"Mitali! No, no, no, no!!"
He rushed towards her and held her close. As she went limp in his trembling arms, his throat became as dry as a bone. Dizziness and shortness of breath overtook him as he tried to revive her by patting her cheeks.
The coldness of her skin sent shivers down his spine. He quickly emptied a glass of water into his hands and splattered it onto her face to revive her consciousness.
Despite quivering and whimpering, her eyes remained shut. The panic he felt was stronger than the grief he felt over the loss of his unborn child. Though he had lost the one who called him father, his peace of mind would vanish if he allowed any harm to befall the woman in his embrace.
He extracted his phone from his sweatpants' pocket and dialed for an ambulance while still holding Mitali's cooling palms.
"Mitali, Mitali, Mitali - can you hear me?! Please wake up! Please wake up!"
Despite his ardent requests, Mitali ignored him, causing him to become more panicked with each passing moment. He would never forgive himself if anything bad happened to her while he was responsible. His conversation with the operator was a blur. His actions and words appeared to be beyond his conscious control.
The powerful combination of misery, helplessness, and fear caused a disconnect between his thoughts and behavior. Adhrit Sinha couldn't deny that he cherished the child and acquaintance with Mitali Pathak, despite both being a product of deceit and force.
"Kaddu! What..?"
Purvi was left speechless as she watched her brother attempting to revive Mitali's bloodied body. Realizing the gravity of the situation, she rushed to Mitali's other side and began rubbing her soles.
"How long do these bloody idiots take to arrive?" cursed Adhrit under his breath as he called the operator again. He had thought about driving her to the hospital, but the severity of her bleeding made him decide to wait for the ambulance with the blood supply.
"Kaddu, calm down! Mitali will be alright! Nothing will happen to her," said Purvi, rubbing Mitali's soles between her palms.
Despite feeling the urge to throw something off the table at his sister, Adhrit restrained himself.
The sound of the blaring siren filled his ears after what felt like forever. Hooking his arms under her knees and around her shoulders, Adhrit picked her up from her supine position. Her head had fallen back, and Purvi supported it.
As Adhrit walked, he felt a thick and sticky liquid seeping through his cotton sleepwear, and the chilling sensation of his warm blood almost made him stop. The effort of bringing her almost lifeless body down the stairs was more difficult because of the mental turmoil than the physical exhaustion.
The EMTs had the stretcher ready near the stairs, but placing her on it did not alleviate the feeling of carrying a heavy burden. The burden of losing contact with her clammy skin and noticing the crimson blot on his white shirt was almost too much for him to bear.
"My baby. I... I want my baby."
Mitali's faint, raspy voice hit him hard as she was about to lose consciousness. A lone tear graced his left cheek as he felt the full force of the situation once more.
Everything had changed forever.
_______________________________________________________________
Leelavati Hospital,
Adding to the list of unfortunate events, Dr. Singh was not accessible. She was out of town for a medical conference. This also meant that Mitali was under the care of a doctor who had limited knowledge about her case. The only solace was that his wealth and status would guarantee top-notch care for her, regardless of the physician in charge.
YOU ARE READING
River & Desert
Romance"There's no need to go searching for a bride, Dadi. We don't need a bride. It's a surrogate that we need. In order to fulfill my obligation, I need a surrogate to bear the heir." **** "We have less than two days left to repay the money," said Mitali...
