And I Found Love

13. I'll Stay

Abhimanyu couldn't sleep.

He tried and kept turning and tossing on bed wishing for some sleep but he couldn't as his mind wandered off to the call Shreya made.

He was mad at their audacity to actually joke about it. He was mad to witness Akshara being so blind in love to agree for anything Yuvraj demanded but more than that, he was mad at himself for still thinking about the fake accident they had planned to this extent that here he was- lying restlessly on his bed even when he said he didn't care.

3 hours passed......and he still couldn't end the clutter of anxious thoughts passing him one after the other and how these thoughts were slowly having a shift from outbursts of rage to sudden worry.

"What if it's true?"

"What if she wasn't faking it?"

"What if they actually met with an accident?"

Finding neither sleep, nor a solution to his sudden pessimistic thoughts, he grabbed his phone and finally turned it on to receive few more missed calls from Shreya's end and his heart sank at the thought of all those negative feelings actually being real this time, as if he could now easily sense the desperation behind those missed calls which he very casually ignored hours ago.

So with an unexpected trembling of his fingers, he dialled on Shreya's contact, wishing with every ounce of him that she'll pick up and tell him that it was just a joke.

Yes.....now all of a sudden he was completely fine with even getting fooled again since that would be better than the thought of knowing about Akshara's injury and yet not coming there to help.

"The number you are trying to reach is currently switched off....", came the reply from the other side, deepening his worry.

In the moment that followed, he didn't even realise when and how fast he walked down, picking up his bike keys to rev it start while his confident self continuously trembled that entire time, thinking about the consequences of his delay in case it was real.

But where to go? Where to find them when he didn't even had a location.

His mind was too engrossed into replaying Shreya's words that described Akshara's state, while knots kept forming and twisting in his chest, almost stopping his breathing.

Every second that passed.....increased his stress

He wandered on the streets at 2am, looking around everywhere as that was all he could do now.

And after searching for what almost seemed like forever, he finally came to a sudden stop as soon as he noticed a terribly damaged car on the road.

It was abandoned there as of now, with no sight of anyone around it but gave a clear indication of an accident which happened just there about few hours ago.

Yet, he couldn't stop looking at it, feeling a deep sense of helplessness which he never felt before.

He couldn't find them.....he failed.

"There were two girls in the car", a beggar stopped by telling him after noticing Abhimanyu's fixation on that damaged vehicle.

"How are they now? Who helped them?", Abhimanyu's eyes widened at the information he just received and he ended up asking more without hiding his desperation.

"One of them was atleast able to walk and shout for help. But the other one was not moving.....they were here for long. Just few half and hour ago an elderly couple finally stopped by, offering them help to the nearest hospital"

"Akshara is not opening her eyes....she is bleeding, she is not responding and I'm scared..I...I-"

Shreya's words once again came to haunt him in his mind as it unfortunately matched with the description the beggar was giving and he couldn't control the ache he felt in that moment that was still rising in his chest.