Annika woke startled in the midnight by hearing the beaming voices of all her family members. Viren was standing with a cake covered in chocolate sauce, Jeevika next to him with a birthday hat and pom poms, next to her was Sahil who was holding a handmade greeting card and chacha and chachi were holding a big banner with Happy 21st Birthday to our Darling Annika written over it and the best part of all her cousin Gauri was standing with the same hat as Jeevika with gifts in her hands. All of them singing "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to dear Annika! Happy Birthday to you!"
She felt so elated and overwhelmed from all the love and blessings her family shared with her. It was her 21st Birthday, and like every year this year too her family was the first to wish her. It was no secret to people that knew her that she was the pampered kid of her house, the one who held everybody's attention, the one who could make anyone do anything with just a flick of her fingers. She was always showered such kind of love by the people who loved her and hence her birthday's were always celebrated like it was a festival, a day which everyone was thankful for.
Today too she felt the same giddiness that she always felt, of being special, of being loved and cherished. She was ever so grateful to god that she was a part of such a loving and caring family, the one where she was appreciated for who she was and who always had her back. Getting up from bed in excitement and revealing the vibrant dress she wore underneath her blankets (as she was sure that they would wish her at midnight like every year) she cut the delicious cake and fed the pieces to each of them.
Collecting all her gifts from each of them she basked in the glory of turning 21. Excitedly she tore through each of the presents one by one and glee with happiness by seeing all that she wanted for her birthday present. They all knew her too well, seeing as she got exactly what she was hoping for. Thanking her family she went back to bed to enter another land filled with her dreams.
The bright rays of the morning Sun and the chirping of little sparrows on her window panes woke her up. Giddily she woke from her peaceful slumber and got ready in a beautiful pastel kurta set. As was there tradition she and Gauri after having a mouth watering breakfast with all her favourite dishes went to Siddhi Vinayak temple, to seek blessings from lord Ganesha on the occasion of her birthday. Performing the Poojan the cousins than went to shopping in order to buy dresses for the clubbing they were about to do in evening.
As Annika was officially allowed to drink they had decided that they were going to get drunk as hell and enjoy her freedom to the fullest. Gauri and Annika were same aged and hence they had a bond which was exemplary. They both could understand each other very well, words weren't required in their relationship as they could read each other's faces. They were cousins but behaved more like twin sisters, their family used to joke that when they would grow up they should be married in the same family so that no fights will occur and they wouldn't miss each other the most.
Even their hobbies were similar like posing and capturing each others pictures, dancing, shopping, reading and baking. Their souls were bound in such a manner that nobody in their wildest dreams would ever think of separating the two. Looking at them even strangers would have felt that they were sisters, they could do anything for the other, fight with anyone for the other and even give their most priced possession to other in a heartbeat.
After spending a large portion of their time shopping they returned back home to show Jeevika and chachi how they have utilised the full benefit of Viren lending them his credit card for the day. Looking at the enthusiastic faces of the two, Jeevika and chachi felt much happy. They have always been like this when together, they didn't need anybody else. The two sides of one coin that they were, incomplete without the other, valueless.
During lunch they told the whole family their plans for the evening. How they were saving from a long time to enjoy a full night of debauchery. How they were planning to get wasted and dance till their hearts was full. How they were going to a far away club that has recently opened. How they have assigned one of their friends Bhavya to be their driver, in order to not drunk drive.
Viren and chachu were quite skeptical to let the girls go by themselves. Viren in fact volunteered that he would become their driver for the night and he and Jeevika will enjoy their evening from afar and wouldn't disturb them until they decided to return back home. But the girls refused his offer telling him that they wouldn't want him spying on them or reprimanding them afterwards, so they weren't allowing him to tag along with them.
Reluctantly and after much persuasion from the duo the family agreed on the condition that the girls will call them in case of any emergency. Happy with it they both entered their room to get ready for their evening of freedom. They both dressed up with Annika wearing a navy blue crop top and pant suit and Gauri in a black off-shoulder Jumpsuit. Just as they were about ready Bhavya arrived in an equally trendy black crop top paired with a long golden skirt. The trio after reassuring the family not to be too late left to party.
They had gone to the new club that had opened a few weeks ago. The ratings were good, although it was far off from the usual city, but well they wanted to explore the new place. Maybe not their favourite in terms of food, but the music and the ambience made up for it. Either way, they seemed to be enjoying the rather loud music, live band, enthusiastic crowd, and they had fun so Annika considered it a day well spent. Annika and Gauri drank a lot during the party, while Bhavya, who didn't like drinking alcohol and thus was there driver, was totally sober but still had fun at the party.
Instead of rushing back to their homes the girls had decided to enjoy a little more after midnight and only decided to turn for the night when Viren called them close to 1 am to return back or he was coming to pick them up. It was late, when Bhavya helped Annika in putting the seat belt on, with Gauri sitting in the backseat and Bhavya after putting her own belt turned on the engine, and started driving at a medium pace.
Gauri was sleeping, her mouth hanging open, and Bhavya had to open her window as the smell of alcohol was unbearable for her. The road wasn't totally clear, there was still some dew, even though it was August, but in Bombay the weather was so unpredictable that this was normal. Bhavya drove slowly, she didn't want to take any risks. But suddenly, she was blinded by a bright light shining into her eye.
Annika saw the car coming straight at them, so she screamed and turned the wheel, bracing herself for the impact, Whereas Bhavya's first reaction was to hit the break. Both there tries were utterly useless. Everything happened in slow motion as if the time had stopped. The car ploughs into the side of their car.
After the other car hit them, she couldn't do anything apart from waiting for the car to stop skidding along the road. In the end, it was a tree that stopped the car, and Annika took a deep breath before she opened her eyes, she was relieved that she didn't feel any serious pain, until she saw that there was a lot of blood. She started to panic, and when she saw Bhavya slumped against the cracked window, she screamed. It didn't look like Bhavya was conscious, and the amount of blood oozing from the side of her head, it was almost certain that she'd been injured. All the colour drained from her face when she turned to find that Gauri had been thrown out of the car due to the impact and was nowhere to be found.
As Annika and Bhavya were wearing seatbelts there's seem to be minor injuries. Frantically opening her door she searched for Gauri and came to an abrupt halt at seeing her cousin unconscious, although with all the alcohol that she had drunk, that wouldn't be a shock and now with the crash, and the amount of blood, it was almost certain that she'd gone flying ten, twenty feet into the air before crumbling to the ground. Annika raced over, hands immediately searching for a breath, for a pulse.
For one heartbreaking second, she didn't find one.
Panic flooded her already muddled brain and then her hand shifted, and she found it. Weak, but still thumping away. She had fumbled, keeping a hand on Gauri's pulse while pulling her phone out and calling for Viren. He didn't pick up on the first ring.
Annika bit her lip and prayed to God, eyes fixed on Gauri, tears already pooling in the sides of her eyes.
He didn't pick up on the second ring.
But he did pick up on the third ring, she told him everything and moments later she was sobbing loudly, hearing her brother's worried voice she listened carefully to his instructions. Annika phoned for an ambulance, looking around to see if there was any sign of the other car but she couldn't see anything.
Viren was driving slowly, his eyes scanning the road so that he couldn't miss Annika, and when he saw where all of the trees had been flattened to the ground, he was shaking with fear. He heard Annika yelling at Gauri to wake up, but the sound was drowned out by the screech of sirens approaching. Viren rushed to Annika, prying her away from Gauri and holding her tight while the paramedics were taking Gauri to hospital. Annika cried a lot when she saw Gauri and Bhavya on the stretcher, and Viren had to make a huge effort to not cry, he wanted to be strong enough to calm Annika.
After a while Annika also fainted due to exhaustion and slight blood-loss. Their family arrived at the hospital along with Bhavya' dad. They waited for a long time for the doctor to come out, Gauri was taken to the Intensive Care Unit and others rushed towards the doctor. Annika and Bhavya were fine and would regain consciousness in some time but the one in danger was Gauri. The doctor asked them to pray for a miracle and left the stunned family members to gather their wits.
Annika wakes up to the sound of beeping. She blinks her eyes open slowly and they feel heavy. Why do they feel heavy? Everything is blurry and she doesn't recognize the ceiling she's staring at.
Panic floods her - where is she? What happened? Everything feels muffled and she can't breathe and something hurts but she doesn't know what or why. Her breath comes quicker and she can hear the beeping getting louder and quicker and she still doesn't know where she is and-then like a lightning everything comes rushing back to her. The club, the drinks, her moving the wheels and then the accident and......Gauri.
V:" How are you feeling Gudiya? Are you okay?"
A: "I am Okay. I am alright. My back hurts a bit. What happened to Gauri and Bhavya? Why is my arm in a sling?"
V: "You've a minor fracture in your arm, you had sliced your back and have got stitches and possibly a concussion. I've been told they put you on quite a lot of drugs, so you might not be able to feel much. Bhavya is well too, she is in a room beside you. I am afraid to say that Gauri.....umm Gauri hasn't woken up yet and the doctors have told us to pray for a miracle."
Just then the doctors arrive with the rest of her family. As the doctors were checking her she asks "Will Gauri survive?" The sadness in Annika's voice was heart breaking and her eyes were pink from all the tears.
"It's impossible to say right now, she is in a medically induced coma, we won't know until she comes round. It's already a miracle that she is still alive after that crash," said the doctor.
Annika couldn't control her tears, and insisted on going to meet Gauri. The doctors and her family wouldn't allow her to move from her bed.
Time had no meaning for Annika, later that day the doctor came to see her, and they told her what they were going to be doing for Gauri during the day. Viren was sitting down next to Annika, resting his hand on Annika's knee, trying to reassure her.
"We had an accident while we were heading home. Me and Bhavya didn't suffer any serious injuries, but Gauri is in the coma, and the only thing that we can do is wait, hoping that she will wake up. I feel so bad, because it was my birthday and secondly it was me who turned the wheels, and I shouldn't have!" said Annika, and the guilt was written all over her face.
"It's not your fault! And it's not Bhavya's fault either! She didn't drink at all last night. Don't feel guilty, it will not fix anything, and it will be even worse for Bhavya. Just be her friend. It's going to be okay. Our chutki is a fighter. We have to be strong." said Viren(although he himself wasn't sure), leaning down to kiss her cheek. Annika felt all the stress leave her body, and the tears started to fall. Exhausted and drugged she fell into an uneasy sleep.
"We have to be careful, no-one should tell Annika that," warned Chachaji. But just as he finished his sentence, he heard Annika's voice.
A: "Not knowing what?"
"Nothing," Viren shook his head, but Annika wasn't in the mood for playing games.
"I know you're lying! Did the doctor tell you something about Gauri's injuries? Is she brain dead?" Annika felt the panic rise in her body, and she almost fainted, but Viren was there to hold her.
"The doctor's have managed to stop some internal bleeding just in time, but there's nothing more that they can do for her apart from wait. You could read to her, or play some of her favourite music, just knowing that you're there by her side may help her recovery. She is on life support as of now and the doctors aren't sure when she will wake up or if she will." Viren told her with a heavy heart.
Annika felt shattered after hearing the words and her happy world collapsed. Tears flooded her eyes and she sobbed helplessly in Viren's chest. Chachiji and Jeevika also broke down in sobs unable to hold their emotions as well.
"Why are you all crying. My daughter isn't dead yet. Annika you need to stop mourning, although I can understand it was your mistake that my Gauri is in such condition but I don't want this to affect your health adversely as well. Stop it. All of you." Chachaji yelled to them.
"It wasn't anyone's fault chachaji." Viren said with a sobbing Annika in his arms. But he couldn't argue more seeing the deathly glare that he received.
Without saying anything else chachaji left from there. Soon Annika was discharged, initially she used to visit the hospital everyday to tell Gauri about her days and inquire about her health. She blamed herself for the accident and try as she might she couldn't forget chachaji's accusation against her.
Slowly time begin to pass and there seem to be no improvement in Gauri's health. The doctor's suggested removing the life support, but her family wasn't ready to do it, they decided bringing her home and all facilities were arranged at their home itself.
In that accident the Vadhera family didn't lose one daughter; instead they lost both their daughters. One due to her physical condition and another due to her emotional condition. The chirpy bright and full of life Annika started to fade and instead a dull girl took it's place. Till day Annika hasn't forgiven herself for the accident and Gauri hasn't woken up from her coma.
Author's Notes : So the secret is out. How many of you had expected this? What do you think about the chapter? Do tell your thoughts.
This chapter took awhile to write and am sorry about that. It is 2800 words long though. Recently the inspiration to write this fic has faded and hence the delay. Although I hope that once again reading your comments my interest in this fic escalates.
Happy Reading. Stay Safe.