of the crookest of thieves is busy breaking his records of drinking every day. The only reason for his behaviour is because he had to kill his love for the sake of his country." I saw her seeing that man named Niel, with crossed arms.

"What does it mean? My Aisha is not a terrorist to be killed." I sighed, irritated as the picture of her whole body draped in blood came into my vision. The way she was trembling and those dried trails of tears. The way I kept looking at her those last 3 months when she was in comma, it was definitely a comma for us, that was so close to a full stop.

"He saw Aisha conversing with one of the terrorist, unknown of her disguised identity. A lot more happened. But, the thing which is important is they need each other to heal and recover. " She thoroughly explained but, that was not so appealing for me.

"Why do you think I will entrust my sister with someone who almost killed her?" I asked her back, demanding an answer.

"No, I will not because it is not my place to do anything in their case. It's their own life. I am not asking you for a chance for my best friend, but I want you give him a chance to prove himself to you and rest of the matter rests on Aisha's decision." I heard her part and thought of it.

I will give him a chance if he loves my sister so much, forgetting what he did but only if Aisha agrees.

"Let Aisha decide." I kept my point and she nodded.

"I think they will reconcile. They are made for each other." She smiled with hope glistening in her eyes.

Bidding her a goodbye, I called Dr. Smruti to hear about Aisha's current status. Hearing that everything is fine, I hopped into the car and drove to my home, precisely, after less than one-third of a year.

I knew, Mom would be enraged, Viraj Bhai would be annoyed, Kiara Bhabhi would be worried, and she ...

Would she be missing me?

I came out of my daze as I saw a similar figure standing by my extreme left. Pressing on the brakes, I halted the car after a brief distance of deceleration.

I closed the distance between us, the light and gingerly drizzles were swaying the eucalyptus branches gently, allowing the soothing breeze guide me to her. Doesn't it give me enough reason to be a pluviophile?

Rounding my arms around her waist from behind, I rested my chin on her shoulder, inhaling her lavender scent. The feeling was extravagantly heavenly !

This was what I missed in all these 1,39,680 minutes.

I turned her to face me and saw her eyeliner completely ruined and her tears spoiling it even more.

"Eww, from when did my Angry Bird became a cry baby, huh? Who made my Poco loco cry?" I cooed her, correcting her smeared eye liner with my hanky.

"Hey, won't you say anything to me?" I asked her, to which, she shook her head as a no. I would be lying if I say that I wasn't disappointed.

I had thought, she will atleast run to hug me and say something as simple as a "I missed you."

But, that's okay. Maybe, I expected a little too much.

Shrugging off all the emotions of discontent, I looked at her supine visage, that seemed to seek solitude yet an accompany.

"Why do you look so sad? I know, your oxytoxin and serotonin level has decreased drastically. But, no need to worry, I am here now, it will be regained to its earlier level by tomorrow morning." I naughtily winked at her, but still there was no response from her side.

It was already past 8 in the evening, so I asked her to sit beside me and we drove off to our home. It was too calm for a ride home.

Is she so unhappy for my return that she can't even smile at me, even flaunt a fake one?

Swallowing a lump of humiliation down my throat, I turned on the radio FM. It was casting an ongoing show by RJ Sarav. A conversation with one of the national bestsellers author in India, Vipul Gupta.

Though the conversation went on with his early state of writing and other hobbies. But, as he was asked about his favourite lines from any book, he replied :

"My bounty is boundless as the sea,
   My love as deep,
  The more I give to thee,
   The more I have.
   For both are infinite."
                     ~ Romeo & Juliet by W. Shakespeare.

I was looking into her eyes as she was snoring lightly, being in her dreamland resting her head on the car window shield.

Reaching our house, I parked the car in our garage and picking her up in my arms, I entered our home to see Maa siting on the sofa of our living room.

Before she could say anything, I mouthed, " tomorrow" and moved inside our room to place her on the bed. I was too tired so, without caring about having dinner, I called it a night.

Hugging her close to my chest, I felt home. Instantly, I slipped into a slumber, surrounded my her frangrance. I wouldn't be sad to be diagnosed being a clinomaniac!

× ×

It hadn't been even half of my sleep when my alarm went off. Groggily, I turned it off and moving my head, I placed a lingering kiss on her forehead. Siding the blanket off my body, I put my foot on the cold marble floor.

A tug on my shirt collar grabbed me back to the bed and a tight sting landed on my cheek.

She slapped me hard!

•••

Hey Readers,

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See you on the next update. Bye, take care.

Love,
Biswa❤️