Waited For You

Chapter 36

{ The Present} :-

The balcony felt quieter than the rest of the house.
Not silent—just… still.

Avyansh walked ahead and took a seat first, composed as ever. Then he looked at her.
“Sit.”
Sanchi nodded and sat across from him, her fingers nervously twisting together in her lap.
There was no small talk.
No build-up.

Avyansh looked straight at her and asked—
“You are Sanchi from Benaras?”
A pause.
“Atharv’s girlfriend… from when he was seventeen?”
Sanchi froze.
Her breath caught in her throat.

For a second, she didn’t know what to say.
Then slowly…
She nodded.

Avyansh observed her quietly.
“Do you know what happened with him after his exams?”
Sanchi nodded again.
But he didn’t look convinced.
“Everything?”
She hesitated this time.
“I… I’m not sure what you are referring to.”

Avyansh inhaled slowly.

“I’m sorry… for everything,” he said, his voice steady but carrying weight. “But there is something you should know.”

Sanchi’s heart started racing.
Still—
She nodded.

Avyansh leaned back slightly, his gaze drifting for a moment as if revisiting something painful.
“He went on a Goa trip with his so-called friends,” he began. “They decided to stay in an old, almost deserted palace-like place.”
A faint bitterness crept into his tone.
“They had their reasons. Drugs. Alcohol.”
Sanchi’s fingers tightened.
“Atharv was never comfortable with those things. So he called me.”

A pause.

“I was stuck in an important meeting… so it took me time to reach.”
His jaw clenched slightly.
“And I was late.”

The words landed heavy.

Sanchi felt something sink inside her chest.
Avyansh exhaled slowly, as if even remembering it was unbearable.

“When I reached there… he was lying on the ground floor.”
His voice dropped.
“There was blood… everywhere.”

Sanchi’s body stiffened.

“And his friends…” his eyes darkened slightly, “they weren’t even trying to help him.”
A beat.
“They were trying to erase the fact that he was ever there.”
Sanchi looked up at him, shaken.
“They were destroying his belongings. His phone. His suitcase.”
A pause.
“I don’t know what would have happened… if he hadn’t called me.”
Another pause.
“Or if I hadn’t reached in time.”

Sanchi shuddered.

It felt like something physically hurt inside her.

Avyansh continued, his tone controlled but heavy—
“I took him to the hospital. The doctors found strong traces of drugs in his system. It delayed his treatment significantly.”
He looked at her.
“It was a miracle he survived.”

Sanchi’s eyes filled instantly.

“He was in coma for nine months.”

Her breath stopped.

“And when he woke up…”
A pause.
“He didn’t remember anything. Or anyone.”
Silence.
“I and Avyukta tried everything,” Avyansh continued. “We recreated moments, repeated memories… acted things out.”
A faint, tired exhale.
“Slowly, he started remembering things.”
“But it took four years.”

Four years.

Sanchi closed her eyes briefly.
Everything suddenly made sense.
Everything she had questioned.
Everything she had blamed him for.