HER LAST WISH

Part 35

She was going to die soon, and I had no idea how I would be able to manage everything. I was going through the toughest phase of my life and each passing
day was tougher than the previous one. All the moments I spent with her were flashing in front of my eyes. Those beautiful memories of us being together.
I spent the night thinking. How could Astha always be cheerful and make the house a happy place to live? How she tried to cook something new every
weekend. How she danced while cooking in the kitchen. How she had been shouting at her boss. How she forced me to eat eggs. Such a happy girl who
brought life into the house.
I got up in the middle of the night and looked at her. She was sleeping with an oxygen mask on. Watching her sleep gave me a little peace. I took a sleeping
pill, and slept like a corpse. The truth was, I never wanted to get up.
Next morning, when I got up, she was sleeping peacefully. I was thankful for the doctor’s medicine. Only my parents and Sargam knew the truth. Dr Raza
came in for a routine check-up with his team and Astha woke up. I wanted to know if Dr Raza had to say something. After a few minutes, Dr Raza looked at
another doctor in the eyes and nodded.
“See doctor, there is a surprising improvement in her condition,” Dr Raza said.
“It’s excellent news,” one doctor from his team replied.
“Yes, and there is an improvement in her haemoglobin and CD4 level too.
CD4 count is more than 500 cells/mm³,” said Dr Rachna. I didn’t belong to a medical background, so I was not able to understand the things they were saying.
I was happy to see the love of my life smiling.
“It’s a miracle. I am seeing this for the first time in my life,” Dr Raza looked delighted.
“Is there any good news, doctor?” I was excited.
“Please wait a minute, Vijay,” Dr Raza told his team. “Please proceed. I will be joining you later.”
“There is hope. She’s responding to our treatment well. The reports from the last night and today are incredible. These results are so good that I am hoping for a miracle.”
“Really? Does that mean you can cure her?” I knew that it wasn’t curable, but there was hope.
“I think she can deliver a healthy baby and recover after that. I don’t know whether she can be completely cured or not.”
“Will she have a c-section or a normal delivery?”
“She’s too weak to have a healthy delivery. But looking at these results, I am sure there won’t be any complications after the operation. Vijay, you have to get
two donors of O+ blood group. We might need that at the time of surgery.”
I looked at Astha. She had a smile on her face. I couldn’t express how happy I was. I thanked the doctor. I was content. Dr Raza and Dr Rachna left the room. I
came out to thank them.
“Vijay, people come to us with hope. Many times we fail to help the patients. Even a single failure hurts us. It’s the first time in my life that I have felt so right
after lying to someone.” He took a deep breath and for the first time, I saw tears in Dr Raza’s eyes.
I went outside for some fresh air. I had hardly walked a few steps when I was surprised to see a familiar handsome investment banker waiting. I have known
this person and hated him from my heart because of many reasons. After all, I am a husband. I met him once, but I almost knew everything about him. I didn’t know why he was there. His presence made me feel awkward. I went to him and
said, “How come you are here, Mr Daniel?’