Forever Love

It rained incessantly that evening. The downpour was sudden and made people run helter-skelter for refuge. The streets got transformed into running streams and deep puddles sprang up. Akshay fell into one such puddle, his clothes got soaked in the muddy water and his ankle got sprained. He loosened and then jerked his arms to drain the water, writhing in pain and fury. “These good for nothing municipal authorities only want to make money even if people die due to their negligence” he cursed under his breath. Few minutes earlier he had felt relieved from the sweltering summer heat when dark clouds hovered above his head and the cool breeze brushed him, he was riding his bike. The rains came abruptly, thick drops falling rapidly. Even before he could locate a shelter, he was already wet. He parked his bike a little away from a house, it had a wide porch and the huge wooden doors were shut. The house wasn’t unfamiliar to him.

“I must wait here for some time and I hope the rich owner of this mansion doesn’t mind” he thought sadly and strode the cobbled path. The lashing rain blinded him and he missed the puddle, it was deep and he awkwardly tumbled into it. He stood up and tried to drag the leg with sprained ankle. The pain was excruciating, he squirmed and sat on the path. There were few people on the other side of the street but they were too occupied with themselves to notice his predicament. He tried to rise again, this time the wounded leg felt powerless and he started to fall again but a hand held him. He turned around and saw a beautiful face; in her late teens and in the prime of youth, her loose shoulder length hairs-wet and shining, fell on her face. Her face glowed and shined as the rain waters flowed through her cheeks and lips. He felt her warm and soft touch; she was holding him with both her hands. He could hear her breath and caught the whiff of her fresh lemony perfume.  

“Sit here comfortably and don’t move. I will be back in a moment” She said and disappeared inside, she had affection in her eyes but anger in her voice. He sat on the couch and his injured leg resting on a plastic stool. The few steps walk into the house with a beautiful and charming girl as support was the most beautiful journey that he had ever taken in his twenty-one years of life. So smitten he was with her attractiveness that he forgot the pain for a while. She walked to him determinately; her attire now changed, and handed over a towel to wipe his wet hairs. She then knelt down and examined his ankle, she tapped on the joint and he writhed.

“Don’t worry, you are in safe hands. My father is an accomplished surgeon and I’m a medic” She said almost staring at him when he stopped her hands from further tapping.

“Hmm…I thought Neurosurgeon” He mumbled, his face muscles contracting with the pain.

“Thank you for correcting me, if things go the way it is going, I will surely need his services” She hissed and noisily placed several small jars containing medicines on the glass surface of the long row of cabinets that ran through the side wall. 

 She walked around springy opening some drawer here and some there, pulling out crepe bandage and few medicines. She studied the medicine strip and extracted one from it. The next moment she stood with a glass of water in one hand and the tablet in the other.

“Have this; you will get some relief. The ligament has wrenched no dislocation” She instructed. He popped the pill and placed the glass carefully on the side table. He surveyed her face while she wrapped the affected area with the bandage. She had already removed his shoes which came out with water and mud. She had snatched the towel from his hand and cleaned his feet with it before wrapping the bandage.

“I think this is called healing touch” he whispered and she gave him a glare of contempt.

“I’m going to take a hammer and break your bike and also your head. How many times have I told you not to ride the bike” She almost shrieked?

“It is not the bike, how would I know that you have got holes dug all-around your house like moats around a castle”

She now sat on the floor with her legs crossed, the half spread out bandage still in her hands. She fixed the bandage with the clip and continued sitting on the floor with her hands on the head now.

“Why worry. It is just a sprain and the pain is already gone, look I can straightway go for a marathon if needed” He laughed at his own quip.

Her body shook instead and he could understand that she was sobbing. Her head lowered, held by her hands, her silky and bouncy hairs covering her face. He pulled himself up from the conch and sat beside her. He wrapped his hand around her and moved the hairs from her face. Tears rolled on her cheeks and she had her eyes firmly looking down.

“You didn’t talk to me for more than a fortnight and now you weep” He said affectionately wiping her tears. She shrugged him with her elbow and he pretended to be hurt “You have arms made of steel or what?”

She smiled but tears continued to fall.

“Now come on, cheer up”

She wiped her tears and stood up, she helped him stand on his feet and then they stood facing each other for a moment. Their faces so close to each other. She looked at his eyes intently and then tightly hugged him.

“You are going to make me mad” she spoke in between her sobs.

He took her face in his palms and said “And I have already become one, how can you be so insensitive, fifteen days…. I haven’t had a word with you and could not even see you”

“I have seen you daily, circling around my house on your bike”

“What would I have done, you even stopped coming to the college. Not only me even the dead ones in the morgue missed you” He laughed again at his own gig.

She mockingly hit him on his chest and laughed. He suddenly shrieked in pain and when she looked with concern, he laughed and laughed. They rolled over in the conch and curdled. The little fight that they had was now forgotten. He felt light; the heaviness in his heart had melted.

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He felt ecstatic the same way as he had felt the day she had reciprocated to his love.

“You know our fights never lasted beyond an hour or so, how quickly we reconciled after every fight but how come you were so upset this time…can you imagine fifteen days...” He whispered in her ears and ran his fingers on her lips. She closed her eyes in bliss and then turned her face.

“Every minute of all these days was driving me crazy; I did nothing but only wept and thought about you. How could I make you understand that my life is meaningless without you but you simply won’t listen to me, always adventurous and imprudent? Don’t you realize what will become of me if something happens to you?” She said gazing at him.

“Hold on…hold on, why worry so much, nothing is going to happen to me or us, nothing can separate us. I promise you sweet heart I won’t do anything that may annoy you. But, you should never leave me alone, I felt purposeless and broken every moment without you”

She put her finger on his lips and said “Why is it so that I’m always in fear, fear of our beautiful dream getting broken, and fear of losing you”

He smiled and whispered in her ears “All because you love me”

They cuddled and felt happy, fulfilled, spirited and above all, loved.

He suddenly felt as if it was getting dark, as if she was slowly moving away from his grip, as if he was staring blankly at the darkness and felt empty, as if he floated in the air, he wanted to shriek, he wanted to grab her, he wanted to cry but there was only void, he could not open his eyes and there was no sound in his desperate voice. Just some faint sound of beep, as if coming from a faraway place.

He saw her for the first time two years ago; she was a fresher in his college, silent, observant and little shaken.

“Are the guys troubling you in the pretext of ragging” he had asked her. She had smiled shyly and said “Not really” He had liked her confidence and also her elegance. Her face floated in front of his eyes wherever he was, he loitered near her class bunking his own, and in few months he had unwavering romantic feelings for her. A deep desire drives one to find ways and so did he. They started meeting occasionally and then quite often and gradually their acquaintance turned to friendship and then into love. Her father was an acclaimed surgeon and also their professor. Being a favorite and promising pupil, he often visited his residence and had become quite accepted in the professor’s house. The professor and his wife were of liberal thoughts, they never objected to their growing intimacy.

“I had never thought that life would be so beautiful” she had said to him once. He had taken her hands and said “Not only this life, I wish to be with you forever, till the time the universe exists”.

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“It is unbelievable that the doctor was into the operation theatre for fourteen hours attending to this patient while her daughter was waiting to be cremated” The nurse was whispering to another nurse when the surgeon came on his round, the patient was lying unconscious in the hospital bed for more than a fortnight now.

“That also to the guy who had been responsible for his daughter’s demise” Said the other nurse.

“These young people don’t believe in patience, such rash bike ride. Now, look what lay in front, one lying in the bed almost dead and the other one already dead”

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“I don’t want this journey to ever end, such a beautiful weather and such a wonderful companion” He had said to her, she was leaning her head on his shoulder and both hands wrapped around him from behind.

“But you should be careful, I worry a lot about you, especially when you ride” She had said hurriedly lest he gets distracted.

“But…”

“Not now, no talking while riding”

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 “Quick, give me the injection, his BP is falling and check his pulse” The surgeon instructed the nurses as the machines in the ICCU started beeping.

The monitors had fluctuating figures and the graphs suddenly started to rise and fall, so did the beeps. There were hectic and frantic activities which only ceased when the machines stopped beeping and the graphs were just running straight lines. The surgeon removed his gloves and trudged out with a dejected face. The case was lost; the patient slipped out of his hand, all his efforts went down the drain.

The next day the nurses were reading the newspaper when a new patient was rushed to the empty bed. The paper lay on the side table. It read.

Finally united.

In a freak road accident, two young riders were severely injured. Both were students of City Medical College. Sarika, the pillion rider succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital while Akshay was admitted in a critical condition. Professor Roy, father of Sarika, attended to the survivor, duty prevailed over the responsibility of a father. The deceased daughter waited for cremation whiles her doctor -father operated Akshay. It is learnt from our sources that Akshay and Sarika were the most popular love-birds of their college. Both were bright students and the college fraternity had very high hopes from both of them.

Despite best efforts, Akshay lost the battle. He died with multiple organ failure yesterday. As they say, true love prevails above all. Akshay and Sarika got united in their final journey. City Medical College had announced a day’s mourning and no classes will be held today.

The students and faculties will assemble in the main ground today to pray for the departed couple.

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Long after their mortal existence got exhumed, the waves in a far away beach lashed on the rocks and their promise echoed silently.

 “We will be together till the universe exists” They had shouted, hands firmly gripped, at the lashing sea waves once when they had gone for a picnic. The clear night sky was filled with countless stars but two stars shone brightly like diamonds. Were they Akshay and Sarika? Only the hearts that love would know.