Chapter 9
R – Doctor… Doctor…Need a doctor here immediately. Get me a doctor.
Raghav was shouting as the chaos in the hospital was making it difficult to get the attention. He dashed into OT holding Pallavi in his arms. The staff seemed shocked but the man standing there was making them frightened enough to not question anything. His eyes were bleeding tears but his voice didn’t lost the authority. He thundered.
R – Save her. I don’t know what you are going to do but you are going to save her. And God forbid if anything happened to her, I will burn your hospital down to the ground.
D – But we are in middle of an operation and we are already less staffed due to landslide.
A stupid among the quite sea of wise men chimed in. And the next second he knew what mistake he has made.
R – Listen doctor… If you didn’t start operating on her in next five seconds. I will start operating on you guys one by one and you will be the first.
The seriousness in his voice gave the instant result as the attendants already started preparing second table.
D – Ok… Ok… you please move out. We will see what we can do best.
R – Beware of what you see because if you come with anything other than the statement that you have saved her… call your family before coming. Ardhamainda.
With that threat, Raghav moved out of OT and all the façade faded as he dropped to the floor, shivering. The man sitting there can never be identified as Raghav Rao. Timid, weak and afraid… the qualities he has not known his entire life but that’s what he was reduced to because his breath was fighting for her breath inside and he couldn’t do anything but wait. The helplessness of that moment had reduced ‘Mighty Raghav Rao’ to the same afraid child he was ten years ago. The flashback of his past started hovering around him and with that time lost its meaning.
Hours passed as he was sitting there shivering with folded hands. He was waiting. Waiting for his life. Waiting to see her. Waiting to touch her. Waiting to hear from her. The crowds were swooping the hospital as his eyes fell on something a bit far. His eyes felt all the rage building and then it vanished. He crawled there among the sea of feet. He reached there and he joined his hands.
R – I don’t believe much in asking for anything. I am a businessman and I believe in deals. So I won’t behave as if you owe me something. But she believes in you. She has always believed in you. So today you have to show her believe was right. She asked me to live for our love, for her love. I ask you the same. Let our love live but in her. I know you don’t like me. Nobody does. Even she thinks she likes me because she never had any choice. But you have. You have a choice. Save her. Save her and take me. Save her and I promise I will never trouble her again. I will never allow another tear in her eyes. I won’t allow anything to ever hurt her again. I won’t allow me to hurt her again. I will go away from her life. I will go far away from her life. I will go so far that even if I want, I won’t be able to harm her. I won’t harm her. I won’t harm her again. I will never harm her again. I will never…
And he collapsed on the floor. The voices and the silence. Multiple noises, multiple emotions, a continuous beats of pulse. Beep… beep… beep…. And a silence of flat line. A silence of flat line.
R – No. This is just a bad dream. This is just a bad dream. Wake up Raghav…. Waaakeee upppp…..
He got up into his senses and cried for his life, Pallavi….. Palllaaaavviiii…..
P - Raghav…
He saw his beat and he pulled her in his embrace.
R - U r not leaving me anytime from now onwards. I just can’t be without u. U r not leaving me again. Please… please don’t leave me Pallavi. Please don’t leave me.
Something hit him at the moment. The lack of arms holding him back. He pulled back his arms with a shocked face. His eyes kept contact to her’s as he hears.
A – Sorry sir, we weren’t able to save the patient. The trauma wa..
Sound of breaking is never a good voice. But sometimes something doesn’t break, it’s frozen. He froze to silence as everything seemed to have lost its meaning. He stumbled back. He can see her.
She is there. She is right there. Standing, with all her purity. She is there. But… but I cannot hold her. I can never hold her again. I lost her. I lost her. I lost my life. I lost my love. I lost Pallavi. My Pallavi.
D –Sir… we will need you for completing formalities. Sir… sir…
Raghav took steps back and turned towards the door with voices from pool of crowds not being enough to fill the silence he was in, at the center of the storm. The voices faints down as he moved out of the hospital, unknown to destination. There was no destination. He was cursed to eternity of silence. Silence that was gifted to him by himself.
“I saw a future for us... I saw a life with you… I saw the fairytale ending for us…”
“A future where when I sleep at night on your shoulder… a morning where when you wake up with my presence… a journey, a story and us, Raghav Rao and Pallavi Raghav Rao...”
“I can’t let my love die. I can’t fail again. You can’t let me fail again. You can’t.”
I FAILED.