SMITTEN BY YOU (COMPLETED)

24 - ○ Whispers of white ○

"She loves him more than he'll ever know,
And he loves her more than he'll ever show,
What a tragedy"
                     ~ Anonymous

Author pov:

Meera's wails echoed throughout the room. She tightly clutched the letter as sorrow pierced her heart, slowly tearing it into a million shreds. She felt a thorned wire to be wound inside her throat.

"Oct 27? That's today", the realization hit her like a thunderbolt. Never in her dream, she has thought something brutal to happen in their lives. She rushed down and got in her car.

While driving, she tried calling him multiple times but it was of no use. She called Mahesh but he informed her that it had been days since he left home.

"Arjun... please.. please", she mumbled under her breath. Tears ran down her pale skin, she tried wiping them but it was of no use. It is evident that Meera's character was nothing like that of the innocent woman who would forgive her lover's acts regardless of the consequences. But, at that moment, she felt the need to save a life no matter whether she loved him or not. Or maybe she loves him?

Something in her mind or maybe her instinct asked her to go there. She turned her car and drove there. After some distance, the car was unable to go in, just like that day, so she had to get down and run. How she can forget the periodic sound of crickets and frogs, the chill breeze that welcomed them on that day, and their endless nights of passion and love?

She found that the door was partly open. She went inside and shouted, "ARJUN... ARJUN", but her cries were only welcomed by dead silence. All the rooms were well searched by her but alas, he was nowhere to be found. She hurried to the pond that was situated behind the house. There he was, all soaked to the skin in the middle of the water body with water lilies and their branches surrounding him. The pale white shirt that he was wearing stuck with him like a layer of second skin. 

"Arjun", she mumbled upon seeing him, relief was evident on her face. The man turned around to see his lover standing near the edge of the pond. "Meera", his euphoric feeling flashed in his nerves, the thought of seeing his Meera who came for him resulted in a faint smile on his gloomy face. 

"What are doing there? Come up please", she held out her hand for Arjun to hold it but he didn't. He didn't even care to turn around and acknowledge her words. When Meera was about to get in the water, she noticed something weird with Arjun. Obscure ripples were formed when half of her body got submerged in the water. As she swam near him, she realized something had taken place. 

When she touched his shoulder, his hazel eyes were abnormally lazy and were constantly drooping while the color of his lips was completely washed out. Sweatbeds were prominent on his forehead, and irregular breathing was evident as he took continuous long breaths. 

Meera cupped his face on either side. His olive skin was cold just like a huge chunk of ice. The warmth of her hands seeped into his skin. "What have you done, Arjun?"

"I'm sorry for everything Meera", he whimpered. His trembling hands touched the pale skin on her cheek and caressed it. He leaned in towards her and said, "I've caused so much pain to you. Please forgive me, my darling". His unusual feeble voice gained concern from Meera.

"And I deserve the same pain", his voice cracked when a drop of ruby-red blood made its way out through the corner of his mouth. Her hands tightly clutched his slipping body as she screamed "ARJUN!!", while he simply smiled at her. His closed left palm was firmly holding his gold ring encrusted with diamonds, the ring given by the person on their engagement day, whose worth is even more precious than an ocean full of diamonds and gems.

The ring slowly falls into the water and hits the bare bottom as he slumps into her arms. He could hear his lover wailing and trying to get him out of the pond but his weight added to the water made it difficult for her. "Arjun... please don't... hang in there... please", she jumped out of the water and called the ambulance. 

"Please come fast... his life is in danger...", she shouted to the person at the other end. 

"Meera come here", Arjun called her with the last ounce of his energy. She came near him and held him in her warmth. "Don't worry Arjun. The ambulance is coming", she said but he only knows that the effect of cyanide has really peaked in his body, thus blocking the oxygen from reaching his cells. He can feel that all his organs are slowly shutting down.

"You'll be fine. I am there for you...", her words reminded him the same as those when she saved him years ago. She tried to pull him out of the water and managed to do so.

Laying him slowly on her lap, she stares into his face with drops of her love tears streaming down her cocoa eyes. Arjun could see Meera crying for him, which was enough for him to feel fulfilled about this birth. Yet his partly frozen heart yearns for one last word from her, "D..do you..lo..love...me?"

"yes... yes Arjun. I love you. I desperately, sincerely, insanely love you".

That was enough, that was more than enough for Arjun to gladly accept the grim reaper holding his hands and guiding him toward death. Those three words would cling to his memory even after he was sent to his grave. 

"This is us ", memories of his life flashed in front of his dizzy eyes. His parents, his brother, his friends, eblouir, and his Meera, every instance where he was happy, sad, angry, confused and love raced in thirty seconds. The only image left in his mind was the second when he saw Meera for the first time. Never did he think that the person who saved him would be the death of him.

While Meera was painfully trying to decipher his last words as Arjun's lips moved inaudibly. But, what can be done when the storm has crossed the land? When the damage is already done? When the life has already left his body.

Yes, Arjun breathed his last. He didn't care about dying, in fact, he was beyond happy when he passed away seeing the lovable face of his lover whom he liked, loved, yearned, desired, wanted, and needed the most. The last sounds he heard were his lover's cries and wails for him.

 "My body might crumble and decompose grazed by worms and insects, and my grave might be embedded with green molds, yet my soul can never be trapped in that. My feelings for her will guide me to eternity. The day I met her, something in my mind sincerely believed into thinking that she was mine. I even loved her on her behalf. Eventually, she loved me too but unfortunately, that was short-lived.

The days and nights I spent with her were the happiest days of my life. She is my home. If I ever get a chance to be born again in this world, I would be born as Arjun, a son to my parents, a brother to Mahesh a friend to Fawad and Kathir but not as a lover to Meera.

I hope I can admire my Meera from a distance, convey my love in silence, and pray for her happiness away from her. My love for her is mine and will continue throughout until the end of this world. I'm not dead Meera. Now, I'm a part of you, my love for you will remain unaffected till the end. This is us. With our loving memories, I depart"

                                                                                                 THE END

How far did you like this story. Which chapters made you happy, which made you weep and which made you pissed off? Do comment.

Heyy guys, hope you liked this chapter. Pls do vote and comment your thoughts so that I can improve my writing if there are any flaws.
Good day.

For instance, in an alternate universe, what would happen if Arjun was saved? Will Meera still love him? Will their love still be a love story?

Do comment if you want a different ending in a different universe.

~ dazzlerxshasha