For Infinity

Part 30: Confessions

"I love you Nandini.."

"I love you too Manik. But, I have to go."

"No babe. You cannot leave me. I will die without you. Please don't do this to me.

"Please don't cry Manik. Let me go. I will always be around you. Take care of yourself for me. I will always love you. Hamesha."

I woke up from a dreadful dream. Nandini was leaving me and I couldn't do anything about it. My heart was beating erratically. I raised my hand to wipe off the pool of sweat on my forehead when a stinging pain shot through my left abdomen.

"What the hell!" I screamed painfully. Biting my lips in between my teeth, I let the pain subside and when it did, I tried figuring out what was happening to me. I took a look at my surroundings. I was in a hospital. A machine was monitoring my heart beat and a drip was attached to my hand. My head felt like it was on fire. Why was in a hospital? What had happened to me? I tried remembering and that's when it all came back to me. Date at the beach. Accident. Nandini. My throat felt dry. No No No. This cannot be happening. She cannot leave me. My head was swarming with horrifying thoughts. I wanted to see her at any cost. Where was she? She must be alone. She would be in need of me. I have to see her.

Every part of my body was aching but it didn't matter. I was trying to remove the needles from my hand when the door to my room opened.
"Stop there Mr. Malhotra. You will hurt yourself." A doctor in his late 40's came running to me and held my hand. I tried fighting him off but, I was so tired that I accepted my defeat. I laid back on my bed, the pain was getting to me. Not the physical, but the emotional.

"It's good to see you awake my boy. How are you feeling? And what do you think you were doing? That was really dangerous." The doctor said with a stern voice. I could care less about my health. I wanted to see her.

"What happened? Where is Nandini?" I felt guilty for being rude but I was desperate.
"You had a major accident. You went and hit a tree while trying to avoid the truck. The driver was a good person so he brought you both to hospital. Luckily, you don't have life threatening injuries because of the air bags. But, still you will need time to recover. And the girl who was with you is in I.C.U. Unfortunately her side of the car crashed into the tree. She has many internal injuries. We are trying our best. I'm sorry my son." I zoned out by the end of his sympathetic speech. I didn't need it because his words felt like a dagger had pierced through my heart. Why was god being so cruel to me? Trying to take away the most precious part of my life. Nandini hain toh Manik hain. I was going to lose someone I cannot replace. Could it be worse? I cannot afford to lose her. I wanted to confess my feelings to her and look where it got us. I should have never taken her to that beach. It was all my fault. My girl was struggling for life because of me. I didn't realize when tears started streaming down my face. I wanted to scream. I wanted to let it out. I wanted to see her. I wanted her to live.