If someone had asked Kabir, what perfect life meant for him, Kabir even in his wildest dreams wouldn't have thought let alone believed life could ever be perfect for him! He would've said perfect life would be one where his parents were together and for once weren't fighting or maybe where his sister would've been alive, or anything, but what his life was now.

His life, Dr. Kabir Thapar's life was perfect! Everything was just perfect in his life. His parents were happy together. His family at last, after loads of struggles was one, once again! His professional was going great. He had won multiple accolades for his work. And his love life, well it was amazing. His fiancée Anaisha, had returned at the end and finally their temporary separation was over. And Kabir was very much happy for it. And why wouldn't he? After all Anaisha's return meant, their marriage! Yes, marriage!

After they got engaged on her birthday, their families decided that as soon as Anaisha returns, they'll traditionally get these two engaged in a grand engagement ceremony followed by marriage in a couple of month's time. Though Kabir fruitlessly tried to reason out that he and Anaisha don't need a grand ceremony, they'd be more happy with a simple and intimate engagement ceremony with just a few people. But their families didn't pay heed to them as they told him, he and Anaisha, both were only kids (as Kabir's the only child of his parents and Anaisha's the only girl child of her parents), so their families wanted their marriage to be grand in every way and would appreciate it more if Kabir and Anaisha cooperated. Kabir had to half heartedly agree.

But he soon recovered from it when Annie assured him that what mattered was that they were getting married, and the number of guests doesn't matter as it would be their day, and only they mattered.

Though Anaisha herself wanted to keep it low, knowing well Kabir would prefer a simple low key marriage, but she was happy with whatever her family had decided. For her, getting married to Kabir was more important.

Before meeting Kabir, Annie had many dreams regarding her marriage, a filmy, fairytale sort of wedding. But her relationship with Kabir, changed her outlook for many things, one of them being the aspect of fairytales. She believed in them, but she knew her life was far better than anything. And certainly, for her, marrying Kabir was far more important than having a 'Big Fat Indian Wedding'! But then how could she make her parents unhappy, after all they had so many dreams for their only daughter's wedding. So she agreed to whatever they wanted to do.

Surely enough, things were just getting back to routine as it had been almost two months since Anaisha returned back to her home and Kabir. At first, it was a little awkward for her get back to her life but with time she did. There were many things which changed this time too, like now Anaisha was an aunt, to her darling six months old nephew, Kanan, or she was a sister-in-law to her Aashi Didda's hubby Viren or that she and Zaina were officially related to each other, or like she and Kabir were engaged.

And it's not just the relationships, Anaisha as a person was much different than who she was before. A much mature and calmer person, she was much more stable now in terms of temper. A little credit for which goes to Kabir. Well, as opposed to this, Kabir was more talkative and carefree now, so that's make them even and balanced.

On the professional front, Anaisha managed to get the job of Dr. Anuj Oberoi's intern. She considered it her luck that just when she was about to apply for a job in NLHRC, Dr. Anuj's old intern was resigning the job for higher studies. She quickly applied for it and to her amazement got it too. Though she got to know later that Kabir had already to requested Anuj to offer Anaisha an internship under himself and Anuj being Kabir's close friend, agreed since Anaisha's record was well known to him and he was more than happy to get her as an intern.

Apart from her, Yuvraj's dream came true when Kabir offered to mentor him and offered the post of an intern under him. Yuvraj without wasting a minute, he quickly accepted it. He was very happy as he'd be working under his idol.

And well he was even more happy as even after three years, he and Neha were together and had no issues even though they were in different departments in different branches of the hospital.

Unlike Yuvraj and Anaisha, Rhea got her job in the new branch of NLHRC, though she wasn't much happy as it meant again making new friends and adjusting. But her worries vanished when she got to know that Neha was with her in that branch.

Shivam had applied for a job in NLHRC's new branch, after he got to know Rhea was there but Kabir playing the evil brother, made sure Shivam and Rhea don't get job in the same hospital as he won't be there to monitor Shivam. But poor Kabir had to give his plan up as Annie got to know this. And because of Annie's intervention, Shivam got internship under a senior doctor in orthopaedics department.

Only one person didn't return to India as his darling girlfriend was still in Boston and Nikhil didn't have the heart to leave her alone. Piyali convinced him to go back as it wasn't right for him to stay back with her like that. After much argument, Nikhil agreed to return back, half heartedly, as he feared for losing her. But this pain was for some time as Piyali soon was getting transferred to Delhi and would be back with Nikhil. Nikhil then joined NLHRC as Dr. Aashika's intern.

So in a nutshell, everyone was happy. Things were fine and life was getting on track. Some were back to their loves, some were fulfilling their dreams. Life was surely a happy journey now, but till when? Because obviously, no one knows which turn life would take next!

It was around eight in evening, when Kabir heard a knock on his door. He had just gotten free after a six hours long surgery. He was sitting in his chair, going through the file of one of his patients he had operated a few days back. Not bothering to look up from his file, he said blankly, "Come in!"

Sister Dimly came inside the room with files in her hands. She went towards Kabir's table and said, "Sir, these are the test reports you have asked for. Should I keep it here?"

Kabir looked up from his file and replied, "Yeah okay Sister Dimpy, keep it here only. And if you could then please tell Dr. Yuvraj to check on my patient in room no. 203. If there's any need for a sedative then give it to him, he's still a post operative."

Sia nervously nodded and said, "Sure sir!"

Kabir mumbled, "Thank you!" He resumed reading his file.

Sia was leaving from there when Kabir asked, "Sister Dimpy, could you do me one favour?"

"Y-Yes y-yes s-sir!" said a stuttering Dimpy. Though Kabir had spoken in a normal voice, but still for Dimpy it was heavenly. She was still in awe of this doctor who was officially taken by Dr. Anaisha 'Soon-to-be-Thapar' Gujral.

Ignoring her stutter, Kabir said with a straight face, "If you find Anais.. I mean Dr. Anaisha on your way, then please tell her to meet me. Her pager isn't working I guess."

Dimpy's expression changed from merry to disdain but she didn't show it. She nodded and replied in as normal tone as she could manage, "Sure Dr. Kabir. I'll tell her."

"Thank you!" Kabir mumbled and again resumed reading his file.

Sister Dimpy left from there, grumbling to her own self. If one thing that hadn't changed over the years, then it was, Dimpy's dislike for Anaisha. Though Anaisha was completely cool with her. Dimpy strongly disliked Anaisha and thought she wasn't good for Kabir even though the entire hospital looked at Anaisha with high regards as she was the only person who was responsible for this always (genuinely) smiling Kabir. But as they say, something can never change, so was Dimpy's equation with Anaisha.

As Dimpy left, Kabir felt really tired and keeping his file aside, he removed his glasses. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair to relax.

Since he was very exhausted, he didn't know when sleep took over him and within few minutes he was peacefully sleeping. But poor Kabir couldn't sleep more as his sleep was broken by a squealing beauty who had literally barged into his office, squealing all the while.

"Kabir! Kabir! Kabir! You know what????" Anaisha squealed enthusiastically.

Kabir opened his eyes and replied in a sarcastic tone, "If I know, then would you spare my ears? You know I already feel my eardrums rupture."

Anaisha scowled at him and sat in front of him. Keeping her fist on the table, she said in an angry tone, "You're such a spoilsport Kabir! Hey Bhagwan, why did you made me fall for this oldie?"

Kabir chuckled slightly and played along with her, "You know, I as well keep asking him why did he gave me ears when he already planned to make me fall for you and get my ears ruptured."

Anaisha threw the paper weight at him, which Kabir skillfully catched in his hands. She glared at him and then made a face. She sometimes was glad when Kabir was silent and reserved. This new and changed Kabir sometimes got on her nerves too much, especially when he keeps pulling her legs. 'You turned him into a playful monster Anaisha. Now bear with him!'

Seeing her not speak to him, Kabir got up from his chair and went to kneel down beside her. Taking her hand in his, muttered lovingly, "Waise you know, apart from you, I would never allow anyone to rupture my eardrums, because I know even if I become deaf, you'll be with me!"

Anaisha smiled slightly and replied with fake arrogance, "Of course I will after all I'm so great!"

Kabir chuckled on hearing that and Anaisha joined him as well. Once done laughing, Kabir asked Anaisha, "Acha now tell me what you wanted to me to know."

Anaisha smiled a big smile and chirpily said, "You know Lehar Bhabhi went for shopping today to buy a lovely dress for my darling Kanan for our Roka. And she just WhatsApped me the picture of the dress she has chosen for him."

She took out her phone from her jeans' pocket and continued while showing the picture to him, "Bhabhi chose a dress which matches my Lehenga. How cute is that! Kanan will look so cute and adorable in this dress."

Kabir took the phone from her hand and looked at the picture of a baby replica of a three piece formal suit. He smiled and said admiringly, "Yes he will, after all he's just like his Bua."

Anaisha nodded happily and replied, "Yes yes! He's so cute like me. I wonder how cute our kids would be? Or would they be like you, grumpy?" She stuck out her tongue at him and then laughed seeing his not so pleased face.

"I'm not grumpy! I've always been polite and calm, unlike you. And you know what, whomever I kids go on to be, I just hope they don't get your craziness or else I'll go insane. One Anaisha is enough for me!" Kabir pulled Anaisha's cheeks just like how she used to do whenever she wanted to be cheesy or tease him.

Anaisha removed his hands from her cheeks and snorted, "I'm not crazy! I'm adorable and funny!"

"And I'm romantic, you can't deny that after all I plan such romantic and cozy dates for us," Kabir said with a sense of pride.

Anaisha narrowed her gaze and and sniggered playfully, "Haan haan you're very romantic that's why all the dates that you have planned for us, were my mother's ideas. You can't fool me now, since I know well from where you get all these romantic ideas."

Kabir grinned sheepishly at her as now Anaisha was aware that her mother, Khushi was the one who helped Kabir plan dates for her. A month back, Kabir had accidently revealed that his soon-to-be mom in-law was the one who came up with all the brilliant ideas for their dates. Anaisha was amused by this and asked her mother for confirmation, who confirmed the fact. But her mother had also told her that their first date was solely Kabir's idea. Apart from that, Khushi had helped Kabir plan almost all of his surprises for her.

Anaisha was happy to know this because it made her feel extremely loved by Kabir as he put so much efforts in their relationship. And she was also happy for the fact that her fiancé and mother got along so well with each other.

Anaisha giggled and said proudly, "My mom has to be amazing after all she's my mom! Me, the sweet and amazing, Anaisha Gujral!"

"Yes yes, you are!" Kabir said. He then put his hand on her right cheek and spoke romantically, "And now Ms. Sweet will give me a lovely kiss."

He leveled his face upto hers and was about to kiss her when Aarav interrupted them. Perfect timing!

"Anaisha if you're done with your romance then come fast we have to go home," Aarav said nonchalantly standing near the door.

Kabir got up and muttered mockingly, "I must say Aarav, you and Aarush are never on time when we go for outings but whenever I'm about to kiss my girl, you both have a perfect timing haan. You both do so much hard work na, Moment spoilers!"

Aarav chuckled and replied, "Oh Kabir. Don't worry dear friend, it's just a matter of couple of months. Once you both get married, no one is going to disturb you both. You can romance my sister as much as you want."

While these two bickered, Anaisha giggled and stopped them by saying, "Aww aren't you two adorable! You guys bicker like an old married couple! I guess it's true that best friends behave like a married couple."

Both the men stared at her and then minutes later burst into splits. Kabir then said, "Aarav, you go take out your car, Anaisha will join you shortly."

Aarav shook his head and replied, "Sure. But don't take long, okay?"

Kabir mumbled okay and Aarav left from there while smiling. Kabir turned to Anaisha, and a few seconds later, engulfed her in his arms. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt weird, as if, as if something was going to be wrong. He held her tightly in his embrace not wanting to let her go.

Anaisha felt strange with the way Kabir held her. She could sense some distress in his embrace and snuggled into him to lighten up his tension. She felt confused with the way Kabir was holding her. She rubbed his back and asked when he didn't let her go, "What's wrong Kabir? Why are being so tensed?"

"I don't know Anaisha. I really don't know. Just felt like holding you tight," Kabir told her the truth. He came out of the hug and leaned in to peck her forehead, letting his lips linger for few extra seconds on her skin.

Anaisha cupped his face and softly muttered, "Relax Kabir! Everything is fine. Nothing is going to be wrong, okay? I don't know why, since the time I've come back, you've been acting so strangely and that too suddenly. Is there something that's bothering you? You know you can share it with me."

Since the time Anaisha came back, Kabir didn't know why but felt that he would lose her soon. He shuddered with the mere thought of her going away from him. He tried to make himself believe that it's all fine and she's gonna be with him for the rest of his life. It did helped him but he felt this fear crept upto him out of blue every once in a while.

"I don't want to lose you Anaisha. I love you and I don't know how to live without you. You mean the world to me and without you I can't survive. Promise you won't ever leave me alone! Please!" Kabir nearly begged her as he spoke while his hands cupped her face.

Anaisha pecked his cheek and spoke in her soothing voice, "I promise I won't Kabir. I love you too! Stop thinking about such things. I'm always gonna be with you. I told you before na, I'm like superglue, stuck to you for your entire life. I would never leave you even if you'd want me to."

Kabir chuckled and replied shyly, "I would never want you to leave. Acha now go, or else your brother would again come barging in. And haan call me after you reach home."

"Okay. Bye and don't stress yourself. Just think about our future Kabir. We'll be traditionally engaged to each other in a week's time and married in two months. Our life together is going to be great." Anaisha picked up her bag and left from there.

Kabir watched her retreating figure and smilingly thought to himself, yes their lives were going to be great. He, Annie and their own family!

Anaisha went to the parking lot and saw her brother waiting for her. She got in the car and both of them left from there. They both were talking to each about Anaisha and Kabir's upcoming engagement, when suddenly the car's engine stopped, jerking both Anaisha and Aarav from their seats.

Aarav got out of the car and went to check the engine. Anaisha too moved out the car and asked her brother, "What happened Bhai?"

"Engine is way too heated and I guess there's a punctured tyre as well," Aarav said while wiping the grease off his hand from his handkerchief.

Aarav took his phone out and tried calling his brothers to tell them to pick them up. But there neither of them were picking his call. He kept trying to contact his family members, yet no one received his calls.

Anaisha groaned. They were halfway through their journey and it was quite late. She looked around and saw a garage at some distance. She tapped her brother's shoulders and pointed towards the garage.

Aarav smiled gratefully and said, "You stay here, I'll go get the mechanic."

Anaisha shook her head in agreement and Aarav went to get a mechanic. A few minutes later, he came back with a couple of mechanics and they quickly pushed the car towards the garage. Once they reached the garage, they immediately started their work.

Anaisha went to sit on a wooden bench kept there and took out her phone as she was bored. Her brother was standing near the car only as he was asking the mechanics to hurry up a little. Anaisha was messaging her friends, when she received a call from Kabir. She quickly picked it and said teasingly, "Already missing me Mr. Thapar?"

Kabir laughed a little on the other side of the phone and said, "Maybe Mrs. Soon-to-be Thapar. Reached home?"

"No not yet! There's something wrong with the car's engine and a punctured tyre too. Luckily, our car stopped near a garage so now the mechanics are repairing the car," Anaisha said to Kabir while waving to a three years old kid who was sitting beside his mother as they too were waiting for their car to get repaired. The kid shyly waved back at her.

"Oh okay! That's good," Kabir said as he picked his office bag up.

Anaisha then asked him, "You're still in hospital or going home? You know you should be going home now it's already gonna be 9 now." While speaking, she saw the kid get up from where he was sitting and playing around with his stuffed football. His mother was busy on a call and hadn't noticed her kid get up from the wooden bench.

Kabir while moving out of his office said, "Yes madam, I'm going home only. Just going to my car."

"Ohk!" Anaisha replied as she got up and stood beside the kid, as his mother was still wasn't paying attention to him. She tried to get the mother's attention but failed. This irritated Anaisha, as the mother was being careless.

Kabir got in his car and kept his bag on the passenger seat. He noticed Anaisha's distracted voice and asked, "How much more time will it take now for repairing?"

But Anaisha was too distracted to hear that. Her attention was on the kid, who was now moving towards the road as his football fell out of his hands and rolled on the road. Anaisha looked around but no one was looking in that direction, too occupied with their own works. Her brother too was talking to the mechanic about some car related issue.

She looked back at the kid and saw a car coming in his direction. Since there was no lamppost, the kid was hardly visible from the car. Anaisha looked around to call someone but realized the car was speeding towards the kid on full speed. Without wasting a minute on thinking, she ran towards the kid and managed to push him away from the car's way.

She smiled assuringly at the kid, who was terrified by the sudden push. But his eyes bulged out in horror as what he saw next, scared the hell out of him.

All the people turned towards their direction as they heard a girl's heart rendering scream. Aarav quickly looked around for his sister but couldn't locate her. He felt an uneasiness embrace his heart as he moved towards the area from where the scream came from.

The heaviness and uneasy feeling increased as he moved step by step towards the road. Already the site was surrounded by people, who as soon as they heard the scream, left their work and went to look for the source of scream. The car that hit the girl, already flew from there.

As Aarav approached them, he saw a girl lying on the road, covered in her own pool of blood. He hoped against hope that it wasn't his sister but soon that was replaced with utmost shock as the girl lying there was his own baby sister, who was slowly losing her consciousness.

Aarav felt blood drain from his body, as he kneeled down beside his sister and frantically shook her while saying, "Anaisha? Anaisha? Anu! Anu wake up baby! Anu, Anu don't close your eyes please, I'll take you to the hospital. Please don't lose your consciousness. Please!" Aarav begged his sister to not lose her consciousness. He was afraid that if his sister became unconsciousness then he might lose her. Aarav completely lost his stable and logical mind as he saw his sister bleed.

He then silenced his frantic thoughts and composing himself, put his fingers on her neck to check her pulse. He gasped as he realised that her pulse was falling. He was still horrified as, someone passed him Anaisha's cellphone. Although he was freaking out for his sister, he could make out Kabir's terrified voice on the other side of the phone. He quickly requested the garage owner to start his car so that he could take his sister to the hospital. The garage owner swiftly went to the car to start it.

He the took the phone and mumbled chokingly, "Kabir, Anai.. Anaisha met with an accident. I-I'm b-bringing h-her to hospital. You please get everything ready and inform Dr. Rai and my family. It's an emergency and Anaisha needs a surgery."

Without hearing his response, Aarav ended the call. Not wasting another minute, he scooped his sister in his arms, and went to his car. After five minutes, they were on their way to the hospital. Aarav was sitting in the backseat with Anaisha's head on his lap as he constantly tried to stop her bleeding but it wasn't helping and she kept bleeding profusely. He hoped in his heart that it doesn't get too late.

After twenty minutes, they reached the hospital and he saw Dr. Rai waiting with a stretcher and a few ward boys outside the hospital. He picked his sister in his arms and made her lie on the stretcher. His mind and vision both were completely blurred and he couldn't make out anything.

Dr. Rai instructed the ward boys to directly take Anaisha to the OT as the preparations for the surgery were already done. He stopped Aarav from entering the OT, as he knew Aarav wasn't in his best self at the moment and wouldn't be able to see his sister like that.

Aarav unwillingly agreed and went to sit on the chairs kept outside the OT. It was then he noticed Kabir, who looked severely shaken and lost. He hadn't noticed Kabir standing beside Dr. Rai when he entered the hospital with his sister. Aarav was already crying and seeing Kabir, he felt guiltier as he knew somewhere his sister's condition was his fault. If he had paid attention, then this wouldn't have happened.

It felt like as if someone, in a fraction of second, turned Kabir's life completely upside down, messing up everything. Just a minute back he was talking to Anaisha, just a minute back she was lecturing him about going home on time. Then out of nowhere he heard a scream, a heartbreaking scream which pierced his heart.

He tried speaking to Anaisha, thinking she was fooling him, "Anaisha what happened? Anaisha if this is some joke then I'm telling you don't try it on me. Anaisha? Sweetheart you're scaring me! Please say something please!"

But he didn't get any response rather, he heard the murmur of people from the other side. Though he couldn't make out much, but all he heard was that a girl got hit by speeding car and now was lying on the road bleeding. He hoped it wasn't Anaisha and someone instead but his hopes shattered when he heard Aarav's pleas as he begged his sister to not lose her consciousness.

As this sank in, Kabir panicked! He tried to speak out loud so that Aarav could hear him but he wasn't. At last Aarav spoke to him and told him to get Dr. Rai. Kabir wanted to ask him if Anaisha was still bleeding or not but Aarav had already ended the call.

He tried to collect himself and rushed to Dr. Rai's office. Entering in, he spoke in a rushed manner gulping the lump in his throat, "Dr. Rai, get, get the OT ready please. Anaisha, she, she met with an accident. She needs, needs a surgery. Aarav's bringing her here. Please hurry up! Please!"

Dr. Samarth got up from his seat and said concernedly, "What? Okay we'll talk about this later. I'll go get the preparations for the surgery done."

As he was leaving, Kabir requested in a lumpy voice, "Please, if you could then inform her family please. I won't be able to do that."

Dr. Samarth looked at him sympathetically and mumbled okay. He immediately left from there to get things done and told Sister Dimpy to call and inform Dr. Anaisha's family and Kabir's family as well.

When Kabir saw Aarav carry a nearly unconsciousness Anaisha in his arms, Kabir's heart twitched in pain. Seeing her soaked in her own blood, Kabir didn't know how to react. He was just too overwhelmed to even think anything straight let alone speak. So he silently followed them inside the hospital, to the OT.

As Anaisha was wheeled inside, Kabir slumped down on the bench and cried. This was what he was fearing since last so many days. This was why he felt he's going to lose her. This was why he felt weird this evening when she leaving for her home. How could this be even possible when she herself promised him that she won't leave him? How could this happen with them when they were just about to get traditionally engaged to each other? How could this happen to her when he loved her so much?

He furiously wiped his tears off, telling himself that it was Annie's prank. She was all fine and was just pranking him. Any minute she would come out of the OT and giggle on seeing him crying. But this didn't happen and slowly realisation dawned on him as the incident sank in, this was no prank, and Anaisha was hurt for real and was now inside the operation theatre battling for her life.

He was lost in his thoughts, when he felt Aarav sit beside him. He gazed up at Aarav, whose clothes were drenched with Anaisha's blood. He looked at the floor as he couldn't bear the painful look on Aarav's face.

Both the men sat silently, resonating the same pain and miserable expressions. Praying in their hearts, they both were fearing the same thing. If being a doctor makes you feel great about yourself, it also makes you vulnerable and weak. Especially when it's your beloved, who's battling for life, the knowledge that you gain over the year, suddenly feels like a curse 'cause you know what all the consequences can be! Like for these two men, who being doctors knew how critical Anaisha's condition was. She had lost a lot of blood, a major concussion was probably there which could cause comatose or even complicated issues, internal bleeding was another consequence of the accident.

Both of them shuddered to even think of the worst thing possible. They both felt horrible with their own knowledge as it was doing nothing but making them even more scared. They could see nurses and ward boys move in and out of the OT, carrying one or the thing or calling any other doctor. They didn't utter even a word to each other, knowing well both of them were weak at the moment and could never soothe each other's pain without increasing the wounds in their hearts.

Halfway through the surgery, they were joined by their families. Anaisha's parents were the first ones to come. Arnav and Khushi both had tears in their eyes, though Arnav was trying his best to not let the situation get the best of him. They were followed by Aarush, Rohan and Zaina as Nihal and Nivan stayed back home with Lehar, Kanan, their grandparents and great grandma. Advay had went to police station to file a complaint against the car driver who hit Anaisha as fortunately someone had noticed the car number.

They then got joined by the equally horrified Thapars, sans GM who went to Gujral's residence to support her friend there. Shilpa broke into tears seeing her son in so much emotional pain. She sat beside him, and tried to soothe his pain a little, though it was futile. After some attempts to make him speak, she got up and went to stand near the glass window as she couldn't stop her tears.

Karan was trying to help Arnav, who was shattered with his daughter's accident. Khushi and Zaina were continuously crying, and Rohan was trying to stop them from crying. Aarush was sitting beside Aarav, trying to know what happened. His heart broke more as Aarav narrated what all had happened, after which he remained quiet as his guilt was increasing. Aarush broke into tears as if he was feeling his twin's pain.

All of them were crying over their own pain, but no one noticed Kabir, who was neither crying nor reacting by any means. For him, it was like deja vu. Everything around him was reminding him of that day, 20 years back when his sister, when Samyra was admitted in the hospital. He felt like he was transported back to that day!
Right from the weather to the surrounding to people to the situation, everything was similar to that day.

The sudden, non climatic hailstorm, the rushing of ward boys and nurses, the tensed and upset faces of the two families, Gujrals and Thapars, and one girl fighting for her life inside the hospital room!
That day, that girl was his sister, who was unable to win the battle for her life against Death but today it was his love, his fiancée, Anaisha, who was fighting for her life!

The uncanny resemblance between the two events numbed Kabir. He was already shaken with all the things which were happening around him when suddenly Anaisha's departing words when she was leaving for her PG echoed in his brain,

"Who knows Kabir what will happen in these years and future. Anything is possible. In just one second your entire world can turn upside down and you couldn't do anything."

He felt more heartbroken as her words kept repeating in his head.
And if that wasn't enough, something said by Anaisha four years back, played in his mind out of nowhere,

"You know Kabir, I have a thing for tragic novels. I don't know why but I love reading this specific category in romance genre. And I know I may sound stupid or weird but I wanna know how my someone special would feel if something happened to me. You know atleast once for a moment, I want to know how my someone special would feel when I leave him behind in this life. I know the pain of living your life without the person you considered your entire universe, is very painful. That's why I honestly don't want him to experience that pain, all I want to have is that person in my life who would feel like that even with the mere thought of me dying.
What? I'm just saying, okay? I know there's a huge difference between reality and fiction. But I do wonder whether my attachment to this sort of novels is just a liking only or there's a reason for me to love them so much!"

He felt like air was knocked out of him as he recalled her words. If she could hear him, then he would tell her that the not having her around felt like hell to him. It killed him to even think of losing her. It was nightmarish to even think that she might, that she might go into coma if she didn't recover or responded to medicine and the treatment. He felt like a criminal to even think of his life without her. He needed her, just her and no one else.

He knew that day, she didn't mean it all because she was just too immature. She had matured over the time, knew well how grave that would feel. She would never make him suffer like that knowing well how much he loved her.

He tried to imagine her smiling face, to calm himself down and for once distract himself from all the stupid and useless thoughts. It did helped him a little but not for long as he saw Dr. Samarth come out of the OT with an unsatisfactory and stressed look on his face.

He got up from his place and went towards him, like the others and waited for Dr. Samarth to say something.

Dr. Samarth looked quite disappointed and said grimly, "We've tried our best, but Anaisha is still not out of danger. Her condition is very critical. There was internal bleeding, and lot of blood is lost. A major concussion in head, a fracture on left leg and some minor injuries and bruises on arms and back. We don't know how long would it take her to gain consciousness but the sooner will be better. Any delay in that would mean severe consequences and can deteriorate her health and may lead to coma. I explained everything to you all. All we could do is pray now and hope she'll be fine soon!"

All of them had ashen expression on their faces as Dr. Samarth's words got registered in their minds. They knew, he frankly told them the truth instead of giving false hopes but it hurt anyway. It broke their hearts to think that it was Anaisha who was going through it all, and they couldn't do anything. All that was in their power was praying for her to recover soon, wishing her to gain consciousness and hoping that nothing go wrong now.

It was around six in morning, none of them had even a minute's sleep. Zaina and Aarav were sent home by Arnav as their conditions were miserable and he was couldn't bear to see them so much shattered. Khushi was praying to God for her daughter's health. Karan was consulting his doctor friends for external opinion on Anaisha's case. Shilpa was sitting beside Kabir, but wasn't speaking anything as she knew Kabir wasn't paying any attention to his surrounding or people. In fact he hadn't spoken a word since the time Anaisha was brought to hospital.

Suddenly, they saw a nurse rush inside ICU where Anaisha was shifted a couple of hours back. All of them looked around to know what was happening but no one was saying anything. Then they saw an extremely tensed Dr. Samarth come.

Arnav stopped him and asked, "What's wrong Samarth? Why are you so tensed?"

Samarth fumbled a little and explained in a blank voice, "Anaisha's pulse is falling. She's having breathing problem. I'll let you all know soon. Now would you please excuse."

He went inside quickly. Thapars and Gujrals, all of them had a mixture of anxiety and fear in their hearts and faces. They all knew Anaisha's condition wasn't good and they hoped for it to get better at any cost.

Kabir was still silently standing where Dr. Samarth was a few minutes back. He was replaying all of his memories of Anaisha in his mind. He suddenly went to stand in front of the door of the ICU and looked inside from the small glass window on the door as Dr. Samarth and his team were trying to save Anaisha.

He looked at the monitors as by each passing second, the heartbeat were falling. He felt his heart broke into millions pieces and his life leave him. It was, it was poignant and unbearable for him. And he felt frustrated too, because he couldn't do anything to save her. He felt like banging the wall with his fists so that he could atleast feel a little less grievous.

He was yelling at his own self for being so helpless when he saw Anaisha's pulse fall on the monitor. It was falling rapidly and doctors didn't know how to save her. He saw Dr. Samarth trying hard to save her but it wasn't helping. And in a blink of an eye, it turned flat!

A tear rolled down Kabir's cheek as he realized what had happened! She was gone! She left him, behind her in this life! Right after promising him that she won't! How could that be possible? How could she leave him like that?

days later, no