Renaming Destiny : Apsara To Myla

Success

Aniket's POV

The flight to the US was the most dreadful journey I had to go through. It took all of us to keep my mother and Swapna aunty calm while we ourselves were shook to the core. My whole family and Apsara's mother was with me as we flew to see them. As soon as we landed, the police directed us to the hospital. As the hospital came to the view, I felt my heartbeat raise. I observed how crowded the hospital was by the paparazzi and some families of victims. I spoke to the police again and they guided us to the floor which was filled with the victims of the attack. There were mainly celebrities present there and the security was very tight. 

We walked past many of them and finally found the wing where Ashwin was present. The police spoke to the receptionist and found out that both Ashwin and Apsara were in the operation theatre. I told the same to my family and made them sit in the waiting room. I waited outside to see if someone updates about them. Fear of losing them grew in me and I felt my throat tighten. I felt Prasiddhi's palm in mine and closed my eyes for a second. She cupped my cheek and whispered, "They'll be just fine. Don't worry", I placed my forehead on hers and breathed. "I can't lose them", I said. "You won't", just as she said that, I heard someone call my name and looked up to see Alessandro, Myla's cousin.

He walked to me and we shook hands. "I just operated on your brother", he said making me go alert. Prasiddhi held my hand in anticipation. "He has lost a lot of blood because of a metal rod that had made it's way through his left leg. The operation was successful. He will be up by the end of the day", I sighed in relief and looked at Prasiddhi. She nodded happily and ran to share the news with the others. "And Myla?", I asked. He sighed while looking away in disappointment and said, "By the time I got here, she was already in the operating theatre. So, I decided to treat your brother first. All I know is that she has suffered multiple gunshots. On her left shoulder, right arm and two on her left leg", I ran my hand through my hair.

He nodded sadly and placed a hand on my shoulder in sadness. "I need to meet my family. They are worried about her. If I find out anything else, I'll give you a call", I nodded and saw him walk away. I walked back to the waiting room with a heavy heart and opened the door. As soon as they saw me, they looked away from my wife and smiled ear to ear. I nodded with a small smile and sat on the couch. "And Apsara? How is she?", her mother asked. All eyes turned to me as I gulped and slowly explained that she was in the operating theatre. I left out the details to not worry them out. 

By the time the Sun set and darkness started to take over, Ashwin was shifted to the ICU. We did not get to speak to him as he was still too unconscious to recognize any of us. I only saw him buried in countless wires and machines while the needles that were poked into him ran blood and medicines into him. I saw Alessandro check up on him once every hour and say the same thing every time. 'He'll be fine'. It was around 11 pm when the rest of the family arrived. The floor had cleared out a lot as the other patients did not have any serious injuries only a few of them were left. The ladies ran to calm down my mother and the men to my father. I saw Mohan place his hand on my shoulder.

"Can we see him, Bhaiyya?", he asked. I shook my head and sat down. The other kids came to me and stood around me. Dev came running to me and I picked him up in my arms. He sat on my lap and laid on my chest slowly. "Chhote papa kaise hai ab?", he asked. I could see Adarsh look at me from the corner of my eyes as I spoke to his son. "He's inside getting ready to defeat you in the next chess match", he laughed and covered his face. Diana took him away to feed him something. Prem and Alex said they would all take over for sometime and that we should go have something until then. 

I convinced my parents and Swapna aunty to go with Prasiddhi and the others forced me to go with them too. I decided to meet Alessandro first and then leave with them. We quickly had our food in the hospitals' cafeteria and returned back to see no updates about both of them. It was all completely quiet after midnight. We had sent Diana, Sihi, Sneha and Dev to the hotel with a few elders of the family. We had to force our parents to rest for a while and they left after a while to the same hotel. It was my wife and I long with Adarsh, Mohan, Megha, Prem, Preksha, Pranav and Alex. 

We were in the waiting room when the door opened and Alessandro walked in with red eyes. I stood up and met him halfway. "The operation on Myla was a success. But she has lost a lot of blood and we are doing the required to bring her back. We'll shift Ashwin to the VIP room tomorrow". We were all relieved about Ashwin but Myla's condition worried me. Until the next morning, we waited with no more updates about both of them. By the time it was around 7 in the morning, some of them came back from the hotel and we told them everything. 

Just a few minutes after their arrival a nurse informed us that Ashwin had regained consciousness. I asked my parents to go see him first and they wasted no time. After a few minutes, they walked out with tears and smiles on their face. Alessandro arrived there at the same time. "Let's go see him", he said. I looked back at the others to take someone else in and my eyes fell on Adarsh. He looked worried and expected me to call him but I saw his wife cling onto him and whisper something in his ear. I looked at Prasiddhi who was wiping her tears as she spoke to my mother. 

"Prasiddhi", I called, "come let's go see him", I said and looked at Adarsh who was still looking at me in a neutral expression as if trying to mask his anger and guilt. We walked in and saw Ashwin on the bed with his left leg suspended above the bed. He had a mask on his face and his eyes were dull. "Hey, buddy!", Alessandro spoke as Ashwin smiled slowly. I caressed his hair and felt my throat tighten up again. He was more like my own son than a brother to me. The fear of losing him was making me weak from the previous day and to see him slowly recover, it was all I could ever ask for. 

"A-apsara", he weakly said. "She is just fine. She just came out of the operating theatre. She will wake up in no time. How do you feel, Ashwin?", Alessandro answered as he checked something on the machine. Ashwin just nodded. We saw his eyes close on its own and slowly he went back to sleep. I sighed and turned to Alessandro. "It's the anesthesia. He's getting better. Let's wait outside", we followed him out and saw Myla's family taking to mine. "She'll be okay, Karishma. Don't worry", my mother said as they shared a hug. When they broke up, Swapna aunty was looking at her making everyone go silent. 

Her sister nodded and they finally shared a hug while Swapna aunty sobbed on her shoulders. I shook hands with Enzo, her brother, who was equally worried for his sister. His wife was crying uncontrollably. We, suddenly, heard some argument and saw her eldest cousin Luca and Alessandro arguing about something. They walked to their uncle and Alessandro said, "Luca has gone mad! He wants to take Myla to Italy for her treatment". His brother started, "I do not trust American healthcare. And I want the best for my sister. More than anything else, I want these people away from my sister", he said the last part pointing at all of us. 

Myla's mother scolded him but he did not back off, "They destroyed her life and ever since she visited their country, her downfall has begun. I will not let history repeat itself. We have our own hospital in Italy and we will take care of our girl there", he said the last part looking at me. "Luca, we have Isabella's wedding in a month. We don't even know if Myla will recover until then. What will you tell the family? Moreover, how will you transport her back to Italy now? I think we should listen to Alessandro", Enzo said. A few of us had left after his harsh words but I knew we wouldn't get anything from making Italy's mafia boss my enemy. I was about to ask for a few minutes to talk to him alone when a nurse came running, shouting something in Italian. The Moretti family looked back at us in a shocked expression and Myla's mother fell to the ground unable to control her tears. 

I was shocked too but did not know what had happened. I turned to Alessandro who had turned as still as a statue and held him by his shoulders to snap him out of the shock. He looked at me with red eyes and said, "They are missing". 

"How? What happened?", it took him a moment to recover but he said.

"Ashwin and Myla. They are no where in the hospital right now"

          __________________________________________________          

Where do you think they are?

Don't forget to vote and leave comments. 

Follow me if you like my work!!

Lots of love💗