Page 157 - Till the Last Breath . . .

Dushyant nodded. As they rode the elevator down to the last floor of the

hospital, Dushyant felt a throbbing, piercing pain in his lower abdomen. He
winced in pain and looked the other way.
‘Are you okay?’ Zarah asked.

‘Shouldn’t I be asking you that?’ he said, smiling.
He needed another smoke, he thought. She checked out in the staff

register and they walked to the doctors’ parking lot.
‘Nice car,’ he muttered. His abdomen throbbed. He really needed the

pain meds.
‘If that’s a joke, it’s not funny,’ she said. A smile crept behind the

unyielding tears.
They climbed into the car and she put it in gear. As they hit the main
road, the tears dried up in the wind sweeping in through the open car

windows.
‘So are you going to tell him?’ he asked. The pain intensified and it

reached his lower back. It felt like his insides were being ground in a
blender. He started sweating, his hands became clammy and even the cool

air didn’t help.
‘I am not telling him anything,’ she replied, ‘I don’t see the point.’

‘But there is one … You need to understand that. What’s the harm
anyway? You say you are over it, right? The people who did it are dead.
You don’t get along with your dad even now. I think you should tell him,’

he grumbled. The pain was piercing and he felt his body getting warmer,
trying to fight the pain off. Blood rushed to his face and he felt like his eyes

would pop out. It felt like someone had got hold of his body and was
scrunching and twisting it over and over again.

‘Dushyant?’ Zarah said. ‘Are you okay? You look flushed …’
‘I am fine,’ he replied. He felt like he would pass out any moment.

‘You don’t look fine,’ she said and put her hand on his forehead. ‘You are
burning up!’
He opened his mouth to say something but a flood of his insides filled his

oesophagus and he vomited furiously. He opened the door of the car and
slumped on the pavement. His back shook uncontrollably and he started to