The secret wish

Part 2

Anya came out of the hospital doors and found herself breathing heavily, as she felt like coming out of the mouth of a death cave. As soon as she came out, the things she was holding inside burst out, and at the entrance of the hospital her eyes had all gone wet and she didn't see a man with fair hair and blue eyes waiting for her. She had taken half an hour to get herself ready to face the world, after coming out of her daughter's room. But she was all water and bone when she remembered the state her daughter was in. She remembered only those four words uttered by Noah again and again

"Mama, I want to live!"

Why does this happen to me? 

Thought Anya as her vision cleared and saw Shaan coming towards her in the midst of the crowd. The day was clear and the sun shining his brightest. The winter blossoms covered the pavement of the hospital, but all the color that presented itself made the day look more gloomy to Anya. When Shaan reached her, she forced her head into his chest. There was always some kind of relief Anya felt when she placed her head on Shaan's chest. Her Agony eased.

Shaan guided both of them through the passage of people and reached his car, where he opened the windows and made Anya look into the rear seats. There was a set of a dollhouse and all the missing things of the city that Noah was building.

"What more does our princess wish for?"

Shaan asked cheerfully. Anya looked into his eyes and then to the ground.

"I hate you!"

Shaan playfully bent beside her and asked

"Why is it so?"

"Those blue eyes..." Said Anya sniffing "And that smile, she got it from you..."

He slowly lifted her head with his gloved hand and made her look into his eyes

"But I think even when she resembles me, I see you in her, the way she talks, the way she behaves in front of others and even..." He grinned and held her cheeks "the way she smiles when she lies... Is so just like you! I see little Anya in my Noah!"

Shaan smiled and covered Anya with a shawl and asked putting his hands over Anya's shoulders

"And what more does our princess love to have?"

There was a moment of silence, then Anya replied slowly

"She wants to live... with you... and me..."

Shaan felt thrown back all of a sudden, unable to put out his next words. But he had a reason to smile and even when he didn't, he was obliged to smile. Bearing the burden of taking the pain all alone. As there was no one to push Anya's back if he broke down. So he kept his composure and smiled as he usually did

"aaaggghhh... But I know one more thing that Noah would love to do..."

The copper skin of Anya shined and her round face with long curly brown hair almost looked beautiful when she smiled. She didn't have those piercing blue eyes of Shaan, but her dark brown eyes which always shimmered with hope was the thing Shaan loved the most, besides his daughter. She asked with a tone that came out as relieving but still with a sniff.

"And what is... that?"

Shaan reached out the car glove compartment and took out a small envelope and handed it over to Anya. Anya slowly took the blue envelope and opened it to find something written in Noah's handwriting

"Do you mean..."

Shaan pulled Anya to the front seat and he sat on to the driver seat. He then pulled the seat belt around her and said

"There is something more I have to show!"

***

The house still smelt of the newly applied paint and it didn't seem to be a place to live without Noah's laughter and shrieks. Shaan and Anya had gotten a baby after three years of their marriage and their family with their baby princess was the happiest. They were not restrained and had no obligations. Shaan was earning well to maintain his family in high-class conditions. Both Shaan and Anya were happy with their ever smiling princess, who used to laugh when someone called her name out. But everything started to change when Noah gradually started to laugh a little less, play a little less, and talk a little less. Initially, Shaan and Anya hadn't observed it, but as days went by Noah became more and more unenthusiastic in everything and a five-year baby girl was now getting breathless by just walking.

When Noah was consulted to a doctor, several tests were done and when the report had come, the doctor's words had broken Noah's parents hearts into pieces. The slash of the words still made an ache in Anya's heart, when she remembered it

"Mr. and Mrs. Verma, your daughter is suffering from a disease called 'Aplastic anaemia', where the bone marrow which produces the blood cells of a person, seizes to produce those cells and this affects the patients in many ways. The transplant was an option..."

"How much does it cost! Doctor?"

Had asked Shaan standing up with his eyes fixated on the doctor's eyes

"The cost is high, But Mr. Verma I am sorry to say, your daughter has already surpassed the stage of transplantation. She might have been suffering the disease since her birth but might have gone unnoticed. For further diagnosis, we have to keep your daughter in observation for a few days."

That day Shaan had thought

What in the world did I get by making so much of money?

But there was no other way. Noah's parents submitted the medical report to the school and requested for a leave and she was granted one. It was the first time Noah had entered hospital premises and that was the first time she had seen a doctor. At first, Noah was feeling excited and was getting ready for her new days without knowing why was she there, but soon the days turned into week and weeks into months and after a couple of months, all Anya could find in her daughter was her smile that she had gotten from her father. The glint in her blue eyes was also slowly shimmering. Little Noah now hated hospital and everyone in there.

Anya knew the pain the girl was going through and she felt it when the blood was flooded into her arteries, she moaned when drugs were injected through the cannula. Anya felt the agony each and every moment when the  girl slept on the hospital bed staring particularly at nothing. Anya knew that Shaan was feeling way more pain than what she felt, but he never expressed it. And that smile he wore on his sharp face was the one thing that made her remember her bedridden daughter.

As days went by Noah started to get better and she was finally discharged when she could perform normal things without getting breathless. But still the blood transfusions were necessary, and she had to visit the hospital every month. The happiest day Anya and Shaan had felt was when Noah had put up her bag and had gotten ready to go back to school. It had already been a year since Noah had been to school. Her withered hair made her little pony thin and her lean body was completely covered by the Uniform, making it almost look like she had rolled into it. But the smile on her face was as bright as ever. She had smiled and got out of the house leaving her parents with happy tears. Everything was alright until

Noah collapsed again...

******

NOTE: This part of the story was scheduled to be updated tomorrow, but I wanted to gift something to my idol, my inspiration as you may call it. Today is Ishida Sui sensei's birthday. And this was the smallest thing I could have given as a present to a person who actually wrote the series even when it stressed him out, even when tokyo ghoul took the very life out of him! Ishida sensei you will always live as my inspiration for the years to come.

 Wish you many many happy returns of the day Ishida Sensei!!! (28 Dec, 2018)