Tying up loose ends -SHQ season 1 fanfic

What I did for love :

Nothing had changed. He continued to lie still as a statue, pale as a ghost ; same as the fateful day they had rushed him to the hospital . The innumerable wires connected to all the beeping monitors was the only proof he was not dead yet. A year and eight months later, Parth was no closer to recovery, not even his eyelashes flickered. Vidushi would know if anything changed , for she'd sat vigil at his bedside through almost every one of those hours ,long after the others had given up.

Initially it had felt like the whole damn college had been there . Masses of flowers and candies from strange girls filled his room , until it looked like a bloody gift shop . Somebody had always been ready to sit at his bedside , watch over him. The doctors had run test upon test and performed countless procedures that Randhir had alternatively threatened and cajoled them into. She watched as he threw the full weight of the Sanyal group , used it to bring in the best doctors .Watched silently as Sanyukta threw the Agarwal fortune towards getting him round the clock nursing , and the best hospital bed money could buy .

Meanwhile Vidushi buried herself in research -in books and websites , reading about each of his treatments -the impact and every known side effect . She devovered tomes of medical volumes , read piles of case studies , filled entire books with her notes and observations .She became a pest , nagging doctors , nurses ,and ward boys incessantly for details and updates . She hung around the hospital like a ghost , pale and hollow eyed , surviving on endless coffee and terrible hospital food. Nights were spent hovering over his bed, constantly monitoring his activity , anxiously watching the machines ,listening for beeps . The hum of the machines became a lullaby , and yet she hardly ever slept soundly . Always waiting , watching , terrified that one day the machines would become silent .

Sometimes in the light of the day logic returned . She wondered why she was at his side . They were done , finished , over ; if they had ever existed at all . She should leave , she was finally free of Parth, should have moved on with her life . There were times when she did try , but inexplicably she always found herself back at the hospital , unable to let go. No amount of reasoning or arguing with herself seemed to work . But then again , when it came to Parth she had never been rational.

Six months later the only flowers were the ones she brought in everyday , his admirers and fans had fallen away . Shortly after that Yoyo had to return to his village, he too left. A year passed , when without warning Randhir stopped visiting abruptly , though he clearly continued to sign the cheques for Parth's treatment . Sanyukta had found a full time job , and had reduced her visits to once a week. The doctors seemed to have pulled back , reduced their earlier efforts .Vidushi continued her solo watch , doubling up , and trying to find even more answers. The more she read the more worried she grew.

She blackmailed ward boys and physiotherapists with lawsuits from FITE , and the Sanyal group , and got them to set up a regular exercise routine for him. She nagged anybody she found into helping her take him on wheelchair walks every morning . Vidushi insisted on shaving his stubble ,and cutting his hair herself ,she did a terrible job of both . It was as if she hopped he would wake up , through sheer annoyance with her , it was of no use .Through Parth's sponge baths and the difficult daily exercises she formed an odd sort friendship with the nurses and therapists .

A year and half in, the doctors seemed to have given up any pretence of treatment , and the nurses looked at her with pity in their gazes. Vidushi spent sleepless weeks reading up on alternative medicine and treatments. Googling methods and techniques , pleading and bribing specialists to come see him. Ayurvedic massages , yoga techniques , acupuncture, rekhi, homeopathy and naturopathy ; anything she could lay her hands on . She was like a woman possessed , determined to drag him back to the land of the living.

In the few hours he was not undergoing some kind of treatment , and she was not looking up alternatives ,she spent talking to him . At times she shared everyday news , politics , movie releases , music and weather updates. Mostly though she tried to goad him awake by having one sided arguments , and playing terrible music on his poor guitar . Parth did not move a finger. In desperation she kissed him , certain he would jerk awake , and lecture her furiously on the moral behaviour of an engaged woman. His lips remained cold and unresponsive beneath hers. She was losing faith.

Through it all she had Ankit's unwavering silent support .She should have moved on , he was her fianc after all . Yet here she was , putting her life on hold , sitting by the comatose body of an ex- sometimes boyfriend she was still in love with .The odd night she stayed away ,she woke bathed in cold sweat ,from feverish nightmares that refused to fade until she was back at the hospital. She was helpless against the pull he seemed to wield.

In two months it would be two years since the accident , yet another round of treatment had failed. Vidushi was growing weary , questions kept gnawing her head . Was everybody right ? Who was she to make the choices anyway ? Was she simply prolonging the inevitable ? Did Parth even want to stay alive , or was she fighting alone ? Her wandering feet had led her to the prayer room.

It was odd, unlike her , Vidushi knew better than most that it was futile to turn to god. She only knew the room existed because an old battle axe of a nurse pushed her to it , and yet here she was again .Over the weeks she'd found herself here with an alarming frequency. It was a large white room , with domed ceilings and wooden doors , a stained glass window of abstract shapes dominated one wall . People sat on the thick soft carpets , or in the many chairs spread across the room . Best of all there was no religious sign, picture or idol. Perhaps that was what drew her in , offering a modicum of peace , relief from the relentless questions circling her head.

She watched as people came in and left . Parents praying for children , and children praying for sick mothers and fathers ,siblings praying for each other or for another family member . Grandparents seeking god's help for a critical grandchild or an ailing partner . Uncles and aunts , entire armies of extended family and friends . Prayers in myriad languages to a million different gods, seeking blessings for heart procedures , surgeries , asthma attacks and accident recoveries. All of them ultimately pleas . It amused her, the amount of faith these people placed in an unseen , unknown being . Once she had been a part of them , life had taught her otherwise . Now she knew this god to be a master player , who used their lives in a twisted games how . Pleas did not work on him.

Over the weeks she heard promises of poojas and pilgrimages , tonsured heads and promises to grow hair ,offering of hundreds of coconuts and ladoos , swearing to feed the poor , deals of fasts and feasting . Giving up ice cream , chocolate , cigarettes , taking up swimming and yoga .Deals she thought , every last one of them , and not deals with a benevolent god , but with a devil , who would most certainly collect his dues.

It had been a pleasant night , and she'd gone to walk outside , stretch her legs before going in . The overhead announcements had become a part of her life , the message didn't register. Swarms of doctors flew in and out of the room , nurses rushed about , she blinked bewildered , staggered against a wall. Code blue to 212' , Vidushi jerked as the message played again . She starred as they placed an oxygen mask and began CPR over a body she knew and loved. As she rushed forward , the doors swung shut in her face .

She ran then , her feet carrying her far away. Within minutes she was in the prayer room , though not entirely sure why she was there. Tears filled her eyes , fell down her cheeks , "code blue , code blue" the words echoed , images of the doctors filled her head . It was over , the fight was lost. Her throat worked , no words came out . It could have been minutes or hours , she had no idea how long she sat frozen against the wall.

An insistent voice at the back of her head nagged at her . A deal , you have to make a deal, now. Confusion and fear gave way to clarity . This she knew, this she could handle . It would simply have to work. Vidushi racked her brain , trying to calm her frazzled mind . She had a deal to make. Experience taught her, one that would have to be carefully worded , an offer made , of something that was invaluable , priceless to her .

It was surreal , almost like somebody else spoke for her . "If you make Parth all right , healthy and functional ; give him the life he had in college , before the race accident , I'll walk out of his life .No more plans , schemes or drama .I'll convince Ankit to go ahead with our fake engagement . In desperation she added ,I'll marry Ankit , be the perfect bahu and wife." Her voice shook towards the end , " but only if you save Parth". It hurt to speak the words , and she was not sure she made sense at all , but then this was last resort . Vidushi repeated the words over and over like a mantra , had to be sure the bloody god heard it .

Vidushi didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until a gentle hand shook her awake . She squinted into the morning light , dazed and confused , and then it hit her in a flash. She stood up in a rush , felt the room tilt , a hand steadied her. "Easy, came the voice of the old nurse , no need to run anywhere", her voice softened abruptly , Vidushi braced for the worst . "He's safe , doing much better , by the grace he was even conscious for a few minutes .."He had heard her after all then. " You should go see him .." the nurse continued , Vidushi could barely hear her over the roaring in her ears . The wish was granted, time to hold up her end now .

With clipped footsteps she made her way back to the room . He continued to lay still , but this time only deeply asleep .She rushed stuffing things willy- nilly , she didn't have much time , had to keep the deal. She stopped at his bed brushed shaky fingers through his hair ,willed away tears , there would be time later . She bent low and pressed one last kiss . His forehead furrowed , and she pulled away .

She'd made a deal with the devil , one she dare not wheedle around , there was too much to loose . With a twist of the handle she walked out of the door.