I'll Hold On

CHAPTER 42

It was dark.

The only sound heard was of crying.

And the person crying was Rayna. Rayna was back in that nightmare were she was all alone surrounded by darkness. She didn't know why but she had this unexpress able fear in her and it frightened her more than she was. She was sitting on the floor, hugging her her legs, forehead rested on her knees. She knew she was crying and probably tears were streaming down her face, but she couldn't feel it. She couldn't feel anything, except fear.

But fear of what?
From whom?
From where?
And why?

Rayna lifted her head, sobbing and immediately placed her head back on her knees. It was dark, but the darkness of her closed eyes felt more comfortable to her. She hugged herself tighter, wanting to get rid of this feeling or to feel safe? She didn't know, probably both.

I want to go home.

But how? She was not able to move. Even if she wanted to, her brain and body wouldn't listen to her. She wanted to get up and run  to somewhere or someone, but she didn't know to where or whom. She just knew she had to be somewhere, which is not this place of darkness. She wanted to call out for help but her voice was stuck in her throat. Rayna just sat there, crying and sobbing.

Suddenly, she heard the gushing of water. She looked up and it was still dark but, the sound of the waterfall was still heard in the distant. And this time, her body heard her plead. She got up and wiped her face, although she couldn't feel any tears or such on her, she did so unknowingly. She took a step forward, another one and step after step, Rayna was running.

As she ran towards the waterfall, the sound of birds chirping also followed. The fear had now turned into happiness and hope. As she ran endlessly towards the sounds something, out of the dark, just gushed from infront of her. She stopped and looked to her left to see an image, or a video, cause it was moving, but still black and white.

Who are they?

A man dressed in a crisp suit held on to a feeble woman as they walked ahead. Suddenly, the woman started coughing profusely and the man panicked. He sat her down on a chair and ran somewhere. The fenale was coughing and coughing and soon, a small hand holding a bottle of water was seen before her. The lady accepted the helping hand and gulped down the water as her life depended on it.

After sometime, the lady looked up to see a girl looking at her with a worried expression. The woman smiled at the girl and spoke some words which were not audible to Rayna. The girl smiled brightly at the lady and replied. The girl was dressed in a hospital gown and an IV was attached to her hand. The woman and the girl started having a conversation when the girl placed her hand over her heart. The woman looked at the girl with adoration.

A nurse soon came by and took the girl away, and they waved each other goodbye. The man came back with a bottle of water to see the lady staring at the retreating girl. The woman then placed a hand on her heart and smiled. As fast as that video appeared, it vanished. Rayna blinked a few times before she turned back to the sound of the gushing waterfall and chirping birds.

This time, along with the sound, she saw a white light. A ray of hope you may say. Instead of running, Rayna steadily walked towards the light. As she walked closer, the sounds grew and so did the brightness of the light. As she got closer, the bright light started to prick her eyes, so had to squint her eyes to see. But the closer she went, the harder it became for her to see.

Just when she was about to completely close her eyes due to the brightness, just for a millisecond, she saw the gushing waterfall surrounded by beautiful greenery and flowers with birds chirping about. And amongst that beautiful scenery stood an olderly woman, smiling warmly at Rayna with her hand placed over her heart. And with that small glimpse Rayna closed her eyes.

Rayna slowing opened her eyes again, but immediately closed them as the bright light pricked her eyes. She slowly and ever so carefully opened her eyes to see white. She saw only white, but instead of the gushing waterfall and chirping birds, she heard a very annoying sound. And probably because of that sound, Rayna's head was aching, aching so much that she wanted to remove her head from her body.

Rayna attempted to move her head but the pain was restricting her to do so. She attempted to move her hand to touch her head but it wouldn't budge. She moved her eyes to her hand to see her hand encased between two more hands and the persons head rested on them. The person lifted her head and their eyes met. Rayna could feel all the pain and sorrow of this person in that mere second, 'Rayna?' He whispered, unbelievably. But Rayna didn't understand who he was and what he was doing here.

And who is Rayna?

The man stood up and started shouting, 'Doctor! Nurse! Somebody! Quick!' The shouting was causing Rayna's head to pain terribly, 'Shhhh.' She said but her voice was hoarse and her throat hurt by only making that sound. Soon, people wearing white came rushing in and started checking her. The man's hands left hers as the newcomers checked her and tried speaking to her but Rayna just groaned as her head hurt too much.

The bed was lifted and Rayna was placed in a seated position. Her oxygen mask was removed, 'Take deep breathes.' A man asked and Rayna just stared at him confused not being able to register his words. The man showed Rayna what he meant and she did so. A lady gave her a glass of water and Rayna drank it in a hurry to later groan, as her head hurt.

'Seems like her hearing and eyesight is good. She seems to have a slight concussion as she is unable to register my words. What is your name?' The man asks Rayna and she justs squints her eyes in confusion. The Doctor points at the man from before and asks, 'Do you recognise him?' Rayna looked at the man from before but nothing came to her head.

The man visibly panicked and rushed over to Rayna and held her hand, 'Rayna? It's me, Aahil. Don't you remember.' He asked her. Rayna stared at him for a couple of minutes, 'Aahil?' She repeated and her head started to ache. And like a tsunami rushing over unalarmed and in full force, everything came rushing to Rayna. She looked up at Aahil with wide eyes.

OH MY GOD!! AAHIL!?