Chapter Twenty Four
It has been a year since Shalini had last seen her, and she had doubted whether Naina would turn up at all. But here she is, dressed in a formal outfit, and with a smile on her face… even if it doesn't quite reach her eyes. None of them have seen much of her for the past year as she has mainly been posted at the border… coming back on leave only occasionally.
"I'm so happy you came, Naina." Yudi tells her, "We didn't know if you could make it… but, could you be one of our witnesses?"
She nods, and gives him a tight hug, before turning to Shalini and hugging her as well.
The ceremony is brief, and at the end when Naina signs as a witness, Shalini sees her wipe her eyes slightly, as if to stop the tears falling on the page.
She turns to them at the end, grasping both of their hands.
"Never forget how lucky you are," she tells them, "You have the opportunity to be with the one you love… never let that go. I want you to be happy together always."
And Shalini had felt, that if for no other reason, they owed it to Naina to live happily ever after.
**
As Shalini watches Asha sitting by Amiya's bedside, holding her still unconscious friend's hand, she can't help but shake the feeling that yes… this really is their Naina, returned after such a long time.
The same face, the same voice, the same look of desperation in her eyes as she asked Shalini to save a friend…
It had cut her like a knife.
Twenty one years… it had been twenty one years since the last time she had seen Naina's face, and that time she had already been dead.
Almost twenty two years since Shalini had seen her alive, and she still couldn't forget her, even for a moment.
Because in many ways, Naina had been the one who had made Shalini's life what it was today. Naina… because everything began and ended with Naina.
Everything had begun and ended with Naina for Rajveer…
He had lived for her, and he had died for her. Shalini hadn't needed to be there at the time to know that his last thoughts, his last words, would have only been about her.
And Naina… In her slow, incredibly painful non-death she had affected all of their lives, taught them what love truly was. Love which didn't ask anything, didn't require anything of the other person, love which never faltered or questioned. She had continued loving him even when there was no hope of ever being with him, had never even considered loving anyone else.
And it was that love… that Shalini had never been able to forget.
After Captain Rajveer's death, all of their lives had changed, they had realised how short life could be, and how unreliable. It was two and a half years later that Shalini and Yudi had finally gotten married in a simple court ceremony, surrounded by their friends.
His parents hadn't approved.
Hers hadn't either.
At the time it had been enough that they loved each other, understood each other, they had thought that they could take on the world, overcome all obstacles.
But it hadn't been that easy.
Shalini was older than him… his senior officer too. She knew that there must have been comments, hurtful ones, that Yudi would've had to deal with. For awhile it was fine, both of them ignored the people who questioned their relationship, but eventually the cracks began to appear. Even if he wasn't worried about what people said, she worried about him worrying. Small fights turned into big ones, silences grew longer, and finally it had looked as if their marriage wouldn't last at all.
And then… Naina had died.
And they had both realised exactly how stupid and ungrateful they were both being. When they had this chance… a chance that Naina would've given anything for, how could they think about wasting it, about letting the views of others separate them?
They had cried in each others arms the night that Naina died, and promised each other that from that time on, they would ensure that no misunderstandings came between them.
Eventually they had adopted their two daughters, Tara and Roshni, and Shalini had to admit, that yes, her life had been happy.
But she had never forgotten Naina, or Rajveer, or the tragedy of their love for each other.
And now there was this girl, with her haunting too wise eyes, and her spirit and determination, and the wounds were made fresh as memories started flooding back.
And Shalini thinks she might be going crazy… but it honestly feels as if this girl might be Naina after all.
**
It is when Samir is reading the daily update of developments in the war that he turns pale, the colour draining out of his face, and Dhiraj reaches out a hand to steady him, panicking at the expression on his friend's face as he knows… that whatever has happened must relate to either Asha or Amiya.
"Samir, what is it?" he asks him desperately, "Tell me what happened?"
But Samir seems incapable of speaking for the moment and so Dhiraj grabs the document off him, quickly finding the list of those killed and wounded in action. Sighing in relief when neither of their names are in the killed in action list, he moves to the list of those wounded, finally finding Amiya's name near the top.
Dhiraj turns to Samir who is still noticeably white, clasping his shoulder. "It's alright," he tells him, "She's only wounded… she'll be fine. You know how strong she is, she's probably joking with Asha about it right now."
Even as he says it, Dhiraj is still worried, he's grown attached to Amiya over the past months, and not just as Asha's best friend. She's such a sweet girl, so full of life, and things are so much quieter and emptier here without her.
He also feels for Samir, he knows that his best friend has a definite soft spot for Amiya even if he hasn't said anything yet. Dhiraj wonders if this might be just the shock that is needed to make Samir admit what it is that he feels, tell the truth about it.
And Asha… he knows that Asha would've been close to Amiya when it happened, that she's in equal danger. He knows that she must be suffering right now, watching her best friend suffer and he wishes that he could be there for her right now in order to support her.
Dhiraj is still clutching Samir's shoulder, as he watches his friend struggle with his emotions, fear and worry appearing on his face when Hussein runs into the room, his own face mirroring theirs. They stand up to greet him, praying that he'll know something about the situation.
"Did you hear…?" he pants, out of breath, "Amiya…."
"We just found out right now," Dhiraj tells him, knowing that he has to be the one to speak, "Do you know what happened to her?"
"I just came from Uncle Aalekh's office…" Hussein tells him, "I went there as soon as I found out. He says there was a poison gas attack… Amiya saved an entire building of civilians by disposing the canister, but inhaled some of it at the time. She's stable now but…"
Samir takes a shuddering sigh at this, collapsing into his chair heavily. "Poison gas?" he asks Hussein, "But she…"
"She got the antidote on time… but she'll still be critical for the next few hours." Hussein tells him, trying to be reassuring, "There's nothing that we can do for now except pray for her… Captain Kapoor, I was wondering if you would be able to call Asha and see if she's alright?"
Dhiraj nods, incredibly thankful to Hussein for suggesting it, but not wanting to leave Samir alone at a time like this, however Hussein has handled the situation before he can even question it.
"Samir, do you want to come with me to give me some company?" Hussein asks him, "I thought I might go and offer some prayers for Amiya's quick recovery."
Samir just nods, still not trusting himself to speak, and Hussein takes a hold of his arm, steering him away and throwing a look over his shoulder to tell Dhiraj that he'll manage things.
Dhiraj nods at him, letting him know that he's understood, and then sprints for the nearest secure phone line, not giving up until the officer on duty allows him to make a call even though he hasn't booked one beforehand or received prior permission for it.
He is connected through to Asha's base, and waits as they call her to the phone, breathing heavily as the expectation of hearing her voice grows.
When she comes on the line, her quiet questioning hello is said in a trembling voice, and he can tell that she's exhausted, drained both emotionally and physically.
"Asha," his voice comes out as no more than a whisper, and before he can say anything else she has burst into tears, her sobs coming clearly down the line to him.
"Dhiraj…" she sobs, "Dhiraj, Amiya… I just can't…."
She must have been holding herself together until this point, staying strong for the sake of her friend, and it is now when she is speaking to him that she allows herself to break down. She has always felt safe with him, supported, from the very beginning. It is from him that she draws her strength, and now is when she needs him the most.
"Asha… Asha…" Dhiraj feels so powerless trying to comfort her on the other end of a telephone line. If he had been with her he could have held her, stroked her hair, planted kisses on her forehead, comforted her until she was quiet again. Here, all he has to reach out to her is his voice and words are now failing him. "Asha, she'll be fine, I know she will be. Amiya is so strong, so full of life, nothing can harm her."
"I know she'll be fine…" Asha tells him, sobbing slightly less now, "She has a good doctor… and she's expected to make a full recovery. It's just that there was nothing I could do. In that split second… I couldn't stop her, couldn't help her, couldn't save her. I was completely powerless and I felt as if…"
"Nothing has happened to her," he repeats, trying to remain calm, "She's going to be her normal self very soon, just wait and see. Soon… soon you'll be back here with us, and everything will be fine."
But it is her next words that surprise him, shock him even.
"I need you, Dhiraj." She tells him, her breath catching on the words, "I don't know how to do this without you… I need you to be with me."
He wants to punch the wall next to the phone, he wants to scream in both frustration and triumph, he wishes she was here so that he could grab her and kiss her until she understands exactly how much he needs her as well.
"Asha… I am with you always." He tells her instead, keeping his voice calm with a great deal of effort, "I'm going to talk to the Brigadier… ask for you to come back. It's been enough now… it's time for you to come back with Amiya." He pauses, searching for the words, "This isn't easy for me Asha… every day… I can't…"
There is a silence as they both absorb the words of the other.
"I should get back to Amiya…" she tells him, "I know you're with me… I'll stay strong, until…"
She doesn't finish the last sentence, but he knows what she's going to say.
Until she comes back to him.
**
After an hour, HJ comes in to join Asha as she sits with Amiya, sitting in the empty chair beside her.
"Hussein is going to kill me," he tells her, "I was meant to look after the two of you."
Asha gives a short laugh at this, "I really don't think this is your responsibility, HJ." She tells him, "You couldn't have prevented it from happening."
"Still…." He says, "I only just met you two yesterday and already I feel as if I should be looking after you." He stops, and smiling, attempts to brighten the mood. "Are you sure you don't want to leave your Captain and run away with me?"
Asha smiles at this, knowing that he's just joking. "Are you ever serious?" she asks him, "I mean, have you ever been serious about any girl?"
"Of course," HJ tells her, growing serious for a moment, "There was a girl at my academy, Riti. I really liked her, was completely serious about her, but she didn't believe me, thought I was just joking. I'm still trying to prove it to her."
"Well maybe you should stop flirting with other girls then." Asha suggests to him, still with a small smile.
"But then I wouldn't be HJ, would I?" he asks her, "This is my style."
"What is your full name?" Asha asks him with a slight frown as she realises she doesn't know it, "Why are you called HJ?"
"Well my full name is actually Jaydeep Huda." HJ tells her proudly, "But all of my friends used to call me Huda for short. However this got confusing because all of my father's friends also called him Huda, and nobody could work out who they were talking about. So they started referring to me as Huda Junior, but that's way too long to say every time, so Hussein shortened it to HJ instead."
He says the whole thing without taking a breath and Asha stares at him amazed, and then smiles.
"You must have gotten your flirting skills from your father." She tells him, "And your personality too."
"Of course!" HJ replies proudly, "You know until now, my father is the biggest flirt that KMA has ever seen! He's still discussed there as an example to all!"
Asha laughs, "He would be so proud about that." She tells HJ, not sure exactly how it is that she knows that.
"He certainly is." HJ agrees, and then in silence they go back to watching Amiya.
**
As Hussein and Samir come out of the masjid, Hussein notices with relief that Samir looks slightly calmer, but only slightly. He had to control his own panic when he heard about Amiya, trusting that nothing would happen to her, that she would remain safe. He had bound a taweez for her with his own hands, his faith could not be betrayed.
Samir looks lost, almost devastated, as if he's just realised how close he came to losing something precious to him and Hussein knows he shouldn't leave him alone just yet. He could either send him back to Dhiraj or keep him with him for awhile longer.
"Do you want to come with me now?" Hussein asks him carefully, and Samir looks up as if having forgotten that he was there.
"Where are you going?" Samir asks him.
"The Gurudwara… I was brought up with both of my parents faith… I figure it won't hurt to pray for Amiya according to both."
Samir nods, and follows Hussein as they begin walking in the right direction.
"She will be fine, you know." Hussein tells him gently.
"I know…" Samir replies, "It's just…."
"That you hadn't realised you might lose her." Hussein finishes the sentence for him, "Before you had even done anything about it."
Samir looks up as if shocked, "No, it's not that," he says hastily, "It's just that…"
"Why not?" Hussein asks him, "Don't you think that sometimes it's important to realise what you have before you lose it?"
Samir stares at him, as if Hussein has said something he had never considered before.
Hussein just hopes that he's ready to face the facts by the time Amiya comes back.
**
It is in the afternoon, that Shalini finally works up the courage to make the call. After asking Asha, she's found out the two of them have come from Tawang Base, the same base that Aalekh, Abhimanyu and Hussein are based at.
Could it be possible…
Could…
And so she dials his number.
"Hi Aalekh," she tells him when he picks up, "It's Shalini here."
"How are you?" Aalekh asks her, "Where are you posted these days?"
"Actually I just received my new posting… they transferred me to Bangladesh temporarily since they didn't have enough doctors here to cope with the casualties."
She can practically hear him thinking… and she begins to suspect that yes, he really does know… he knows…..
"HJ is here too," she tells him, "I met him today."
Aalekh is silent, he's waiting, she knows he is.
"And there are two girls too… friends of Hussein's. I met them when Amiya was brought to me injured. Aalekh…." She can't quite bring herself to say it, not sure whether she should feel ridiculous for considering such a thing, "Aalekh, I need to ask…."
"About Asha…" he finishes. There is a long pause, and then. "About Naina."
And Shalini takes in a deep breath.
"Tell me." She practically commands him.
And he does.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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