Page 237 - Till the Last Breath . . .

symbolically, they are married. Who cares about the paperwork and all that

shit! Right, Pihu?’
Zarah bent over to see the chain and the piece of sparkling rock dangling
from it and broke into a big smile … which slowly turned into a big grin

and she hugged the life out of poor Pihu. Obviously, she couldn’t feel the
hug, but she could feel the love.

‘Yes, Dushyant is right. You’re married now,’ she quipped. ‘So
congratulations!’

‘Oh, shut up,’ Pihu snarled and blushed at the same time.
‘But this is so sweet, Pihu,’ Zarah said and sat by her side. Pihu’s joy

knew no bounds. It’s a very girly thing to do … to blush and feel ecstatic
when your girlfriends approve of the guy you have chosen. Zarah wasn’t
really her girlfriend but who cared? It was her moment. For a few seconds,

she closed her eyes and imagined herself crying as she walked into a car
adorned with flowers and with a number plate that said ‘Just Married, Rx’.

‘I am glad I came here,’ Pihu said, her mood wistful and her eyes distant.
‘That’s the first time I’ve heard someone be thankful to be in a hospital,’

Dushyant quipped and they all laughed.
‘I wish he was here,’ Pihu said.

‘Aw. He would have been, but he is preparing for the surgery. I have
never seen him so tense before. I hope it goes well,’ Zarah said, as the
tension in her eyebrows returned. ‘There is still hope, Pihu.’

‘Fingers crossed!’ Pihu said with false happiness. ‘All I want to know are
the chances of my coming out of that operation room alive.’

Zarah didn’t say anything. After a long pause, she said, ‘My guess is …
one hundred per cent!’

She forgave Zarah for lying. She knew she might not ever open her eyes
again after the anaesthesiologist pricked her with his injection filled with

stuff that was supposed to put her under one more time. The feeling passed.
It had come way too many times to mean anything now. She had told
people she loved that she loved them … many, many times. Her goodbye to

her parents had lasted over a year. Over the past year, she had been waiting
for her death. As she lay her head back on the pillow, she smiled. Her wait