Virman: Dosti ho ya Pyaar, Dil Ka Rishta hai Chapter 20, pg 37 - Page 4

Chapter 4

It was almost midnight now and there was no sign of Virat. He had gone to the hospital for clinicals but ended up staying back late. I walked out to the living room to see Aunty asleep on the sofa waiting for him. I turned around to bump into Viren bhaiya, "oh sorry bhaiya, woh I just came out for a snack," I lied. "Manvi tumne toh dinner bhi nahi kaya, you said you were not hungry a couple minutes back when Jeevika asked, itni jaldi bhuk lag gai?" he asked confused. I turned bright red embarrassed at being caught. He smiled and sighed looking at aunty, "I told her Virat would be fine, par yeh Virat bhi na, ma ka dulara hai," he said shaking his head. "you would never believe it, when Virat came home from undergrad in the US, Ma was so happy she almost fell running to him at the airport," he chuckled. "are you not sleepy?" he asked probably wondering what I was doing up so late. "nahi bhiaya, I actually stay up late watching movies or something, raat ko jaldi need hi nahi aati," I said smiling. He chuckled again, "bilkul virat jaise," he said smiling at me. He headed off to sleep after a while and I sat down still waiting for Virat to come back. I heard the doorbell ring around 1 and ran to answer it. I opened the door but was terrified at the sight, he looked extremely tired, his eyes were bloodshot red, and it looked like he was crying. "Virat, are you ok, tum thik toh ho" I meekly asked him. He refused to respond and just headed straight to his room. I had known him for a couple days now and I knew this was not normal for him, he normally ran to the food after work. I closed my eyes and finally gathered up enough courage to go talk to him. I knocked on the door but got no response, "Virat zid chodo, open the door," I finally said knowing he was going to be stubborn to talk to. He opened the door still not looking at me and went back on the bed with his hands over his face. I went back and just stood next to him confused at what to do, I didn't even know what was wrong. "Virat, hospital mein kuch hua kya?," his head shot up and filled with tears and I immediately knew what was wrong. While we were playing that truth or dare game I had asked him what something that really scares him is and he had told me it was losing a patient, something in my heart just told me that is what happened. I moved his fingers from his face and held his hands opening the tight fist they were making. "Virat dekho, whatever happened you can't change it. I am your friend, I would never judge you or blame you for any of that. Nor will anyone else. Aur yeh bhi socho, tumhare aise sochne se kuch nahi badlega. Death toh zindagi ki sachai hai, ek aise sachai jise tum bhag nahi sakte." He stopped me mid-sentence and held my hand tighter, "my patient has cancer Manvi, ek choti si nani si bachi, Payal, she has cancer. I almost lost her today," he said as a fresh flow of tears fell from his eyes again. I took a deep breath, I knew this was not going to be easy for him and I wanted to help, "Virat look, usko cancer hai, tumara toh koi galti nahi hai na." He immidaetely stopped me at these words, "I could try harder, I could try something else to save her, I just feel so bad for her family" he cried as he tensed up again. "Virat, You sulking like this is not going to get you anywhere. Have you ever heard that saying Virat, "hands that serve are holier than lips that pray," if you really want to help her toh kam kuch aise karo ki un ki zindgai mein kushi aaye, " He looked up as he wiped his tears and nodded his head, "I will try, mein use kuch nahi hone dungi," he said finally regaining his confidence."Yes, lekin sab se pehele you need to eat Virat. Durso ka dhyan rakhne ke liye you need to be strong yourself, subha se tumne kuch nahi khaya, chalo," I said pulling him up. I had a set a plate of food for him and forced him to eat. Jeevika di woke up worried at what was going on as she heard our conversation. She walked into the kitchen smiling at us, and then looked at Virat whose eyes were still red. "Manvi kya hua?" she asked signaling to Virat. I smiled, "hospital mein kuch patient ki baat hai, don't worry di I talked to him," I said reassuring her. She smiled, "Virat you are so lucky, ab toh bhabhi ka bhi zarurat nahi na, dosti ho toh tum dono jaise," she said patting my cheeks, "thank you Manvi," she said as she smiled at me again. The next day Virat came home the same way and I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't see his self-esteem being shattered, his tears tugged at my heart. I called the one person I had worked with that would probably be able to help and to my surprise I ran right into a prospective treatment for the Payal. I ran to the clinic Virat had his rotations in and smiled giving the head doctor the information. In a little while the doctors were preparing Payal for her trip. I held Virat's hand as he sat on the bench, "sab thik hogaya na Virat, ab bas Payal ki treatment ki paise," I started, "paise mein dunga, meri payal ko kuch nahi hoga," he said with confidence. I smiled and nodded my head, "thank you Manvi, tum ne meri itni help ki, I cannot thank you enough. You were right Manvi, I just needed to keep faith, aur woh vishwas tum ne di, vishwas ka diya toh maine rakhi, lekin us bati ko tum ne jalai Manvi, you really are an angel, how did you understand me that well that night though, now that I remember I never even told you what was wrong" he said staring at me. "Dosti dil ka ristha hai Virat, jab ek dost gham main hai toh dusra ka bin kuch bole pata chalta hai," I said smiling at him. He wiped my tears with a piercing gaze in my eyes, "aise bate toh sirf tum kar sakte ho Manvi, tumhara dil toh sach mein sone ka hai, ab toh chalo, once we get Payal ready I owe you a dare since I leave tomorrow," he said smiling. My face fell, it was his last day, I was having so much fun and hated the fact that he was going to leave. I forcedly smiled and silently walked away not able to say anything, I felt like my heart was snatched right out of my hands, all my happiness from the past days, it was gone. After dinner I walked into my room to find a silver box sitting on my bed, I opened it to find a picture of my grandpa and grandmother in a gold locket. My eyes watered up, I never knew either of them, I had told him once that I wished I had some sort of memory of them but I never knew he would think of something this thoughtful. My eyes fell to a note below the frame, "kisi ne mujhe kaha ki hame kam kuch aisa karna chaiye jo dusro ki zindagi mein kushi laye, roshni chaye. Choti si roshini tumhari liye bhi. Sone ki dil hai, us ke liye sone ki tofa." My heart did a million flips as I read the note, I closed my eyes and all I could see was his smiling face, I hugged the necklace close to my heart just lost in my thoughts. I met him a couple days ago and I feel like we know everything about each other now, it was amazing how we connected with each other, how we instantly knew what the other was thinking. My thoughts were interrupted by his knock on my door, "did you like the gift?" I nodded my head yes and looked at him a little more intently, "how did you think of something this thoughtful Virat?" I asked confused. He smiled "dosti dil ka ristha hai, our friendship is a connection of our hearts," he said softly. My heart lost composure again fluttered, I just stood there completely lost in his words, the huskiness behind his voice when he said it but more importantly the truth behind those words, it just all left me breathless, just completely utterly breathless.