Hello all,
This is my second fic on the forum. You can read the first here.
This one is based on the upcoming track and inspired by the promo. I did multiple versions of this story and this attempt below is one that I think is most organic in terms of flow (though not as angsty as I’d like it to be). For kicks I might post the others as well.
But first, Would love your feedback on this as feedback is like ghee shakkar on warm toast!
**********************************
Beep…Beep…Beep…
The sounds of the myriad set of machines hooked up to his wife were the only ones piercing the otherwise still night. Ram was seated on a couch from where he had an uninterrupted view of the sedated form of Priya. Well, as uninterrupted as the various pipes and medical apparatus allowed. Her steady but machine helped breathing in conjunction with their sounds, providing proof of life.
His body trembled at the thought of what the alternative could have been. He blinked his eyes, now devoid of tears…tears he had copiously shed as he had held her lifeless bloody body in his arms. The scene had replayed in his mind all evening, an infinite number of times like a tape stuck on loop. Through the hours that he waited to hear more about her condition, the screech of the brakes and the skidding of the tyres played a soundtrack that he couldn’t switch off even if he wanted to. Each vivid image and sound piercing his heart like it was a jagged shard of glass.
Now in the dead of th e night, His mind kept flicking back to the 10 minutes he waited on the road for the ambulance to come by. He had cradled her head in his lap, willing her to look at him and respond. All these hours, he had compartmentalised the realisation that had ripped his heart when he saw the horror of her accident unfold in front of his eyes. It was almost as if his brain was now playing the next part of the tape. The realisation bringing a fresh wave of unsolicited emotion that almost choked him. An emotion of love, he loved his wife, he loved his Priya.
Ram had never believed that he would love again. When Vedika had picked Shashi ten years ago, he had reconciled to the fact that he would always live with the trauma of that unrequited love. For years he had lived a lonely existence with an ache in his heart.
However today he had learnt the true meaning of pain and fear of losing that special one. What he had imagined to be pain during Vedika was trivial as compared to what he felt when he thought he might lose Priya. His frantic attempts at trying to revive her, telling her what she meant to him, realising she might never hear him... were all a compounded level of despair that he had never experienced before.
She had once told him that she had never felt as helpless and scared before, as the night when he fell ill. She thought she might lose him. At the time he thought it was funny, that the normally strong Priya was behaving in such a child like fashion.
Today when he was so close to actually losing her, he understood what the raw emotion meant. He didn’t know if she loved him when she had uttered that fear of losing him, but for him it was clear.
He didn’t know how it had happened, it just had. They were but strangers a few months ago, marrying for the sake of their families. However today, at this moment, he didn’t care for anyone as much as he did for his wife, the woman who lay unconscious in front of him.
He walked up to her, his breath still hitching at the sight of how severe her injuries were, even though he had been sitting across her for the last hour. He wanted to touch her, but had been advised against it by the doctors. He wanted to convince himself that she was alive and would get better. He wanted to kiss her forehead and make her bruises go away. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let go. He wanted to hear her say his name, something she rarely did, so he could revel in the magical resonance of her voice.
His yearning for all of the above made his heart feel like it would collapse once again, just like it had threatened to do so a few hours ago.
He gingerly took the index finger of her left hand, the only one not covered and clasped it in a tiny act of rebellion. The one touch, joining him with her and giving him the support that he sought, but didn’t know until then that he needed. He knelt down next to her and his voice barely rising above the din of the machines
_”I love you Priya…I need you to come back to me. The thought of losing you has been some of the worst hours of my life. I have a secret... It's that I cannot live without you. I know I'm selfish but I need to let you in on this secret. So, come back…come back so I can share it with you….Come back”
The entire night passed and Ram held on to her finger. Foolishly willing his life and health to transfuse through some his finger into her. After what felt like eons of staring into her face, he felt exhaustion and sleep take over him, his dreams swirling with the sound of her smile (she rarely laughed) and the sight of her frowned forehead. Every memory the perfect embodiment of his Priya.
Fin.
Hindi TV Shows
Cricket
Kumkum Bhagya
