Hey guys! I'm back with the next update and as promised, this one is super long so I hope you guys enjoy it! Thank you for all your appreciation comments, it really is very encouraging to receive such warm compliments! Lots of love :)
The Aftermath | Part 3
I looked at Veena aunty, not realizing at the moment how shocked she was at this revelation. "He's never said anything about her to anyone but me...," she uttered.
I stared at her, failing to see the point she was trying to make. "I'm not sure I follow."
"Sonakshi," her voice a mere whisper now, "Rohit has never spoken about Raima to anyone except for me. I didn't know he told you!"
I fidgeted with the case of my phone as I tried to figure out what the appropriate thing to say was. Did she not like that Rohit had told me? But before I could even ponder upon this fleeting thought, she said the exact opposite.
"I've tried to help Rohit deal with his grief. Believe me, I left no stone unturned. But he never listened to me. Or maybe I just couldn't reach him. Maybe you can help him? He must have faith in you, otherwise he'd never have told you anything. Maybe that means you can somehow reach to him and help him with this."
She looked at me with hope in her eyes, and while I wasn't sure it was something I'd be able to live up to, I promised her I would try. I couldn't see him like this without doing whatever I could anyway.
"But I don't know aunty. He loves you - and if he didn't listen to you, what would make him listen to me?"
"It's been 4 years Sonakshi," she walked over to the window through which she could see Rohit. "He's grasping on to every straw, every needle from that time. He needs a fresh perspective maybe. Maybe he needs to share his sorrows with someone who's not family. You know, I didn't know about Raima until after her surgery. But after I did, I tried to do as much as I could to help him. I tried to get him to talk, to cry, to have some sort of outburst. When that didn't work, I gave him time to deal with it himself."
She turned back to face me, "Even when he's smiling, I can feel his pain." She smiled, "Sounds like a TV dialogue doesn't it?" adding a laugh at the end as well.
I smiled in return and walked towards her, putting my hand on her shoulder, "It does, but I'm sure all moms are a little dramatic when the matter involves their children."
"Rohit is a special one. He doesn't have any close friends, not anymore. After the surgery, I don't know what happened but the friends he did have started blaming him for Raima's condition. But since the day he's met you, he seems a little more open to change. I've seen him smile a little more openly, and I'm just hoping you're the one who can bring him out of his misery."
Honestly, the faith she had in me frightened me a little, however I knew what it felt like to be in Rohit's shoes. If I could be the one to help him out of it, then I'd do whatever it took. Pulkit and Netraji were those people for me after my September 26 incident, and all I wished and hoped for at the moment was that I could be the one for Rohit.
"I promise I'll try my best aunty," I reassured the worried mother. "Is he up right now?"
She nodded; "Okay, I'll go sit with him for a bit. Maybe you should get something to eat. I know you must not have had the time, or desire, to take care of yourself. But I'll be here!" I told her with a smile.
She responded with an "Okay," along with a smile, and headed off to the cafeteria.
I took a deep breath before I entered the room.
"So how's Doctor Surgeon doing today?" I asked him as I crossed the distance between the door and his bed. I unconsciously straightened out the covers on his bed, knowing very well it was probably bothering him.
He smirked as he noticed what I was doing, upon which my hand quickly let go of the covers. I tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and proceeded to ask him a couple more questions, "Are you feeling better? Does your head still hurt? Do you need anything?"
"Calm down Sonakshi! But I'm feeling much better, thanks! Definitely better than last night!" he said, adding a sheepish grin at the end. As playful as the look on his face was, his eyes suggested otherwise.
"I just dropped by to see how you were doing. Once Veena aunty comes back, I'll head back to my shoot!"
"Did you come to see me in the middle of your shoot?"
--
Her eyes shot to meet mine instantly; "I was just worried about you, so I figured I'd see you during my break," she promptly looked away when she noticed my focused gaze.
This was nice; it felt nice when someone felt worried about you. I mean when a friend worries about you. After the events of my failed surgery, the friends I did have chose sides - all of them chose her, even my best friend. It wasn't how I wanted things to turn out, I screamed out when I saw them leaving the hospital that night. But there was no one to lend me their ear.
It's true that I always had my family's support - but I became someone else for them because I couldn't bear for them to hurt along with me. It wasn't their fault, but I missed just being.
And so, when I saw the worry in Sonakshi's eyes and heard the care in her voice, I felt good inside. Maybe I wasn't entirely alone. Maybe despite the wreckage within me, there was someone who cared about me.
I patted the empty spot beside my bed, asking her to sit down. I bit the inside of my lip, trying to find the suitable words to express what I was feeling but all I ended up doing was smiling; "I must say, I'm impressed you were able to send my mother away from here. That is a feat even dadi struggled with," I laughed as the thoughts I should have said evaded me. But at least it finally seemed as if she was easing away from the tension that was in the air. "She really likes you, you know!" I said, "My mom I mean," I added.
A new, wider smile emerged on her face. "And she likes Parvati devi even more!" I smirked.
It seemed as if she wanted to say something but was holding herself back. "Yea, I know she watches your show religiously. As sneaky and subtle as she thought she was being, it really wasn't that hard to tell. I had seen her and Vimmi glued to the TV during your last mahaepisode," I added, snickering at the memory of their lame attempts to hide this fact.
--
"Your mom is such a sweetheart. She really cares about you Rohit. Don't hurt her like this."
I bit my tongue; I hadn't meant to jump right into it. The words rolled out faster than my brain could process what I was saying.
"I swear this isn't why I came here. It's just... when I was talking to her... I just..." but he put my hand on mine and interrupted me. "You don't have to apologize. I think we're good enough friends that you can say that to me. And you are right too. I just," he took a deep breath and a pause, "I don't know how to move forward. It wasn't just a failed surgery Sonakshi. The accident... it happened because of me."
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