Song of the chapter is
J's Lullaby by Delaney Bailey
-34-
-Zoya Afreen-
-Present-
____________
Daffodil Hospital
24 November, 2030
10:45 pm
As the panic slowly settled into my senses, I felt a strong pang in my heart.
My hands shook in their place at the thoughts that were running a marathon in my head.
Was I about to loose another friend?
Throughout the drive to the hospital, flashbacks appeared and disappeared from in front of my eyes like reels of a film ; flashbacks of that awful night of December 2019.
The night I lost my best friend.
My man-child.
Ahaan.
His name embedded a pain in my chest, that had made its home in me for the past eleven years. I had lived with that guilt and it had grown on me like an old oak tree. Every night whenever I would close my eyes, his face would float up in front of my eyes and he would repeat those three words, again and again.
You. Weren't. There.
I wasn't..... I wasn't there when he needed me the most. He needed me. He had called me, out of everyone else, because he had believed that I could've helped him. I could've helped him. I could've fucking helped him.
Why wasn't I there?
As a kid, my mother would often tell me how the good often die young because god wants all the good saplings in heaven.
Guess that was true.
But when a person dies, he leaves behind so many people , standing at his grave, trying to figure out how they'll live the rest of their lives without that person.
I didn't want to figure out my life without another friend. I truly didn't.
While it was true that Saina and I had started off on the wrong foot, over the course of those four months, we had grown closer to each other and she had managed to become one of my closest confidants.
In the last few years, she was the only one in the group whom I had a touch with.
I guess you could call us "friends".
Our mutual hatred towards Alishka and being bonded by trauma had made us who were today. And I didn't want to ever lose that.
Ever.
I sighed as I looked out the window. The blinding lights of the myriad of cars on the road caused me to close my eyes on impact. I breathed in a shaky breath.
And all I hoped was that she was okay.
____________
The Daffodil Hospital seemed to always be in a frenzy. Well, I guess if there was a killer going around town slashing people like wood, the hospitals were most likely to be the busiest place.
I had never liked being in a hospital.
And the irony of it all was that both my parents were doctors.
Growing up, I had never liked my parents' profession because of how they had to deal with life and death every single day. Watching people die while simultaneously charging them a huge sum for a failed attempt at saving life indeed seemed like an atrocity. I often lamented on my father's persistence that I should've opted for science and go into medical school, just like him and mom.
I didn't like the sight of people dying.
My parents and I were a nuclear family. I never knew my grandparents growing up and therefore, never went to their funerals. My parents prevented me from any such instances, believing that I was too vulnerable to handle it.
But life liked to play with ironies.
When I had seen Vivaan's dead body lying on the football group, chopped into pieces, that was my first encounter with death. Real death.
I had displayed fake bravery and courage on my face as my mind had gone numb due to the absurdity of it all. I was scared, petrified even. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.
But it wasn't until I had experienced the grief that followed a person's death, that I had understood why the concept of death was feared by every living being on this planet.
It was sickening, this feeling. A void left open. No way to close it.
Ahaan's death had an impact on me that was so powerful, it had almost managed to change the course of how I looked at things. I valued things more as I grew up, I valued the time I spent with my people more. But most of all, I valued life more.
He never got to live his dreams. He never got to have a happy ending.
But I knew he would've wanted a happy ending for his friends, regardless of anything else. And I was determined to fulfill that dream of his.
None of my friends were going to die in the hands of that bastard and I was going to make sure of it.
We all rushed towards the room in which she was kept after confirming from the reception. As we got to the end of the hallway, my eyes spotted the number 308 on one of the doors.
"That's the one." I mumbled, more to myself than others and rushed in first, with the rest behind me.
As I entered the cabin, I found Saina wincing softly as she struggled to sit up. I immediately rushed to her side and propped up the pillows to help her.
She gave me a soft smile in return.
"Saina, how are you? Are you okay? How did you get into an accident?" Kartik asked at one go.
"Jeez Kartik, let her breathe." I lamented and he gave me a poker face.
"It's okay." Saina mumbled softly as she sat up. "I'm fine now Kartik."
I heard Kartik breathe a sigh.
"How did this happen?" Veronica asked.
I watched as Saina fidgeted with the hem of her hospital gown. Her eyes lowered as she spoke, "I was sort of.... running out the house and I didn't pay attention to the fact that there was a truck tumbling towards me."
My brows knitted.
"Why were you running out of the house?" Himanshu spelled out my concern.
"Uh..." Saina stuttered as she tucked her hair behind both ears, something she only did when she was lying or about to lie. "I sort of-"
"We were actually heading out for a drive." A voice echoed from behind and we all looked towards it's direction, only to find a man, six foot tall, holding a bouquet of flowers, walking towards us. I sensed Saina shift uncomfortably beside me.
The man gave us a lopsided smile and spoke, "Hi guys. It's good to meet you all finally."
It was then that I put two and two together.
"Gautam?"
He smiled wider. "Yes. Nice to meet you....."
"Zoya." I filled in for him.
"Right, Zoya." He gave me a curt nod and moved towards the other side of Saina's bed and placed the flowers on the tray next to the bed. He then proceeded to move closer to her and placed a kiss on her forehead.
I swear I saw Saina flinch seconds before that.
He then looked at us, a sort of good naturedness reflecting in his eyes. "I had wanted to take her out on a drive and visit some of the places here. Ever since we got married, she never really brought me here. I guess there was a solid reason for that."
I furrowed my brows.
"Anyways, I was trying to call an Uber when I saw her walking towards the road. She was on her phone, so I guess she wasn't paying attention." He continued as he held her hand. I watched as Saina squirmed under his touch.
"Before I knew it, a truck came out of nowhere and it all happened so suddenly that I couldn't react for seconds." He narrated, a fake essence of horrifiedness on his face. He then looked at Saina who avoided any eye contact possible. "Thank God, I didn't lose you."
Her eyelids stayed lowered, not meeting his.
As weirded out as I was feeling witnessing the exchange between them, I couldn't help but feel that something was off with this entire ordeal.
And as if on cue, my eyes suddenly fell on a small bruise on her neck, that had otherwise been covered by her hair. It looked like it was slowly turning purple.
I paused in my place. If it was bruise from the accident, the doctors would've tended to it. Then why was it left uncovered?
As several thoughts crossed my mind, I heard Kartik say from behind, "Well, we're just glad nothing happened to her. We were really worried for you, Saina."
"Yeah, truly." Siya nodded.
Saina gave them a weak smile.
"The doctors said she needs a little rest, so.... I hope you guys won't mind coming in tomorrow again?" Gautam instantly chimed. I gave him a suspicious look.
Something was definitely off.
"No, absolutely not." Himanshu said. "Get some rest, Saina. We'll visit first thing tomorrow."
Saina nodded mildly.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets as much rest as possible. I'll be here all night, by her side." Gautam said, his words dipped in sugar coating. "Right, babe?"
Saina looked at him, visibly gulped and nodded frantically. He gave her a wide smile in return.
"Alright, then. Guess we'll take our leave then." Kartik said. "Get some rest Saina."
Saina nodded as the rest slowly bid her farewell and started walking out, when I said, "Actually Saina,..."
The rest looked at me along with her.
"Do you mind if I talked to you for a second?"
A wave of uncomfortableness passed over Gautam's features as he looked at her. She looked between me and him before nodding, "Of....Ofcourse."
I gave Gautam a hearty smile. "I hope you don't mind."
He smiled uncomfortably. "Why would I?"
I returned my best fake smile and watched as he slowly lowered his gaze from me to his wife and gave her a nod before slowly walking out with the rest.
Not before giving her a double look, ofcourse.
Making sure he wasn't eavesdropping at our conversation, I closed the door slightly and walked back and sat at the foot of the hospital bed.
"How are you?" I asked.
"I'm ok-okay, Zoya." She tried to smile but it didn't reach her eyes.
"No, how are you really?" I asked again.
"And don't give me that bullshit you just spilled in front of everyone."
She gave me a nervous look before lowering her eyes. "I don't know..... I guess.... I feel...scared. It all happened so fast.... I just.... I couldn't comprehend things, you know."
I held her hand in mine softly.
"And then when I woke up in the hospital,....for a second I was almost like....maybe I was in heaven." She said, looking at me.
I smiled. "Bitch.... you're not going to heaven."
She chuckled softly. "True that."
I chuckled as well. "Infact, I don't think any of us are."
She sighed, shaking her head.
"Can I ask you a question?"
She nodded.
"That bruise on your neck....is it from the accident?" I asked, looking her directly in the eyes.
Her expression slowly changed as she softly touched the back of her neck. I watched as she blinked profusely, and looked here and there.
"Umm...ye-ah."
"Hm." I nodded, looking down. She was lying.
"Did he do this to you?" I asked.
"Wha-at?" Her eyes widened.
"I'm a daughter of two of the best neurosurgeons of this town, Saina. I grew up breathing medical problems and issues." I explained. "I know what an accident bruise looks like."
She blinked, lowering her eyes again.
"No, Zoya... it's-"
"I know, you won't admit to it." I intervened. "I don't know whether it's because he's pressuring you to keep your mouth shut or whether you think you deserve it. But....let me tell you, it's not worth it, Saina."
She fidgeted with her fingers, her face getting redder with embarrassment.
"If he touches another hair on your head again, tell me." I said, standing up. "I'll make sure that shit never gets to live another day. That's a promise."
She slowly looked up at me, her eyes bewildered.
"Zoya... please.... don't tell anyone about this."
"I won't." I answered. "Not unless you do."
Her lips pressed in a thin line as she nodded meekly.
"Take care. And call me if there's any problem, okay?" I said and she nodded again in response.
I slowly picked up my coat and turned to walk out the door when I heard the faint sound of notification from her phone. I turned back and found a worried expression etched on Saina's face as she picked up her phone to check the notification.
As she read the text, a deathlike pallor settled on her features.
"What? What does it say?" I asked.
She inhaled a shaky breath before turning the phone towards me to read the text.
I narrowed my eyes at the words.
'Lost my temper, my bad.
Xoxo'
__________
woo! this was a crazy one!
honestly, everytime Zoya mentions Ahaan, I feel myself welling up-
their bond was so pure 😭
anyways, don't forget to vote, comment and share the book as much as possible!
love,
Bosedisha