CHAPTER-9
-" I am coming to the hospital straight after my plane landed in the airport here as I got the call from the doctor regarding Zoya's health. I was gone to London to attend a medical conference and there I had met Dr. Anurag Basu. He is a neurosurgeon and a specialist in such cases. He is very well known for handling the toughest of cases with utmost efficiency and success. I have talked with him about Zoya's case and he had told me that she has a good chance at recovering fully." Dr. Meera finally broke the big news to him which she was dying to share with someone from the minute she had heard it.
As soon as those words entered his ears, Asad felt like suddenly the heaviest of burdens had been lifted off his chest, making it able to beat again. The news was like a breeze full of oxygen which made him capable of breathing for the first time in life. The happiness and relief that surged through every single cell in his body, was so overwhelming that it almost knocked him out. But at that only one thing mattered to him and that was Zoya. She could be fine and he couldn't ask for something more than her well-being, mentally and physically.
-" She can be perfectly fine, right? He said so, didn't he?" Asad asked in a voice which was bubbling with hope along with a shadow of fear and anticipation.
-" He couldn't give 100% guarantee as there is still some risk factors but he is almost sure that she can be perfectly fine as before. I have showed him Zoya's recent reports and he had successfully dealt cases where the patients' condition was even worse than her. Those people are now leading a healthy life and it would only be the best for us to believe that this time also he would be successful. He had assured me that Zoya has really high chances of recovering completely." Dr. Meera's words felt like the biggest blessing to Asad, a ray of hope which all of a sudden brightened up his dark world. A tear of sheer gratitude and relief escaped the confines of his eye and his eyes closed as he covered his face with his palms, exhaling softly in them while thanking his almighty for finally granting his wish to stop her misery.
-" But..." Dr. Meera's voice forced him to look in her direction and the devastated look in her eyes reminded him of the thing which was coming in the way of Zoya's betterment and to their greatest irony it was Zoya herself.
-" Zoya won't agree." Asad spoke quietly with a heavy sigh as he recalled another fact of the harsh reality.
She nodded her head in response and as she started to speak, her eyes glistened with faith and determination.
-" It won't be easy to convince her, in fact to be honest it is the most difficult part of this whole thing. She is refusing to go along with any treatment since the very beginning and if is pressurized now to cooperate with us now, it can be dangerous for her health. In a situation like this, you are our only hope Asad. Only you can convince her for this beta. That poor soul has lost her love for life. You have to give her so much happiness that she falls in love with her life again and become selfish enough to want to fight for this life. Give her the reason to live Asad. Only your love can bring her back. I know she won't let you come close to her easily but please, don't ever give up. You have to fight for you both and your love." She spoke in gentle voice that was filled emotions. Asad knew that he had to fight for her. He wanted to fill her life with only and only happiness but then the memories of all those times when her innocent eyes shed tears because of him his words hurt her already wounded heart flashed before his mind and he closed his eyes in agony as some more pearly tear drops escaped the confines of his closed eyelids. What if he again hurt her? what if his presence in her life worsen her condition? These scary questions created havoc in his senses. He opened them when he felt an affectionate hand on his shoulder and looked up to meet Dr. Meera's warm gaze. As if sensing his unpronounced fears which his voice failed to utter, she started to speak.
-" You know Asad, I have known Zoya since her earliest of days but do you know when did I see her the happiest? It was at that time when I talked with her on Skype after your alliance was fixed. I have never seen her radiate with so much happiness before. She was glowing with love and the reason behind her absolute bliss was you as you gave her the family and the true love she always craved for. After that so many things happened but one thing remained the same and that was her love for you. In these two years, the only time when she looked alive and her eyes sparkled with true happiness was when she talked about you. I know the road is bumpy ahead and you are scared to hurt her but please don't be beta. You have to stay strong. Don't ever underestimate your love Asad. Have faith in yourself and your love that you won't hurt her, ever." She spoke softly as Asad's mute eyes searched for assurance, to hold himself together.
- Zoya always stopped me from contacting any of you, giving me her oath but I knew that one day you yourself will find your way to her. And now that you have found her when she needs you the most, it is only God's sign to tell that you will bring her back, you will bring our Zoya back." As she finished, Asad felt his hope and confidence building again. He squeezed her hand on his shoulder in gratitude with teary eyes and the wetness soon got replaced with determination to make everything alright. He smiled a little in return of her motherly one and at that moment he also knew that he was going to bring her back.
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When Asad finally entered Zoya's room in the hospital, it was almost midnight. He softly closed the door behind him, not wanting to wake her up and went towards her in small, baby steps, fearing her to be his dream which would be broken and disappeared even at the slightest of movements. All the events from the past few hours rushed back to him again. From the confession to the revelation, everything flooded his senses and this time much more stronger than before. Its gravity almost knocked him off, leaving him drained, both physically and emotionally.He sat down on the stool beside her bed and took in her peacefully slipping form. The soft glow of the lamps outside entered the room through the open window and casted a beautifully tender glow on her angelic, innocent features, making her look like the sleeping beauty from those fairytales. His eyes landed on calendar which hung on the front wall. After few minutes, the first day of December would start and his mind wandered back to the latest conversation he had with Dr. Meera. She had told him about some medicines for Zoya which had been prescribed by Dr. Basu. She informed him that according to the doctor, if Zoya took them regularly as prescribed and also take ample rest, both physically and mentally, these medicines can stop the growth of the clot and if luck is in their favor, it might also reduce it a little in size. It is a one month course and after one month, they will conduct few tests on her. If the results were as they were expecting, they could do the operation as soon as possible.
A soft sigh of pure pain escaped his lips as he looked again at her. She had visibly become paler and thinner than before. Her weakness could be seen on her features. Her condition felt like a thousand daggers piercing his heart. He slowly took her hand in his and as soon as her warm palms came in his hold, the damn inside him broke. He cried and cried for her and her sufferings. The agony inside his heart chest finally sought release and did released while making his heart bleed with her pain. After some minutes, his blood-shot eyes finally stopped shedding tears, though it glistened with unmasked love for the girl lying in front of him.
-" Just like the new rays of sun destroys all the darkness of night, the new dawn will wash away all your sufferings of past and will fill your life with new hopes. Tomorrow will be a new beginning and I promise this time I won't let even the name of pain come close to you. You have already suffered much much more than enough and now get ready because from the moment onwards I am going to close all the doors to pain for you and in whichever direction you go, you will only find happiness bowing at your feet. I know you won't let me come close to you easily, will push me away but I won't give up, I won't let you alone because I know you need me and more than that, I need you. From tomorrow, my fight will start for us and I am not scared about it because I know I will find you at the end of it. Those eyes have shed enough tears unfairly but now they will only smile like before, and this time truly, without any holding back. With the end of this year, I will destroy all the demons of our past with it, forever and this New Year, I will give you your life back, healthy and fit. This time I won't let anyone or anything hurt you Zoya, not even myself." Asad brokenly whispered to a sleeping Zoya in his choked voice, pushing the lump in his throat. He gently yet firmly kissed her knuckles and let his lips linger there for few moment, trying to draw some strength from her. A lone tear trickled down his nose, from his closed eyes and landed on her fingers, still pressed to his lips. Zoya winced a little in her sleep, as if sensing his tears. Asad got up from his seat and after removing her soft traces from her face which were disturbing her sleep, kissed her forehead. At this Zoya sighed blissfully and a smile graced her lips. Asad chuckled silently at her cuteness. How much he had missed her! Asad got back to his earlier position on the stool while still admiring the love of his life. He also didn't know when the sound of her even breathing put him to sleep, their hands still laid intertwined.
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Zoya furrowed her eyebrows when the rays of sun fell on her closed eyes. She groaned inaudibly at this unwanted interruption at her sleep. Frustrated, she was about to wake up whining when she suddenly felt the coolness of a shadow covering her eyes. A gorgeous smile kissed her lips at this comfort and she opened her sleepy eyes, taking her own sweet time, only to see Asad standing there in front of her, looking at her with tender eyes and a loving smile. Asad was up earlier than usual that day and when he saw Zoya getting disturbed by the sunlight. He blocked their way from troubling her by standing in front of her and shielded her eyes with his shadow.
Zoya smiled sweetly at him, still in her sleepy daze. Oh! How much in these last two years, she had wished for waking up to his smiling face every morning. But only if it was true! And this thought suddenly jerked Zoya back to reality. As she finally understood that he was really there and it wasn't her dream, she tried to bolt up into a sitting position. But this sudden movement didn't go well with her weak body and her head spun a little. Asad was by her side the moment she clutched her head. Holding her gently he made her lie in a half sitting position and all this while her awed eyes never left his face. But when he sat down on the stool beside her bed, she quickly averted her gaze. She could feel his pleading eyes on her but she didn't have the courage to look in his eyes after yesterday's incident. She was fidgeting with her fingers when her eyes landed on the calendar, showing the day's date. That reminded her something heard from Mr. James and surprised, she turned towards him to inquire about the same.
-" You have your flight back India today in an hour, right? Why haven't you gone to airport till now? You are going miss it otherwise." The words left her mouth even before she could think and as she saw the look on Asad's face, she understood what she had blurted out.
Asad looked at her as if she had just said the sickest of joke. He was and wasn't expecting many things but it was certainly wasn't in any of those two categories. In fact he himself didn't remember about the flight until the moment ago.
-" Ms. Farooqui, I don't know what you were thinking but surely there is no way in this world that I would have left you here in this state and boarded that flight. When you are lying here unwell, how can I even think about leaving you here alone? Let alone going back...without you." The words ended in a mere whisper which was thoroughly embedded with utmost sincerity and a hint of hurt.
Zoya's heart skipped a beat at his tone and words. She felt guilty for hurting him , though she decided to ignore the last of his words, much to her heart's dismay. As much as she wanted to deny, she couldn't change the fact that he cared for her the most.
-" I..I am sorry Mr. Khan. I didn't mean to hurt you...it's just that..after whatever happened yesterday...after knowing everything... I thought you might not want to talk to me...to see me...I just don't want you to get forced to face me because of my illness...you must be really angry on me right?...I understand and I won't blame you...I know what I am saying is probably not even making any sense...bu...but all I want to say is I am really sorry...sorry for everything...I know it happened because of me...I deserve this..." Zoya continued to blabber in broken, stuttering voice, staring down. It seemed like she was lost in her own trance, her own nightmare. Tears were pooling down her eyes but she didn't seem to care. She just continued her hysterical chant.
With each word of hers, Asad's insides died a little more. His own eyes were crying with her. He just wanted to hug her tightly and comfort her. But he knew that the only thing which could truly put a stop to her insecurity was the truth of his part.
-" I knew about everything from before Zoya." Asad spoke quietly but determinedly after taking a deep breath which immediately halted her rambling. Zoya's eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief as her head snapped in his direction. Her breath got caught in her throat while her faced turned white when Asad nodded in affirmative to her unasked question.
-" You knew?" The words escaped her lips in just a mere whisper.
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PRECAP: " Look Salman Khan!" Asad spoke out suddenly.
-" Where?" Zoya's head snapped in his direction in reflex. Asad took this opportunity and put the spoon-full of soup in her mouth. While Zoya glared at him in shock, he smiled victoriously.
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Hey guys. So I am back with an update though my demand wasn't fulfilled. Well it is simply because no one takes me seriously* sigh *
Sorry for again not being able to reply to all the comments but I have read and loved them like always. So please let them coming and leave behind your precious likes. They are the only motivation I get as a writer.
I know that many are upset with so much sad stuff but please cheer up now as they are over. I have envisioned this story like this from the very beginning. So thanks for sticking up with it. Things are going to change from next update and I hope the happy ones compensate for the sad chapters. Thank you😃
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