chapter 30

'Arif, wake up. Otherwise, we will gate.' Fiza tries to wake up Arif.'Five minutes.'Arif changes his side and sleeps again.Arif, Fiza, Aarav and Shalini have planned to go to Lonavala.Fiza is almost ready, but Arif is still sleeping. Fiza calls him a few more times, and when Arif doesn't wake up, she puts chilled water on him.'Why are you the enemy of my sleep?' Arif wakes up and shouts at Fiza.'If you wanted to sleep, you shouldn't have planned a trip. Aarav and Shalini will reach in no time. Now, freshen up fast.'Arif mumbled and checked the time on his mobile.'8:20 am? Why didn't you call me before? Today the alarm has also betrayed me. It didn't ring.''I called you, the alarm also rang on time, but you turned off the alarm and slept again. Now, hurry up.'Arif gets out of his bed and rushes to the bathroom.Fiza arranges Arif's bed and his things.Arif, Fiza, Aarav and Shalini set out for Lonavala together. Mumbai to Lonavala road is too beautiful. The route has lots of waterfalls and greenery, which makes the road trip romantic.On the way, they stop at a tea shop. The road in front of that tea shop is wet. There are many potholes on the road. Suddenly the tyre of a motorcycle screeches, and the motorcycle crashes into the side wall. With the piercing cry of the tyre, Fiza closes her eyes and starts trembling. She starts sweating profusely even in pleasant weather.'Arif, let's go back home.' Fiza said tremblingly. Fiza's hands are cold, and she seems restless. Seeing Fiza, Aarav and Shalini get scared.'Okay, Fiza, we will return.' Arif tries to console Fiza, but she holds his hand tightly.'Fiza, let me go and bring you medicine and water.' Arif tries to release his hands from her hands, but she holds her hand more tightly.'No, no, Arif, don't leave alone.' Fiza starts crying.Slowly her fear starts showing on her face too. Now Arif also gets scared as he has seen Fiza in her panic attacks. Aarav brings her medicines from the car, but Fiza refuses to take any medication. 'If I take medicine, I will sleep, and you will leave me.' Fiza says to Arif.'No, Fiza, I will never leave you.' Arif tries to convince her to take medicine but fails.Fiza continuously requested to return home. Since they hadn't come far from Mumbai, they decided to return to Mumbai. On the way back, Arif contacts Dr Bhandari, tells her about the whole incident and requests her to arrange an emergency appointment with a good doctor in Mumbai.By now, Fiza has calmed down and fallen asleep, but she still holds Arif's hand tightly. Arif caresses Fiza's hair, and she comes closer to him and holds him more tightly. Arif's hand hurts due to her tightening, but he doesn't move his hand so that Fiza doesn't wake up.Aarav takes Fiza to the hospital, as told by Dr Bhandari. As Dr Bhandari had already informed the hospital, when they reached the hospital with Fiza, all arrangements were ready for her treatment. Doctors immediately attend Fiza. When the doctor asks Arif to wait outside the cabin, she has another panic attack. She holds his hand tight and isn't ready to release him. The doctors had to struggle a lot to give her the injection. She refuses to take any injections as she fears that if she sleeps, Arif will leave her.Seeing Fiza's condition, Arif breaks down.'Mr Arif, control yourself. Otherwise, how will you handle her?' The doctor says to Arif.When Fiza falls asleep, the doctors ask Arif to wait outside. Seeing Arif devastated, Aarav and Shalini get nervous. 'Arif, how is Fiza?' Shalini asks.'I don't know. Doctors have given her medicine.''And what happened to you?''I can't see Fiza's condition. I am responsible for her condition.' Arif starts sobbing.'Arif, no one is responsible for Fiza's condition. She couldn't accept Aman's death, which was an accident.' Aarav tries to console Arif.'No, Aman died my death.'Hearing Arif's words, both Aarav and Shalini get shocked.'Arif, why are you blaming yourself?' Shalini says.'That day, Aman, Fiza and I went to eat at a Dhaba outside the city. It was drizzling, and the road was wet. There was water in many places on the road. But, the traffic was moving very fast. Across the street, a woman was selling flowers. Fiza loves flowers. So, she wanted to buy some flowers. Aman had said that why waste money on buying flowers because the flowers will dry up tomorrow. It is better that while returning, we will go to a nursery and you buy your favorite flower plants. Fiza agreed to Aman. I don't know what happened to me at that time when I decided to buy flowers for Fiza right away. Maybe I thought, why should I make Fiza wait for a few flowers? It could also be that I wanted to show Aman that I loved Fiza more than him. So I can fulfill her every little wish at once. But Aman didn't let me go. Instead, he went to buy flowers. There was no zebra crossing. As it was outside the city, traffic was moving very fast. Aman went across the road and bought flowers. While returning, when he crossed half of the road, a car hit him from the left and threw him away. Flowers spilled out from his hands on the road. Aman was covered in blood, yet he was smiling. We took him to the hospital, but due to the excessive blood loss the doctor couldn't save him. (Pause ) He died my death.' Arif starts sobbing.Arif's phone rings. Dr Bhandari has called.Arif wipes his eyes and picks up the phone.'Hello, doctor.''Arif, I have just talked to the doctor. Don't worry, Fiza will be fine.''Thank you, doctor. Without your help, I couldn't have handled the situation.'You don't need to thank me. Have you informed Fiza's parents?''No, doctor, I forgot.''Call them now. Fiza will need her family when she wakes up.''Okay, doctor.'Aarav then advises Arif to inform his father so that he can personally meet Fiza's parents and inform them about Fiza's health condition. Arif calls up his father and informs him about Fiza's health condition and requests him to personally meet Fiza's parents and inform them about the situation.It was midnight when Fiza's parents reached the hospital. Fiza was still sleeping. Shabana wants to meet Fiza immediately, but the doctor asks her to wait till the morning.With the new sun comes a new light in Fiza's life. The ego battle between father and daughter ends. Junaid caresses her princess after a long time.After Fiza's recovery, everyone convinces her to leave her job in Mumbai and return to Kolkata forever.A few years later, Fiza agrees to marry Arif as he is his best friend. She is the one with whom she can fight, get angry and even dictate.Apart from this, everyone says that love has to happen while living together.(End)