Love Bites

To Be With You (12)

"Aankhon mein teri raatein khatm ho, baahon mein ho har subah!"

Neil woke up after hours of being unconscious. His body ached & eyelids felt heavy with exhaustion when he squinted his eyes, adjusting them to the light before opening them fully. With his head thumping with pain, he looked around to find that he was in a hospital room & Avni was sitting at the chair next to his bed. 

N - Avnii? - his throat felt dry as he spoke while sitting up slowly on the bed.

A - You're up!? - she rhetorically asked. Do you feel pain anywhere? Should I call the doctor. - she asked. 

Neil just shook his head as he observed her face. Her eyes were red & face was puffy. Neil assumed from all the crying that she had done all this while he was unconscious. His heart felt a pang at the way she avoided eye contact with him & just kept looking down at her lap. 

"I love you, please!" - she had said.

Neil felt horrible when he recalled & processed what had actually happened a few hours back. He was in a frenzy then, he had not realised what he was doing & what he was thinking. How could he let someone as vile as Vidyut to make him lose his composure?

It was a moment of weakness, he knew it. And, he also knew that he should have been better. But, turned out he was just as fragile & weak as he had always been. No progress whatsoever! However, this time, instead of spiraling into the vicious circle of his self-loathing, his heart ached for Avni. His heart ached at the way she looked so lost & defeated in that moment. 

Neil had always been afraid of death. Not his, but of the ones he loved. He had always thought that he'd lose all those who he was close to. 

He didn't know if she was doing it deliberately, but she definitely was fixing pieces of him that he thought could never be fixed again. He had thought that he was broken beyond repair before he had met her. However, that thought seemed to change bit by bit every time she patched the small debris of his fragile heart up. And now, he was afraid. Of his own death!

He was lucky that he came across her. And, this time, he wasn't going to let her go, let his happiness go. Cause that would mean death to him. He was going to work upon himself for Avni! No Vidyut could deter him this time! 

N - Avnii? - he tried to reach for her hand but she drew them back instantly.

A - What? - she asked without meeting his eyes.

N - Won't you look at me? - he asked softly.

A - Tumko kya farq padta hai!? - she gritted her teeth as she finally looked at him.

N - Avnii, I'm sorry! I-

A - And a sorry will mend it all? It will undo the way my heart shattered into millions of pieces when I saw you like that. Lifeless & cold! You were so blinded ki tumko naa hi main dikhai de rhi thi, aur naa hi sunai de rhi thi! Do you even realise how I felt? - she could barely contain her yells now. She wanted to cry out loud. The brave facade was too much to uphold. Why could he not understand how much it hurt her to see him hurting?  Did he not care at all?

A dragged breathe left Neil's mouth as he watched her crumbling face. Her chin wobbled & eyes glassed up with tears again. He moved to the edge of the bed as he yanked her closer to embrace her. 

N - I am sorry. I'm so sorry. I won't do it again. I promise, Avnii! - he kept whispering as he tried to put her head against his chest but she kept resisting. 

Avni could no longer stop the tears that fell from her eyes. Her mind couldn't stop thinking about what could have happened if she hadn't found his wallet in front of the general store & hadn't gone after him to give him the wallet.