The Leaves of November | Complete✔

Chapter 11 - Last

*Flashbacks in bold*

One phone call. And his life turned upside down.

He rushed through the hospital corridors trying to find his way to the ICU. No amount of words would be sufficient to justify what was going through his mind. Everything was a blur and chaos. Coming towards the doors of the ICU, Shayan bumped into a man in grey scrubs.

"Hey are you looking for someone? Can I help you?"

"Um yes, my...my wife was brought here. I received a call that she met with an accident. Geeta. Geetanjali Chatterjee."

"Oh yes. I'm the one who made the call. Are you Mr. Shayan?"

Shayan nodded.

"I'm Dr. Wayiz Hussein, I'm the neuro resident on call and the one handling your wife's case. She has a head injury which led to a subdural hematoma, a brain bleed. We operated on her, the bleeding has stopped for the moment but there was extensive damage."

Immediately, he started assuming the worst.

"Is she-" he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. The horror in his eyes was visible.

"No, she's still with us. But I need to discuss some things with you. Do you want to sit down for a bit?"

He made Shayan sit on a bench nearby in the waiting area in front of the ICU. Wayiz heaved a heavy sigh.

"Look Shayan, she has had a pretty big accident. Usually with the type of injuries she has people would not survive, but thankfully she has. We had to open the entire right half of her skull to get the area of the bleed. Unfortunately there was a lot of damage to cerebral cortex, I mean the part of the brain which is responsible for voluntary action and alertness. Right now she's unresponsive, in a comatose condition. We don't know for how long. The only thing I can assure you at the moment is that me and my entire team will be trying our best to revive her. Until then, we can only wait." He patted him on the shoulder. "You can go meet her now if you'd like."

Exhaling deeply, he tried to find the courage to go inside. His whole body was shaky and his throat dry like paper. With every step he took ahead his heart sunk deeper and deeper.

Shayan could never forget the sight he was met with. Tubes and machinery were strewn everywhere around her. He could barely recognize the woman in front him. The lively, joyful face that he saw the last time she walked out their front door, was now bruised and motionless. That day, the world behind him had disappeared and Shayan was pulled into a deep, cavernous darkness.

*****

He came downstairs buttoning up the cuffs of his shirt, and walked straight towards the door.

"Shayan? Where are you going?" Shaila asked him in apprehension.

"Hospital."

"Okay fine go, but atleast have breakfast and drop Pihu to school first."

"Sorry maa, can't today. You please ask Debu or Maimoona to drop her."

His hurried stance was making her concerned. After what happened the previous night she didn't know whether letting him go alone would be a good idea but could not stop him either.

"But baba why are you in such a hurry? Is everything all right? I'm getting worried Shayan."

"Everything's fine maa. Ami eshe bolchhi (I'll tell you when I come back)."

Before she could ask him anything further he walked out the door leaving his mother wondering.

*****

The room was cold from the rainy weather outside, but it wasn't colder than what he felt inside. His icy stare cut through the air like shards of glass. Shayan came determined. Today he demanded answers. From God, and from her.

"There's a place, where nightmare and reality overlaps. That is where I'm standing now. It's not a nice place, and I'm alone. You're not here. I keep looking for you, in hopes to find a glimpse of you, somewhere, some day. But you're not here. Why aren't you? Is this a punishment? Tell me what I've done wrong. I'll fix it, I will. I promise. But I will not accept this punishment. "

He breathed out deeply, trying to blink back the tears. The pang of pain in his heart was stronger than ever and it was undeniably one of the worst of feelings. Shayan pulled the chair beside the bed and sat down leaning close to her.

"I know you can hear me. You have a beautiful daughter, who has been waiting for her mother for the past two years. She never complained once, because she thinks that if she is patient one day her maama will come back to her. Don't let her faith shatter, don't Geeta. Come back for her sake. She needs her mother."

Shayan ran the back his fingers across her cold cheeks.

"I need her mother."

The well of tears pooling in his eyes had finally given up. They rolled down his face and fell on her hand. He picked it up and pressed his lips against her skin. And he prayed that the silent sobs that left his lips didn't go unheard. She had to hear him today.

"I need my wife, I need my love, my life back. Fight for me, fight for us. We have to win this. We can't let death win, no. I won't let you go, not like this. So please, please, don't give up on me.

I love you. I love you so, so much."

*****

The wind rustled through his hair. Delicate but poignant. He looked up at the sky, it was clear. Not a single cloud. The sun's rays fell through and touched the leaves on the ground gently. They were sparkling green. The only sound he could hear was of small footsteps.

Pihu came to the back yard and took a seat in front of him on the grass, looking at her father with her doe eyes. Shayan looked at her with the same softness that he could see in her eyes. She touched his face with her hands and traced the line of dried up tears, wiping them away tenderly.

"Hey buddy."

"Hi daddy. Are you okay?"

Shayan smiled at her.

"Yes, I am now that you're here." He was half expecting her to ask him more, but she didn't. instead she remained silent and slid closer to him, sinking into his arms. He held onto her with both his arms wrapped around her snugly.

Within the next few moments, Shaila and Debu came by too, sitting on either side of Shayan. None of them said anything, but their silence was speaking more than words ever could. They were covered in a blanket of emotions that could not be described. At the center of it was Shayan. Around him the part of his world that could be seen, and inside his heart the part that didn't meet the eye. And it will always be there, safeguarded as long as he lives. Geetanjali. 

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A/N: Epilogue coming up shortly!