Another Half Of Me - Chapter 39

Time doesn't always heal; sometimes it only hides the scars. It was 5 years since Roshni’s death and Siddha still felt the pangs of pain whenever he looked at her picture. Looking around the room, he saw them together on the bed making love, laughing and sleeping peacefully with arms twined.

As the memories surfaced again, he looked away. He still felt her sometimes inside the room walking about, sitting beside him or just caressing his forehead while he tried to sleep. But most of all he felt her around him when he would wake up with nightmares of the blast. Sometimes he would clutch her to him trying to block everything out but sometimes it would only be darkness surrounding him.

Tears rolled down as he pressed her favourite t-shirt to his face. Her scent was still there but she wasn’t.

Siddha’s reminiscence was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Keeping the t-shirt on the bed, he went and opened the door.

Sid was standing with a small box in his hand.

“I seriously need to speak to you,” he said sounding nervous.

Frowning, Siddha moved away and let him in.

He sat down the chair and waited for Sid to speak.

Sid paced up and down the room not knowing where to start. Finally he turned towards Siddha and sat down at his feet.

“Do you think she will like this?” Sid asked him opening the small box.

Siddha saw a small diamond ring glittering gloriously. Smiling he nodded, remembering that it was Sid’s engagement tomorrow. Tania, his girlfriend for the last 3 years would soon become his fiancée.

Sid closed the box and placed his head on his brother’s lap. Caressing his forehead, Siddha rested his head at the back of the chair.

Don’t break Sid’s heart as you have broken mine, he prayed closing his eyes.

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

Dr. Sunil entered his cabin and sat down on the chair angrily. 5 years and now suddenly the hospital is telling him to remove the girl from here because according to them: she is just wasting a bed. His forehead bunched with bitterness the more he thought about the situation. 

How can a hospital deny treating a patient? 

He closed his eyes trying to find a way of the mess but couldn’t. For the past 3-4 days he had tried his best to make the hospital trustees understand the gravity of the girl’s condition but nothing. They had asked him finally to get her transferred to a different hospital.

Picking up the phone, he dialled Dr. Suresh’s number. Dr. Suresh Kumar, his batch mate in medical school and now a heading the psychiatric department in one of the big hospitals of Delhi. He would surely help him.

The doctor kept the phone down after 30 minutes with a happy smile on his face. Dr. Suresh had agreed for the transfer. At least now she will have someone to take care of her.

The next morning, Dr. Sunil fed her for the last time. He looked at her face forlornly thinking that he will not see her anymore. Asking the nurse to get her dressed, he went outside and asked the ward boy to get the taxi ready.

As she came out, he took the handle of the wheelchair from the nurse and wheeled her out. The nurses and ward boys looking after her followed them till the hospital gate. As Dr. Sunil sat beside her in the car, he felt the same thing the staff was feeling. It was as if a part of them was going away.

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

Sid held Siddha tight in his arms as Rudy tried to open the bedroom door. Then, both of them somehow managed to drag him to the bed. Rudy levelled his drunken body on the bed as Sid opened Siddha’s shoes. Together both of them undressed him and pulled the sheet over.

Sighing Sid sat down near his head and looked sadly at his brother. Even though, it was the happiest moment of Sid’s life because he had just got engaged with Tania but his brother’s state bothered him the most. When is it going to be enough for you, bhai?

Rudy looked at Siddha’s face as he murmured Roshni’s name. Knowing that he was in deep drunken slumber, Rudy asked Sid to get up and closed the door silently leaving Siddha alone in the room.

His mind was alive with nightmares of the blast but his drunken body refused to wake up. Silent tears fell from his eyes as his mind drowned in the painful memories.

Suddenly in the middle of the night, Siddha woke up with a jerk. She was in the room, he could hear her breath. His body came alive with tell-tale sensations as her hand brushed past his neck. Adjusting his eyes against the darkness, he looked around the room.

Where is she?

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