The Silent Bond

✨Chapter - 21✨

Hey Lovely readers, I am really sorry for not updating on Wednesday but Wattpad was not working for me on that day. Due to this chapter was not saved. I had to write whole chapter again. So without delaying enjoy the chapter. Don't forget to press start ⭐ icon to vote and write a lot of comments.

Next chapter will be published tomorrow.

Outside the Operation Theatre – 3 Hours Later

The red "Operation in Progress" sign finally dims. The heavy steel doors creak open slowly.

Dr. Thomas, still in his surgical scrubs, mask hanging loose from his chin, steps out with his team.

Everyone in the corridor stands up instantly — as if the earth beneath them jolted.
No one breathes.
No one blinks.

Three hours.
Three unbearable, gut-wrenching hours.
For the families — Rathore, Rajvanshi, and Singhania — it had felt like a lifetime stretched between two heartbeats.

Abhimanyu grips Akshu's hand.
Kasturi rushes from the end of the corridor, eyes swollen, heart in her throat.
Aru stumbles forward, almost falling.
And Arjun — still rooted to the floor — doesn't move. His eyes are fixed only on Thomas.

Dr. Thomas (calm but serious) – "The surgery is complete."

Everyone leans forward, desperate — waiting, praying, fearing.

Dr. Thomas (after a beat) – "There was internal bleeding... some fractures... and his vitals had dropped midway. We almost lost him."

A gasp ripples through the room. Akshu's covers her mouth. Kasturi's knees go weak.

Dr. Thomas continuous – "We did everything we could. The surgery was complicated... technically, it was successful."

Everyone listens, motionless.

Dr. Thomas (after a pause, more quietly) – "But now... it's not in our hands anymore."

The line sends a chill through everyone present.

Dr. Thomas (looking down briefly, then back up) – "It's up to him now. Whether he wants to come back...
Whether he wants to win this life-and-death battle...
Or let go."

A deep, unbearable silence falls.

Arohi lowers herself slowly onto a bench, eyes blank.
Abhimanyu looks to the floor, fists clenched, unable to stop imagining his little brother slipping away.
Akshu whispers a prayer.
Aru whispers to himself, voice cracking — "He has to come back... he has to..."
And Arjun... just stands there, his eyes fixed on the ICU doors, fists trembling at his sides.
He doesn't cry.
But something inside him breaks — and the silence of that break is louder than any scream.

And then Kasturi walked away without saying anything.

Kasturi didn't cry.

She didn't scream, didn't plead, didn't fall to the ground like the others. She just... turned away. She walked.

One step.
Then another.

Her face was unreadable.
Her eyes — dry, open, unblinking — stared straight ahead, but saw nothing.

Inside her, everything was loud.
But outside, she was silent.

No tears came — because something deeper than sadness had taken over.
A hollow stillness.

The kind that doesn't show itself in cries... only in disconnection.

She just kept walking.
Past the corridor. Past the benches. Past hope. Past fear.