Broken Relations

Unbreakable bond

"Hatchieee!!!" The sneeze of Ishan came out, signifying his rising fever as he sat on the room that used to be his'. It's still his, but it had been years since he had ever been in this room. His baby pictures hung on the wall. As he looked now thoroughly at the photos, he noticed how much he had looked like his mother. The pictures were like an old tv cassette player, that brought him back to the times where there were no boundaries for them to live together. There wasn't a moment, where they weren't together.

"Ishu, yeh lo ginger tea piyo, it will help you lo," Isha said, entering the room, hurriedly. She had changed into a comfortable nightgown. Her face etched with concern as she looked at her son, whose eyes were red, a bandaid over his hand and his body slightly shivering, even though the air conditioning wasn't turned on. Ishan made a face as he saw the glass with the kind of orange transparant liquid in it.

"Aaiii, mujhe ginger tea nahi peena, woh jab peeta hoon toh gale mein aisa...jalta hain, mujhe nahi peena yeh, main bilkul theek hoon," Ishan said, but just as he said that, he sneezed again. Isha shook her head, putted her other hand beside her hips and glared at her son, who now looked at her with a glint of fear in his eyes.

"Dekh raha hain tum kitna theek ho, tum chup chaap piyo, main bolrahi hoon nah," Isha scolded him and didn't listen further to him. She made him forcefully drink the whole glass of ginger tea.

"Ewww, aaiiiii," Ishan complained after he had drank the tea. He wiped his lips with his finger tips and made a "hate it" face.

"Abhi so jao Ishan, bohot der hogayi, aur bokhaar bhi bohot hogaya," Isha said now, after putting the glass on the nightstand. Ishan did as he was being told to do. She went to take another blanket out of the cupboard and putted it over him, even though he already had a blanket on him.

After sitting beside him on the bed, she dipped a piece of wet cloth into a bowl of water and putted on Ishan's head. Ishan looked at his mother, enjoying the care he had missed out for years.

"Pata hain aai, pehle jab bhi mujhe bokhaar hota tha toh, akkasaheb bas dawaii hi deti thi, yeh sab nahi Karti thi, I mean pareshaan woh bhi hoti thi, but aai toh aai hoti hain nah," Ishan said, a slight smile on his face as Isha dabbed on the cloth. Isha smiled affectionally. Being there at every point for her son, was something she had yearned for. It was nothing less than a miracle for her. Life seemed to return each and everyone who was ever snatched away from her. Ishan, Shantanu her job, herself. She had all of them. Together they made a strong family, one that couldn't be broken. One that stood by each other.

"Hmmm, aai toh aai hi hoti hain Ishu,I agree, but phir bhi Itne saalon se uss hi ne tumhara khayal rakha hain nah, yeh baat kabhi mat bhoolna," Isha told him, as she wetted the cloth once again and putted on his head.

"Khayal isiliye rakha taaki mujhe manipulate karsakti, isliye nahi kyuki usko sach mein mere parwa hain," Ishan said her, his tone low, yet a tint of anger and hurt laid in it.

Isha kept quiet, knowing how much the betrayal of AS and RS had hurt her son. He hadn't taken it lightly and would make sure that they get the punishment they needed. Isha could only hope that Ishan wouldn't do any wrong thing in his anger. After noticing that he had fallen asleep, she caressed over his head a while, feeling grateful that he was safe and sound, around her. Standing up, she glanced a last time at Ishan, before turning the lights off and walking away from the room.

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Just as Isha had walked out of the room, she was confronted with Shantanu, who seated down on the sofa, trying to clean his wound on his head with cotton wool. Isha sighed deeply. She took place beside him, her lips painfully pressing on each other as she noticed the wound. It was not a little wound, the cut was a bit of deep. Every time he would move his nose, or mouth, it would hurt him. Shantanu looked up at Isha.