Page 176 - Till the Last Breath . . .

‘There is a slight chance that he might not make it,’ Pihu said solemnly.

Kajal couldn’t say anything beyond that. She felt the walls of the room
close down on her, locking her in and making her claustrophobic,
suffocating her. She sat there with her hand wrapped around his and trying

hard to stifle her sobs. Pihu’s eyes were still on her. As Kajal’s eyes
surveyed the multitude of tubes, monitors and drips around her, she blamed

herself for Dushyant’s pitiable state. She imagined a situation where they
would be together and happy, no one would be hooked to life support and

no one would be browsing through colleges in London.
‘If it makes you feel any better, I am dying too!’ the girl on the other bed

said with a big smile pasted on her face.
‘It doesn’t,’ she snapped. And later added, ‘I am sorry. I didn’t mean to
—’

‘It’s okay, I didn’t take offence,’ Pihu replied.
‘But you look healthy …’ Kajal said out of curiosity and shock.

‘I know I do. I am dying of progressive paralysis. It’s creeping up from
my limbs and spreading to other parts of my body. One day it will reach my

chest and I won’t be able to breathe and end up dead!’
How could she be so nonchalant about something so deathly serious?

Kajal wasn’t sure whether to be shocked or be in awe.
‘How do you know Dushyant?’ Pihu asked.
‘We are friends,’ she answered, not wanting to go beyond that.

‘Wait! You were that girl? Who came that day?’
She froze. Now, she was embarrassed. It hadn’t occurred to her that

someone had listened to her humiliating conversation with Dushyant from
that day.

‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘Actually, we used to date.’
‘You were his girlfriend?’ she asked to confirm. She could spot a sense of

pity in the way Pihu asked it, as if she was apologetic that Kajal had a
boyfriend like Dushyant. It wasn’t the first time, though. Kajal’s friends
were always disapproving of her relationship with Dushyant which they

believed—though torrid and passionate—was a catastrophe waiting to
happen.