Page 230 - Till the Last Breath . . .

the break-up was a lot harder on Dushyant than it was on her. After all,

months after, she was dating Varun with all her heart. Dushyant was the one
who moped, cried, drank, destroyed himself further after the break-up, not
her.

The car reached the address. They were modest apartments where people
live on for generations, adding a room or two against the government

regulations. Zarah double-checked the gate number before she rang the bell.
The Diwali lights from last October still hung on the door. There was no

conversation between Zarah and Kajal.
A middle-aged woman opened the gate and asked who they were.

‘I am Dr Zarah Mirza, GKL Hospital.’
‘What do you want?’ the woman asked.
‘We have been treating your son, Dushyant Roy, for the last few weeks. I

am afraid his chances are slim and he needs a liver transplant. If things get
worse, he might need a kidney transplant too,’ Zarah laid out the facts

threadbare, her tone stern. No false assurances.
The mother looked at her in disbelief and then the truth sank and her

knees buckled and her eyes rolled up and she fainted. Both of them reached
out to her and prevented her from falling head first on to the concrete floor.

They carried her to the sofa inside the house, which was even more modest
(or poor looking) than the apartment buildings from outside. A ragged sofa,
an old box-type television, a chunky desktop on a table, a rusty single-door

fridge and a landline on the small side table. The rest of the evening was
easier. Dushyant’s dad appeared, duly shocked to see two girls and his half-

conscious wife. Zarah explained the same to him and his eyes had more
annoyance and fury than sympathy. He asked for more details and as Zarah

told them, the mother kept tugging at the father’s sleeve to take her to the
hospital.

Fifteen minutes later, the parents were following the red Santro to the
hospital. The mother had packed lunch for her son who was far from
consciousness. During the whole ordeal, Kajal had stood there motionless

and not a word had escaped her mouth. Zarah, on the other hand, had been