Am always with you.....

Chapter 56

BEN

Venu bent down and placed a flower on the grave. Simple, yet beautiful plaque, made of black marble stood elegantly with white cursive words-

"This is the place where Mr. Zachery Almeida rests."

Few tears lined up my lower eyelid, while I struggled to endure the pain the knot of feelings in my throat gave me. I bent down, brushing my fingers against his grave. Venu handed me a flower, which I placed on top of the cold stone. It had been a year since Zach left us. As quietly as possible. He must have accumulated good luck in his previous lives to die such an elegant death.

Zach's health deteriorated over time, and we had him hospitalized full time. He had always hated hospitals, but still stayed there for a year. Just a week after my marriage with Venu, he left us, like he never existed. We found out the next morning that he had passed away during the night.

Zach's family was devastated, it was the hardest to hold Aunt Joe and Aunt Moni. I had no time to sit and cry over. I knew- he left in peace, just the way he wanted to. We took care of the rituals and held a small reception, just for the relatives and close ones. And yes, it was his last wish that we were to gather every year at his grave.

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"Ben, I need to ask you something.", he muffled through his mask, coughing.

"Do you need to speak?"

"You need to answer what you promised."

"What promise...."

When I remembered, I panicked.

"Shut up, Zach. Just rest. Doctor had strictly warned not to stress the body."

"You need to answer what you promised."

"Fine! I'll answer. The answer was life."

The smile he had on his face was the last I remember about him. And I am happy it was a smile. I got up and settled with everybody, who were sombre with memories. Everybody mentioned about him. After a while, I left the place. I walked towards the only destination we loved to go- Beach. Walking the long way down, I drifted back towards the dream I had, and the memories behind that dream.

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After our break-up, it was difficult to cope up with the pain. It was hard. To pull out a part I held dear my entire life was hard. More than I thought so. Only two things kept me alive back then- Sleeping pills and Venu. As I slowly settled in the routine, one fact kept irking me. 

On the day of break-up, I stopped at Zach's flat before going back to my house. Because I wanted back what he had wrongfully taken away from me- my feelings; my confession. In a hurry I picked out the note from the box and pocketed it, without noticing the stuff that sat between the folds of the note. Pictures of Zach. Pictures of Zach at hospital. Pictures of Zach exercising. Pictures of Zach recovering. 'Maybe he had a minor accident' I thought to myself. But then, I connected the dots. Worried, I tried calling the hospital. As expected, I couldn't get patient information. I decided to go to Chennai and confirm things. After lots of struggle, I had to book an appointment of the doctor and beg him for the details. And then, he told the shocking news-

Zach had pulmonary fibrosis.

Even he must have laughed at the moment he heard it.

A condition nobody has heard of- and a condition nobody has recovered from.

Is this the reason he broke up?

Sheer rage built up inside me, burning all the malice I held against him. I wanted answers. Answers for the sufferings he went through.