Can't Stay Away ✔️

43. Revealations

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A R J U N

The night air clings to my skin, thick and suffocating, as we reach the hospital. My arms are trembling, bloodied from holding her limp body. Ayesha's breath is faint—almost nonexistent. Every second feels like it's slipping through my fingers. She can't leave me. Not now. Not like this.

"HELP!" My voice is raw, echoing through the hospital corridors as nurses and doctors rush forward. My heart is hammering so hard it's like it'll explode. "SOMEONE! PLEASE, HELP HER!"

They take her from me, pulling her from my arms, but I can't let go. Not until a nurse's hands push me back. My chest heaves with violent, panicked breaths as I watch them wheel her away. I'm frozen—stuck in this suffocating moment where I can't do anything. I can't save her.

"You need to calm down," someone says, I don't even know who. Zoya's sobbing, Raghav's talking, Abhishek is trying to pull me aside, but I can't hear any of them.

"I swear to God, if anything happens to her..." My voice trails off, and I slam my fist into the wall so hard it feels like it shatters. My knuckles burst open, the pain barely registering. I want to destroy everything, break the world apart. It's not fair.

Why is this happening?

"Arjun, you need to calm down, man." Samarth's voice is strained, pleading, but I can't focus.

"Calm down?!" I snap, spinning toward him with fury blazing in my eyes. "She's dying in there, and you want me to calm down?!"

I throw a chair across the room, the crash loud and jarring. Virat grabs my shoulders, trying to hold me back, but I'm spiraling. My mind is a tornado of chaos—fear, rage, helplessness—spinning out of control. I can't breathe.

Suddenly, I see her. My mother. Standing there, looking small and unsure, her eyes wide with concern. But all I see is the woman who never believed in us. The woman who thought Ayesha was beneath me.

"Why are you here?" I spit, my words sharp enough to cut through steel.

"Arjun, beta, I—" She steps closer, her hand reaching for me, but I step back, disgusted. "I'm sorry, I came as soon as I—"

"No!" I bark, the venom in my voice startling everyone. "You don't get to be here! You don't get to act like you care now!"

"Arjun—"

"You wanted to keep us apart!" I accuse, my voice breaking, full of bitterness. "Are you here to tell me that she is after my money? Or that she'll leave me? Well, guess what, mother? She might just do that! Because she fucking took a bullet for me!"

Tears well in her eyes, but I don't care. I can't care. All I can think about is Ayesha. My Ayesha, fighting for her life because of some twisted plan set into motion by that bastard, because I didn't see it coming.

"Beta, I'm so sorry," my mother pleads, her voice trembling. "If I could take it all back, I would. I didn't know, I didn't understand—"

"It's too late," I whisper, my voice barely audible. "It's too late for your apologies."

She backs away, tears streaming down her face. A part of me wants to comfort her, tell her I don't mean it, but another part of me—an angrier part—knows she doesn't deserve it. Not now. Not when Ayesha is in there, dying.

Time feels meaningless. Hours pass, minutes drag, but I don't know the difference. I'm pacing, restless, on the verge of falling apart when the doctor finally walks out.