After all this time

Virat was still sleeping in the same position, and it struck Rohit again how sad he looked even in his sleep.

Before he knew what he was doing, Rohit hesitatingly sat down beside Virat on the bed. He noticed a syringe lying on the bedside table.

Wondering if it was Anushka's, Rohit lifted it up and studied it, and then his eyes fell on the medicine's name.

All at once, Rohit realized that Virat must have been taking the injection to make himself go to sleep.

Rohit felt nearly as sad as Virat was looking--he hadn't known things were this bad with his best friend.

Rohit caught himself. Well, ex-best friend anyway.

Virat shifted a little and mumbled something. Rohit bent down and asked softly, "Are you awake, Vi?"

"I know I'm a jerk, Nushkie, but please don't leave me like dad did... and Rohit did..." mumbled Virat.

Stunned, Rohit looked at Virat's face properly and realised that he wasn't awake, he was speaking in his sleep.

Rohit placed a hand on Virat's head and started to say, "Virat--are you--"

"I am so sorry I spoke to Ro like that all those times. I wanted to ask for his forgiveness, but I couldn't..."

Rohit stared at Virat's tortured face in a horrified silence.

"If I had just told him once...I love him...I miss him...I would have got him back... but I couldn't do that either..." Virat sounded like he was crying in his sleep, and a wave of regret hit Rohit so powerfully that he couldn't breathe for a while.

I love him...I miss him...

"And when I finally gathered the courage to say sorry, it was late--"

Virat thrashed his arms suddenly and he was frowning with his eyes shut hard and he looked so miserable that suddenly Rohit couldn't bear it.

He gripped Virat's shoulders gently and tried to calm him down. "Vi--Vi, I'm here..."

"Rohit has moved on in his life and there's no place for me there anymore," choked Virat. "Now you're about to leave me too, Nushkie, I would have wanted to die right now if not for our daughter..."

Rohit forced himself away from Virat and collapsed on the chair, digging his nails into his face as he tried to stop crying.

What had he done?

What had he done?

In that one week two months ago, Virat had tried his best to make them normal again...and he had been the one holding on to an old grudge.

How could he have left Virat alone when he was suffering like this? Who does that to his best friend?

Jinks returned with Virat's daughter who had fallen asleep again, and saw Rohit sobbing so hard that he felt scared.

He quickly placed the child on the bed and rushed to Rohit. "What's wrong, Ro?"

"Jinks, I--" sobbed Rohit.

Jinks put an arm around Rohit's heaving shoulders and asked gently, "Tell me what happened."

His body still racked with sobs, Rohit told Jinks everything--every single cruel thing he had done to Virat for half a decade, how he had thrown Virat out of his life, and how Virat was crying in a derilious state--and how sorry he was that he had not been there for him when Virat needed him most--and how he would do anything to get his best friend back.