This is my first OS. I felt bad looking at Sai's bland expression. So penned down whatever I felt. Death is not an easy emotion to process. I tried to capture Sai wrapping her head around fact that Satya is no more.
There is a deafening silence in the room, one that mirrored Sai's heart. Sai vividly remembered the first time she entered this room as a newly wed. She felt uneasy then, the weight of her marriage with Satya started to sink in. The thought of running away crossed her mind but his comforting smile anchored her to reality.
Even in death, Satya had a serene smile, one that endeared him to everyone in the hospital. Here, she lies, eerily silent and devoid of emotion. He didn't complete her but oddly she felt empty without him. Perhaps he held her together in more ways than she recognized.
Sai looks at herself in the mirror and the memory of Satya knitting his button crosses her mind. She turns her eyes and spots him sketching with Savi. Savi is her sunshine, her miracle baby who gave her the hope to move forward when she lost the will to live. And Sai trusted Savi with Satya. Isn't it enough to show his place in her life? Perhaps not because he deserved so much more.
She opens the door of their washroom hoping for the familiar scent of cologne to hit her. It was not there, it will never be there. Sai turns on the shower and let the cool water touch her skin bringing it to life. Her back has hit the wall and she slid down curling herself into a ball.
Her lips wobbled and hot tears brimmed from her eyes. She could doze off here but Satya is not there to sit beside her and offer tissues and his comforting silence. She closed her eyes hoping the pain to shot through her senses, leaving her crying openly. But it doesn't happen. Not even a whimper escapes her lips.
Someone gently makes her stand and Sai sees Maddy with her puffy eyes, covering Sai in a towel and taking her out. Satya was her brother, Sai wanted to tell Maddy that she knew what it means to lose a brother. She lost her Samrat Dada. They will sail through this storm together. Before she could muster the will to speak, Maddy went to bring fresh clothes for Sai.
Sai remembers the smile on Satya's face when she showed him her pictures wearing the saree he gifted. It doesn't matter anymore but Sai couldn't stop herself from wearing the saree. She came to the hall and there in the middle lies the truth Sai would do anything to avoid.
Each step she took broke her heart into million pieces and stitched it together just so it can break it again the next moment. Everything flashed in front of her eyes. Meeting Satya on the road, becoming colleagues who can't stand each other, to friends and namesake couple to .....
Sai wished she knew what to fill there. What was Satya to her.
Her legs finally gave away making her kneel in front of the lifeless man. Sai didn't love him. It was and perhaps always will be Virat. But Sai wanted to tell Satya that his absence made her realize how bleak her life had become without him. Sai kissed on his forehead, her lips lingering there for several minutes. Sai sat there motionless, the only visible sign of life in her were the stream of tears falling down her cheeks. Savi hugged her mother and buried her face in her embrace. Sai hugged her back but her eyes remained glassy.
Virat wanted nothing more than Satya to be gone. When the man whom he has come to respect and despise in equal measure is truly gone, Virat didn't know how to feel. He saw how motionless Sai is. Virat saw her when she lost her Aaba. A young girl of 18 who lost the man dear to her more than anyone else. Her pain and tears tugged at his heart. He saw her cry when Samrat died begging to be a part of his last rites. He knew what Samrat meant for her.
But this here, it scared him. Satya's death has broken death Sai in a way that perhaps can't be mended. Satya was right Sai didn't love him but he touched her in ways Virat cannot fathom in his lifetime. Satya's body was taken away but Sai's gaze remained on the empty space.
Only rotten tomatoes allowed.
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