Page 175 - Till the Last Breath . . .

‘Are you a relative?’ the receptionist queried. She nodded and walked

away from her, wondering if she meant anything at all to him. Her steps
became smaller and her walk more uncertain as she stepped out of the
elevator and went towards the room she had been admonished out of. A

deep breath. Two deep breaths. She knocked on the door and waited for
someone to respond. No answer. She knocked again and heard a feeble

voice from the other side asking her to come in.
She entered the room which reeked of the peculiar hospital smell of

sterilizers, phenyls and disinfectants. And of almost-dead people. Before
her senses could acclimatize to the foreign surroundings of the room, she

saw Dushyant lying almost lifeless on the bed and her face fell. Her throat
collapsed as she tried to say something. Tears formed tiny puddles just
below her eyelashes and were on the verge of streaking down her now-pale

face.
‘Dushyant …’ she choked on her own words. Dushyant’s chest rose and

fell periodically and made a horrible whooshing sound every time that
happened. It sounded like his life force was leaving him with every

laborious breath he took. His eyes were closed and he seemed under
influence. Slowly, she walked up to the side of his bed and sat down.

Dushyant’s face looked a lot different from the last time; it was sunken and
it seemed he had lost a lot of weight. There were blotches on his cheek
where the flesh had retreated towards his jawbones. Kajal placed her hand

on his chest and ran her fingers on it. She knew Dushyant couldn’t feel a
thing.

‘A friend?’ a voice from the other side asked.
Kajal looked up to see a smiling face staring at her, waiting for an

answer.
‘Yes,’ she replied, finding her voice momentarily.

‘I am Pihu. He is sleeping, I am afraid,’ the girl said.
‘I am Kajal,’ she responded. ‘Will he be okay?’
‘I don’t know. Arman said his condition is critical. A lot of his organs are

failing and he might …’ She stopped.
‘He might?’