A Twist Of Destiny - KaYa TS (Ch 1) - 18/12

Ananya sat motionless on the hospital bench, fresh tears pooling at the edges of her puffy bloodshot eyes. The nurses and doctors walked past her frantically, causing her heart to stop beating each time the door of the operation theatre would open and someone would come out. She wished this was some kind of nightmare, one she would wake up from, but it wasn't. For the excruciating pain that pulled at her chest and arced along her nerves reminded her of her reality and the fact that there was no escaping it.

"Ananya...tu theek hai na beta...ANANYA!!!" an echoing voice repeating her name brought her back to reality. Her mom was crying sitting beside her and her best friend Ronnie stood in front, the expression on his face dressed with fear and concern. There was a brief silence and then she looked up at Ronnie and the man standing next to him with blank eyes.

"A-An-Ananya woh-oh" Ronnie stammered, his voice shaky. Armaan leapt forward and gave him a slight squeeze on the shoulder. Ronnie screwed his eyes shut, trying to ride out the wave of nausea and pain.

"Ananya Inspector Khurana ko tera statement chahiye" he sighed and croaked.

She blinked and stared down without any response, before another voice took over.

"Ananya I know tum shock mein ho...but tumhara statement bahut important hai. Batao Ananya, kaise hua Kabir ke saath ye sab" Inspector Khurana squealed.

Ice replaced Anaya's spine. Uncontrollable trembles shook her body as she heard his name. She almost felt her world begin to reel.

She had panicked when she first saw the huge truck racing towards her, and looking at the way the driver sped in her direction, it was going to smash her into pieces.

She yelped and ran for her life, wheezing and huffing out of breath. She was almost near the edge of the road now, and the truck sped furiously, raging towards her.

Ananya's arms flew to her face as the flash from the truck's flood light blurred her vision. She screamed and awaited to be ran down but just then a muscular arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her with a massive jerk. She flew in his direction and landed on top of him before hitting the ground.

His eyes met hers. Hers had dilated and moistened with shock.

"I love you Ananya" he told her, then yanked his arm off her and pushed her away from himself. Ananya rolled towards the edge of the pavement and the truck rammed into his side. The collision was so great that he spun in the other direction, colliding with another car.

She remembered watching him land on the ground with a thud. She remembered the loud crackling sound that she knew came from his skull. She'd seen his eyes squeeze with pain, and then shut. But, worst of all, she remembered the blood. It ran everywhere, on the footpath and all over his snowy white shirt.

She cried as she forcefully shook his face but he didn't move. Ananya could hear the sirens of ambulance and police approaching towards them.

"Kabir, Kabir wake up please!! Can you hear me...Please aankhen kholiye Kabir!! Please mujhse baat keejiye" she pleaded, but he didn't even twitch. She tied her stole on his bleeding forehead and kissed all over his face.

The sirens sounded like they were closer.

She scooted forward and lay over his body, as if to protect it. She didn't want to move, so she buried her face in his shirt and sobbed.

A cold chill ran down Ananya's spine as Kabir's bloody face flashed in front of her eyes. Her limbs had got numb by now and hot tears were running down her cheeks and neck.

Understanding the gravity of the situation Khurana slightly moved back. He had understood that Ananya was not in the condition to speak or give any statement.

It was then only the light above the operation theatre went off. The door creaked open and doctors walked out. Everybody, including Kabir's bhaiya and Bhabhi, had stood up from their places by now as they gawked at the doctor's faces for the slightest ray of hope.

Ananya grew nervous as the footsteps approached her. Her heart started hammering in her chest, and she got a sick feeling in her stomach. She swallowed hard and struggled to breathe evenly.

Destiny had her marooned at the crossroad of life and death.