Abhira- A Forbidden Tale

Chapter 10

Akshara

"Abhimanyu..." she whispers.

Abhimanyu immediately lifts her up in his arms and puts her on the bench.

"Akshara, are you okay?" Abhimanyu panics.

"You-you are here" she cannot believe her eyes...

"Yes...shh... we'll talk about it later. Let me get you some water first" he runs and fetches a glass of water for her.

"Why are you here?" Akshara's shock wears out and her anger takes over...

"Akshara please, we'll talk about it later when you're okay...for now, please-"

"Please what, Abhimanyu? You should not be here!"

Abhimanyu takes her by the arm and pulls her into an empty room nearby.

He makes her sit on the bed and kneels down in front of her...

He takes a deep breath and starts speaking non stop "Akshara, I am an idiot. I am a certified idiot! I accept that and I'm sorry. I know sorry isn't enough, but please give me a chance to correct my mistakes."

Akshara looks at the man in front of her...Abhimanyu Birla never apologized. He never showed his weaknesses. And yet, here he was... begging for another chance...

She sees the man whom she had fallen for and her walls start melting down...

But immediately, her mind gets flooded with the times when she was humiliated...by him, by Trisha, by Soumya, by everyone and her anger comes rushing back.

"It's too late Abhimanyu" she whispers and walks out.

As she steps outside the room, she sees her father's doctor walking in with another doctor.

"Dr. Gupta, is everything okay?" she asks worriedly.

"Yes Akshara, Dr. Sethi just arrived. He's India's best heart surgeon and he is now personally taking up your father's case" Dr. Gupta smiles.

Akshara gets really confused but the next minute, her doubts gets cleared when Abhimanyu walks up to them.

"Hello Mr. Birla" Dr. Sethi greets him. "You called me up on time. Mr. Goenka's case was undergoing a complication... but don't worry, I've taken care of it" he smiles.

Abhimanyu nods and the two doctors walk away to Mr. Goenka's room.

"Why did you do this?" Akshara turns towards him.

"Because I had to. Because I wanted to. Because your family is important for me"

"Enough Abhimanyu! You can't just walk in here and start saying such things" she turns away from him.

"Akshara please listen to me" he turns her around.

"I'll pay you back. Every penny. I'll pay Dr. Sethi's fees and every other expense" she says with a blank face.

"What are you even talking about, Akshara? You are not paying me anything. Anything. I owe this to you. I owe you so much more!" Abhimanyu says guiltily.

"Listen Abhimanyu. I don't know why you're here. You didn't have to be. But now that you are, let's get one thing straight.

My family is my responsibility. You don't need to do anything for them. I'm grateful for the help you've done but don't do anything more.

I don't want to share anything with you, not my pain, not my responsibilities."

She starts crying "I trusted you. I trusted you with everything. And you not just insulted my capabilities, you even raised questions on my character! You betrayed me just when I had started to-" she pants as she vents out her anger...

"Started to?" He asks her but she remains silent. "Tell me Akshara, just when you had started to-"

She says nothing and turns away. "Leave us alone Abhimanyu"

Abhimanyu walks away with tears in his eyes...

Abhimanyu

I've hurt her too much. I've hurt her beyond repair...

I've taken away her smile, her peace, her everything...

But Akshara, I promise I'll give you everything back...

Abhimanyu waits outside the hospital gate for hours...

Suddenly, he sees Akshara walking towards him, her face reflecting fury...

"Who gave you the right to pay all the hospital bills? Why did I just receive a notification that our bill has been cleared?!" She screams. "Do you think you can buy me-"

"Enough Akshara! How dare you say such an insulting thing about yourself?

I can understand you're angry but I will not tolerate if anybody says any such thing about you. Not even you!"

"Well, thanks to you, I've heard much worse" she chuckles sarcastically.

"What?" He asks, shocked.

"Nothing." She takes a deep breath. "This is not over Abhimanyu!" She starts walking on the road opposite to the hospital.

"And it never will be" he screams from behind and follows her.

"Abhimanyu, leave me alone" she says.

"I've made that mistake once, I'm not making it again" he counters.

"Stop it!"

"I won't. I can't" He follows her.

"What the hell Abhi-" she turns around and doesn't see him...

Then she sees him kneeling on the road in front of her...

"I love you, Akshara" he says as a tear rolls down his eye... "I love you"

Tears roll down Akshara's eyes as she cannot believe her ears... But not a single word comes out of her mouth...

"Please say something Akshara" Abhimanyu begs. "I love you, and I know you love me too... Please tell me it's not too late" he cries...

Akshara hiccups as she cries harder...

And then, without a single word, she runs away to the hospital, leaving him all alone in the middle of the road...

xx

Author's Note: Hi guys, I'm so so sorry. I know you've been waiting for tooo long.

I just had too much going on. I lost my grandmother a few days back. Everything was haywire.

But like always, you've been patient. So Thank You!