The Scars ✓

Thirty Three

"Who is it Mom?" Kiara asked, not wanting to know the answer.

Kiara looked at Arjun for a moment and the replied to Kiara is a soft voice, "This is your paternal grandfather..."

"No!" Kiara said and stood up from near her parents and rushed outside the room. She kept running, even though her legs were burning and only stopped when she reached the place she found herself always safe.

There was a huge tree in the park near her grandparent's house that no one used to go to. She always found it to be her spot whenever she had to think or spend some time alone. The journal Kiara used to write in was always with her, no matter where she went so she pulled it out from her bag and kept it on her lap and started thinking about what she had encountered a few moments before.

***

Vrinda, on the other hand did not know how and what to do to console Arjun. She had never seem him like this ever before and seeing him so shattered broke something inside her as well.

After the initial shock wore off, Arjun stood up from where he was sitting and simply walked off into another room. Vrinda, looking at his devastated state, thought that she should give him some alone time to gather himself and then she would go and talk to him about everything. She could not shake the events of last night in her head.

Arjun and Vrinda were peacefully sleeping in their room when Arjun's phone started ringing. Vrinda, being a light sleeper got up on the first ring and reached over Arjun to put his phone on silent. She looked at the clock and saw that it was almost four in the morning and got confused as to who would be calling Arjun at an odd hour like this. She picked up the phone that lay upside down on his side table and saw that his mother was calling.

"Arjun, wake up, there's a call for you." Vrinda said as she shook his shoulder to wake him up.

"Answer it, I'm really sleepy." Arjun said, not opening his eyes or changing his posture.

Vrinda picked up the phone and said, "Hello, mom?"

"Hi Vrinda, is Arjun there?" She asked.

"Yeah, he's sleeping. Is everything alright?" Vrinda asked when she noticed her mother in law sniffling.

"Please wake him up and put the phone on speaker. There is something you both should know." She said and Vrinda started feeling scared. She told her to hold on and started shaking Arjun's shoulder again.

"Arjun, it's your mom. She's crying and saying that it is something important. I'm scared. Wake up."

Arjun, groggily woke up and Vrinda put the phone on speaker.

"Hi mom, what's up. Why are you calling this early in the morning?" Arjun asked.

"A-Arjun. Y-You need to come to the hospital. It's y-your father. He..." Arjun's mother started crying and could not complete her sentence.

"We'll be right there." Arjun said and looked at Vrinda with eyes full of worry.

They both got dressed up and left the house and drove as fast as they could, to the hospital. Twenty minutes later, they both stood at the reception of the hospital where they met his family. They were all crying and watching them, Arjun's face went pale. The first question he asked his mother was,

"Where's dad?"

"He- he's..." She said and choked. She could not complete her sentence since she started crying.

"Will someone please tell me where my father is?" Arjun said, getting frustrated.

His cousin pointed to the ICU door where he was, for the last few days because he had been having problem breathing.

Arjun and Vrinda walked to the door and Vrinda slipped her hand in Arjun's and gave it a reassuring squeeze before they entered.

Arjun's body went numb and he collapsed on the stool near the bed when he saw his father's body lying lifeless on the hospital bed. He was frozen for a moment before he got up to touch his hand, in order to wake him up but as soon as he touched his hand, he immediately jerked it back because the hand that was once full of warmth was now ice cold.

He couldn't believe that he would see this day so soon and did not understand what happened. His father was old and ailing but he wasn't that sick.

Vrinda stood at the corner of the room this whole time, understanding that Arjun would need some space to come to terms with it. When she saw him take a few steps back from his father and collapse on the couch near it and cry, she slowly approached him and kept a delicate hand on his shoulder and asked,

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I- I don't know what to do." Arjun said, answering Vrinda.

Vrinda's eyes were teary too. She did not like seeing Arjun is this state. She gently took Arjun's head and placed it in her lap and started running her hands through his hair. It didn't calm and relax him like usual but Arjun slowly shut his eyes and a few minutes later, his breathing became heavy, telling Vrinda that he was asleep.

Arjun's mother entered the room sometime later and Vrinda got up from her seat to stand next to her. She said,

"I'm sorry, mom."

"Thank you." Replied her mother in law and gave a defeated smile to her.

Vrinda told her that she will get coffee and tea for everyone, knowing that she might need some alone time with her son.

She walked out of the room, slowly closing the door behind her and went to the cafeteria downstairs. She ordered herself a cup of coffee and sat down thinking when she lost her father. She still remembered it all like it happened yesterday and knew that it would take a long time for Arjun to fill this void in his heart.

After a while, she went back upstairs and gave everyone their drinks and went back to the ICU to Arjun. She sat down next to him and he pulled her close for comfort. She rested her head on his shoulder and said,"I know you're hurting and that there's a huge void inside you. When I lost my Dad, I felt the same thing but some stranger there told me something and that made the pain much more bearable."

Arjun looked down at her and asked, "What did they say to you?"

"They told me to not shut him out. They said that people generally try to block the memories that they have with the person that has passed on and not let them in but if you do, you'll see that the pain is not that pinching."

Before Arjun could say anything, she added, "I know it's not easy, but the more you let his memories in, the lesser deep the void will be. You have to stay strong, no matter what."

Arjun nodded his head and gently kissed Vrinda's forehead and sighed. He looked at the clock and saw that it was a little over five thirty in the morning.

"Vrinda, go home. The children are going to wake up for school soon and I don't want them to know about this till after they return."

"Okay." Vrinda said. She got up and said goodbye to everyone and told them that she'll come in a while and left the hospital.

She went home and started the morning as usual with waking her daughters up and sending them off to school, telling them to be good to everyone and study hard.

Vrinda felt so uneasy to not tell them about something so big but she had to do what was asked and waited for them to come back.

Thinking back to the events of last night, her body had chills and she prayed that they never have to see a day like that ever again. She went to the room Arjun had gone to, a few minutes later and saw him stand and stare out the window into nothingness. She did not say anything but went and hugged him tightly, if not to take all the pain and sadness away, then to tell him that she was there for him, through thick and thin; forever. 

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