Rainy Promises - kareena

47

“The doctor said… it’s the only option,” she said in trembling voice.

Haseena nodded slowly. “Janty han....,”

Karishma swallowed hard, gathering her thoughts. “Ap ko nae lagta… humen yeh karna chiyay?” she asked while her eyes were searching Haseena’s face for a response. 

Haseena turned her head toward her, with a faint, tired smile on her lips. “Nae humen nae lagta kay humen yeh karna chiyay. Ap ko kia lagta ha kia souch rahi han ap.?”

Karishma hesitated for a moment, her hands clasped tightly together. “Hum nae janty kia outcome ho ga. I don’t know if it’ll work or not. But… not doing it will definitely lead to the worst.” 

Haseena’s gaze softened as she reached out to take Karishma’s trembling hands in her own. “You know the risks,” she said gently. “I might die in the process. There’s no guarantee my body will accept the donor’s healthy cells.” 

“I know,” She took a shaky breath, her grip tightening on Haseena’s hands. “But Haseena… every single day, you’re losing yourself. It’s like a slow poison building up inside you, destroying your body bit by bit. Don’t you think we have to take a chance?” 

Haseena closed her eyes, her head dipping slightly. “You’re thinking to take this risk,”

“I’m asking you to fight,” Karishma said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “To fight for yourself, for me, for us. Because doing nothing isn’t living, Haseena. It’s just waiting.....waiting for worst. And how can we wait for worst doing nothing.” 

Haseena looked at her and than quielty leaned into Karishma, wrapping her arms tightly around her waist. Her head rested on Karishma’s shoulder, “Ap ko pata ha yeh itny saal hum nay is beemari kay sath kasy guzaren han.?”

Karishma didn’t say a word, and gently encircling her arm around encouraging her to say, giving her silent reassurance. 

“When I first found out, I was in denial that how can this happen to me. Than slowly I started to accept this. I told myself I will fight. I told myself I can beat this. But it wasn’t just the disease it was the loneliness, the constant fight with my own body."

“There were days, Karishma,” Haseena said, her words spilling out like a dam had broken, “days where I couldn’t even lift my head from the pillow. My muscles were aching so hard, my bones felt like they were breaking from the inside. Even breathing felt like a fight to me.” 

Karishma’s grip tightened, as her own heart was breaking at every word. 

“And the nights…” Haseena’s voice cracked. “The nights were even more worse. The silence was unbearable, Karishma. I’d lie there, waking all night, feeling every single pain in my body, counting every second until dawn. I’d close my eyes and pray that the morning would bring some relief, but it never did. The pain never left. It’s always there, like a shadow I can’t escape.” 

Karishma closed her eyes, listening and feeling the rawness of Haseena’s pain. 

Haseena’s fingers clutched Karishma’s shirt, her tears were now soaking into the fabric. “You don’t know what it’s like. The therapies they’re torture. I couldn’t move some days. My body felt like it was burning from the inside, and the exhaustion… it’s endless. And when I had my liver transplant… my kidney… I thought it couldn’t get worse more than this, but it did. Every time, I thought, maybe this will be it. Maybe this will save me. But it didn’t. It never did.” 

Karishma held her tighter, stroking her back gently as her tears finally spilled over. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this alone.”