meet me in the afterglow

Chapter Five

Dr. Shashank, who had been informed of the incident, reached the hospital a couple of hours later to see Armaan pacing outside. Riddhima was still unconscious.

"Armaan!" He exclaimed. "Kya hua hai Riddhima ko?"

Seeing Shashank, Armaan got emotional again and immediately hugged him tight. "Papa," he sobbed.

Sensing Armaan's distress, Shashank immediately put his arms around Armaan in a fatherly hug and ruffled his hair, trying to calm Armaan down.

"Armaan, beta, kya hua? Tum itne pareshaan kyu ho?" Shashank asked after a few minutes.

"Papa... Papa Riddhima," Armaan answered, still in tears.

"Haan, kya hua hai usse? Abhi subah toh woh bilkul theek thi," Shashank explained, getting agitated with each passing second.

"Sab... Sab meri galti hai, Papa. Maine sab kharab kar diya. Aaj meri wajah se Riddhima iss haalat mein hai," Armaan replied.

"Lekin, Armaan, usse hua kya hai?" Shashank pressed.

Armaan sighed. "Dr. Keerti keh rahi thi ki Riddhima is on the verge of a nervous breakdown," he finally answered, lowering his head. He didn't have the strength to look Shashank in the eyes when he delivered the news.

"What?!" Shashank whisper yelled, losing his footing. He was about to fall off, when Armaan supported him and held him in his arms. He helped Shashank onto the nearest bench.

"Haan, Papa. Dr. Keerti keh rahi thi, ki pichle kuch mahino mein jo bhi hua, uski wajah se Riddhima ne apne aap ko express karna chod diya hai, aur yeh saare negative emotions, uski body ko weak kar rahe hain," Armaan explained.

Shashank was at a loss of words. He didn't know what to say, to do. His baby girl was inside, suffering so bad and there was nothing he could do to make her feel better. On the other hand, his boy was blaming himself for everything. He knew that Armaan had the habit of blaming himself for anything bad that happened in the lives of people he was close to, especially Riddhima. It didn't matter what. If she got a papercut, it was because he was distracting her, if she got hurt while she was cooking, it was because she was trying to talk to him while cooking at the same time, if she got a cold, it was because he made her dance in the rain with him. Always his fault, never hers. And, even now, when something so drastic had happened, Armaan had found a way to blame himself for it. Shashank agreed that Armaan's departure had started it all, but in the end, it hadn't been his fault. Siddhant was the one responsible for it all. Him, and the gossip mongers that this hospital was full of. Shashank had never thought that his staff would make a laughing stock of him and his family for the world to see like this, just because of one incident, that wasn't even the fault of the person who was being taunted for it. No one said anything about Sid. It was all Riddhima, Riddhima, Riddhima. She was the one who was characterless, shameless, the one who had bad blood. Not Sid. Never him.

The thoughts made Shashank's head explode with anger. Today was the first time that he actually wanted to hurt Siddhant for all the pain he had caused his daughter. Earlier, he'd written off Sid's insolence as a mistake of his youth, but seeing his daughter suffer so much because of it was making Shashank rethink his decision.

When the committee had sat down to discuss the outcome of Sid's actions, he'd voted to give Sid a second chance and not just because he didn't want the Board to think he was being nepotistic if he ruled to have Sid removed, but also, because he genuinely believed that Sid had made a mistake and the guilt he had been feeling was punishment enough. Shashank had never told anyone this, but in many ways, Sid reminded him of Armaan. And, after having judged Armaan so badly, he didn't want to make the same mistake again. Which is why, he'd tried his best to forgive Sid and move on. But, today, he felt ashamed of himself that he'd tried to compare that boy to his son in even the smallest ways. Armaan would rather die than cause Riddhima so much pain.