Marriage In Echo

12

Chapter 12

As Karan stood frozen in disbelief, Tiya's fragile voice pierced the heavy silence. "Please, come inside," she murmured, her tone carrying the weight of the world. With hesitant steps, Karan followed her into the dimly lit living room, where the air felt heavy with sorrow. He sank into the sofa, placing the bouquet of daisies beside him.

Rani, the woman who had answered the door, brought a glass of water and offered it to Karan before leaving the room. Tiya sat across from him, her frail figure a stark contrast to the vibrant woman he once knew.

His eyes sought answers in her tired, weakened form.

Struggling to find his voice amidst the storm of emotions raging within him, Karan finally managed to utter, "How... how are you, Tiya?" His heart clenched with anguish, knowing the answer before she even spoke.

Tiya's response was a soft whisper, barely audible above the sound of his shattered hopes. "Good," she said, her voice carrying a quiet resignation that tore at his soul.

Unable to tear his gaze away from her shaved head, a stark reminder of the cruel hand fate had dealt her, Karan's voice trembled as he dared to ask the question that had been haunting him since he first laid eyes on her. "Tiya... what happened to you?" he breathed, his heart breaking with each word.

Tiya's eyes, once filled with laughter and light, now held a world of pain and sorrow. She lowered her gaze, unable to meet his, as she uttered the words that shattered whatever semblance of hope remained. "Blood cancer. Stage 4," she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. "I... I only have five months left," she added, her words echoing in the cavern of Karan's heart.

The glass slipped from Karan's trembling fingers, crashing to the floor in a symphony of broken dreams. In that moment, as the shards scattered around him, Karan felt his world crumbling, consumed by the relentless tide of despair.

Karan stumbled towards the direction of the washroom, his mind a whirlwind of disbelief and anguish. Tiya's words echoed in his ears, each syllable driving a dagger deeper into his shattered heart. His hand trembled as he reached for the door handle, his fingers closing around it with a desperate grip.

Inside the washroom, he leaned heavily against the cold wash basin counter, his chest heaving with the weight of his grief. Tears streamed down his cheeks unchecked, his body convulsing with silent sobs. The walls seemed to close in around him, suffocating him with the unbearable weight of reality.

With a broken cry, Karan sank to his knees, the weight of his anguish too heavy to bear. He pounded his fists against the wall, each blow a futile attempt to drown out the pain that threatened to consume him whole. "This can't be happening... please tell me this is a dream," he pleaded the universe, his voice choked with raw emotion. “Please don't take her away from me,” he cried out, pulling on his hair.

But there was no solace to be found in the silence of the washroom, no respite from the cruel truth that now loomed over him like a dark cloud. As the echoes of his anguish reverberated off the walls, Karan knew that this nightmare was all too real, and that he was powerless to escape its crushing grip.

He emerged from the confines of the washroom, his eyes fell upon the glimmering gold band adorning his finger – a symbol of the powerful holy union he shared with Tiya, an union that he refused to relinquish to the clutches of fate. Wiping away the remnants of tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his sky-blue shirt, he steeled himself with a newfound determination.

Surveying the modest bedroom, adorned with delicate flower wallpapers, Karan's gaze was drawn inexorably towards a collaged frame adorning the wall. As he drew nearer, his breath caught in his throat, his heart skipping a beat at the sight before him.