I'll Always Be There For You

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After dinner with her family, Ruhi rushed upstairs to her room not wanting to be subjected to the sympathetic looks that her family was giving her. She did not need their sympathy, not now at least for it only reminded of what she had lost and what she could never have.

After promising them that everything is fine, that she is fine, Ruhi went upstairs to her room and locked the door behind her. Leaning against the locked door, she closed her eyes and began taking deep breaths in an effort to calm down the whirlpool of emotions that were beginning to rise within her.

Despite her attempts, her heartbeat fastened and breathing became shallow. Panic clawed at her chest, constricting her throat as the memories of Armaan flooded her mind. The images of him smiling at her, of him confessing his love to her, of him promising her that he would only love her, flashed behind her eyes like a tragic movie.

All of it was nothing but a cruel joke now. Armaan could never be hers as he belonged to someone else. He also chose someone else over her and once again she was left behind with nothing.

Tears streamed down her face as she slid to the floor, clutching her chest. She wanted to scream but it seemed to be stuck in her throat making the pain too much to bear. The room felt like it was closing in on her, the walls pressing in, suffocating her. She tried to focus on her breathing just as her therapist had told her but the pain of losing Armaan for forever, and the guilt of pushing Rohit away overwhelmed her.

Rohit, the man, her husband who had once loved her unconditionally, now hated her. Blinded by her feelings for Armaan, she had taken Rohit's love for granted. And now, she had lost him too. The weight of her mistakes, the haunting memories of people whom she loved drying or leaving her, crushed her, making it hard to breathe, to think, to feel anything but despair.

She hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth, trying to find some semblance of comfort. But the memories of the past kept assaulting her, tormenting her, mocking her. She had lost everything.

Minutes felt like hours as she fought against the panic attack, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. Slowly, painfully, she forced herself to count her breaths, to focus on the present moment. In and out. In and out. But none of it helped.

The pain remained, gripping her heart in a painful hold. Ruhi's hand moved over to her throat as she tried to let out the scream that was stuck there but nothing worked. Her head started spinning and black dots danced in front of her eyes, "He..lp" she managed to speak, her voice cracking before darkness enveloped her in its peaceful embrace.