She closed the door behind herself and walked numbly. Every second the flashes of her love falling deep into the darkness of death appeared in her mind. Tears did not stop to fall from her eyes. She said nothing, just sat at a corner and blankly stared at the wall. She remembered her last night she had spend with him when he completed her with his love that she craved for a decade; when they became one after going through all odds. Little did she know that her happiness was short-lived once again. Little did she know that God would again be cruel with her by separating her with the man she loved. Sometime later, she thought that she deserved it. She deserved to experience this pain of losing her love. After all, she hardly cared about him when he needed and wanted her support, faith, love and companionship so much. She cursed herself for being so selfish in her own guilt and pain and making her love suffer in this process. The next moment, she asked herself whether she was so bad to get such a brutal punishment. Couldn't she get a chance to rectify her mistake? Couldn't she get a single chance to keep him happy and give him what he deserved?
She stood up and walked near the window. Opening it, she looked upwards at the apartment which, once upon a time, used to be her world of dreams and hopes. She looked around and instantly a serene smile appeared on her lips when she visualized her special moments with him on the streets of Juna Moholla and remembered their sweet fights and arguments. She could hear his voice. She could hear his love confessions which soothed her mind and heart for a moment. Suddenly the moment of him dying in front of her own eyes appeared in her mind and her smile disappeared. Tears began to roll down her eyes at a high speed again. "Don't go please! Please Mohan, don't punish me like this. Come back." she said in a weak, broken and fragile voice and closed her eyes, hoping badly for this to be a nightmare - a nightmare she would never want to have ever again.
"Megha!"
Startled, Megha opened her eyes and turned around in a nanosecond - with a hope, a desire to see Mohan, but all she faced was disappointment to find no one there. "Mohan, I know you are here, please don't play with me. Come to me please. It's getting difficult to tolerate people saying that you're no more. I know that you're fit and fine, please come and we will tell everyone else how wrong they are." she sounded desperate and broken.
"Spiderman is no more, Maa. He left us." Nanhi walked to her and said with a firm voice. Megha stared at her in shock.
"Have you lost your mind, Nanhi? I know he's there. I am fine, so he has to be fine too. He can't just go, he promised me that he won't leave me ever and that we all will live together in our home. He cannot break his promise, you know how much he values his promise right. He cannot go, Nanhi." Megha said it in a breath, being traumatized and determined to hold on to what she believed - her Mohan existed.
Nanhi shook her to bring her back to senses. "He is no more, maa. He died in front of us. Even police could not find him after a search for four days. Accept it. HE DIED!" she said the last two words in a high pitched tone, making Megha look at her with wide eyes. Nanhi felt helpless because she was unable to console her mother.
Megha pushed her away. "HE'S ALIVE! HE CANNOT LEAVE ME." she screamed at the top of her lungs and rushed outside. Nanhi broke down to see her so shattered. "Spiderman, maa is not ready to believe. Help me please. Help me to fulfill the promise I made to you that I will always take care of maa." she closed her eyes trying to seek strength from the feeling of her Spiderman being somewhere around her.
**
Entering inside their old flat, Megha looked around with a depressed expression on her face. Tears continued to flow down her eyes which looked quite pale and tired. She walked to their room and remembered their special moments they had there. Walking at a corner, she sat down and stared blankly at the wall. She felt exhausted. She so wanted this nightmare to end very soon.
"Remember what I always tell you?"
Megha looked at her side, startled, and was pleasantly surprised to see Mohan, in a black shirt with a white jacket on it, sitting with a calm smile on his face. "Mohan!" Megha sighed in relief and immediately pulled him in a tight hug. "Thank god you're fine. People are saying nonsense. I know you are there."
Breaking the hug after sometime, Megha cupped his face and caressed his cheeks gently, attempting to feel him and the fact that he was with her, in front of her. Her lips curved in a broad, content smile.
Mohan wiped away her tears and shook his head, gesturing her not to weep anymore. "Your tears hurt me a lot you know that." he softly whispered and caressed her face, cupping it. Few seconds later, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"I won't cry, promise. You just stay by my side no matter what." she said painfully and held his hand near her heart, entwining their fingers.
"I will always be with you no matter what happens." said Mohan in an affectionate voice, bended towards her and moved away a strand of her hairs, that were falling on her pale yet so angelic face, behind her ears in an ever so sweet manner. Megha closed her eyes and sighed to feel his gentle, loving touch on her skin after experiencing the horrifying feeling of losing him forever.
After some moments of magical bliss, Megha slowly grinned and then delightfully stood up. "Lets go and tell everyone that you're absolutely fit and fine. They need to know." As soon as she was about to walk away, Mohan grabbed her wrist. Megha looked at him confusedly. While Mohan shook his head sadly, Megha felt as if someone snatched the earth beneath her feet. She somehow realized what the truth was - something very harsh and unimaginable.
"What happened Mohan? Why are you not letting me inform them that you're fine? They're misunderstanding that something happened to you. They are not right. They can never be right. You're absolutely fine." said Megha in a spree, anxiously.
Mohan paused for a while. "They're right!" he murmured in a fragile voice while tears glittered his eyes and did not take a second to fall down.
Frozen on her spot, Megha stared at Mohan with eyes filled with tears and hope for him to be real and not just her illusion. Mohan stood in front of her and cupping her face, he wiped off her tears. "I am here with you, Megha but... in you, your memories, heart and smile. Don't ever think that I will ever leave you. I'll exist in your happiness and every other feeling you'll go through. Even when you're sad, you will find me consoling you. No matter whether I am alive or not, you have to be happy for yourself and me."
Megha shook her face innocently and gazed him with a pleading expression. "I won't be able to survive, Mohan. I can't."
"You can, Megha. You have to live my life and I know how strong you're. You have to live happily for me and our kids." Mohan firmly told her. "And trust me, you will feel me around you every second." he added in an affectionate, tendering tone.
Megha was at a loss of words. She was numb and lifeless.
"Megha, I will die again if you remain like this. Please tell me that you'll listen to everything I said and try your best to smile and be happy." Mohan requested desperately with moist eyes but was disheartened to see her not responding at all.
"I have to go, Megha. Please let me see you smile before leaving." Stepping back helplessly, Mohan could unknowingly bring Megha back to senses. She ran to him, hugged him tight and cried her heart out. Mohan stroked her hairs trying to console her. After sometime, they broke their hug. Megha gazed him lovingly yet so painfully while Mohan wiped away her tears again and gestured her to smile. She did it whole heartedly and caressed his face lovingly to feel him. Mohan closed his eyes to live the moment with his love for one last time before leaving her forever. Megha embraced him again and he did the same too and felt her closeness to his heart's content until he realized that... he had to go.
"I have to leave, Megha." Mohan said in a pale, sad voice and backed off, making Megha depressed and broken again. But this time she did not let it appear on her face. Though she silently cried, she forced a faint smile on her face and waved her hand to bid him farewell. And Mohan walked away in the darkness.
"Mohan!" Megha woke up in a jerk and found herself sleeping at the corner of their bedroom. She looked around and saw it was morning. Tears dried on her cheeks but she smiled slightly to think of Mohan and the moments she had spend with him as she knew that her happiness would make Mohan happy and satisfied as well. Just when she stood up and turned aside, she saw Mohan standing at the door, smiling contently at her. "Thank you!" he tenderly said in a low voice and emotionally blew her a flying kiss.
I wrote everything in the flow - don't know if it makes sense or not. Pardon me for any bloopers. Hope you guys like it. Press the like tab and post detailed comments please. 😳