Shaurya
"I'm... I'm going to go use the bathroom," Nathan mutters under his breath as he acknowledges the harsh look shared between me and father. Before I can stop him from leaving, he's already dashed towards the bathroom. God, why did he just leave like that?!
"Who are you?" Anika's father hisses at me, crossing his bulgy arms across his chest. I feel my heart rate fasten and I genuinely realize how scary her father looks. I thought he only sounded intimidating, not looked as well!
My blood starts to boil as I also realize that he may have been the reason Anika was put in the hospital, or maybe even the reason for her attempted suicide. I take a deep breath as it dawns upon me that I cannot possibly strangle this man due to my hatred for him. Dammit.
"I'm..." I sigh to myself and puff my chest out a little to make myself seem a little bit more 'masculine.' I am not gonna make myself seem small to this man! He's the reason why Anika's been upset lately, hurting herself lately, and downing herself and demeaning upon herself. He's the reason why life has been hell for her lately.
Summarizing with all the facts she had given me on her father, I guess it's safe to say that she wasn't over exaggerating by how terrifying he looks. His dark brown eyes raging with storm. His frown that creates a huge pit in my stomach. His bulky arms that make me feel a hundred times smaller.
He reminds me of my father.
Anika's father may have been physically abusive, but my father has been mentally abusing. I've dealt with my father pressuring me to become something I'm not, become a businessman while all I've been dreaming about is to become an artist. Sometimes I spent my free time doodling in my notebook, creating masterpieces instead of finding the differences between macro and microeconomics. But then, my father would barge inside my room, tear the page apart, the one with the doodles, making me feel upset and... unworthy of my dreams.
I sometimes get mad at myself for not standing up to him. Like, he's Neil Roy! Billionaire businessman that has taken over Western California. And his son just standing up to him and ruining his reputation for him by not following in his footsteps and becoming an artist to pursue his own dreams? What an actual shame.
I take a deep breath. I will not make myself seem small for some man that ruins other people. "I'm Shaurya Roy," I breathe out, feeling my heart hammer against my chest. "Anika's friend."
"Anika's fr--" he stops his sentence midway. He then walks towards me, his lips sealed together in a tight line as he clenches his fists in anger. Afterwards, he points a strong finger at me and grits through his teeth, "Stay away from my daughter. You hear me? I don't need you walking into her life, distracting her from her studies. Trust me, she doesn't need a guy like you in her life."
"How can you just assume that I'm a bad guy?" I blurt out. "You know nothing about me. And doesn't it say that I'm a good person if I come here, to the hospital, to check up on her? What bold assumptions you're making, Mr. Desai," I snort.
"Hey," his voice wavers with anger. "Don't use that tone with me, or you will regret it."
I shake my head, feeling my lips curl into a frown. "Why did she attempt to commit suicide?"
"That's none of your business," he almost immediately answers.
"Of course it's my business," I hiss. "She's my friend, I care about her! Unlike you," I add under my breath.
"Excuse me?" he growls. "What did you say?"
My lips tremble from fear as I respond back. "I said that you don't really care about her," I mutter under my breath. "At least by the things she has told me, though, I'm assuming."
"YOU!" His voice booms with furiousness as he grabs me by my collar and almost lifts me off of the ground, and I swear I heard myself whimper. His eyes look at me with a daring look, as if he dares me to stare at him any longer. I close my eyes and whisper to him, "Let go of me."
Completely ignoring my request, he replies, "What did I say? You are not allowed to use that sort of tone with an older person. You understand?"
"I said," my voice trembles, "Let. Go. Of. Me."
"Your manners are completely foolish-like and are immature," he ignores my remark again. "How dare Anika associate herself with an immature man like you! She deserves a better man who knows how to behave himself, especially in front of her father."
"You're not worthy of being treated nicely," I retort. "I've heard the things you've done to Anika, and they are unforgivable, sir," I add remarkably. "Now, isn't that good manners? At least I called you 'sir.'"
"Hah, you think you're so smart, don't you?" he narrows his eyes at me. He grasps tightly on my collar and looks at me deep into my eyes, and not with appreciation, but more with disassociation. "You are just like your father," he mutters under his breath afterwards.
"Wh-what?" I breathe out. Just like my... father? "What do you mean by that?" I reply, feeling my mouth dry.
"Again, it's none of your business," he quickly replies, letting go of me and walking away to the door. "Wait, don't leave!" I snarl. "You can't leave me hanging like this. How do you know my father?"
"Everyone knows your father," he snorts, crossing his arms over his chest. "Neil Roy, extraordinaire businessman billionaire that everyone looks up to and everyone adores. He can get anything he wants, and even... anyone," his voice trembles. What?
I narrow my eyes at him. "What do you mean?"
"Never mind!" he adds. "Just go. Leave this place," he hisses. "And I never want to see you with my daughter, you understand?"
"But--"
"Leave!" his voice booms. "Leave before I hurt you," he adds under his breath. "Leave before I do things that I'll regret."
I start to argue back, but I take a quick look at Anika. She's still hooked up on a whole bunch of machines, machines that basically are carrying her life right now. Possibly because of this man right in front of me.
I shouldn't cause much trouble, though. I've already caused enough, and because of me she might possibly... die.
Shaking my head, I come back to reality. It's not my fault, though! It's his fault! Because of him, Anika's life is in danger.
"Fine," I sneer. "I'll leave. But this isn't over."
"It's far from over," he adds. "And watch your back. Your father as well. He's caused enough harm to me, and he's causing enough harm to our society with his so-called charm and dissipation of money. It's disgusting," he hisses.
Me not being able to handle his words, I start to walk away, slowly and slowly, hearing his haunting words repeat over and over again in my mind.
Stay away from my daughter...
She doesn't need a guy like you...
She deserves a better man...
You are just like your father...
I shake my head, quickly trying to get those self-demeaning thoughts out of my mind. Stop it, Shaurya! You are stronger than this. Do not let a harmful man destroy your path.
But the one thing that bothers me the most is... how does he know my father? Personally, by means. I mean, everyone knows my father but the way he described my father makes me realize that he knew him personally.
Is that why he hated me right off the bat? Because of my father?
I cross my arms across my chest, leaning against the glass pane. I notice that Anika's father is back in the room, which means that I have the right to breathe properly.
For once I find the most perfect girl ever. Beautiful, smart, witty, protecting, caring and... bold in so many ways. She's everything. And, yes, I have to admit... I have unbearable feelings for her. Feelings that I want to accomplish, nurture, and work on, especially with her.
Only with her.
I snap back to reality as I see Nathan nudging me on the shoulder. "Hey, dude, are you okay? You completely blacked out there for a second."
"Y-yeah," I shake my head. "Sorry, I just... we should probably go," I clear my throat as I start to walk out of the ICU.
"Whoa, whoa, wait!" He starts to walk in front of me. "Aren't you going to tell me what happened, though?"
"I... I will," I breathe out. "I just need space right now, okay?"
"Yeah, okay," he nods his head. "I understand."
And so, the both of us walk out of the ICU. I thought I would walk out of the ICU feeling relieved, as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. But instead, I feel more weight added.
And I have to do something about it.
Anika
My eyes flutter open.
I expect to wake up in my room, surrounded by light-colored walls and white colored furniture. I expect to see sunlight pouring in through my window, hearing birds chirp profoundly. I expect to hear my alarm ring on my nightstand, calling out to me that it is time for me to wake up for college.
But instead I wake up to complete and utter darkness.
My knees are huddled to my chest as I feel my soggy eyes blink once, and then twice. I seem to be wearing a thin laced white dress that goes to my knees and I feel my tangled dark hair sticking to my back, indicating the fact that it is extremely humid wherever I am.
Speaking of wherever I am... where am I?
I try to get up, but as soon as I do, I feel my surroundings getting dizzy, my knees losing balance as I wobble. Gasping, I immediately sit back down, huddling my knees to my chest. I feel my heart beating against my chest as I hear and see absolutely nothing.
Not only are my appearances seem to be dark, but the things I hear are absolutely... nothing.
Suddenly, I clench my hand to my mouth as I hear weird noises coming across from me. They are not like noises that make you cringe, or make you want to hide in a hole. But these types of noises make me want to go towards it...
I start to get up again, feeling my knees wobble. But I don't stop this time. I am yearning to find out what those noises are, how much they long for me to reach towards them, grab them, listen to them over and over again...
These noises seem like they're reaching towards me, more than I am reaching towards them. As if they are longing for me to feel them, heal them, and conceal them. Before I know it, I'm on my feet, walking towards the noises.
I stretch my arms out, wanting to feel something, something that might make me feel a little bit more satisfied with my surroundings. Instead, I feel nothing. I feel darkness, emptiness, clouds fading away as I try to touch the invisible walls on my sides.
I keep walking and walking and walking until I see light coming from the other end. I gasp slightly, feeling excited as I walk further and further towards the light. Light! Finally! Finally I feel as if something is attainable for me.
Excitedly, I walk towards the light, hearing the noises grow and grow as I get nearer to them. And the noises seem to sound more like... voices.
Voices that seem eerily familiar.
Feeling curious, I walk towards the light further, until the light represents a door. A white door that looks so familiar.
Wait... that door belongs to my house!
I crack the door open a teensy bit until I can somewhat see what's happening from the inside. And then, I see it.
My father and my mother sit at the dining table. My dad seems worried as he repeatedly rubs his forehead with his hands. My mother, on the other hand, cries into her hands, muttering incoherent words.
"What are we going to do?" she mumbles. "I-I can't live like this, Mukesh. Wh-what would our daughter feel about this? She would be devastated!"
"Heena, we will figure something out," my dad consoles her, placing his hand on top of hers. "And we'll figure something out about the medical bills. We'll get them paid. I'm just gonna have to work extra hard now."
"No, I know, I just..." my mom takes a deep breath. "I'm worried about Anika. She will be extremely devastated to find out... about me," she whispers.
"I'm telling you, don't worry Heena," my dad sighs. "We'll find a way to get through this. It'll be okay."
Suddenly, I hear footsteps from the other side. I gasp as I see the younger version of me walk into the kitchen. "Hey, guys," I smile cheerfully, having no idea what's going on. "What's up?"
My mom bursts into tears, leaning her head on my dad's shoulder. I notice that a tear has escaped from his eye, as he sniffles, patting my mom's head.
That was the day I found out my mom was diagnosed with cancer.
The scene suddenly turns pitch black. Gasping in shock, I grab my hair in frustration, screaming to myself. No, no, no!
I start to run away from the scene, feeling my legs pitter patter against the floor. I need to get away, I need to get away, I need to get away...
I continue to run. I don't know how long, but I run as far as my legs can possibly take me. Feeling my breath heave up and down, I run and run and run, feeling myself being consumed by darkness.
*
A/N:
Thank you for reading chapter 15!
Also, looks like Shaurya's interaction with Papa Desai didn't go so successful either, yikes! Looks like Shaurya's intentions for making life better with him and Anika is his current goal right now...
On the other hand, Anika seemed to have an episode, or possibly a dream. And it didn't seem to be a happy dream as well, as it ends with her 'running away.'
Stay tuned for the next chapter!
-Ru <3