Little Love

Chapter 17: Dead

Dear Lovelies,

This is a concise update, as I could not fit this piece with another part as it deserves to have a chapter of its own. Enjoy!!

Love

W

"hic....hic..."Pihu was curled up on her bed. She had cried to sleep, yet her body shook with soft hiccups. Her face was red and swollen. Her eyes were so swollen that she could hardly open them. She was drifting in and out of sleep. The dull, aching pain in her chest was too unbearable. She felt something shifting around. She opened her eyes and saw Jeet. She wanted to chuckle realizing that she was dreaming. She didn't dare to move, even to chuckle, if she woke up from this beautiful dream.

"Pihu", Jeet whispered. His fingers caressed her swollen, warm cheeks. Tears were rolling down his face. The pain in his eyes was reflected in the ways his fingers brushed on her cheeks. "I am so sorry, love." Now, his hands were caressing her hair. It took every ounce of her effort not to slip into slumber. "My Pihu, I am so sorry." Jeet, in her dream, whispered. "I love you...I love you so much..."He whispered as more tears rolled down his cheeks. Even in a dream, he made her feel so peaceful.

"Je..hic..et...s..st...hic...stay." Pihu wanted to say but couldn't. Jeet's beautiful face contoured with pain. He slowly leaned down and pecked her warm, swollen lips...once...twice...thrice...

"AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH....." Beena ran inside Pihu's room as Pihu's scream echoed around.

"Pihu..." Beena caught hold of her as she threw up violently. "Pihu..aii Pihu..." Beena panicked. "Aaje shuncho (A way to call your spouse)..." Beena yelled, calling her husband. Sudeep ran inside, panic painted all over his face. "She stated, throwing up as soon as she woke up. Call Dactar babu (Docter Uncle)." Beena said frantically. Sudeep sprinted out of the room. It took Pihu a couple more minutes to get everything out of the other system. With nothing left in her stomach, she was throwing up bile now. Tears were rolling down her already swollen eyes. It was so painful that she wanted it to stop. It did stop as she slipped into nothingness.

"Pihu...?" She heard an elderly voice. Her head was splitting in pain. "Pihu...can you hear me?" The voice asked. She nodded a little. She wanted to go back to sleep. "She is fine. The fever is due to exhaustion and stress. Feed her khichuri (One pot rice dish) with all the vegetables." The voice instructed, most probably to her parents. "I do not want to medicate her unnecessarily." he paused a bit. "If she doesn't eat her food properly, then tell me, I will give her a painful injection." He declared in a tone higher, obviously trying to scare his patient. It worked. Pihu heard the scrapping of a chair, which blew her headache. Then she heard a murmur. "Kids nowadays...weaklings...".

"Maa?" Pihu called her mother in a weak voice. She could hear the early morning birds. Whatever it was, she had to see off her best friend. He might not love her the way she does, but they were still friends. "Maa..." She called her mother again as she tried to get out of bed.

"PIHU..." her mother yelled. "What are you doing? Where are you going?" Beena asked frantically.

"I need to see Jeet off." She replied. Her voice was hoarse.

"Pihu..." Beena pushed her back gently in the bed. Her face had a guilty expression. "It is evening right now. You were running a fever, so we did not disturb you." She paused for a bit. " Jeet is gone." She whispered, anxiously scanning Pihu's face. Pihu went blank for a moment. She simply stared at the opposite wall. After a moment, she curled up on her bed and closed her eyes.

" Jeet is gone."

" Jeet is gone."

" Jeet is gone."

Her mind replayed her mother's voice a hundred times. She was wrong. They were not friends anymore. Her love gruesomely murdered her friendship. She meant nothing to Jeet now. Her Jeet would never keep her hanged like this. He would never leave her in such excruciating pain. At least he would have met him for one last time and given a proper farewell to their relationship. At that moment, she vowed never to ever go back in his life. Her Jeet was dead.