Abhira 3.0 - Healing

SS - Tune Jo Na Kaha (2)

A/n: Hi all, I'm medically not well-versed, so please forgive any mistakes during this part. Also, I've updated the disclaimer in the previous part, realized it might have been confusing. In all of my stories, Akshara/Abhinav have never had a romantic angle, so the same would apply for this story. I'm sorry for the confusion. 

~*~

"Please, leave me alone"

When she made no effort to go, he repeated, more sternly this time. "Akshara, please, leave." There was a coldness in his voice that made her shudder. A sense of hurt as well. She wanted to apologize, feeling guilty about his condition, but he closed his eyes, ending the discussion before it even started. She decided to give him some time to rest and silently walked out, closing the door behind her.

She bumped into Rohan outside, who apologized profusely, bringing her out of her reverie. He had dropped some reports, which he was trying to hastily pick up. She picked up a piece of paper, and what she read next made her blood turn cold. Her eyes widened in shock, while Rohan snatched the paper out of her hands.

The report which indicated the amounts of antidepressants and anxiety pills Abhimanyu had consumed. Mixed with the alcohol in his system, and the accident, it was a bloody miracle he was breathing.

She staggered back, using the wall for support. Rohan became alarmed, for he knew if anyone else found out, his Sir would kill him. He, although a little awkward, grabbed Akshara's elbow to guide her to the empty cabin. Luckily, the family had dispersed earlier, missing this entire encounter.

"What...what does that report mean Rohan?" She was having difficulty breathing, but managed to say. Rohan took the glass of water from the desk and handed it to her, urging her to drink and sit down on the chair while he explained.

"Ma'am, sir", he sighed, not really knowing where to begin. 

"Tell me Rohan! Is it what I think it is? Did he....?"

"Yes ma'am, we think so", he said quietly. She froze, the world suddenly spinning around her. She gripped the chair as Rohan began narrating.

"Ma'am, Sir has been taking anxiety pills and antidepressants for years. Only I have been aware, along with Dr. Gupta, his psychiatrist friend. After his hand surgery, when you...when you had left, he became an insomniac. He started taking anxiety and sleeping meds then, to help him. Once you came back, he stopped altogether, thinking he didn't need them anymore."

A distant memory of finding the pills in their cupboard, her trying to put him to sleep popped up in her mind. She thought he had gotten better after, had she been wrong?

"But then", he paused as he took in her reaction, knowing the next part was sensitive. "After that unfortunate day, he was diagnosed with severe depression as well. He struggled a lot initially, but with time his condition became controllable, and the past few months, he was actually getting better, needing to take his pills less often."

"Since Abhir".....she murmured. He nodded his head in agreement. "But two days ago, he got worse." He replayed to her the events after that evening. The evening when he gave her Abhir back. How he had initially gone missing, only to be found in the fetal position on a stretcher in some patient room. And then in the morning, how he wasn't able to focus on performing a surgery, being kicked out by Anand Sir. How he was found in the middle of the road by a random taxi driver after the truck hit him head on. And finally, how when they ran tests to treat him, they'd found a dangerous amount of medication and alcohol, making them assume the worst.

She recalled his breakdown outside of Birla house, his visit to the Goenka house that morning and gasped in visible shock. He was silently suffering, so much so, that he wanted to end it? She couldn't breathe. In that moment it felt like someone had dropped an iron anchor, weighing her heart down.