Serendipity

Episode #16 : Memories Last

SCENE 1

“Suman, this way, you'll completely lose focus in the exam hall.” - Pallavi said worriedly.

Suman was stood in front of the mirror in her hostel room, getting ready for the biggest day of her life; the exit exam. But instead of worrying about the questions, her mind was full of thoughts of...

Abhimanyu.

It had been two days since he left and in those two days, she had lost almost two pounds. Her eyes were always moist, and nobody saw her smiling in that time period. But since the exam was over their heads, no one found the behaviour odd as all the MD students looked stressed lately.

Suman herself was shocked to discover that she had fallen so weak all of a sudden. She knew she was in love with Abhimanyu but to what extent, his absence had cleared. He was all she thought about. His eyes, his smile, his warmth, HIM, it all just added to the worsening pain in her chest by each passing minute. His memories dominated her mind so much that she often found herself zoning out. Like she was now, hand frozen in the hair holding brush and staring at her reflection unfocused.

When Suman did not respond, Pallavi sighed and came to shake her lightly by the shoulder. “Suman..”

Suman snapped back to present and found Pallavi looking at her sympathetically. Her eyes dampened again. She put the brush down and picked the garment in which she was constantly seen nowadays.

Abhimanyu's shawl.

‘Comfortable ?’

His soft voice echoed in her head. The memory of the night he drapped the shawl around her shoulders coming to the front of her mind again.

“We'll get late...” - Pallavi said softly, her hand placed comfortingly on Suman's shoulder.

Suman blinked back tears and cleared her throat. “I am ready. Let's go.” - she managed to say in a thick voice and quickly moved towards the door when Pallavi said :

“You are forgetting umbrella! It's raining!”

Suman halted in her steps, her mind taking her back in time once again. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as Pallavi forwarded an umbrella towards her.

The very same black umbrella.

With trembling hands, Suman held the stick and opened it. A tear rolling down her left cheek.

‘...let me hold it for us...’

His words rang in her head again, in his very soft voice. She swallowed, the tears increasing in flow. She would never forget the spark that spread through her arm to every nerve of the body when his hand touched hers. Would never get over it happening every time their skin came in contact.

A quiet sob left her mouth. Pallavi stepped closer just as Suman completely broke down. Pallavi engulfed Suman in a comforting hug as the later sobbed. Her heart ached for her childhood friend. It was not the first time in the past two days that Suman was crying like that but Pallavi hoped with all her might for it to be the last.

~

SCENE 2

Dropping his lab coat in the cabin, Abhimanyu made his way towards the hospital's canteen as the lunchtime started. He was coming from the OT after successfully performing a complicated surgery and in his right hand, was the file of another patient to study further whose surgery was due in an hour. Although he had already gone through the file several times but just to keep himself busy, he was doing it again.

The past two days had been hell. He was trying his level best to keep his mind occupied, was practically exhausting himself with surgery after surgery, yet was miserably failing to get Suman off his mind. Whether he was asleep or awake, she dominated his mind and heart. It was simply outrageous that he was losing his control over himself. His mother, who easily noticed his unusual silence, was pestering him to tell what was bothering him ever since he returned. Hell, his uncle sensed something was off as he kept zoning out during case discussions.