Chapter-16

Everyone was so much excited for this one...so here I am with it...Hope, you like it...❤️

Two years later...

Aditya came out of the hospital room, stressed and in an exhausted state. He moved out of the hospital and proceeded to his one room apartment whose rent he has been paying from the last two years. He unlocked the main door and entered his 'house'. It wasn't clean, he barely lived here, most of the time he was in the hospital in the same room looking after someone. He came here just to freshen up or to get some sleep that too very rarely.

He entered his bathroom and looked himself in the mirror. He has changed a lot in these two years. It feels horrible to have no one by your side and to handle everything single handedly. He had dark circles under his eyes. He looked tired and he barely smiled now. He has lost a lot of weight due to his disturbed routine and he does not take care of himself at all.

He got under the shower and turned it on. The warm water fell down on him relaxing his overstressed muscles and providing him relief. How does it feel to have someone by your side all the time? To have someone's shoulder to cry onto...to have someone in whose arms you find peace...to have someone who can love you and erase all your sorrows? He got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. Water was dropping down his chiseled yet weak body.

Suddenly, his phone rang. He went to take the call.

"Yes, Dr. Abhi..."

". . ."

"Really!? I'm coming!" He rushed out while buttoning up his shirt.

•••

He entered the hospital rushing through the main entry. Now, when he was about to reach the room, his steps halted. He started walking with small and slow steps.

Should he really go inside? It has been years...Will he like his presence?

He was standing outside the room debating within himself, when Dr. Abhimanyu came out of the room.

"Aditya, why are you standing here? You can go and meet him...it has been so much time...go now..." He pushed him inside the room.

Aditya slowly entered the room and saw the person looking out of the room through the opened window and enjoying the breeze like he has felt it for the first time. He had a calm and peaceful expression on his face.

"Pa..?" Aditya said in a low voice when he reached near him. His father turned with a jerk on hearing his voice and his calm expressions changed to that of an angry one.

"What are you doing here!? Didn't I asked you to never show me your face! Here, you are again like a bad luck in my life...don't you have any shame? If still there is some self respect left in you, then go from here this very instant...I don't want to see your face, ever!"

"But Pa..." He said with tears in his eyes.

"Go!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. He started backing out, unable to take all of it. So many years have passed, still he accuses him of the crime which he never committed.

"Listen..." His father said stopping him in his way. He turned with tear filled eyes in which a ray of hope was shining.

"Don't ever call me Pa..." A lone tear escaped his eye and traced its path down his face. He just nodded lightly to his request and came out of the room.

•••

Aditya was sitting near his suitcase packing his stuff. His face was blank, devoid of any emotions. He knew it will happen then why is it still affecting him so much. He knew what will be his reaction after seeing him then why is he not able to accept the fact that no one needs him in their life. He doesn't have even a single person to talk to. What an irony it is, right? A psychologist is having no one to talk to. He should laugh on his fate.

He continued packing his stuff when his gaze fell on something shining on the bed side table. Beach in a Globe! Tears welled up in his eyes again as he saw it, the fishes swimming around the tiny plants kept in it. The circular thing spreading out light all around in his dark flat. He doesn't know how but he felt some peace by just looking at it.

At the bottom of it was written something, From-Zoya Siddique.

"Zoya..." He whispered remembering her. He shouldn't have behaved like that with her. He has again hurt a soul. He started thinking of that day, two years ago.

Flashback

He was in the mall, attending a patient. She too had a rough past and he was trying his best to help her forget it. The only thing which gives him pleasure and happiness is talking to different people and freeing them from their worries. He loves bringing someone's smile back again. He was talking to her just when his phone rang. He picked up to be informed that his father had fallen from the stairs which caused his head to be injured and now he has slipped into coma. He was shocked to hear that. But, more than shocked he was worried to hear that. He can't bear losing one more important person in his life. He immediately rushed to London leaving all his patients and work in the middle just to be near to his father.

When he reached there, he saw his father lying on the hospital bed lifelessly, plunged with tubes and a bandaged head. He also had some minor scratches on his face and arms. His eyes filled with tears on seeing this sight. His mind started thinking of the worse and that's when his phone rang. He didn't picked up the call still engrossed in watching his father and remembering some good memories from the past when he used to play with him. The day when he taught him how to ride a cycle is still fresh in his mind and he can't do anything else than remembering it and crying, silently. He fell from the cycle that day and his father came rushing to him, picked him up and started blow- His chain of thoughts was broken by another ring. He picked it up this time with courage.

"Hi.." The voice from the other side said. Zoya...He recognized the voice.

"Hey...how are you?" He said in a cheering voice trying his best to mask his misery.

"I'm good..." He smiled thinking that at least someone is feeling good.

"The-"

"Can we meet, please? I'm feeling really uneasy..."

"I'm sorry Zoya I don't think that we ca-"

"Why!?"

"Actually, umm..."

"Just tell me!" He heard her shouting.

"Why are you shouting at me? I was just about to tell you that we will not able to meet for some days...and I don't know for how many days..." He said looking at his father again biting back a sob.

"Just because you got a new patient!? A new friend?! It's not your fault...It's usual to forget me..." What is she thinking?

"Listen, Zoya..."

"Don't try your sweet talks now...I know people want to get rid of me..." She sniffed. Why is she talking like this?

"Why are you thinking all this!? I'm saying tha-"

"No ple-"

"I'm saying that I'm in London!!!" He said gritting his teeth, trying not to catch attention.

"London?"

"Yes...I had to come here urgently, there was some emergency..." He said and looked at the lifeless face of his father. It pains one's heart to see their parents ageing.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I also got to know today itself..."

"You should have at least dropped a message..."

"I was in a hurry, Zoya...try to understand..." He said hoping that at least she will understand him.

"Yeah, why would you like to inform me...you don't take me as your friend na?" Now from where did that come from? His head started hurting due to so much stress.

"Are you drunk!?" He was fed up with her senseless talks. He already had dealt with a lot today and now she is saying things which have no meaning. It felt as if all his hard work has went down the drain.

"You assume me to be drunk!?" She shouted.

"Yes! Because you are talking nonsense!" He shouted in a more louder voice making her flinch.

"Oh...so now my talks are senseless...what could be expected of me? I'm just an ordinary girl with a spoiled past and no friend..."

"I thought I was your friend..." She spoke. "But, no...I wasn't..." He couldn't take her talking all this meaningless stuff.

"What did you had today?"

"I-why?"

"Because you are uttering all nonsense...why are you even thinking like th-"

"When will you come back?"

"I don't know...it may take time..."

"You will message me na...when you'll be returning..." A small smile came onto his lips when he felt someone caring for him. Someone who doesn't dislike his presence.

"Ok...I will message you but I don't know for how much time I'll be away..."

"I will wait for your message..."

"Listen Zoya, don't wait for it...I may not remember..." He said the last sentence lowly to himself.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that don't wait for my message...I may not remember messaging you..."

"But you only said in our first meeting that I may consider you as a friend..." He did say that and he meant that also.

"Wo to aise hi..." (I said that casually) He said to avoid any further discussions as he was feeling that his head will explode any moment, though he didn't mean it but she was adamant on creating a big fuss out of everything he uttered.

"What 'aise hi'?"

"Aise hi means aise hi!...Listen Zoya, I already had to deal with a lot today just don't double it up..."

"So now I've started causing you a headache...you know what Dr. Hooda just stop making friends casually and value their friendship...for you it may be your thousandth friend but, for the other it may be just the first...like for...me..."

"Zoya I-" He didn't mean to hurt her but he did unknowingly. Why does he always hurt people? Why does he keep pushing them away?

"Don't you worry from now on this 'casual' friend wouldn't trouble or cause you any headache...I valued our friendship so much...it held so much importance in my life...but even one sided friendship hurts...I should've known earlier...I wanted to be like you one day, but now...I will be better than you...far better than you...and I will not offer friendship when I don't have the time and heart to value it..." It did in mine too, Zoya...and it does still "Khuda hafiz, Aditya..." (Goodbye) She said and cut the call.

"Khuda hafiz...?" He whispered to himself still holding the phone in the same position as if someone was still talking to him. He earned his first genuine friend and he lost that too because of himself. Maybe, he is meant to live like this...alone.

From that day, he left everything else and concentrated his whole focus on just his father. He would sit beside the hospital bed on the tiny stool, holding his father's hand in his, eyes fixed on his face to notice even a single bit of moment. After many difficulties, he gathered himself only to be shattered again. He doesn't know if he'll be able to do that again.

Flashback ends

I'm returning tomorrow... He messaged Zoya, eyes fixed if she came online or not. She did came online but didn't opened his text. He lost yet another person in his life...

_________________________________________

It was looonnnng....right? But the conversation was a repetition so I think that is the reason🤪Hope you liked this one...next one will be even more good, I guess...Who wants to give our Adi a hug...I want to..🥺

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR HAVING SO MUCH PATIENCE WITH THE STORY...❤️