Shefali woke up to find her room empty leaving the Chauhan standing near the window, gazing outside.
Her glance went back to the side of her pillow to find it empty.
Her mind drifted back to the horrific sight she saw before passing out.
"Where is he, Eshant?"
She tried getting up touching the blanket everywhere trying to find her baby.
"Shefali,"
He ran up to her and sat beside her holding her tight.
"Where is he?"
She pushed him away, fear engulfing her.
"Shefali, just have some water first... where is..."
He looked around trying to find a pot in the messy room.
He took Shefali back to their chamber not wanting to keep her there any longer. Since it was just him living here all these days, the room was way messier than it had been in the last year.
"Eshant, I do not want water"
She almost shouted at him, her heart pounding heavily in her chest.
Eshant turned around slowly trying to find the proper words.
"Where is our baby? Let me see him..."
She almost pleaded, tears taking away her vision.
"I know, if I am around he will be alright. I have seen my aunt holding her baby for the first time and like magic, he stopped-"
She was explaining, visioning the scene from her memory, when he interrupted.
"He's dead, Shefali"
His eyes were hollower than ever seeing Shefali talk in a certain sort of hurry he had never seen her doing.
"Huh?"
She swallowed, her gaze stuck at his.
"Our son, I buried his body a few hours ago. I... I could not make myself burn it with my own hands"
He said, his throat drier than intended.
Shefali's lips parted but no words came out.
Silent tears touched the lengths of her cheeks.
"No"
She whispered clutching the blanket.
Numerous tears showered her lashes.
"No no no no no"
A series of the same words embodied in her lips.
She held her head with both her hands, screaming 'no'
Eshant held her hands back tightly, trying to calm her down.
"I could not even name him, touch him, feel him. How could he just die like that?"
She mumbled on his chest fighting away his hands.
"Shefali, listen to me"
He said softly but she would stop shaking.
"Shefali,"
He jerked her shoulders to make her face him.
His eyes fought that one tiny drop of tear that had started to accumulate in the corner.
"He wasn't just your son. He was my child too. You bore him in your womb as lovingly as one could but I bore him in my heart too..."
His voice cracked.
YOU ARE READING
𝟏𝟓𝟐𝟗: 𝐀 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐚𝐣𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐚| Indian Historical Fiction
Historical Fiction𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 Ⅰ 𝐎𝐅 𝐑𝐀𝐉𝐏𝐔𝐓𝐈-𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐒𝐀 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐘 Shefali Roy had lost her parents in a pandemic when she was just one year old. That was the first time she was orphaned. The next time she was orphaned was when she was seventeen. The army of...
