Om and Rudra entered the darkened room and their hearts stopped beating seeing the scene in front of them. They quietly tiptoed towards the figure who was sitting on the floor taking the support of the bed. As they walked towards her, they almost tripped and looked down. A small girl of about six was sleeping keeping her head on her mother's lap while the older woman was just absentmindedly stroking her head while steadfastly keeping her eyes on a photo frame of a smiling man.
They both then settled down on either side of her which she didn't notice. They just got scared but couldn't voice it out.
"Bhabhi" Finally, Om addressed her and she looked at him slowly. And Om immediately felt he shouldn't have called her out. The raw sadness and a feeling of being lost that Annika's eyes held shook his very being.
"I will take Naina and make her sleep properly," He said softly but she just shook her head.
"She stays with me" Was all that Annika said and again turned her gaze back to the frame.
"Bhabhi, sambhaliye khud ko," Rudra said and kept his head on her shoulder. But she didn't ruffle his hair or caress his cheeks like she usually does.
The indifference didn't deter the brothers and Om also followed Rudra and laid his head on Annika's other shoulder.
"He wouldn't have liked to see you as this" Om said in a sad voice.
Annika surprisingly let out a dry chuckle. And then taking a deep breath she said, "I know he hates to see me crying and see, I am not. My heart is twisting painfully inside, my breaths are forced, my soul has become lifeless, and yet, I won't cry"
Om suddenly took his head up and looked into her eyes. They looked empty now, devoid of any emotions.
"Bhabhi, he loved you a lot" He spoke heavily and she turned towards him.
"I know. I know that his heart only beat for me till the time he took his last breath, Om. My heart and my soul know this" This time, her gaze softened a bit and she smiled as if she is recollecting something.
"Bhabhi, but it has been 13 days now. You need to gather yourself. If not for us, for Naina" Rudra became a bit confident seeing Annika speak.
"You know, he always said that I am the support to his great wall. But what I didn't tell him was that he was the only support of my whole existence. And with him, he took that away eventually crumbling away my existence" She said and gently kept her head on Om's shoulder and continued caressing her daughter's head with her hand.
"I wasn't prepared to let him go, Om," She said and Omru's heart broke seeing her utter vulnerability.
"Neither of us were bhabhi" Rudra replied.
"And yet God didn't listen to us," She said with a tone of anger. "He never listens to me. I had just asked him to keep me happy and he decided to call the reason for my happiness to him. It isn't fair na Om?" She questioned him and he didn't have a reply immediately
"A life without Shivaay is like a canvas without colors" Om managed to say after a few seconds of silence.
"Om, please bring him back to me" Annika straightened her head and her look penetrated through Om's eyes. But Om almost felt as if she was gazing through his soul.
"I wish I could bring him back bhabhi. I just wish" Om's disappointment was visible in his voice. Never had he felt so helpless in his entire life. Not when he felt broken and turned to drugs, not when he saw his mom-dad fighting, or not even he faced any problem. But, here he sat utterly helpless in front of his sister-in-law and niece who were begging him to bring back his brother to them. How was he going to do that? The people who depart to the other world don't come back.
