IshVeer FF: Of The Soulmates | Epilogue (Page 52) - Page 9

Originally posted by: Sania03337

A really really sorry dear for a very late reply 😭

Amazing update.

Loved Ishani's struggle to meet Ranveer 😊 the true love😳

Why on earth does Ranveer feel that Ishani will be happy without him?😡

And that idiot is dying without her😭

On the other hand , Ishani is dying to meet him.😭

Hope she got to know about him and he gets well.

Update ASAP.

Stayblessed 😳

Originally posted by: -FlameOfHope-

Update, update, update! 😛

Originally posted by: Elvish_Hobbit

Patience pleash! This has been such a tedious week that I have not been able to write more than 200-300 words. 😔 😔 I will most likely work on the next one from tomorrow.

Originally posted by: Elvish_Hobbit

Hey, gal! How are you? It's alright. Are your exams going on these days or they're over?

Thank you a lot. :) Um, we know Ranveer, right? If he finds her happiness without him, he'd definitely let her go, though here he's just had too hard of a time in doing so. 😭 😭 Ishani loves him unconditionally and so much that she herself does not realize this.

The next chapter is her going to see him wherever he is.

Thank you so much, Sania. :)

Chapter 58

Quiet. Silence. Serenity. And yet the loudest of the noises that a beating heart could produce.

Hope. Joy. Delight. And yet the cruel hopelessness that a dying heart could feel.

Life. Expectations. Anticipation. And yet the eternal fear of losing it all in a whit of the moment.

Love. Passion. A life full of felicity. And yet the loss and unfulfilled desires for which a heart always yearned.

Ishani wiped her tears slowly, her eyes barely noticing the savor of the noon in the town, and the slowly gliding down the sun rays conjuring only one image in her mind: that of Ranveer's. Her eyes wandered often to the streets as if she had caught a glimpse of Ranveer and she eagerly moved on her seat only to see the image swiftly fading away.

"Can you not tell me where we are heading to, Puneet?" Ishani asked the fifteenth time, hoping to know the destination she was supposed to be in. Her heart thumped loudly with each street they passed and Ishani could guess Puneet was taking detours just to delay the journey. "Puneet, I asked you something!"

Puneet hesitated a little. "We'll soon be arriving there, but please make sure whatever comes your way, you are prepared for that."

Her heart sank deeply. It couldn't be anything good, Ishani guessed, and the mere thought of it was enough to freeze her soul. What was wrong with Ranveer? The unresponsive gazes of Puneet helped nothing and she felt herself getting wriggled powerfully against the hopelessness that had gradually begun to take over. A part of her still wanted to hold on to the filaments of her thoughts that drifted back to the promises that Ranveer had made; he never lied and never did he make false promises.

"I- I'm ready," Ishani said after sometime. Puneet nodded and drove the car towards their final destination. "But I'm afraid too." She asked nothing more questions and Puneet also kept silent. The only noise she could feel herself listening to was that of Thames that proudly flew bellow the bridge.

By the time the car halted, Ishani felt herself shivering from fear and pain; the only inkling of her being alive being the pain she fiercely felt in her chest and the tears that burned in her eyes. Any anticipation of what awaited her ultimately had come to an end as Puneet drove the car past the entrance of the London Bridge hospital and she felt glitch in her own breath for a moment as if she had forgotten to breathe before that moment.

"We're here," Puneet said, not looking at her.

"Is he alright?" Ishani asked, despite knowing she wouldn't have her answer. "Are his parents alright?"

Puneet nodded in answer to Ranveer's parents being well, but Ranveer? Ishani's heart thumped loud enough to be heard by those around her and her breath felt as low as if she had turned lifeless. Tears now rolled down her cheeks as she followed Puneet, not knowing where he led from there. Puneet enquired something on reception counter and without informing anything to Ishani, he gestured her to follow him. The bright alleyway of the hospital led her to a waiting room, Puneet dejectedly walking alongside Ishani. As they reached the destined room, Ishani's eyes fell upon Amba who sat on a chair, her head on her husband's shoulder, while, to Ishani, she felt like someone who had given up on all hopes for the misery that she herself was going to the part of. Ishani moved further, he heart racing wildly and her eyes fixed on the old couple who did not yet notice her yet. The sound of the rest of the people conversing in the waiting room died away as Ishani continued to look at Amba and Kailash grimly. She couldn't guess why, but she felt it was her own fault whatever they were going through.

"I think you should wait here," Puneet said in a low voice.

"Where is Ranveer?" Ishani asked, grabbing Puneet's hand as he turned to leave. "Where has he gone?"

Puneet hesitated, his eyes sparkling with a hint of tears. "Ishani, wait here please," he pleaded softly. "You will come to know of him very soon." He forced a smile, but Ishani cut him short.

"You kept quiet for so long, don't you think? I have waited for longer than I can handle. Please tell me where he is," Ishani said with an urgency that made Puneet feel uncomfortable for a moment.

"He's there." Puneet indicated towards another passage which supposedly led to either operation theater or...

"I don't want to play any riddles, Puneet. Please let me know where he is," Ishani requested, her voice heavy with emotions, and her tears threatening to burst out of her eyes.

"This way leads to the incentive care unit. He's been there since last... 3 days."

"But why?" Ishani said, gulping, her voice barely audible, and tears made their final way out of her eyes and she did not bother wiping them away.

"Tumor." Puneet whispered, closing his eyes in pain. "He's been diagnosed for Pineoblastomas since hast one month. RV sir has been here since last month. Admitted a month back." He paused as he saw Ishani staring at him blankly and her face bathed in tears. He couldn't say it anymore.

Ishani felt Puneet's words reaching her ears like the sharpest of the knives and stabbing every fiber of her body as brutally as possible with such an intensity that she could not endure it anymore, and one more blow, she would scream to her death. An old set of memories suddenly burst before her eyes and she felt an unforgettable image of Ranveer being painted right in front of her, him smiling at her in his most charming manner and then carelessly walking away, and never looking back. Just like in her dreams: He had walked away and she was frozen in her place. Words did not form in her mouth as she opened her mouth to cry out his name. There was pain; so much that she felt being enraptured deeply enough in her grief to lunge in the chasm of death and never return back to life again. The rest of the sight blurred in front of her eyes, and there was only one face that kept turning up again and again: Ranveer's. Her hand tightly grappled the nearest support it could fetch as she lost her balance and her feet crumbled down, her knees hitting the floor fiercely. Puneet rushed towards her to support her lifeless feeling self, while Ishani did not care.

"Ishani!" He made her stand on her feet.

She retracted herself away violently.

"I want to see Ranveer!" she said loudly, her voice unsteady and lips quivering with fear. Fear of losing him.

"Ishani, listen to me," Puneet tried to explain but Ishani cut him short.

"I said I want to see Ranveer! Don't you get it, Puneet?"

Kailash and Amba heard the chaos and looked at each other, surprised.

"Ishani, you can't meet him right now. Not until..." Kailash said as he and his wife came closer, but Ishani interrupted him, her tone still uneven, but mannered.

"Kaka, please," Ishani said, "once... just once. Please." She hiccoughed. Only if she could see him once, she would know how to do it all.

"Ishani," Puneet said again, "he's very, very delicate right now. We can't meet him. The doctors said..." He lowered his head.

She looked at up at him.

"The doctors said he wasn't doing better since his second surgery. And for that he had to be kept in proper care until he started responding better than yesterday. To them, it felt... his heart was dying."

Ishani closed her eyes, tears flowed out of them uncontrollably, wetting her cheeks like a barren realm drought out since eternity.

"I want to see him atleast once," Ishani spoke in the lowest voice possible. "Please." Her eyes begged those standing in front of her.

Amba hesitantly came further and rested her hand on Ishani's shoulder. She gestured Puneet for something and he left immediately.

"Kaki," Ishani said to Amba while the old woman only nodded, but Ishani could not say anything else. The compassion in her eyes felt too strong to express any form of fear or even guilt in that moment.

In nearly 15 minutes Puneet returned and without another word led Ishani towards the place he had said Ranveer was in. The ICU. For the first time in life Ishani felt her heart completely frozen, devoid of any emotion, her eyes blocking all the views in front of her and her head spinning as rapidly as it could and yet keeping her alive enough to see the torment she never wanted him to go through. Her mind only rang with the past memories and how everything felt like shutting down in the whit of a moment but she could not help.

"We're here," Puneet said softly and while Ishani felt too tired to say anything, she simply nodded. She wanted to see him. Right now. Every moment passing felt like draining life out of her painfully in little drops. He opened the door slowly, and the nurses looked at the newcomers inquisitively. "Mr. Gregson allowed us here," Puneet said when one of the women tried explaining why and how family could not visit the patient in the room for next 3 days. They did not agree at once but at Ishani's insistence they were ultimately forced to let her in.

"I will be in here only for 10 minutes. Please!" she insisted weakly, and the 4 appointed nurses left despondently.

"We'll be there in the waiting room," Puneet said.

Ishani nodded and gave a sigh of relief as everyone from the room left.

She turned back to the ICU room. Her eyes fell upon Ranveer, his body entangled amongst the wires and machines that for a moment made her own body shiver: IVs attached through his arms, oxygen mask to support his breathing system, and the upper part of his head covered in what felt like bloody bandages. Cardiac monitor rang rhythmically aside, depicting the glowing lines tracing across its screen, its electrodes attached to his chest with pads. For once Ishani closed her eyes, unable to take another look of him and the suffering he was going through, and turned her back towards him. No! She couldn't do this, not this time when he needed her the most. Ishani turned back again, and stared at his pale face: the image of the fading Ranveer in her dreams clearest in her mind now. It all felt too real. Slowly, she moved towards him and sat on the stool and took his hand in hers and it was then, after so long, she felt her own heart beat. Ishani laced her left hand in his and closed it gently about him, and brought her right hand to support it again, but as soon as she touched him, she gasped in shock. There was blood in there; it couldn't be his. It mustn't be his. She felt a prickle in her hand and taking it out of his grasp, Ishani looked at it. There was a bleeding wound in the corner of her right hand that she concluded she must have received a few minutes ago in her state of enraged shock and couldn't realize until now.

The blood oozed out of her palm copiously and drops of it slithered across Ranveer's hand that fell flaccidly there underneath hers. Ishani withdrew it back away, and closed her fist to stop the gushing wound. It was futile, though it was a relief that it did not hurt.

Her eyes went back to Ranveer, his placid figure, his body attached to the machines and his silence gashing every part of her soul mercilessly. His body was nearly cold. The nightmare too clear right now. She wanted to scream. She wanted to call him back but just like in the dreams, it would be useless. She realized the cause of the coldness. The circulation of blood wasn't proper and the irregularly appearing lines on the cardiac monitor were an evidence of that. She slowly ran her fingers across his forehead, and felt a cold chill running down her spine. Every moment of his suffering felt like whittling a hole in her own body. She wanted to stop it all happening to him. To her. To them both. But she was helpless.

"Why, Ranveer?" Ishani asked bitterly as if expecting him to answer her at once but he was still silent. "How could you shun yourself out like this here and let never Ishani know of that? This is why you wanted me away from here, right? You never told Maa what was wrong with you and she misunderstood you completely. Why are you like this, Mr. Vaghela?" Her voice grew louder than usual as she said so. "How could you do this to yourself... to me and us? You don't know you were going to kill me the moment you separated yourself from me. I would have died and what would you have done then? I can't live without you, don't you get it, damn! And look at yourself! What is it you've made of yourself? All these things... these machines...these surgical things... are they for you? NO! They are not for you. You were supposed to be in your office. In your cabin. Why did you do this to yourself?" Ishani placed her hand on his chest as she closed her eyes, his heart beating slowly, and she could not tell whether she imagined it or not, but for a moment there felt a rapidity in his heartbeats as if it beat for the first time in days. The moment was too short to be noticed on the monitor right away. She fell silent, staring at him vacantly as if waiting for him to wake up at once.

"I know you're going to make it," Ishani said after sometime. "Have you seen Kaka and Kaki? They're waiting for you... You have to fight for them. Your company is waiting for you. Puneet and Rishi can't wait to have you back... they're going crazy. And your Ishani..." she paused and wiped the tears from her face. "I have never known to live without you. One separation was enough to take my life out of me, and another one..." She couldn't say it anymore.

"You know what, Ranveer? You once told me you had hurt the woman you loved. I know you remember it just as much I do... you didn't do it back then, but today you definitely have done that. And I'm not going to forgive you unless you come to apologize to me on your own. I know you can't stay without talking to me, can you? You will make through it and I know that! I'm never leaving you. Not unless it's death that claims me first, and always remember that I l--"

The soft knock on the door made Ishani pause her speech and turn her head back. A nurse stood there, her face calm.

"Miss, your time is up. Please leave the patient now. The doctor needs to carry out some checkups."

Ishani nodded and reluctantly freed her hand from Ranveer's. "I will come back soon," she said to Ranveer, and for a moment bent down to kiss his forehead, only to realize she couldn't do that. "Can I see him again sometime soon?" She turned to look at the nurse.

"Before the surgery, sure."

The sun had gone down, and the shadows of the night crept over the city languidly. Ishani glanced at the view below of the Thames beside which the building of the hospital stood. She sighed. She had not talked to anyone ever since she returned from the ICU while Ranveer's parents wanted to know how he was. They had seen him twice but his mother could not do it anymore and since then it was either his father or Puneet that took the visit and often Rishi, too. Ishani heard the footsteps behind her and wiped the tears.

"Do you want to take some rest? There's still time for surgery..." Puneet said.

Ishani shook her head, and continued to look out of the window. "I want to be with him. It's the only time I'm there when he needs me. All the time before... I was just..."

"You love him so much, don't you?"

Ishani gasped, and turned to look at Puneet who smiled a little. "I do. He's everything I would have wanted from my life."

Puneet's smile widened, though the usual gleam in his eyes was missing. "He told me the same thing," he said.

"He did... what...? Wait! Did he know?" Ishani needed not elaborate what she was asking for, for Puneet answered immediately.

"All the time."

Ishani swallowed. He had known her feelings long before she did!

"He always felt what his heart said was true, and it said you loved him. But then you were in relationship with Chirag and RV sir didn't want to entertain any hopes for himself. He could very well be fooling himself, he used to think. And because of that he always denied the obvious until something happened during Sally and my wedding. It was then that he came to believe he was right all along. But..."

"But?"

"But that was the first time too when he first showed the symptoms of the illness. At Rishi's insistence, he did go for the checkup, but it showed nothing more than the ordinary headaches, collapses due to stress or vomiting because of the same reason. He did feel something was wrong with him, but he wouldn't tell any of us."

The realization now dawned upon Ishani. Ranveer and his disappearances since last couple of weeks were not because of any business trips, but those due to his illness that he so dearly wanted to hide from her.

"Though his continuously worsening health- often blurring of the visions or weaknesses- made his parents go him for the checkups and initially it was said to be a slight ataxia but sooner the MRI reports showed something else altogether. The doctors were afraid it wasn't something worth ignoring and he needed to go for surgery straight away since tumor was growing rapidly, but he said he had something urgent to finish before his treatment. He told no one what it was..." Puneet feel silent as he saw Ishani turn away. "Ishani? Are you alright?"

Ishani said nothing. What could be more important than his own health? It wasn't a hard task to guess.

"When was it...?" Ishani struggled with tears, without looking back.

"3 weeks ago."

This was it! What could be more important than his own health for him? Her happiness. He had to relinquish Chirag out of her life... but why? Why couldn't he think of himself atleast once? Ishani caught her head in her hands as the burden of guilt grew too hard to endure. Her world spun around her frantically as she took hold of the window and stood firm.

"I'm alright... I'm alright! What happened then?" Ishani asked. She needed to know everything that was kept hidden from her.

"In his second MRI report it was revealed that there was something more too. It had actually spread in his other parts of the brain and there had to be 3 surgeries. 2 minor and the third one was to be the major one. It was around his birthday and the next day of that date the doctors had fixed it to be the day for the first surgery. He was doing fine until then, but on the night he returned back from your place, his condition had gotten much, much worse. He felt hopeless... said he wouldn't make through it. And that you should never find out about him. He wanted you to leave... but could never say that himself."

He was tired of everything and wanted her away, but had no strength left to push her away anymore.

"Since last one week 2 of his minor surgeries have been carried out successfully but the doctors are skeptical about this final one. They feel they're not very hopeful... But don't worry, Ishani, everything will be alright," Puneet added at the change in her expressions.

"It's all my fault!" Ishani cursed herself. "My fault!"

"No, it's not yours. Don't blame yourself, please."

Ishani wiped her tears. "You have absolutely no idea," Ishani whispered bitterly, more to herself than him. Puneet suddenly received a call and excusing himself he left. "I'll see you soon," he said and Ishani nodded.

Ishani once again turned towards the outside view and leaned her head on the windowpane, feeling the warm air hitting her face softly. She couldn't let the feeling of his heartbeats increasing at her touch go away. She couldn't tell why, but she was hopeful. So much was to be said and cleared away. Broken hearts were to be mended. She needed to talk to him, to say all that was buried deep within her soul. She needed to apologize to him and let him know what she always yearned for; she wanted to be with him. Chirag was her mistake, why did Ranveer have to suffer for that? Why did her mistakes have to be a terrible gift for Ranveer all the time?

Ishani's thoughts continued to roll over as her eyes fell upon Kailash and Amba and she headed upto them.

"Kaki," she said, coming close to Amba. "Please don't cry." She knelt before her and took her hand in hers.

"Why did you come back?" Amba asked softly. "You had left for India, I think."

"I didn't... I- I couldn't," Ishani spoke softly, looking at the floor.

"I knew you would come back," Amba said, caressing Ishani's cheeks, and smiling softly. "I knew you wouldn't leave him again."

"How?" Ishani found herself say, not knowing how else to answer her.

"Because I'm a mother. I just knew you wouldn't leave him, and you proved me right."

"Kaki, Ranveer is going to be alright," Ishani said encouragingly. "He is going to fight back and soon enough he will be with us. Very soon." Ishani wiped Amba's tears.

"You love him so much... he never thought that. And for the first time in life, I am happy to be proved wrong. I'm just happy you're here."

Ishani did not say anything, and closed her eyes as she felt Amba wiping her tears. A mother's touch was indeed generous.

Ishani's phone vibrated quietly as she clumsily sprang out of her sleep. She realized she was in the waiting room, and had fallen asleep there. She had sent Ranveer's parents home saying she and Puneet would take care here for the night and they will be called upon at the first rays of the dawn tomorrow. Amba and Kailash, although reluctantly after many requests agreed and left, Kailash showering his blessings upon her.

"You too take care of yourself, Ishani," he had said. "We will send something for you for dinner." Ishani had agreed and they had finally made their way to home.

Getting out of her thoughts, Ishani looked at her phone which continued to vibrate impatiently. It was Mr. Khanna.

"Hello," Ishani said sleepily. "Everything's fine, Mr. Khanna?"

"Ishani," Mr. Khanna answered in a relieved voice. "My apologies for disturbing you so late, but it's your cousin, Mr. Sharman Parekh, wanting to talk to you. He said you are not picking up your phone, so he called in the office but you've been unavailable to us as well."

"Oh, God!" Ishani sighed. "Thank you for the information, Mr. Khanna. I will talk to him."

Ishani quickly dialed the number of her cousin and the call was received immediately on the other side.

"Hello," Sharman said, "Ishani, for God's sake, where have you been?"

"I'm sorry, Bhaiya. I have been stuck somewhere."

"For one week?"

"One week?"

"Of course! I have been trying to reach out for you for so long. I wanted to talk about Falguni Kaki."

"Maa! Is she alright, bhaiya?" She realized she hadn't talked to her mother at all this one week. She hadn't talked to anyone on phone the whole week.

"I don't know," Sharman said, confused. "Ever since she's returned home, she seems so lost. Initially she was fine but 4 days ago she and Disha had had some heated discussion, and she mentioned your name again and again, as well as Ranveer's, and ever since, she seems to have fallen completely silent. She doesn't talk to anyone and often in her room weeps uncontrollably, whispering apologies to you. I wonder what happened? Is everything alright at your end?"

"I need you, bhaiya," Ishani broke down. "Please come here. Please!" She needed her brother. The tediousness of life with her mother's unexpected resignation left nothing in her to fight anymore. What happened at her mother's end wasn't unexpected, but just like everyone's, she was the cause of her own mother too. Her life felt like being on a crossroad now where so much had changed in a moment, so much had shattered, so much was evolving itself to prepare for a new future- for good or worse was still a mystery- and she was alone in all this for the first time. The battle she found herself in at times felt like a losing one, but she could not help; she could not lose. She would fight till the last drop of the blood and strength in her body was spent but sometimes it wasn't enough. And she knew it now better than before.

"Ishani," Sharman's voice broke the sequence of her thoughts. "Don't worry. I will be there by tomorrow. I'm coming."

With Sharman's words melting in her head, Ishani felt herself drowning in a pool of hope where anxiety for the first time began leaving her, but her heartaches didn't.

Ishani gasped, and turned to look at Puneet who smiled a little. "I do. He's everything I would have wanted from my life."

Puneet's smile widened, though the usual gleam in his eyes was missing. "He told me the same thing," he said.

"He did... what...? Wait! Did he know?" Ishani needed not elaborate what she was asking for, for Puneet answered immediately.

"All the time."

Oh, Ranveer! <333