meet me in the afterglow

Chapter One

Armaan stood outside Sanjeevani apprehensively. He hadn't been here in a year and silly as it was, he was jittery and nervous. This was really a foreign concept to him because he hadn't even been nervous on his first day of internship. But now, everything had changed. He wasn't the same person he had been when he first came here. He was a married man now. Married. Armaan had never thought that that would be something that happened to him. After seeing his parents' tumultuous relationship and the subsequent end of it, he'd vowed to never get mixed up in the love or marriage business. But, that changed in Sanjeevani. He was not only a married man now, but also a man in love. And that changed everything.

It meant that no matter how nervous he was, no matter how badly he just wanted to turn around, sit in his car and drive away, he couldn't. Because, on the other side of this door, someone was waiting for him. And not just any someone. She was his everything. The love of his life, his wife, his beautiful guardian angel who'd made it possible for him to be standing here today. When Armaan had left her after the shootout, he hadn't even thought about what he was doing. He just knew that him staying behind may cause her emotional and even physical pain and that was something Armaan couldn't fathom. When they got married, Armaan had promised her and himself that he would never let any bad energy hover around her. And Armaan took his marriage vows very seriously. For him, they were the only vows in his life that mattered. He wouldn't, couldn't back out on what he promised that day. To her, but most importantly to himself. He'd decided that, bar everything, he would be the best husband, even if it was the only thing he ever did.

And, keeping that vow to himself, he'd tried doing what he thought was his duty at the time. No matter how bad it hurt him, no matter how much pain the separation caused him, he had to leave her because he could hurt her. And, he'd never be able to live with himself if he ever hurt her. To keep his sanity, he had to do it. No matter what. And, he was proud of himself for having accomplished it. Leaving his new bride, only a week into their marriage had been the hardest thing Armaan had ever done. He was so sure that even after insurmountable attempts, his need for her would get the better of him and he'd be back in weeks, days, hours because he couldn't stand to live without her. But he hadn't. He'd persevered and stayed behind, getting better, getting worthy of her.

However, when Papa had called Dad two days ago begging him to send Armaan back because his daughter needed him more than ever, all bets were off. She was his wife. And she needed him. So, he would go back to her and be there for her, consequences be damned. He'd left his treatment midway for coming back. Granted, he was in the last stages and was supposed to come back in a month anyway, but he couldn't stand knowing that she needed him and he wasn't there for her. Again. So, he'd fought his doctors and boarded the first flight back home. And now, he was here. Minutes away from seeing her again.

Sighing once again, he looked up to the sky and prayed before walking inside the doors, into the place he'd once called home.

He looked around, smiling as memories hit him. He had so many of them in every corner of this building. With his friends and with his wife. Yes, the place had changed in many ways - the locker room was different and the walls were painted a different colour - but in everything that mattered, it was still home. Armaan felt the same warmth and love rushing through his body that he always did when he walked through those doors.

As he walked around the hospital, a few staff members - nurses, wardboys and doctors alike - recognised him and stopped to greet him before moving ahead. Armaan did notice that most of the staff seemed to be new. Not that he expected something else. After the shootout last September, many people would have thought it beneficial to leave the hospital.

He walked to the nurse station and asked for Sister Lovely, but was greeted with an elder lady with a frown.

"Sister Lovely isn't available at the moment," she told him. "I'm Sister Stella. Aap jo poochne chaahte hain mujhse pooch sakte hain."