Another Half Of Me - Chapter 37

Dr. Sunil watched as the nurse wheeled in Roshni into her room after the daily morning stroll. Although she had not reacted at all till now, still the doctor was trying his best to bring back normality in her life. He had told the nurse to keep on speaking with Roshni while she fed or cleaned her. Everything was being done to make her behave normal but no avail.

Gesturing the nurse to leave, Dr. Sunil picked up the television remote and switched it one. He was waiting for Dr. Bhargava, one of expert psychologists and psychiatrists in the city to pay a visit. Sitting down next to Roshni, he looked at her.

Looking right ahead of her, she stared at the TV but the doctor felt as if she was looking beyond it. Hearing footsteps, he got up and saw Dr. Bhargava approaching.

Although, he had explained her case history before, but still Dr. Sunil repeated everything for the junior doctors who had come with Dr. Bhargava.

Listening intently, Dr. Bhargava came and stood beside Roshni. Going in front of her, he blocked her vision completely but she did not react at all. The doctor felt her stare going straight through him. Bending down, he looked into his eyes, but she did not blink. There was certain cold bleakness in her eyes. Everything around the doctor went cold as her gaze pierced through his eyes. But when he touched her hands their heat almost burned his skin.

Dr. Bhargava stood up and started to speak to Dr. Sunil.

Suddenly both the doctors were startled with Roshni laughing devilishly staring at the TV.

Dr. Sunil rushed to her and saw her eyes alive with anger and pain. Her body started to shake as the sounds of laughter escaped her throat.

Roshni’s dysfunctional mind only registered the face being shown on the TV. Those innocent eyes stared into hers and she felt the same as she had once felt in the garden. Slowly the laughter turned to anguished sobs and screams, and the doctors rushed to calm her.

As tears escaped her eyes, she heard only one thing.

“Siddha Singh Rajput, the king of construction, is believed to have been burned alive today when his car had caught fire in front of his house.”

Hearing this, she collapsed in the wheelchair, slipping into a deep abyss.

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

Siddha was dreaming about her when suddenly he felt her walking away from him. He placed his hand on her shoulder trying to stop her but she did not. Instead, she kept on walking till she reached the white light shining bright at the end of the tunnel. Then she turned and started to laugh hard like a devil.

Siddha felt his ears hurting as her devilish laugh became a shrill sound.  He pressed his hands to his ears to block the sound but still it pierced through his soul. Suddenly the sound turned into sobs and screams. He rushed towards the light but did not reach her in time. With outstretched arms, he saw Roshni melting away in the light.

Screaming her name, he woke up with a start and tried his best to get up.

“Siddha, No!” he heard Prashant say.

Weak and drugged, Siddha collapsed on the bed.

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

Karan was still the press release copy with the PR team when Amit walked in the conference room.

“You better get the copy done soon because the press is cooking up different stories,” Amit said switching on the TV.

They listened intently as the channel after channel played the breaking news declaring Siddha dead.

Quickly, Karan finalised copy and told the team to get it aired as soon as possible.

After 1 hour, he and Amit were sitting with Sid in his room, when the press release was being aired.

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

In Dharamshala, a woman screamed with pain and anger as the news broke on air. Even the gods have spared you, but I’ll not do that, her heart kept on reminding her as the doctors injected a sleeping draft in her.

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

Almost a week had passed when finally Siddha was fit enough to sit on the bed. Even though everybody was aware of his drug habit but nobody had mentioned it to him. He could understand that medications had already started as there were no withdrawal symptoms at all.

Sighing, he looked sideways out of the window and saw raindrops falling on a tin roof nearby. Tears slipped his eyes as he remembered their time together in Bangalore. As he heard approaching footsteps, he wiped away his tears and closed his eyes. He wanted to go home, sleep on her side of the bed with her scent drugging him.

Prashant looked at him and realised that Siddha had been crying. He watched on as Chachiji slowly walked towards the bed.

Siddha opened his eyes as the warm caress from a familiar hand touched his forehead. He looked at his aunt and then lowered his eyes. Everything, everyone felt so alien around him.

“We have come here to talk to you, Siddha,” he heard Dadaji say.

Winching, Siddha closed his eyes. He did not want to talk. He wanted to go home.

“Siddha, you have get out of this,” he heard a familiar voice say.

Dr. Dinesh Srivastava, Prashant’s father looked at him as Siddha opened his eyes, narrowing them a little definitely disliking the topic to the core. But he was too weak to react. So, he listened.

“We all understand that you feel pain and anger on her death but life cannot stop. You got to move on.”

When Siddha did not respond, Dr. Dinesh came and stood beside him. Holding his hand, he said in a soothing voice, “If that was the case then you would not be alive after your parents' death.” Siddha still did not respond.

“You know when Prashant’s mother Lalita died, it had almost killed me. Prashant was only 12 years then. The thought of losing her along with the responsibility of raising him was driving me crazy. I would cry silently sitting in the drawing room clutching her picture to my heart at night. I knew I was slipping into depression but I could do nothing. One day coming back from the clinic, I never realised when I had crossed the turn towards home. It was too late when I reached home. I went to Prashant’s room and saw him sleeping clutching his mother’s picture.”

Prashant closed his eyes trying to block the painful memories. That night he had slept without dinner. He had clutched his mother’s photograph and asked her again and again why she had left them.

Dr. Dinesh turned and continued, “Seeing him like that broke my resolve. I decided to end it once and for all. Next I took a day off and cooked Prashant’s favourite meal. But, before serving it on the table I mixed the most potent and painless poison I could find.”

Turning towards Siddha, he said, “But before Prashant could eat that food, I stopped him and took him out for lunch. We spent the entire day having fun. At night when I sat down on bed, I realised why I had stopped Prashant. I was actually killing a part of Lalita and I couldn’t possibly do that.”

Dr. Dinesh sat down on the chair next to Siddha and clutched his shaking hand.

“As long as you are alive, Roshni can’t be dead. She is alive in you: in every breath, in every heartbeat. She is your another half. She will die the day you do.”

He raised Siddha’s hand and placed on his chest.

“Feel that heartbeat? it’s hers, not yours.”

Siddha felt the steady beating of his heart against his palm. With every beat he felt her name echoing inside him. His soul cried for her. He closed his eyes and saw her.

“I am not going anywhere. I will remain within you no matter what. My soul is with you.”

Suddenly the embankment that had till now blocked Siddha’s tears broke. Anguished sobs escaped him and tears fell from his eyes freely. This time nobody came to comfort him. They let him cry knowing too well that although the tears will not wash the pain away but it can bring him back to life. 

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