Page 189 - Till the Last Breath . . .

girl. A dying girl! Can anyone be worse? He dug his face into his palms and

felt the worst he ever had … and that was saying a lot, considering he had
been through some serious shit in life. Reading the underlined portions in
the book over and over again, he felt like throwing up.

Anxious and beaten down, he found himself dialling Kajal’s number. The
phone rang a few times, but there was no answer from the other side. Of

course, having changed his number more than a few times in the past, he
didn’t expect her to have his number. After a few more calls went

unattended, he called Zarah. Zarah wanted to know why he wanted to meet
her so urgently and Dushyant said he would let her know when she reached

there. Minutes later, Zarah walked into his ward and Dushyant was still in
shock.
‘What’s the problem?’ Zarah asked. ‘Are you okay?’ Instinctively, she

put a hand across his forehead and checked his temperature.
‘I am fine,’ he answered and pushed her hand away. ‘Why didn’t you tell

me about Pihu?’
‘What about her?’

‘That she is DYING! She is dying, isn’t she? I saw her reading this book
a few days back and read it today. She is dying, right?’

‘Which book?’
‘How the fuck does that matter? Just tell me. Is she dying?’
‘Yes,’ she mumbled.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘I thought you knew! Everyone knows. You spend hours together sitting

in the same room. I just assumed you knew about her condition,’ she
responded.

Though it made sense, Dushyant was not looking for a sane explanation.
Instead, he was busy struggling with the truth.

‘I didn’t know! Had I known I wouldn’t have been so harsh on her. She
was always smiling and laughing, so I thought she had some minor problem
like appendicitis or such. But ALS? She is not even old! The guy from the

book was seventy!’ he protested as beads of sweat slowly trickled down his
forehead. He was still far from being at ease.