The Exchange

Dr. Abhimaniyu Birla

He arose from the water, holding her in his arms... holding her as if she was the most precious, most delicate thing he had ever held in his entire life. He gently rested her on the ground, shaking her body, rubbing her hands. "Akshu, Akshu please wake up...Akshu utho... Akshu UTHO..." he yelled, trying to control his tears. He frantically checked her pulse, realizing she needed oxygen immediately...the water had likely filled her lungs...

And, without thinking twice, he began CPR... using the same hand that he had not used in a year...using the same hand that he had wished death upon...using the same hand that was the very miracle of the woman laying unconscious in front of him... 

And with every compression, the memory of her resting her hand upon his, saving that child, saving HIM on a day that seemed so close yet so far away flashed through his mind...if he was here today, if he was alive, it was because of her and only her. He could not lose her...not again. She had to wake up..she had to come back to him. How cruel was their fate? How cruel was their destiny? That moments after they had found each other's arms...moments after they had breathed again, she was yet again being pulled away? 

Realizing she was not responding to his compressions, he pressed his lips against her's, blowing every ounce of his breaths into her body...giving his entire life to her...giving his entire being to her...surrendering the entirety of his oxygen to let her come alive again. 

Seeing not a single movement in her hands, seeing her face entirely pale, seeing her chest entirely still, he felt as if he had failed her...as if she had left him yet again...perhaps forever. He looked into the skies and yelled, "KYUN??? KYUN??? Mahadev, aaj agar aap ne meri Akshu ko wapis nahi diya toh joh aap soch bhi nahi sakte woh mein karunga..." 

But in his pain, in his trauma, he forgot that not even Mahadev could stop his Akshu from returning to him...not even god could separate two people who lived solely for each other...and never would there come a day where Abhi would fail his Akshu...

And then, he finally felt her grab his hand ever so softly...she was frail, she was faint...but she was alive. "Akshu, Akshu...tum theek ho...Akshu please aram se...Akshu wake up..." he whispered, his tears falling all over her face, her chest, her body... 

When she opened his eyes, she looked at him with all of love in the entire world, with all of the dedication in the entire universe...she looked at him as if the only person she had ever worshipped was finally back in front of her. She squeezed his hand ever so gently and kissed it with all of the strength she could muster...

"Tum ne mujhe bacha liya Dr. Abhimaniyu Birla...."