A/N: Abhirika haters, stay away from this chapter. Or this entire story! Please!
Chapter 2
..
A vast ocean of unspoken emotions were exchanged in those few seconds when they stared into each other's eyes. There's was a kind of relationship where every single feeling perfectly reached the deepest corner of their hearts, naming which was never a necessity.
He hated seeing tears in her eyes. He hated it when she expressed having pain within her. It broke him, weakening every nerve in him and made him vulnerable. To the world, to their relationship, to the entire world. Yet, she knew she could cry openly in front of him, wail on his shoulders, unashamed, pondering over nothing.
The situation was similar. When she came into his vision, her eyes were already swollen, tears adamantly refusing to halt. He took one good look at her, and momentarily closed his eyes.
There were no words spoken. She didn't ask him how their patient was, and neither did he tell her about the development. Within the next couple of seconds, his eyes communicated what was to be told – ranging from helplessness, despair, concern and finally an unnamed assurance.
She simply reached over and hugged him. Tight. The tears still spilling hard, now dampening a part of his shirt. He hugged her tighter, rubbing her back with utmost gentleness and patiently let her sob over his shoulder.
Like every other time, the embrace was essential to calm the agony making abode in their hearts, healing them in the exact manner that was needed for them to stand strong and face the times ahead.
"She will be fine. The surgery has been successful." Abhijeet spoke after a long time, still not letting go of the hug, his voice muffled by her curls.
"I… I shouldn't have let her go alone." She cried, her breathing turning raspy.
"Tarika! It's not your fault!"
"Wh-when will she wake up?" She asked amidst breathless gasps and he returned a feeble smile, probably the first for that evening.
"She will, very soon."
With that, Tarika went back to resting her head on Abhijeet's shoulder, her cries turning mild by then. Abhijeet continued caressing hair curls.
For traumatic instances like these, he could perfectly sympathize with his girlfriend, the varied range of emotions she was going through. For he himself had been a victim of that excruciating agony, an unseen wound pricking like a thousand needles, many a times when his own best friend struggled between life and death.
The times when his best friend bled profusely, when a glass door of the hospital became a barrier between the two, between telling him how much he mattered seemed much more painful than taking a bullet to his chest or confronting a near fatal injury.
Therefore, when Tarika needed to wail uncontrollably and sought comfort in him, he thought he must prioritize it without hesitation, even though his own mind refused to be rational.
And Tarika and Tasha had been inseparable for twenty-seven years.
The indomitable, chirpy talks about their childhood memories that Tarika always shared with him swam in front of Abhijeet's eyes, and he violently shook his head to stop himself. Breaking down was certainly not an option. Not then.
"Let her wake up. I'm going to beat the hell out of her for sleeping for so long!" Tarika spoke, attempting to wipe her face in vain, as fresh tears made their way down her cheeks.
In spite of himself, Abhijeet couldn't help chuckling. He had always admired the peculiar manner how they expressed their friendship, their affection without ever making a straight statement about it.
A related memory sprung before him as Tarika blabbered about how mad she was at Tasha for never listening to her.
..
"How come you land yourself in trouble every single time?" Tarika muttered, as soon as she entered the room, witnessing her best friend's bandaged leg. Without wasting time in enquiries, she stomped the first aid box on the bed and started attending to the several minor bruises the latter had acquired due to hiding in uncomfortable places in a dilapidated building during an encounter, and later during a fight with two goons.
Tasha gave her best friend a look. "Tarika, you can at least pretend to care, bitch! I have a fractured leg, for God's sake!"
"As if that's going to stop you from annoying me!" Tarika scowled, applying the stingy ointment on Tasha's arm, making her wince in pain.
"Oww! Be a little gentle, will you? Aunty!"
"By the way, this bandage sure looks funny on you!" Tarika sniggered, bursting into intermittent giggles as she pointed at the said bandage before turning to Abhijeet who was standing in a corner, silently watching the banter between two best friends, smiling in amusement.
"Did you guys manage to take a video of her falling and breaking that damned leg?" She asked, hitting Tasha on the same leg and the latter howled in pain as she picked up the book lying on the side table and threw it on Tarika.
Abhijeet widened his eyes in horror. "Tarika! Your best friend is hurt, you need to be concerned about her. What are you talking about?"
"Ohh concern, my foot! This nincompoop will be fit and fine in no time! And till then, it will be fun watching her holding crutches and limping everywhere." With that, she erupted into fresh fits of laughter.
Abhijeet shook his head in exasperation.
"Go away! Stupid useless piece of shit!" Tasha snarled.
..
When he returned back, he saw Tarika looking at him, her small brown eyes boring into his.
He had stared into those eyes countless times before. Dwelled in them, witnessed the world through them. For Abhijeet, they were a different universe altogether. The one where everything appeared peaceful, serene. The gates of which despondency, melancholy were never allowed to be a part of.
And like the countless times as he had felt before, he saw himself drowning in those eyes. In their relationship over the past years, they had learned to communicate a thousand emotions just by staring into each other's eyes. Oblivious of anything around, for them, the outside world ceased to exist.
Although never a man displaying affection in public, Abhijeet held Tarika close, brushing his hand against her cheek and lending her a faint smile. Exactly what she needed at that moment, and he knew that!
Their trance was broken by his name being called yet again, and this time they turned to face the head of the team, his features perturbed yet solemn.
Abhijeet had now let go of Tarika, albeit holding on to her finger and ACP Pradyuman perfectly understood. With evident wariness, the father figure enquired about their subordinate and heaved a breath of relief as Abhijeet provided the details.
The assistant commissioner settled on a nearby chair, seemingly distressed and tired.
"You go home and take rest, sir. Tarika and I will stay here till they move Tasha to the room. And anyway, Freddy, Vivek and Da-"
"I'm not going anywhere!," bellowed ACP Pradyuman in a voice shakier than he had imagined. "I'm not going anywhere till I see my girl!"
Abhijeet placed a gentle hand over his boss' shoulder, not feeling the need to utter a single word.
"Tarika? Abhijeet sir?"
The three of them turned around to see the rest of their colleagues arrive and needless to say, Freddy was already in tears.
"H-how did th-this h-happen sir? What's happened t-to m-my child?" The inspector gasped, collapsing on a chair beside ACP Pradyuman, and the latter gently rubbed his back. "There, there, Freddy! Tasha will be fine. She's a strong girl. And we're there for her, aren't we?"
Daya walked over to his best friend and simply looked at him. Abhijeet shook his head and stared down. No words were exchanged. It was understood.
Taking a glance around, Abhijeet saw Vivek standing in a corner all by himself, gazing continuously at the wall before him. Since the time he had come, he didn't speak a word, didn't ask about Tasha… and neither did he shed a single tear.
The senior inspector signalled Tarika, gesturing her to go ahead. He figured they both needed to console each other, better than the rest of the team would, in that situation.
Abhijeet, despite being possessive about Tarika, was never against the closeness she shared with Vivek. He understood the bond that existed between Tarika, Vivek and Tasha, and he knew what they both meant to Tarika.
"We'll do everything possible, Vivek. Every damn thing we can do to make Tasha come back to us! You just don't lose hope, ok?" Tarika spoke, cupping Vivek's face in her hands and made him look at her.
"Vivek, please say something!" The time, it was Freddy who walked over to his closest friend, and shook him violently in an attempt to revive the latter out from the shock he had gone in.
In spite of the helpless efforts of Tarika and Freddy, Vivek still stared at the wall, his face unfathomable of any expression, his eyes painfully calm and empty. And then, all of a sudden, he took Tarika in a tight embrace and wailed. Sobbed aggressively, like a kid crying over an awful exam result.
Tarika held him quietly, letting him empty all the accumulated despair, becoming aware of own tears pricking her eyes.
They were interrupted by a nurse with the news of Tasha having been shifted to the intensive care unit, and that they were finally allowed to see her, albeit from outside the room as it was way past the visiting hours.
Tarika pressed hard on the glass separating her and her best friend and she turned around, burying her head in Abhijeet's chest.
"I-I ca-can't see her l-like this! I just can't!"
Abhijeet himself caught a glimpse of his subordinate being put on a life support, her head wrapped in a heavy bandage. He screwed his eyes shut, fresh tears streaming down, and his otherwise rigid heart crumbled into tiny pieces.
The rest of them went through a similar turmoil, witnessing their colleague, who they had always seen so full of life, suddenly lying comatose, swinging beneath the boulders of life and death.
"I think you all should go home, now. It's too late!" said the same nurse who had delivered the previous news.
With a hefty, agonizing burden on their hearts and tears that refused to halt, they were forced to exit the premises of the hospital, leaving a thousand prayers and a part of their souls on the other side of the ICU room.
A/N: This story will have a series of flashbacks. Stay tuned for the further chapters, as the story is now about to begin.
However, it will be difficult for me to update until January, as I have to meet a deadline at work before the Christmas vacations. Request you all to consider this. Thank you!