Between The Pages

Chapter 10

*beep*

*beep*

*beep*

Dev had been awake the whole night listening to the sound of that beep. Not just listening but counting too. Those forty thousand beeps over the night were an evidence that she was alive. Hurt, but alive.

"She will be fine Dev. Don't lose your hope."

He felt a calm hand on his shoulder. The warmth of that hand felt soothing to his charred heart. For a brief moment, he had forgotten of her presence. But that touch brought it all back. He wasn't the only one awake that night, she had been too. That instant, Dev realized that he never really thanked her for that.

"Thank you, Deepa. Not just for being here, but for providing a harbor to my ship when it needed rest. My life had always been chaos. There's no doubt about it. And just about when she was injecting a calmness into it, a storm had to hit again. Why her Deepa, why her?"

For the first time since the incident, a lone tear escaped his eye. The sight of a lively girl like Anjali lying still suddenly became unbearable for him. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally allowed his eyes to close. He needed some rest. As Deepa took her seat beside him, Dev lowered his head seeking the comfort of her shoulder.

*beep*

*beep*

*beep*

As he added three more to the count, Dev drifted off into a sleep. Beside him, Deepa let out a sigh of relief too. She may have been a rock for him, but even her heart was in a turmoil. Life had been so simple a week before. She was just a manager at a quiet bank going about her daily business. It was all so easy until that bastard left her stranded at a phone booth. The place where it all started. After that, even she couldn't believe how had it all changed.

She was kidnapped and forced to raid her own bank. Towards the end, she did try to cause a hindrance, but the goons were too powerful for her. When her hope was at the lowest point, Dev had stormed in to save her. He took her to Anjali's house, allowed her to hide there for a day. She wanted to lodge a complaint instantly, but he held her back. "Let the heat die down," were the words he had used.

After the last night's events though, she knew the heat was never going to die down. They had let their guard down just for a couple of hours, but it was enough for their enemies to seize the opportunity. A bullet emerged out of the shadows to pierce Anjali's collarbone. Instinctively, Dev has scrambled into those shadows just to find some ghosts. Whoever fired the bullet was already gone.

As she relived those moments watching a still Anjali,  another wave of sadness hit her. And this time, she didn't allow to hold it back. The dam of her eyes was finally flooding.

*beep*

*beep*

*beep*

"I had warned her, you know," Dev woke up feeling the wetness from her tears, "I had warned her living with me means playing with fire. There'd be consequences. Always. I had warned her."

"She loves you Dev. She loves you. And when a girl lends her heart to someone, she doesn't give up that easily. She'll fight until that last second to be with you. Like she's doing right now."

Yes, Dev knew she was fighting for him. That bullet must have left a lot of pain behind. And she was fighting every ounce of it just to spend another second with him. He really loved her for that, for not leaving him alone in this world. Even he had made her a promise last night. He had held her limp hand and promised to be there when she woke. When she saw the first rays of a new life, he wished to be the first one she saw. And he'd kiss her right here in the hospital. That'd be the best gift he can gift to her.

"You know what hurts more?" he said still staring at her, "That bullet, it wasn't even meant for her. Till now, I believed that she had just stolen my heart, but yesterday, she even stole my bullet."

Deepa didn't know what to say. Dev was talking to her and yet his eyes never left Anjali. The flames of love were burning so deep in them. The scene even made her ponder as to what she was doing there. Why was she trying to be the third wheel in their cart? But then, she knew exactly why.

"How do you know the bullet was fired for you and not..."

Before she even finished, wheel of thought had started spinning in Dev's mind. For that brief moment, the crime reporter returned. Yes, he had foiled their plan. Yes, he knew some things which can lead to the thieves. But Deepa, she had been with them for two days. She was a much bigger threat to the thieves. And last night, It must have been Deepa who was the target. That was the only logical conclusion.

Nome of it mattered though. Not after what has transpired.

He was about to say something when a knock on the door disturbed them. Dev's eyes went wide as soon as the door opened. For in that doorway stood the last person he wished to see at that moment.

"Natasha?"

Phew, Tanmay had finally written something. After a month long break, some words had finally found their way out of him. He wasn't really ecstatic, but happiness was evident on his face. As he smiled his way to sleep, he was confident of watching some happy dreams.

For Tanmay, happiness had always been a one-time affair. It always washed away with the night. But this time, it carried itself to the next day.

As he woke up, a message was waiting for him at wattpad.

'Good morning Mr Adventure.
I'm so glad that you wrote again. It was a wonderful update as usual. It feels so good to read your words again.

You know what they say?
They say that when you spread a smile, the world around you brightens a bit.

Is the world around you bright Tanmay?'

***

11th June 2017

"If you live in reality, then there are always consequences. What matters is how you face them."

You know when I started this story, I had planned a real twist at this juncture. Something that would have drifted this story into the genre of fantasy.

But a couple of days back, I thought to myself and I said, No!
I'll keep this story in reality.

Don't worry, sometime in the future, I may write an alternate version to this.

Till then, are you ready to venture into reality?