The Last Note [ON HOLD]

35. THE AFTERMATH - II

The Aftermath - II

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-"I'm sure this will look great on you!"
The old man, probably in his early 70's said to the little boy, checking the size of the outfit he held onto him.

-"Yes, this is...final!"
The old woman chirped joyfully.

Despite all the hustle-bustle going around,

Blood........pain........separation.......death

These were the only things which were running across the now eight-year-old Ajey's mind.

One year. It had been one year since he lost contact with her.

What would be she doing now? He was sure she will never forgive him for leaving and that too without even a final goodbye when he said he would never leave her. They were bestfriends.

Though the tragedy took a heavy toll on Trishika's life but Ajey's situation was no different. Afterall, he was the main character of their unhappy ending.

Ajey had been suffering alot with physical as well as mental health issues. When him and his family returned to Faridabad, he would barely eat anything. All his favourite meals tasted bland to him and all the things he loved doing felt like a torture now.

His passion for football was long lost and "talking without a reason" wasn't a part of his dictionary anymore. He had also developed severe anger issues now and separation anxiety and had eventually slipped into depression just within a span of 4 months post the tragedy.

The separation was too painful for him to bear.

So much so that it almost felt like living without a purpose or like there wasn't even a life anymore, just survival.

Ajey was struggling hard to survive. Very hard.

The little boy had made his first suicide attempt after 2 months post the tragedy and the last he attempted was 4 weeks ago. Three attempts in total.

This was when Anirudh and Anuradha realised it was too much. They couldn't see their son struggling so much and that too at such a tender age.

This was when they started to make Ajey have regular therapy sessions and as advised by the doctors, also treated him with metyrapone; a drug associated with the removal of some specific tragic memories from a person's mind which may result in a haunting present.

It had been 2 weeks since Ajey's parents left for Delhi again. They left Ajey and Yash with their grandparents and worked in Delhi just a few weeks after coming back to Faridabad, as they found new jobs for themselves.

And here was Ajey, trying to recall everything that had happened in the past year but.....couldn't. Little did his parents know, the drug erased some memories but not all of them.

Ajey did forget the incidents that followed. Ajey forgot the exact happenings in that city...what was the name of the city? He was sure he could remember it if he was taken there. He forgot about his bestfriend's family. He did forget much about the house in which they played. Ajey had forgotten alot of things.

But what Ajey never forgot was Trishika, his best friend. Ajey never forgot the way they got separated. Ajey never forgot the moments with her he always cherished and Ajey never forgot Trishika's will to live.......before everything happened. He had no idea what was her mindset now.

He had forgotten something but not everything.

So much so that he knew all it would take him was just one meeting with her and he would be able to recall everything.