There are moments when
you totally lose your mind. That was one of those moments when Ruhi slapped her
love. Arjun could have reacted the other way, but he didn’t. He could just do
one thing and that was hugging her as tight as he could. He hugged her and told
her it wasn’t him.
Instantly, she felt
sorry for slapping him, but if it wasn’t him, then who was it? She closed her
eyes and hugged him. Every moment that happened to her was going through her
mind. The love moments spent with Arjun,
those numerous smooches in the car, their first kiss, the fear of losing him,
goons….
Her heart stopped
beating. That morning those goons were definitely behind something, they even
slapped her on her shoulder and it pained. Were they carrying any pin with
them? Did they give her HIV?
She was all blank. All
she could think of is- I cannot tell this to Arjun. She knew that that night he
was just trying to protect her and if he would know that his actions and his
acts eventually provoked those goons to act this way.
She didn’t want him to
think this way. She completed the hug and they both sat down in the darkness,
forgetting the problems they had. They thought sitting there like old days will
bring the old days back. The days when they were happy because they didn’t have
much to lose. They had their little coffee moments, that borrowed car, and this
dark terrace. They had nothing more than this; minute enough that god could
leave them alone in their happy lives, but He chose to interrupt.
“You are getting
checked yourself,” Words swiped out of her mouth. She was holding his hand,
gesturing that she was here with him always. He made the grip little tighter,
ensuring that he wasn’t leaving either. Love is nothing but a life long
gestures, made-up of these tiny little gestures.
Ruhi’s parents knew
they didn’t have enough time to waste. Apparently, next day fight to remove HIV
out of her bod started. It was in the initial stage and it could be recovered
easily. Her schedule had a lot of medicines now. She had to visit the hospital
every once in a while.
Arjun’s reports also
came and he was also found HIV positive. He dropped the college halfway and
went to his hometown at Uttrakhand. He had saved a lot of money and he used
that for his treatment.
The distances between
them rose, not because they didn’t love each other, but because they had their
treatments going on. Their family was
always around them and apparently they started talking less.
A few months passed,
unaware of Arjun’s condition, Ruhi’s treatment was pacing very quickly, but her
condition wasn’t. Her condition was getting worse day by day. HIV virus in her
body was multiplying with each moving second.
On the other hand,
Arjun’s treatment was going on in a local government hospital. They both were in
different places, but struggling with the same disease. His situations weren’t
different from her. Even his cancer was multiplying at a worrying rate. They
both were dying, maybe soon, maybe later, maybe together, maybe one after another.
*****
Shimla:
Few Years Later:
“Grandmaa, Can I go to
the terrace,” Ruhi’s voice was shaking. She was wrapped in a gray shawl and
looked as if she hadn’t took bath in days.
“Shall I accompany you?”
Grand maa asked, as she turned on the heater. It was snowing outside and she
was feeling cold.
“No, I want to be
alone,” She stood up.
“Go.”
Ruhi struggled with the
stairs and as she reached the top, she
kept turning off the lights. She liked it dark.
She turned off all the
lights around her and walked out of the door on the terrace. She sat down in
the little balcony, which wasn’t covered by the shed. Snowflakes were getting
dumped on her hair and shoulders. She looked up and couldn’t spot any star. “Where
are you?” She talked to sky.
No reply came from the
other side of the sky.
She coughed badly and
kept her hand out of the shawl. She wanted Arjun to come and hold her hand,
just like that night. He wasn’t around holding her hand for the last time.
Perhaps, she knew that she was dying and she wanted her last moment to happen
like this. She wanted him to hold he hand, and gesture that he was always there with her.
She fainted and slept
against the balcony wall. “You were supposed to be…” she took a breath, “to be
here with me.” Her heart was almost giving up. “I Love you, Arjun.” She hazed
off.
Her hand left untouched,
except those few snowflakes that managed to sleep on her palm. But, there was
no touch… there was no gesture.
“Love is nothing but a
life long gesture,” She breathed for a few seconds and one more snowflake
settled in her palm.
And… she closed her
eyes.
Where is chapter 8? Been waiting ever since you posted this. Im sooo in love with this story
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