AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘I’m sorry, Hema, it’s an emergency at work,’ he said with a small strained smile. ‘Doctors!’ He shrugged.
‘Doctors!’ Hema said, mock irritation on her face. ‘Go, Dr Jayakrishna, go save lives.’
And with one final half smile, Atharv left the room, without, Koyal noted, as much as a glance at her.
‘Atharv is usually so cheerful, what was wrong with him today?’ Arjun mumbled as the party settled on the carpet to start their game of cards.
‘Maybe a hard day at work,’ Akki suggested.
‘He was absolutely fine on our way here … it seemed like he saw a ghost in this room that none of us could see.’
A ghost.
‘Arjun!’ chided Hema. ‘You are scaring me!’
‘Um…’ Koyal heard herself say, ‘can I please be excused too? I’m not feeling too well. I think I would like to rest.’
‘Oh no, you poor girl, is that why you’ve been so quiet?’ Hema rushed to Koyal’s side and, after fussing over her for a bit, let her retire to her room.
Koyal shut the door and turned around to crumble to the floor in a mass of tears. Alone in that unfamiliar room, her thoughts began to consume her. Why, she sobbed into her scarf, did God have to put Atharv in front of her just when she had gathered enough courage to put all the terrible things behind her and start afresh?
Why now?
All the good things that had happened recently – getting through MBA, the job at SunSoft, her promotion, the transfer to London, meeting Hema, coming to Kent … all of these things led her to the man she had spent ten years running away from.
And now, at this stage, she didn’t have any more energy.
No energy to run further or to hide inside.
No energy to save herself.
No energy to hate more.
Atharv.
With his Mansha and her mum who was busy taking care of the girl. His perfect life. And look at what she had done to hers for the longest time.
Even as her thoughts picked up strength and rancour, Koyal was aware that she was working herself into a frenzy. She had spent a decade teaching herself to master self-control.
And one thirty-minute encounter with Atharv later, she was back to being the emotional wreck she’d been then.
As her breathing became difficult, Koyal screamed silently at herself for allowing herself to crumble in this way. She clutched her chest and fumbled through her purse for her inhaler, her vision clouding. Gosh, no, she couldn’t pass out in Hema’s house.
The damn inhaler was nowhere to be found. She panicked, fumbling even more, and barely registered the crashing sound of the table toppling over as she slammed against it.
Thirty minutes in his company, during which he neither looked at her properly nor said a single word, and here she was passing out in someone else’s house – this was the last thought that struck Koyal before she lost consciousness.
18
Koyal tried to open her eyes. White lights and a nurse in a blue dress.
And something very, very reassuring curled around her fingers. Koyal kept her eyes closed for opening them required more strength than she was capable of and focused entirely on her hand. Something warm and familiar and kind. Something that gave her courage. Something that calmed her restless soul. ‘God, please,’ she mumbled to herself, ‘don’t let this thing, whatever it is, leave my hand.’
Koyal opened her eyes and looked around. There was a huge machine, tubes coming out of which were stuck to her hands and chest. There was someone slumped next to her bed, his forehead resting on her bed, his hands clasped around hers. Was he sleeping? Koyal tried to think but gave up soon enough. It felt nice to close her eyes and that was what she did.
Someone was calling out her name.
A voice.
