Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

"Excellent Dr. Keerti, thankfully with Dr. Mallik around; I gained the confidence in helping Mrs. Sampley give birth to a healthy baby boy. Everything is under control ma'am, however we will be keeping both mother and son in observation; to assure not only them but ourselves that she completely fine and in the condition to leave the hospital" Riddhima spoke, with a strong urge of happiness and pride in her voice. Of course this is what Dr. Shashank Gupta had wanted for his daughter; a strong and powerful position as a doctor; but today was the day she truly felt happy. Holding that young child in her arms just seconds before he was taken away to be cleaned; and feeling the overwhelming essence of …she stopped and sighed.

Perhaps she was getting out of conclusion with this; taking a deep breath she headed off into the lockers to grab another file. Armaan watched in confusion; just seconds earlier she seemed happy and now she looked tensed. Something was wrong with this girl, definitely indeed. He chuckled to himself and headed off behind her. "Riddhima!" Armaan called out to her; just nearly ten paces away from her. Instead of turning around and smiling at his silly ways she walked off ignoring his calls. He frowned, that was so unlike of her to do so; perhaps she was having mood swings…shaking his head backwards he rushed behind her.

"Riddhima, what's the matter? You seem quite tense suddenly, is everything okay? Did someone say something to you? Wait, no that's not possible, I stick like glue to you all the time, and I would have noticed, neither did I say something, so …" he froze; trying to breath in what had just happened. She clung to him as if her life depended on it; but somewhere deep down he liked it, liked her touch, the soft feel of her hands around his shoulders, her head leaning against his chest, and the fragrance of her hair was driving him nuts. This was an odd situation for him; he had never felt this way. Seconds passed by, but his arms just stayed in the air, afraid to touch her…as if she wear a dream not meant to be.

After a short moment of internal arguments he wound his arms around her protectively, unknowingly planting a kiss to the side of her face. Grasping what had just happened, Riddhima let loose of him, "I am sorry Armaan, I got carried away…I didn't mean to give you any wrong ideas, its just a bad day" Armaan stared at her wide eyed. That hurt, her tone was regretful, was hugging him a bad thing? Surely he didn't stink, neither did he do anything funny, he was just there with her. "Rid…" his voice trailed off, okay now things were seriously out of hand she had just run out the door.

*****

"Angad how was work today?" Mom asked me during dinner. I turned surprised by her sudden question, and noticed the look on her face. I abruptly turned towards Aditya, who carried a smug look on his face; I flashed him a look before turning my gaze back towards mom; who eyed me just as suspiciously. I nodded slowly and replied, "it was okay, quite boring; Mrs. Sharma came to office today, both of us will get our recording done for the song soon, and other than that I wanted to come home so I could meet my girlfriend!" Naina cocked an eyebrow.

I chuckled slightly to myself, and headed towards dadi, whom I pulled into a big wide bear hug. She laughed at me, while mom nodded her head while laughing slightly at my cuteness of course. At the age of 21, not only was I dashing, handsome, sexy but still had the pure essence of a young child alive in me, something that I never failed to show. I flashed everyone at the table, my innocent wide eyed smile; while mom rolled her eyes at my cuteness. I mean is it that hard to be mad at me? Sheesh I wonder what being happy with me would be like.

The night carried on, and with that I felt a sudden apprehension, like something was missing from my life; the soul existence of my world was wiped out; without something that had been catching my eye all day. What was it? Was it music, the smiles of those with whom I worked with, a loved one, was it Khushi? I stopped abruptly, never in my life had I meant anyone named Khushi, than why suddenly was I dying to meet someone, was it because of Kripa's arrival in my life or merely a dream that I was playing in my mind constantly while trying to find those unexplainable answers to my odd questions.

"Well whatever, Angad, time for bed; you have a date tomorrow with Kripa Kaur" smiling to myself I fell into a deep restless slumber. Oddly enough, which I wasn't really surprised about; in the middle of the night I lay awake, trying my hardest to go to sleep but that awfully terrifying dream or nightmare, had robbed me of a weeks worth of sleep.

In the middle of an unknown place, I stood dressed in white clothes, staring at something burning before my eyes. Completely frozen, the tears in my eyes completely dried out, the beating of my heart, slowed to a mere thump every few seconds and the breathing my lungs required increased rapidly as I gasped for air. I threw my hands towards my neck, trying to pry away the sharp, metal clasp of those deadly hands around my throat. But in vain, nothing was holding me back, instead I had turned against myself failing to recognize my true identity; only sucking myself into a pit of questions and agony.

Finally I pried myself away and ran for it; what I saw next hit me like a bolt of lightning, in front of me played out the sequence of two men; one completely powerful than the other, his hold on the weaker filled with a frenzy of madness. I watched on, completely absorbed by their fight. Blood gushed from one person to the other, both of their face's a mere blur, but their white clothes were full of pure blood. Nothing but blood. I watched in horror, at the words that slipped through the weaker man's mouth, "it was lust, and I'd do it again, that body, everything about her, I'd do it again, again and again until I could have no more…..your just upset that I had her before you could!" And BAM! The stronger of the men, threw a blow to his face, and a crack silenced the room. "Don't you ever talk about her like that you ….you are going to die today Pri.." the words slipped through my mouth as if I knew them. It was as if I was singing along to my favorite song; but no here I was realizing the words to this horrifying experience.

And BAM; the scene changed drastically again; in front of me, a room of hundreds of people dressed in white crying their hearts out. And in the middle lay a body of a young woman, dead, no longer breathing, her face a blur; I watched in horror. "Nahin, Kr…, don't leave me; I can't live without you, please come back…" a young man cried out for her, slapping and shaking her continuously in hope of finding a heartbeat, or a breathing, a touch anything to see she was fine.

Again the scene flashed, this time towards a graveyard, in the middle of the field, burnt away the ashes of a woman, and in the front stood a broken man…crying his heart out, his face a blur but the agony his presence brought; sent chills down my spine. I woke with a startle as his heart gave out, my eyes bursting open, sweat pouring down my face. Boy, did meeting Kripa Sharma have its negatives….

*****

The next morning, [a week after first ak meeting] Angad walked into his office, hoping to find some rest, peace, or anything possible to take his mind off of last nights horrible memories; at the dining table this morning was he only capable of holding up a happy face; though that was what gave away his fear. It was easy to read him like an open book, but before any questions could be asked he was out the door, and driving off to work, where peace awaited him and he too with anxious eyes.

"Good morning Angad!" a pleasant voice called out from behind me; I turned around and glanced at the door, no one was there but then again where did the voice come from, and why was I so scared, was it the effect of last nights dreams. Shaking my head back and forth, I headed towards my desk, falling on my chair while hitting the intercom button on the phone to order up a strong black coffee; perhaps that would awaken me from my sleepless night. "Angad!" the same sweet voice called out to me; I glanced up, looking around but no one was there. "Angad, here is your file, hurry and give it to Mr. Sharma, oh and Ayesha can't come today, she is sick!" I blinked furiously, where the hell was this coming from. Who was Mr. Sharma, why was I supposed to give him a file, and who is Ayesha? I questioned my confused self, trying to find any hidden answers inside my heart or head that had been locked away but nope I came up short with a TING.

"Angad, sorry I came late!" the same sweet voice called out to me. I looked away, pushing my hands towards my face, and screamed, "get away, go away, leave me alone, what have I done that you keep haunting me!" Moments later, I sat at my desk, my head hanging in my hands, and fear completely swiped across my forehead. I look up this time again, "Angad, are you okay?" the same sweet voice called but this time scared; as if I were to hurt her. In front of me stood Kripa, dressed in a blue churidaar, kneeling before me, the tension clearly visible on her face. I force myself to smile but that truly wasn't necessary, one glance at her and all pain was invisible; I nodded slightly and smiled at her. "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't scare you…lets just say a rough night!" I winked at her and turned to sip on my coffee.

She sat down quietly in the chair before me; something truly had knocked her off course. I stared at her impatiently, the clock ticked on but she just fidgeted with her fingers. "Kripa, how many times do I have to tell you stop fiddling with your fingers; its so annoying yaar…I know something is on your mind when your face looks like that, now speak…I've got all day for you Buddhu!" the words slipped from my mouth. I stared on while she stared back frozen. "Angad, did you just say that to me?" she asked slightly shaken.

"I think I just did, something is wrong Kripa!" I spoke with an uneasy shakiness in my voice. We sat in silence before she responded, "Angad, you never told me to fidget with my fingers before and neither have I don't that before you…and it's only the second time I am hanging out with you…how come you know that this is when I have something-on-my-mind-look?" she asked frightened and confused. I stared back at her uneasy; and then something on my face knocked her off course. She stood up abruptly, and rushed towards the couch, holding her head in her hands in pain. I rushed towards her afraid. What was happening to us?

"Kripa, Kripa are you okay, do you need me to call uncle, or I can take you home so Khushi can have a look at you, I'm sure mom made something as well and…" I stopped again; we both snapped our heads up to stare at one another at the power of one touch. "Angad, I don't know, but I think you are the only person I can tell this after dada-bhai, since I was younger, I get these black and white negative flashbacks, hard to make out, always of a girl and a guy…the girl dies and the guy dies in her memory…but now that I met you, since last night they have been stronger, I hear what they say, I just cant see faces….or hear names…Angad I don't know whats wrong with me, but all I know is it has to do something with you…." her voice stopped at the end.

"Your right Kripa, I have the same thing going on, and its been rising over the top with you around…I keep saying things I never mean to say…about people I don't know, I see the same dream over and over again and yet it doesn't forget to terrify me…but last night was out of control…after you walked out of this cabin it was as if you sucked the breath out of me, and stopped my heart. I don't know what it is Kripa but we are badly screwed up! We both need help!"

"But from whom? Everyone will think we are crazy, only dada-bhai knows about my dreams…does anyone in your family know?" Kripa hesitated as she spoke, "Yeah my bhai knows, Aditya!" Both glanced at one another and rushed out the door. "Hello, dada-bhai can you please come to the coffee shop near our home? Its urgent, I really need to talk to you! K thank you bhai, yeah see you here, love you!" angad stared at Kripa, she had totally panicked at the end, perhaps these dreams of hers were over the top as well. I gulped, and dialed bhai's number, "hey bhai, can you please come to the coffee Shop, Starbucks please, yeah, it's urgent!" he clicked the phone shut and stared at Kripa, she was frightened both were frightened and needed family to support them.

The past week had been dreadful for both of them, only now did they feel safe but yet the horrible dreams never stopped, and grew worse day by day, slipping occasionally in the middle of the day or anywhere….perhaps they both were a bad influence to one another. In fear they shook it off and grasped on to their hands, breathing evenly.

Half an hour passed and before them stood Aditya and Karan; both scared and startled to see them together. "Bhaiyya this is very important, Aditya sir can you please listen as well; this is a very important and scary thing in both of our lives, only you two can help us…so please listen to us…." Kripa spoke, revealing the dreams, the nightmares, the incidents between both of them and Angad followed her lead doing the same. By the end of the conversation, Aditya was calling a friend.

"Hello Armaan, I think we need your help, no Angad its serious, he's having flashbacks about something but he has never been through them, and you are the only person who can help us, please come as soon as possible to the star bucks a few miles away from the hospital. Thanx man!" he spoke while Karan pulled a frightened Kripa into a tight hug and caressed her hair. Angad stared on with a smile at their love with one another…their brother-sister bond was strong enough to come through more powerful with every blow. He smiled and looked away.

*****

"Hey, nice to meet you Angad, right? And you must be the lovely gorgeous lady, Kripa, pleasure to meet both of you!" Armaan's cheerful voice rang to both of them. In a matter of moments, all five found themselves talking seriously about their condition. Armaan asked questions about their sanity at first and then was startled after knowing for nearly 12 years both had been seeing the same nightmares. Finally after hours of discussion, he reached a conclusion, "I think you two need to work this out together, and search up the people who you believe you hear in these dreams. For example Angad you always think of Kripa, here as Kripa Kaur, a punjaban when clearly she isn't. Try researching up some information about one another and Kripa in your case you have to do the same, instead of thinking Khanna you think Kapoor, look up Kripa Kaur and Angad Kapoor perhaps that will lead us somewhere…anywhere possible!" Armaan spoke scared for both of them and yet happy to know he was helping someone.

"Thanx man, this is very helpful…" all the men started at once, Armaan flashed them a grin, "its what friends are for…"