*~*~* Present – 2011 *~*~*
The world had vanished as Maan and Geet gazed at each other.
She noticed the pain in his eyes. The same pain that had been there all those years ago when she'd first seen him. It was a pain that mirrored the pain she had once held in her own eyes.
He noticed the hope in her eyes. The same hope that had been there all those years ago when he'd first seen her. It was a hope that mirrored the hope that he had once held in his own eyes.
She noticed the guarded walls that he put up around his heart as he stood before her, rigid and unmoving. It was the same guarded walls that she'd built around her own heart when her life seemed bleak.
He noticed the aura of remorse that glowed around her eyes as she stood before him, her eyes gently smiling at him. It was the same aura of remorse that he'd seen her emit when he was drowning in his own pool of grief.
*~*~* July 26, 2006 *~*~*
Maan 2:00pm
It had been just over twenty-four hours since his life had been turned upside down with a phone call. It had been just over twenty-four hours since he had selfishly rediscovered God, only to ask for His help. It had been just over twenty-four hours since he had entered that hospital his heart beating a mile a minute at the unknown.
He sat quietly with Dadi in the office of one of the most renowned neurologists on the nation. Dr. Maria Foley was the best of the best in the field. Maan remembered what the doctor had told him the last time they had met. Dr. Foley had said that if the next scans didn't show any changes, then there was nothing else that could be done.
"Where is the doctor?!" Maan yelled annoyed that he'd been waiting for the past five minutes.
"She will be here," Dadi said to calm him.
Then, as if on cue Dr. Foley entered her office with a small stack of papers in her hands. As the doctors eyes met with his, Maan instantly knew that what he had hoped for and what he had prayed for was not going to happen. Maan felt Dadi grab onto his forearm just as the doctor took a seat at the chair behind her desk. Taking off her glasses she placed the papers on the surface in front of her, then folded her hands together before she spoke.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news," she began.
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Geet 5:00pm
Geet sat in the doctors office of Children's Hospital holding onto Meera's hand to keep her check with reality. She knew that if she let go, she'd loose her grip on reality and spiral into insanity. It had been months and months of praying and crying, she didn't know if she could handle anything else that life threw at her.
One day, she was sailing through life happily and the next she was caught in the middle of a storm that didn't seem to have an end in sight. One day she was smiling at the little things in life and the next she was crying without even realizing that the tears fell from her eyes. One day, she was planning a bright future and the next she was left thinking if she would even have the next day for herself.
"Geet, breathe…" she heard Meera say.
"I can't Meera…I can't…" Geet said as he eyes scanned the door again.
A few moments later Dr. Eric Sigel, the best cardiologist on the West Coast, walked in holding a chart and some loose files.
"Good evening ladies," he called.
"Good evening," Geet managed to mumble.
"Thank you for coming in on such short notice," he said, "But I thought you'd want to know."
Geet's anxiety rose as the doctor laid out the things he had been holding in his hands. After taking a seat behind his desk, he looked up at Geet and smiled. Her breath caught as she waited for him to continue. One part of her hoped for the best, yet another part of her expected the worst.
"Well Ms. Handa, seems like I have some good news," he started.
*~*~* July 27, 2006 *~*~*
Maan & Geet
9:00am
Meera had run to go get her some coffee and breakfast, though Geet knew she wasn't going to have any of it. It hadn't even been only been hours since she was given the best new of her life – fourteen hours, she'd been counting. It had been fourteen hours since God had smiled down at her and give her some hope. It had been fourteen hours since she finally saw some relief from the storm she stood in the middle of. It had been fourteen hours and still she couldn't stop the tears of joy and hope that slipped from her eyes. It had been fourteen hours since she finally saw some light falling on her future again.
Geet knew that she shouldn't get her hopes up but she couldn't help it. After months of prayer, pain and fear she finally felt the weight on her chest lift. The weight that kept her heart from beating and her lungs from breathing was beginning to dissipate.
She knew that the man responsible for these wonderful changes was in the lobby of the surgical floor. She had originally searched for him in the waiting room but a nurse informed her he was feeling suffocated in the small room. As she entered the lobby and searched for the man that had granted her a miracle, she couldn't spot him – not at first. Then, she saw a lone man standing by the large floor to ceiling windows. He was leaning against one of the beams as he stared off into space. On a chair behind him she saw a blazer hanging carelessly. The man looked as if he hadn't been home in days, and Geet knew she was right.
Approaching him with caution she called out to him, "Mr. Khurana."
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Maan stood by the window overlooking the hospital parking lot, staring off into nothing. Still, he was conflicted about the decision he'd made. The doctor had delivered the grim news just hours ago. The options laid out in front of him were unacceptable by Maan Singh Khurana's standards. The doctor sympathized with him and gave him only one piece of advice, to choose the option which Maan viewf as the lesser of the two evils.
With Dadi crying beside him Maan couldn't think clearly, he could barely hear his own thoughts. He needed to get away from her not because he was distracted but because a part of him couldn't help but blame her for what had happened. Logically Maan knew that she couldn't have stopped anything from happening any more than he could if he had been there. But still, his heart told him that if he had been there, the outcome would have been different. His heart told him that if he had been there then he wouldn't be here right now.
It had taken him hours to decide what he wanted to do – three hours, thirty-four minutes and twenty-six seconds.
The doctor had told Maan that the sooner the decision was made the better it was. Though Maan knew that she wasn't in any pain or any discomfort, he didn't want her to suffer more than she already had. So, with a heavy heart he had informed the doctor of his decision.
Now, here he stood waiting for them to come tell him it was over. Just waiting for them to come tell him that his life and its purpose was gone. An errant tear fell from his eyes just as he heard someone behind him.
"Mr. Khurana," the female voice called.
Hearing himself be called that name he flinched automatically. Wiping the tear off his cheek he turned to find a woman standing in front of him. She was dressed in a dress and a light sweater. Though her clothes looked newly worn, her face told a different story. Her face told the story of a woman who had spent a better part of the past few hours worried, sleep deprived and crying.
"Mr. Khurana was my father," he said, "Please call me Maan."
"Ok…Maan…" she began. "My name is Geet…Geet Handa."
Maan was in no mood to meet new people, least of all at a time like this when all he felt was sorrow, anguish and rage.
"If you don't mind Ms. Handa, I'd like to be left alone," he said coldly.
"I'm so sorry for intruding but…I just wanted to say thank you," she said.
"Thank you? Thank you for what?" Maan said as a frown formed on his forehead.
He studied the woman who suddenly became nervous and began fidgeting with her fingers. He tried to remember if he knew this woman but as far as he was concerned he didn't.
"Actually…your daughter…" she began.
Maan sucked in a breath as it dawned on him just who this woman was. She was one of many families that were taking advantage of something that had destroyed him. Maan was in no mood to meet or discuss his angel with the vultures that were after her.
"Please…I don't care to discuss any of this with you," Maan said, the anger coming through in his voice as he turned around.
He realized she had called Maya his daughter, when in reality she was his niece. Biologically he may not have been her father but in all ways that counted, Maan was the only father she knew as she grew up. Maan took great pride in being Maya's father no matter what science said.
"Please…just let me get this out…it took me hours to find the courage to come face you and I'll only be a minute of your time," she said.
Maan stood with his back to her, his eyes closed waiting for her to continue.
"I know that this couldn't have been an easy decision," she said.
"You don't know that half of it," Maan suddenly yelled.
As he turned back to her, he saw her take a step back.
"I know the pain and the fear you feel when you are helpless to help those you love," she said. "And so for that I want to thank you. That you saw past your pain and were able to bless strangers like me."
"I'm no saint," he said, "As we speak, I curse each and every family involved."
The woman smiled softly at him with no hatred or shock in her eyes for what he'd just said.
"I know your loss is great and I'm not going to pretend like I know what you're going through," she said. "Just think of it this way, your daughter will live on in the children she is helping save."
"But she's not living is she!" Maan yelled.
He knew it was wrong to take his out anger and frustration on a stranger, but he couldn't help it.
"Donating her organs keeps a part of her alive. With one decision of yours you have answered the prayers of many families who had lost hope," she told him. "You have kept many families from going through what you are going through."
Maan simply shook his head and rolled his eyes at her.
"So thank you for being my angel," she said.
She took a step away from him, about to leave.
"I'm sorry," he heard her say.
Maan heard himself scoff, "What are you sorry for? You should be the happiest day of your life."
"It is. You won't find a mother happier," Geet said, "But I'm sorry that the best day of my life is the worst day of yours."
With that she disappeared, leaving him alone in his misery.
*~*~* Present *~*~*
Finally breaking from his daze, Maan looked at the boy in front of him and knew that he was one of the children that carried a piece of Maya with him. The boy came up to Maan and hugged him. Maan was so shocked by the act that he couldn't even process what was happening.
The boy pulled back, turning to his backpack. After a few seconds, he pulled out a medium sized box that was wrapped and had a bow on it, though the bow was smashed from being stuffed into such a small space. Taking a step towards him, the boy held up the box to Maan.
"Thank you," the boy said, "For the gift you've give me."
omg u should totally bring him back and have geet give him a piece of her mind!!!!!
Debate Mansion
Parineeti
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
