Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"What matters is. YOU." ~authormazeen
Welcome to the 23rd Chapter... _________________________
AVANTIKA'S POV
Everything happened so fast, my mind couldn't keep up with reality. Static. Numb. The world around me became a blur. But when I saw Rajveer staggering, I didn't think twice. My body reacted instinctively, and I crumbled down with him, pulling him onto my lap, his weight pressing against me.
"Veer," I whispered, my voice breaking. My hands trembled as they held his bleeding body, reality crashing back with brutal force. He saved me. Despite everything between us—the anger, the betrayal—I couldn't bear the thought of losing him. Not him. I love him. But more than that, he's my best friend, my Veer.
His eyes fluttered open, a soft grunt escaping his lips as if waking from a heavy dream. Tears blurred my vision, making it harder to see him clearly. "Vee, open your eyes. Stay with me. We're getting you to a hospital. Just stay with me."
I screamed into the chaos surrounding us, the ballroom filled with terrified people running in every direction. "SOMEBODY CALL THE MEDICS! CALL 911 RIGHT NOW!" My voice was thick with panic, but no one seemed to listen. Their fear consumed them.
Rajveer's cold fingers curled around mine, dragging my attention back to him. His grip was weak, but the gesture was enough to pull my focus back on him. "You called me Vee," he rasped, a faint, pained smile tugging at his lips. From everything that just happened, that's what he clung to.
"Are you crazy? Why the hell did you do this?" I scolded him, my voice shaking as I tried to stop the blood pouring from his arm. My gown—once a deep red—was now soaked with his blood.
He exhaled sharply, his breath ragged and uneven. "How could I not, Avi? Don't you remember our slogan?" He paused, wincing as pain rippled through his body. "Tere liye jaan bhi de du. Toh yeh toh kuch bhi nahi hai."
{"I would even give up my life for you. So this is nothing."}
I sobbed, trying to stifle the hiccups, trying to keep my voice steady. "Veer, please, stop talking like this. Everything is going to be alright." But his eyes started to close, the weight of exhaustion pulling him under.
"Ma'am the medics are just two minutes away," someone called from the crowd, but all I could hear was Rajveer, his hand squeezing mine in a weak attempt to ground me.
He smiled again, the kind of smile that was meant to calm me but only made the panic worse. "Haan, to—oh—toh—slogan yaad hai?" His words were slurred, fading. Our hands, soaked in blood, remained locked together. He pulled me closer, whispering, "TU MEIN, MEIN TU. MEIN KUCH NAHI, AGAR TU NAHI."
