Chapter 14
(Part I)
Three days and three nights went by..Ruks woke up, but neither did she say a word to Mirza nor Jalal..The officers came by to inquire about the accident, given the fact that it was her car that was speeding at the highway, being followed closely by Abdul…But all she could utter bursting in tears was, “Has Abdul gotten conscious..Is he doing okay??” Jalal finally interferred and stopped the officers from any further inquiry..For some reason it was the first time he had seen Ruks so shaken, broken..No consolation from Mirza or Jalal could ease her..All she would keep repeating in a frantic daze, “I almost killed Abdul..just so you know if anything happens to him..Its all kz of me”…Jo’s surgery went well, the clot had been removed…Abdul was out of the critical zone, breathing yet bashed with injuries beyond count….Still, neither he nor Jo had woken up..Ruks who had, remained curled in her room..again only speaking to inquire, if Abdul woke up…She had no idea, that Jo was in the hospital too…
All these three days and nights Jalal kept switching places to stay by Jo, Abdul and Ruks…Shibani didn’t leave Jo’s side for the whole two days n nights..It was only the evening of third day that Jalal, insisted Adi to take her home..kz if he didn’t, Jalal was afraid that she might faint given the lack of sleep and ofcourse the scarce food that she had been taking…With Adi’s persistence and Jalal’s assurance Shibani reluctantly agreed and Adi took her home…These three days for some reason neither Jalal’s body craved food, nor sleep…It was like as if his mind had completely shut off its connection with his body..The dreaded thought, that things might get worse was eating Jalal from within…The panic, followed by his in-vain attempts to pull himself back in control left him physically exhausted and emotionally drained…Only if God could show him mercy this once, just this once…
It had been couple of hours after Shibani left. 3’am in the morning and Jalal had been sitting by Jo’s side, listening to the beeping monitor, the consistent sound of dripping IV, Jo’s sound of breathing…She looked frail with all those needles inserted and bandages around her scalp and forehead, yet serene…Jalal absent mindedly held her palm in his hand…and touched her cheeks with his other hand…The touch was so bare that Jalal’s finger hardly had touched Jo’s face when she suddenly leaned into his palm…The weight of her cheeks completely pressed against Jalal’s palm…Before Jalal could comprehend what was happening, Jo flexed her fingers that were entangled with jalal’s..She opened her eyes..Jalal swallowed a lump in his throat, released a held breath…he pressed his lashes to squeeze off the thin film of moisture that was hazing his vision..but the moment he opened them again, they were flooded..He barely managed to whisper, “You’re awake??
Jo, in an extremely vain attempt to give a weak smile, simply nodded, and inaudibly whispered back, “You look terrible”…
Jalal as dazed as he was, managed to move his arms from underneath Jo’s face and pressed the button next to her bedside…The attendant came barging in, but Jalal kept staring at Jo, as if she would slip again if he turned his face the other way..Without looking at the attendant, he spoke again, “Please send in the doctor..She is awake”…The attendent left hurriedly to inform the doc…
A myriad of emotions flooded Jalal’s gaze, pain, grief, guilt, joy, gratitude and Jalal couldn’t find a single word to compile them together..He brought Jo’s palm that was still held in his, and pressed them to his lips and then to his heart..Jo felt as if she was seeing someone who would crumble if she even gave a mild nudge..The mighty “Jalal’ud’din Mohd” looked astoundingly devastated, defeated and direly at her mercy..If she was mildly dazed, Jalal’s condition had awoken her completely…She looked empathetically towards Jalal, and following an innate reflex pulled her palm that was still entwined with jalal’s, pressed against his heart..With no resistance, jalal followed her pull and settled his head on her shoulder..Warm thick drops of his tears trickled down onto Jo’s neck, fanned by his laboured heated breath..Jo nuzzled her cheeks into his disheveled tresses, and spoke, “I’m okay..Really…A fortune teller once told me, I’ve a long life..Only a canon can kill me”…Jalal couldn’t stop himself from staring into Jo’s eyes..The audacity of his girl that despite being in that incoherent condition she was still trying to comfort him..Dumbfounded he looked at Jo, who gave a small peck at the tip of his nose..Repeating again, “Really..!” with an assuring blink of her eye, and a weak honey glazed smile on her face…A gush of warmth and serenity whipped Jalal’s heart, and he dropped his head again, back in the heavenly crook of Jo’s shoulder…His heart hammered against his chest, with the silent gratitude, “Oh God! Thankyou..For having saved my life”…
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