CHAPTER-8
ASAD'S POV
I sat down on the chair in Dr. Meera's cabin with a clueless mind and a restless heart as she took her seat across me, behind her desk. The elderly lady had a warm smile on her face as she looked at me which strangely but strongly reminded me of my Ammi. Though all my life I have preferred silence but at this moment the silence in the room tortured me like hell. There was something very unsettling and frightening about the silence that prevailed us that it made my heart race out of control in fear of some upcoming disaster, something worst. It was the calm before the storm.
Unable to bear the blood-curdling silence anymore, I finally opened my mouth in an desperate attempt to seek my answers again when Dr. Meera beat me in that and finally spoke with the warmness not leaving her features.
- Well, I guess before starting the conversation, we should get introduced properly first. I am Dr. Meera Sengupta. As you have heard outside, I am handling Zoya's case. But this is not my only relation with Zoya. I have known Zoya since she was brought in New York at the mere age of 3. In fact she is the daughter for me which I never had. And what I gather from everything, you must be Asad, Asad Ahmad Khan. Zoya's Mr. Khan, right?' She said as her smile widened a little and the look in her eyes assured me that she really loved Zoya like a daughter because I have seen the same look in Ammi's eyes whenever she spoke about Zoya. But what confused me was how she knew my name, in spite of me not introducing myself till then and that too with so much confidence. The confusion was etched on my face and voice as I spoke.
- Umm... how do you know my name?' She chuckled a little at my confusion and answered in a little teasing way.
- Well, with all that I have heard from Zoya, there can only be one young man who can be so worried out of his mind seeing her faint.' Not knowing what to say in reply, I just smiled a little.
- Dr. I...' I began to speak but Dr. Meera cut me in between.
- You can call me aunty. Though I haven't met you before but I have always considered you my own, like Zoya, because after all you are her fianc. Zoya also calls me with this name and I will be happy if you also do so.' She said tenderly and I nodded.
The silence again stretched and this time when she spoke after heaving a heavy sigh, her voice laced with concern and seriousness, and I knew that the moment of truth had come.
- Asad, whatever I am going to say is not my story to tell but Zoya's. I had promised her that I would not tell any of you these things without her consent but now the situation is such that I have to break the promise that I have made to her for her own wellbeing because I know if anyone can help her fight this, it is only you. I know what you are going to hear will be not at all easy for you to bear. In fact it must be the hardest and most difficult things for you to know, but you have to stay strong my child, for Zoya's sake, for the sake of your love.' By now she had left her place and stood in front of me, squeezing my shoulder sympathetically. Though my insides were going wild with worry, I nodded nonetheless to tell her to continue. Taking one deep breath, she began to speak.
- I used to be Anwar and Zeenat's neighbor in New York. I still remember the day when they brought Zoya home from India for the first time. I lived there alone as hadn't married. Zeenat , Anwar and Zoya were what I had as my family. I was extremely close to Zoya. I fell in love with her the first time I met her. Well, who won't? She was such an angel. Always smiling and spreading happiness everywhere she goes. She was just like a ray of sunshine in our lives who in spite of her own gloomy heart, brightened up everyone's world around her.' She was speaking lost in a trance; her eyes were holding the glimmer of distant memories. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips hearing all this. I couldn't agree more with her each word said about her than I already did. My heart felt proud for my angel, my Zoya. Indeed she was a ray of sunshine in our lives.
- But few years ago I got transferred here, in Paris. This hospital is a branch of the one in which I used to work. We all were sad at this news, especially Zoya but we had really little in our hands. We were in constant touch with each other but still I was surprised when I got the news of Anwar getting transferred here.' She continued speaking while my eyes widened as I finally connected the dots.
- That's why when I went to search for Zoya in New York, I found their house locked and the neighbors also couldn't say anything about their whereabouts.' I whispered to myself in realization and aunty nodded in response.
- It was an overnight change. There was some emergency in the Paris branch of Anwar's office and he was transferred here so suddenly and hurriedly that they couldn't even get the time to properly tell everyone about this. They were thinking of giving a surprise to Zoya, knowing how much she wished to visit Paris but before they could do so, they themselves got a huge surprise. The day they reached here was the same day when they got the news of Zoya's engagement with you. Though Zeenat was really upset about the fact that Zoya didn't tell her about such happening of her life, she also knew that there must be some solid reasons for Zoya to do so. And moreover she was ecstatic about the fact that her little sister has finally found her soul-mate and that too in someone like you. They really adored you as a human-being and a perfect life-partner for their princess. They wanted to go to India as soon as possible but due to the problems in Anwar's office and the flights being full, they couldn't make it to India. That's why they decided to Skype you there. After talking to both of you, the whatever insecurities we had in our minds, were completely washed away. It was crystal clear that you both were totally in love and we couldn't be happier. They decided to keep his transfer a secret from you all and after your marriage, sponsor your trip to Paris for your honeymoon in Zoya's dream destination and also to meet and bless you both. Everything was going perfectly till that wretched day. It was 2 days after your Skype call that they got a call from Zoya who called them wanting to know where they were, as she found their previous house locked. They told her about his transfer and without any further talk, she cut the call and boarded the flight to come here. Though she kept saying that she was fine but we had a gut feeling that things were terribly wrong as otherwise she wouldn't had left her own wedding like that. Zeenat and Anwar were worried like hell. When they were leaving for the airport to pick her up, I wanted to accompany them but couldn't, due to some emergency in the hospital. They were returning after picking her up when...' She suddenly stopped as her voice choked with thick emotions. She closed her eyes and took a large gulp of breath as a tear-drop leaked her eyes. After what seemed like eternity to me, she finally said the rest in a voice which was strained with pain.
- Their car met with a horrible accident. Zeenat and Anwar died soon after being brought to hospital. In spite of our best efforts, we couldn't save them.' And with that she broke down and I felt my heart churning painfully as the news sank upon me. Though I had never met them personally, I considered them own and respected and admired them a lot. My vision blurred with tears at the loss and pain it inflected in my heart but above all, my heart cried for the angel who must had been affected the most in all these. If I felt like this, there was no courage left in me to think that what it might have felt to her. How much a person could suffer? I wanted to ask God that why had he been so cruel to her, landing blows upon blows on her already broken soul. Why was she showered with so much pain when all she had done is filling everyone's life with happiness. Destiny had snatched the two most special and closest people to her when she needed them the most, when she only had them to share her pains.
I was brought out of my thoughts when I felt an affectionate hand on my head. I looked up to meet aunty's equally pained eyes but there was also something else in her eyes which told me that the worst part was yet to come.
-- Zoya was also very badly injured. She had hurt her head real bad. She went into coma and was in that state for almost 10months. While she was in coma, during one scanning session, we found out that there was a blood clot in her head. It was really small and we could have easily removed it by a operation if it was some different situation but because she was in coma and had heavy injuries on in her head, we could neither operate her nor could give her any medicine on that matter as it could leave side effects. Even after she came out of coma, her body wasn't strong enough to go through the operation. Her health was still weak and fragile, due to all those months in coma. She was more than devastated with the recent developments in her life and we couldn't risk giving her anymore stress, as it could have really negative impact on her health. So we decided to go with the medicines. We gave her medicines which could help dissolving the clot, if taken regularly. Meanwhile she took the job one year back. Though I was against it as I knew it will put stress on her mind but she was adamant and I couldn't refuse her, knowing it would result the same. I called her everyday to know if she was ok and she kept assuring me. Despite knowing well that how she can mask her pain expertly, I believed her and that was my biggest mistake. One day she fainted in office a month ago and we got her admitted here again. It was then when we came to know that the clot has become even bigger in size, let alone dissolving. It has become so big that now we can't operate it anymore. It is now out of our control and even those medicines also can't dissolve it now. The incident of today is just a small one. With passing time the clot will keep on growing and her condition will become worse. Even a little bit of stress can be very injurious for health now. Headaches, nausea, weakness, are some very common symptoms in such cases. And if we don't do anything soon, her sufferings will only increase. And if...if the clot isn't removed, it can lead her to death.' She finished after a little pause in a teary voice as her voice faltered at the end and suddenly my whole body felt numb. I couldn't bring myself to breath anymore, my chest felt inhumanly heavy. The helpless tears burned my eyes and my throat felt congested with a fresh lump of agony. My heart felt frozen in a death grip of helpless fear. Everything that I heard in the past few minutes jumbled in my mind, echoing in my ears like the whispers of hell. My reality suddenly turned out to be the worst nightmare of my life, even thousand times more worse than the time when abbu left us. I lost the ability to think anything properly and my heart refused to believe all this. My mind just flashed the images of Zoya, doing all her crazy antics and laughing while showing off her killer dimples. How could something so grave, happen to an angel like her?
- No..no...this can't be true. This just can't be. Nothing can happen to Zoya, nothing. I won't let anything happen to her.' The words left my in some mere, broken whispers of some silent daze.
- I know beta. I know that you won't let anything happen to Zoya and that's why I am telling you all this. Till now, Zoya has fought alone but now she has you by her side and I have full faith that you won't hesitate to even fight against her, if that can save her from this.' She said gently, in a voice full of hope.
- Wh..what do you mean?' I asked confusedly in quiet tone, not really understanding the meaning behind her words. She sighed sadly before starting to narrate another heart-wrenching truth.
- You know, I just said that even after giving those medicines, her conditions worsened. But do you know why it happened? Because she never took those medicines. She just kept on lying to me about her health when in reality, she never took care of it. I came to know about all these when she admitted here 1 month ago. And trust me Asad, the blankness in her once full of life orbs, scared me like nothing else. She deliberately did that to end her life. She holds herself responsible for your sufferings, her ammi's death and Anwar and Zeenat's death. She has completely refused to go on with any further treatment. She just want to end herself. You know what she said when she came to about her illness? She said that it was God's indication for her that she doesn't deserve to live anymore and it is better for her to die. From the very first beginning, I wanted to keep her with me at my place, so I could take care of her but she always stubbornly refused. If I tried to persuade her much, she became just too emotional and stressed which in turn affected her health more badly. So I had to drop that idea too and it is always very little, what you do from outside, instead of staying by her side all the time in such cases. She lives alone in the house which Anwar and Zeenat rented to live here after his transfer. I can't tell you Asad that how much this Zoya pains me. This isn't our Zoya. This just a shadowy ghost of her. The girl, who always hated to stay alone, has built a huge wall around her which no one except you can break. She is scared of letting someone come close to her, take care of her, lest it harmed that person in return. Who always brought smile on everyone's face, now herself has forgot to smile. Whose name means life is now scared of it more than death. She is lost Asad. She broken and only you can mend her broken pieces. Save her Asad. Bring her back. Please.' And with this she finally broke down completely in front of me.
I was no more in a mental state to describe what I actually felt after hearing these. What I was feeling few minutes ago seemed nothing in front of the pain which started to course through my senses at that moment. My bled for her and her pains. I hated myself for not being able to find her before and letting her stay alone to face the worst faze of her life. I wanted to scream in agony but nothing came out of my choked throat. Everything else just vanished for me and nothing else mattered for me other than taking away all her, filling her whole life with nothing but happiness and pure bliss. At that moment my life's sole purpose became to bring back that old Zoya, healthy and happy, gobbling her pizzas and reciting crazy shayaries. She had enough pain in her life without deserving even the slightest ounce of it, now it was her time to be happy and for that she have to get well. And I myself will make sure that she does even if cost me my life. It is my promise.
- Don't worry aunty. I promise you that I will bring her back. I will do whatever it takes me but I won't let anything happen to her.' I spoke with determination to a silently crying Dr. Meera and I could see relief spreading over her features.
- Thank you beta. I just needed your assurance. Now that you are with her, I know that nothing can happen to her. We still have a chance to save her and no one else than you can do it.' She spoke with full confidence and I knew that nothing could stop me from healing Zoya now, both physically and emotionally.
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PRECAP: I knew about everything from before Zoya.' Asad spoke quietly and Zoya's eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief.
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Hey guys. I know the medical students and doctors might get a heart attack after reading this one because I guess I have completely butchered medical science here😆 I have really tried to keep it realistic but still if has offended anyone, I am really very sorry. Please take this as creative liberty😳
Thank you very much guys for the awesome response on the last chapter. It really means a lot and I am overwhelmed. I know I haven't replied to everyone again and I am feeling guilty to even say sorry. But I really am and thanks again. Please keep them coming because you know I read all and love them all😃 and encouraged by your response, I have decided to post the next chapter after the likes cross forty. So leave your likes and comments soon and I will update sooner😆
And finally all the truths are out and past is cleared. So from the next one, it will be only and only full of Asya😃 and by the way as I said before, let me remind you again, this is a happy ending story. So nothing will happen to her. So CHILL!😆
And before ending my super long speech, I would like to say that Gafoor died of heart attack and Raziya also died with heart attack. They both had natural deaths. A reader had a question regarding it but I forgot the name😳. I hope now your confusion is cleared dear😃
Shiv Shakti
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