APPLE OF OUR EYES

13. JUSTICE!!

Naira simply went to her son's side and gently took the plate towards her. He looked up startled and quickly wiped away his tears. She served some more curry in the plate before she started feeding him. He opened his mouth without any protest but kept looking at her, his gaze urging her to talk something. 

Abhimanyu, her child, looked like he would take and do anything she gave or asked him to do. Guilt could do that to a person. And that is exactly what her husband didn't want.

"Don't worry about the hospital. I will stay with you the whole time." She assured and kept feeding him wordlessly. She is hurt and angry but her love and concern superseded everything. 

"I am sorry." He whispered but she didn't react. "Do you have your medical reports?" She asked and he stiffened at once. He took a pause but nodded eventually. 

"Go get them. I will wait in the car." She made him drink water before she walked out to the garage. 

Naira and Karthik reached the hospital at the same time. Abhimanyu wanted to rush to his father for a hug but he wasn't sure. His parents are still talking to him but the blurred lines of anger are clearly oozing out of them. The tensed aura didn't allow him to take the liberties. 

As if Karthik understood his son, he took him into a side hug before walking into the hospital. Abhimanyu let himself melt in his father's embrace. Hospital suffocated him but he managed to get over it because of his father's warmth. 

Karthik and Naira didn't even dare to look at the reports Abhimanyu brought with himself. They didn't trust themselves to stay calm after looking at the signatures he might have done himself. They stayed silent and let their son give those reports to the doctor. 

The first half of the day went with his check up. Abhimanyu clung to his parents like his life depended on it. He didn't let them go away from his sight even for a second. Naira didn't understand how he went through everything on his own when he is this scared of hospitals. But refrained herself from making any comments. 

Abhimanyu on the other hand is in a different world. All those memories of going through the treatment alone started haunting him at once. It was painful for him to handle everything on his own and face his fear alone without any assurances. He wasn't used to it. But still he pushed through just because he didn't want to see that hurt in his parents' eyes.

But Destiny is weird. It played its cards and here he was seeing the same hurt in their eyes for different reasons which were created by his stupidities.'

They were hurt that they had no clue about their son's condition and treatment. Knowing how caring they are, they might be really guilty for not being there for him. Not to mention how angry they both are at him for keeping things from them and deciding on his own, only to get played.

Still they loved him enough to keep all that aside and soothe his fears like they always did. It was like nothing much changed after the revelation. Except for the distance they were maintaining without making it obvious. That hurt him but their love override that sting in his heart.

He so wished he turned to them instead of running away from them. They deserved his honesty and transparency after the kind of trust they vested. They had the right to handle him and his problems which he stupidly snatched from them. It was their duty to protect him from all harm and because of him, they will forever be guilty for failing at that.

Abhimanyu was clearly reliving old memories, revaluating his decisions and definitely regretting his actions. He is currently snuggled into his mother's embrace, as the past danced in front of his eyes. He is too lost to realize where they are heading into. He just closed his eyes and sank deeper into his mother's lap. Naira simply pulled him closer, trying to calm her son, who eventually drifted off to sleep. He was always agitated after any kind of visit to the hospitals. Her heart went out to her son who went through the treatment all on his own. She kissed his temples and blinked back the tears "How did he even manage Karthik?" She whispered to her husband, whose grip tightened on the steering. He has been thinking the same ever since.