From enemies to brothers

Ch-1 The unfortunate circumstances

Virat couldn't believe what he was hearing. "is he okay?" He asked, tears threatening to come out of his eyes.
"He's....he's not. He's in coma." Came the feared answer from his mother.
"Ok, don't worry, I am going to catch the first flight I can and come there." Vi promised.
"I will be waiting." His mother answered.

Just then someone opened vi's door.
Vi immediately went and hugged him.
"What happened?" Rohit asked shocked at the sudden hug.
"My....my father met with an accident and he's in coma." Vi answered trying to control his tears.
Rohit hugged him tightly and said "don't worry, he will soon be alright." He said trying to calm him down.

Virat did calm down a little. "I am leaving, taking the first flight to kolkata." He informed.
"Do you need me to come?" Ro asked.
"No, you should go to Mumbai. Ritika and Sammy would be waiting for you." Virat said not wanting rohit to leave his family and come. He knew it would be selfish on his part as Rohit and in fact the whole team had not seen their families for two months due to continuos series.

"I will be a call away, if you need me." Rohit said and vi nodded, knowing that however hard it would get, he would still have rohit with him, always.
                   ___________

"Hello aunt how are you?" Mahi asked picking up the call.
"Mahi, you need to come to kolkata." His aunt said.
"Has dad called me?" Mahi asked quietly, hoping that it was true. In the past 13 years, he has gone to kolkata due to his profession but never had the courage to step into his old house or meet his father.

"No....No....he..Your....your dad, mahi, he's....he met with a terrible accident and he's in coma." Aunt's trembling voice brought mahi out of his own thoughts.

"He's in....in what?" Mahi asked, stammering.

"She's in coma mahi. You should come here quickly. The doctors are saying her state is deteriorating."
The voice echoed in his mind.

"You....you should come to kolkata, immediately." His aunt said in a soft voice.

"Ye....yeah, i am coming." Mahi said in a daze and quickly cut the call.

He started feeling scared as he let the news sink in. His father is in coma. He can loose him....like he lost her. No....no....that can't happen. He can't loose his father. Already one person was taken away from him....not the second one also.

"She's in coma mahi. You should come here quickly"
"he met with a terrible accident and he has gone in coma."

These two voices echoed in mahi's head and he started feeling dizzy and breathless and he could feel his body shake. He immediately went towards his drawer with the support of the wall and took out the pills his psychiatrist had given him and gulped it with the help of water.

He tried to remember her words. "Whenever you are feeling dizzy, breathless, and are shaking, it can be a panic attack. At that time breathe in slowly through your nose and breathe out through your mouth."

Mahi tried to do the same.
"Breathe in." He whispered to himself "breath out"
He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing as suggested by her.

After a while, he started to get normal and he stood up properly again.
He took his phone to book the flight tickets when he received another call, this time it was from his manager.

He took a deep breath and tried to remove all the fear from his voice. "Yes, vijay?" He asked sounding normal for any outside person.

"Sir, the unacademy wants to extend your contract with them. They are asking to meet you after two days in delhi only."

"I am sorry vijay, but I can't come. Tell them I am not available for indefinite amount of time. But if they agree, you can sign the contract on my behalf."

"Why sir is everything alright?"
"No, my father was involved in an accident, so he has gone into coma. So I am leaving for kolkata. If they agree to sign with you, you can sign it, but if they don't agree, then let it go, i don't want it."

"Okay, sir, i hope your father gets well soon."
"Thanks, talk to you later." Saying this mahi cut the call.

It was getting harder day by day to pretend to be normal, when life around him was crumbling.

How did he even master the art to hide his emotions was still a mystery to him. His mother was always very expressive in her emotions and so is his father, then why was he so different?

'Maybe it was the addition of two unwanted people in his lives.' he realized remembering his father's second marriage.

He shook his head trying to let go of those bitter thoughts and instead focussed on booking the ticket for kolkata.
Luckily he got the flight of night only as there was no vacation and normal days of work were going on.

"Dad please be alright." He whispered and then mustering his strength, he started to pack his bags.