The Entwined Fates

Chapter 18: His side of the story- Part 2

"WHAT?" exclaimed all of us.

He nodded numbly and waited for a while to let us digest the news. It took us a few more seconds to click. What Atharva had slipped up at the hospital started to make sense.

"But...but how?"

"When?"

Everyone started throwing questions at him. He simply replied, "let me finish. All your questions will be answered."

With that, he continued.
"It was a car crash. After Dad informed me, I zoned out for a while. Didn't understand what was happening. I just had a chat with Atharva an hour ago. But after Dad kept repeating my name, I came back to my senses and rushed to the hospital. Both Dad and Mom were already on their way."

He saw the questioning look on our faces. "Trust me, I know what you all are thinking. Why did I not inform you? I have no explanation for that. Just know that I couldn't. I could not think of anything but my brother and his health at that moment. Everything else flew my mind. Jaise taise I reached the hospital only to be informed that my brother......."

He inhaled sharply and continued.
"My brother had been badly injured. Fractured hand, broken ribs, head injury and internal bleeding. God, he had lost a lot of blood. He was unconscious for two days. Doctors couldn't do anything till he started to react to the medications. They told us that if he did not react within the next 72 hours, chances were that Atharva would slip into a coma. We prayed and prayed and prayed some more. But still no response. And eventually, that is what happened. He slipped into a coma."

For the second time, all of us exclaimed, "WHAT?"

"COMA?"

With a grim nod, he continued.
"Yes. It was terrible. The doctors couldn't tell us anything. Whether he would be ok or not, no one knew. The broken faces of my parents after we got the news still haunt me. Luckily, the doctor who had a specialisation in such treatment, Mr Singhania, was a visiting faculty on that day. He worked at a renowned hospital in Delhi. So after discussing what was better for Atharva, we decided to move to Delhi for his further treatment in few days.”

Zia whispered, “Delhi?”

Dhruva continued as if he did not hear her.
“His treatment lasted for months, and after he got up, we faced new challenges. Slowly and surely, with the help of therapy and whatnot, Atharva was back on his track. My focus was solely on my parents, my brother and our business. No time for anything else. Frankly, the last thing on my mind was to inform anyone, including you guys.
My brain had stopped working.
I was functioning like a robot.
And it continued for a few years.
Even after Atharva was back on his feet, I continued to function the same way. It wasn’t until he pointed out, we noticed I was turning into a shell. Everything had taken a toll on my health. Physical and mental. Immediately, an appointment was booked, and I went to a therapist who diagnosed me with mild depression.”

All of us gasped loudly.
We were speechless.

Dhruva had gone through so much. That too without us by his side. That thought itself brought chills to my body.

“Therapy helped a lot. I am happy and healthy just because of it. My therapist made me realise my mistake of not leaning on your shoulders when I needed you guys the most. She gave me the confidence to reach out to you guys again after all these years. I am sorry, yaaro. It took me so long to reach out to you. I am sorry for hiding all this for so many years. Please forgive me.”

All of us sat there stunned.

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Author's Note:
Hello guys!
The cat is finally out of the bag. What did you think about Dhruva's side of the story. Do let me know in the comments.
Stay tuned to find out how others reacted.
Thanks for reading!
- Mitali