I Need You..

Chapter 5

Pia 

Pia's uncle was ill, he had been admitted to the hospital, hence Pia's Dad decided to stay at his place and take care of his wife and children. Pia wanted to tell Rishi that she won't be able to come to school for a week, but after what Rishi did, she never wanted to talk to him again. Pia was sad, the way her step mother asked her to stay away from Rishi, just because he belonged to a middle class family, and the fact that her uncle wasn't feeling well, since the day they left, after her dad's birthday party, had been on her mind. She wanted to vent it all out, in front of Rishi. She knew he would be all ears, and would make her feel better, but him, shouting at her in front of rest of the class, made her feel even more miserable. 

Faith; something, we require a lot of courage, to put in, on someone. She had faith in him. She considered him her friend, and was the only person she thought could lift up her mood. But when one puts faith in someone, they also pass on the opportunity to break their heart into tiny little pieces, to them. This is what happened with her as well. Rishi did not act as she had thought he would and that made her feel lonely. It had already been 3 days since she went to school, and Rishi had not even texted her once. He did not even talk to Asmita regarding her. Pia felt as if he did not care about her anymore... 

Rishi 

Rishi came back from the hospital. He was tired. He had been juggling between school and hospital, since the last 2 days. Rishi's mother was diagnosed with Malaria. She was admitted to the nearby hospital, and Rishi went straight from school to her. He would return home late, at night. 

It was 10:30 in the night. In the evening he had heard the doctors while they were talking to Nitish about changing their mother's medication. The new medicines asked for a huge amount. He went to the daycare, to ask for some sort of financial help, but all they could provide him with, was their good wishes and some health tips. Nitish also went to their uncle's place, and thankfully he did provide them with the help they needed. Begging his uncle for help, and not being able to do anything to relieve his mother's pain, were the things that tore his heart, but something that shattered it into pieces was the fact that Pia did not come to school since the day he made her cry. 

Rishi felt lonely, alone in the whole house, surrounded with all sorts of thoughts. He once thought about his life without Maa and Pia. Just the thought of it, made his eyes teary. A life without Maa, was impossible to him, he could not afford to lose her, not after he lost his father. Pia, on the other hand, was like a sliver of sunshine in his cloudy and gloomy life. He wanted to talk to her, he knew she would make him feel better. She would tell him that she was there with him, and that his mother would be fine. Rishi took his phone and was about to dial Pia's number, but Nitish's words echoed in his ears. He had decided not to talk to her, and thought of sticking to his decision. The night was longer than he had expected it to be. Everytime he closed his eyes, either Pia or Maa would arrive in front of them, and then would suddenly disappear, which made Rishi wake up with a jerk. He did not want to lose any of them, but the fact that he was on the verge of losing them, made him vulnerable. That night, he cried himself to sleep, and wished the night to end as soon as possible, just to visit his mother and see her, be all good and smiling. 

The next day, he went to the hospital, and found his mother lying on the hospital bed, with high fever and nausea, which was followed by vomiting and a severe abdominal pain. Seeing his mother suffer, broke Rishi, he felt as if he could feel his mother's pain, the difference being, it was his heart that was aching and not his stomach. The day was long, long enough to make his mother lose hope; she felt like dying. She said she preferred to visit God, instead of all the suffering. Rishi was about to have a breakdown, when Nitish clenched his hand and took him out of their mother's room. He then tried to console him and told him that he had to be strong and positive. Nitish was mature enough to hide all his tears behind his eyes and to handle all the things by himself. Rishi looked forward to him and thanked Pia once again, for giving him his brother back; without whom, he would not have survived in such a situation.