Chapter 24 Come Back To Me
Hospitals had always terrified Ekansh Rathore.
Not because of pain.
Not because of blood.
Because hospitals took people away from him.
First his mother.
Now
maybe his wife.
The ICU hallway felt suffocatingly cold as doctors rushed past continuously.
Every second stretched endlessly.
Every machine sound made his chest tighten harder.
Then one sentence shattered whatever little stability remained.
A doctor spoke quietly to another nurse nearby
"If she doesn't regain consciousness within twenty-four hours, coma risk increases."
Ekansh heard every word.
And instantly
something snapped.
Before anyone could react, he grabbed the doctor violently by the collar and slammed him against the wall.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
The hallway froze.
Nurses gasped.
The doctor looked terrified immediately.
Ekansh's eyes looked completely unhinged now.
"You bring her back," he snarled shakily.
"Or I swear-"
"Boss!"
Vivaan Khanna immediately pulled him back forcefully.
"STOP!"
But Ekansh barely seemed present anymore.
Panic had consumed logic completely.
"She can't-" his breathing turned uneven again, "she can't leave."
The doctor escaped quickly while Vivaan held Ekansh tightly by the shoulders.
"Listen to me."
No response.
"BOSS!"
Finally Ekansh looked at him.
And Vivaan's chest hurt instantly.
Because the feared mafia lord looked terrified like a child again.
"She's fighting," Vivaan said firmly.
"You losing control won't help her."
Ekansh's breathing remained rough.
Then quietly
The ICU room was painfully silent.
Machines beeped steadily around Aarohi Mehra as she lay unconscious beneath pale white lights.
Her bridal bangles were replaced with IV tubes around her wrist.
Red sindoor remained faintly in her hairline.
And somehow
that nearly destroyed Ekansh more.
Because she still looked like his bride.
Just fragile now.
Too fragile.
He approached slowly like he feared touching her might hurt more.
Then finally sat beside her bed.
His fingers gently wrapped around her hand.
Cold.
Too cold.
Ekansh lowered his head briefly.
Then quietly
"Everyone leaves."
Silence answered him.
His thumb brushed weakly across her knuckles.
"My mother left."
His voice sounded hollow.
"Maybe not by choice. But she still left."
A shaky breath escaped him.
"And I spent years thinking it was because loving me was exhausting."
Tears burned his eyes again.
"But then you came."
He looked at her face silently.
"You stayed."
His voice cracked.
"You loved me when I was impossible."
One tear slipped down his face slowly.
"And now this happened because of me."
The guilt was eating him alive.
"I should've protected you."
His grip on her hand tightened carefully.
"You know the funny part?" he whispered brokenly. "I spent my whole life believing I didn't deserve love."
Another tear fell.
"And the moment I finally got it..."
His breathing faltered.
"She got shot."
The room stayed painfully quiet.
Still he kept talking.
For two straight hours.
Like he was terrified silence itself might take her away.
He told her about the first day he saw her.
How her touch calmed him.
How sleeping beside her felt safer than any guarded mansion.
How he smiled again because of her.
How he prayed for the first time because of her.
And through it all
silent tears kept falling down his face.
Not loud sobs.
Just quiet devastation.
Eventually the ICU door opened softly.
Vivaan entered carefully.
Then stopped completely.
Because Ekansh sat there broken beside the bed holding Aarohi's hand like his own heartbeat depended on it.
Vivaan's throat tightened unexpectedly.
"Boss..."
No response.
"You should freshen up."
"I'm not leaving."
"You need rest."
"No."
Vivaan sighed softly.
Then tried differently.
"Doctor bhabhi would hate seeing her husband like this."
Silence.
That worked.
Because immediately Ekansh looked down at the dried blood still staining his clothes.
Aarohi wouldn't like that.
Slowly
he stood.
"I'll come back fast."
Like he was asking permission from an unconscious woman.
Vivaan looked away emotionally.
Half an hour later, Ekansh returned in fresh clothes immediately.
Straight back to her bedside.
Straight back to holding her hand.
Eventually exhaustion dragged at his body again.
Still weak from fever.
Still emotionally shattered.
But he refused to leave.
Finally sometime past midnight, sitting beside her bed while staring at her face
Ekansh fell asleep.
-
BEEEEEP.
The violent machine sound shattered the room instantly.
Ekansh woke with a start.
Aarohi's body jerked violently against the bed as her breathing became erratic.
Hyperventilating.
Pulse crashing.
"AAROHI!"
He immediately pressed the emergency button frantically.
Doctors and nurses rushed inside within seconds.
Ekansh grabbed her hand desperately.
"Baby, breathe"
But Aarohi's body convulsed harder suddenly.
A doctor immediately checked monitors.
"Pulse unstable!"
Another nurse prepared emergency injections rapidly.
"Sir, please step outside."
"No!"
Ekansh refused instantly.
One doctor injected medication into Aarohi's IV line while another shouted instructions rapidly.
"Pressure dropping!"
The machines screamed louder.
Ekansh's chest tightened violently.
Because suddenly
it felt exactly like years ago again.
White lights.
Doctors shouting.
His mother disappearing.
Panic exploded inside him instantly.
"No no no"
"Sir, MOVE!"
Finally Vivaan and Rishabh Mehra physically pulled him outside the ICU.
Ekansh fought them desperately.
"LET ME GO!"
Then he heard it.
"SEPTIC SHOCK!"
The words destroyed him completely.
Because his mother had gone into shock too.
And never came back afterward.
The hallway blurred around him.
His hands shook violently.
"No..."
Vivaan held him tightly as Ekansh completely broke down again.
"No please."
For the first time in years
the feared mafia lord openly prayed.
Right there in the hospital hallway.
Hands trembling.
Eyes shut tightly.
"Take everything," he whispered shakily to God. "Just not her."
Inside the ICU
doctors fought desperately.
Shock paddles pressed against Aarohi's chest.
Her body jerked violently from the first shock.
No stable pulse.
Second shock.
Still unstable.
Outside, Ekansh nearly collapsed hearing everything.
Third shock.
A long terrifying silence followed.
Then suddenly
"Pulse returning!"
The room erupted into urgent relief.
Minutes later, the doctor finally stepped outside exhausted.
Everyone stood instantly.
Ekansh looked unable to breathe.
Then the doctor spoke.
"She's stable now."
Relief crashed through the hallway violently.
"The septic shock is controlled. She should regain consciousness within a few hours."
Ekansh closed his eyes instantly.
Thank God.
Thank God.
The second permission was given, he rushed back inside the ICU.
Aarohi still looked pale beneath the dim lights.
But alive.
Alive.
Ekansh sat beside her immediately and grabbed her hand carefully again.
His forehead rested weakly against it.
"You scared me."
His voice shook badly.
Then quietly
"Open your eyes fast."
A tiny broken laugh escaped him.
"I can't wait anymore."
His fingers intertwined with hers gently.
"Please come back to me, wife."