Echoes of Love

Shattered on the Shore

They reached the hospital and it was a shocking news Naresh had lost his wife and baby in a matter of few hours. And Naresh was shattered but it scared the hell out of Anurag to see his friend lose his wife and baby within few hours of the chaos. They stayed with Naresh till next day, till his family arrived from India. Pree was quiet too. It was scary for a pregnant woman to face something like that. It shattered some part of her excitement but Anurag was hit on a deeper level.

When they reached home Anurag just turned around at her and ....

Anurag: I am telling you Pree, and i am making it very clear to you right now, we are never ever having children, tujhe agar kabhi bachchon ka keeda kaata toh adopt kar lena par never, ever speak to me about our own kids. I swear agar maine kabhi tere muh se Bachche ki baat bhi suni toh tujhe fan se ulta tang dunga.. Samjhi? BOL SAMJHI KE NAHI? BOLTI KYU NAHI? (he screamed at her)

Pree could only nod but inside she crashed into pieces. She understood that it was his love for her, that he was right in his fear to react like that but her dreams of few hours was shattering into small pieces. Yet she held on to her dreams with the hope that may be in a few days he might turn around and be fine with having their own kid.

Anurag was angry at Naresh for risking something as precious as his love's life. He didn't even want to think what he must be going through at the moment. He was a stupid ass. He could have very easily gone through adoption and could have showered as much love on the child as one would with his own. Nope we are dying to extend our bloody DNAs to the next generation as if it's some sort of kohinoor. Bloody stupid....

He kept on ranting and cursing the air blue but Pree sat there lost to words. She didn't have any idea what to say to him. In coming days Anurag saw Pree going more and more silent. In the first few days he attributed it to the Naresh's lost family. His Chuza was always a little too sensitive about anyone's pain. She was one of those who cried buckets while reading poetry or her Romantic crap. But what bothered him was her loss of diet to about negligible quantity. He got her mint chocolates, but they stayed intact in the refrigerator. No amount cajoling fooling around provoked any lecturing or scolding. His things were placed in the right places but no naughty banter, no excited talk about her baby pandas which she hogged on, on youtube. He was at his teethers end when he found her one morning sitting on the window sill, at about 3.30 a.m. looking at nothing.

He was cursing himself now for exposing his Chuza to Naresh's catastrophe. Planned an outing and took her to Wonderland. She remained with him but so silent that he was really getting worried. They entered the ride which was replicating the London Eye and Anurag unable to bear it anymore removed the safety belts and held her to his body.

Anu: Hey mera Piddi.... Kya hua hai tujhe huh? Nareshwali baat se pareshan hai? Hmm? Maine kuchh kiya?... kya huya mujhe bata, main theek kar dunga jo bhi hai... Mera Chuza (unable to bear her silence he kissed her again and again) Tune kuchh bhi nahi dekha koi ride enjoy nahi ki,.... Height se darr lag raha hai tujhe? Kya hua haan?

Pree: (looked at his eyes for long and felt the same answer ringing in her heart, nothing was more important to her than this man, he was her world and if she had to take some drastic measures to fight his fear then she will have to do it.) What do you think Naresh could have done differently if his wife was already pregnant?.... He hardly had any choice then.. (she was searching his face for something more than just the answer)

Anu: (Hardened his heart looking at the most precious face in this world and the answer was brutal but clear to him) HE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN IT CLEANED THEN.

Pree couldn't control it then her eyes spilled the pain of the secret of her baby. Anu still held her in his arms and the tears made him tighten his arms. He kissed her eyelids, her cheeks trailing kisses all over the way her tears had traced.

Anu: Rona band kar... Seriously tere jaisa stupid koi nahi milega. Rona band kar Bandariya varna yahi se neeche fek dunga. Pree sh shhhh shhh... Kya hogaya hai tujhe? Tu na 24 saal ki umar mein sathiya gayi hai ...I am telling you.

And Anurag kept on loving her, scolding her, sometimes cajoling and threatening, but he couldn't stop her from shattering or hurting even though she was in the safest place in the world in his arms, where he had vowed to keep her safe for the lifetime. The irony of life can be the cruelest. Pree would have laughed had she not been the victim of the cruelty for sure.