CHAPTER 55! WOULD HE? #2
"I knew he would. A man who is serious about a woman doesn't run when he meets her mother."
?Kashvi's smile trembled. "I didn't know what happiness was supposed to feel like anymore."
?"Maybe this is what it feels like," Aadhira whispered.
?Kashvi looked toward the grass where Ayaan was playing, then back at Aadhira. Her smile softened into something deeply honest, almost vulnerable.
?"I used to think happiness was something other people got, Aadhi. I was terrified for so long. Terrified that because of me, his relationship with Aryav would be completely ruined. I was scared to say I wanted a future because... what if I lost it?"
?Aadhira reached for her hand.
"And now?"
?Kashvi took a slow breath, her eyes glistening. "Now I want to say it anyway. I want annoying mornings. Stupid fights. Stealing his shirts. Growing old with him."
?Aadhira pulled her into a tight, grounding hug. "You deserve all of it."
?Kashvi closed her eyes against her shoulder. "So do you."
?The words landed quietly. Aadhira didn't answer. For a moment, neither woman spoke while the wind moved through the banyan leaves overhead.
?"Mumma!" Ayaan's voice broke the silence.
?They both looked up. Ayaan stood near the boundary gate, pointing excitedly across the road where the neon sign of an ice cream parlor had just flickered to life. "Ice cream!"
?Aadhira pushed herself up. "After dinner, sweetheart. Come here now."
?Ayaan's face fell, crossing his arms. "MUMMA! Now."
?Kashvi laughed, standing up beside her. "Aadhi, you're trying to negotiate with a seven-year-old."
?Aadhira rolled her eyes with a soft chuckle. "And losing."
?Ayaan grinned. Then, before either woman could reach him, he slipped through the open boundary gate and stepped onto the pavement.
?The guard immediately turned, shoving his phone into his pocket and moving toward the boy. But Kashvi was already closer.
?"Ayaan, stop!" Kashvi ran after him. Ayaan reached the narrow concrete divider and spun around, grinning when he saw her coming.
"Masi!"
?Kashvi stepped off the curb to grab him. "Got you-"
?A horn exploded through the street-deafening, violent, completely out of place.
?Kashvi's smile vanished. Her head snapped toward the sound.
Across the road, the massive front grill of a heavy delivery truck came rounding the blind corner far too fast.
?For one terrible second, everything suspended. Aadhira saw the truck. Then Ayaan. Then Kashvi.
?"KASHVI!"
?Kashvi lunged, shoving Ayaan back onto the curb.
?The tires screamed.
?The world shattered.
?Kashvi's body struck the asphalt with a sickening force before rolling several feet away.
?For one suspended second, Aadhira couldn't understand what she was seeing.
?Kashvi was on the road.
?Ayaan was standing on the pavement.
?The truck had stopped.
?Someone was screaming.
?Someone else was shouting for an ambulance.
?But all Aadhira could hear was the violent pounding of her own heart.
?Then-
?"Kashvi!"
?She ran.
?She dropped to her knees so hard the impact shot pain through her legs, but she barely felt it.
?Kashvi lay frighteningly still. Her eyes were closed. Her face had lost all color, and blood was already spreading beneath her.
?"No..."
?Aadhira's hands hovered uselessly for half a second. She didn't know where to touch her.
She didn't know what to do. Then instinct took over, and she pressed both hands against the worst of the bleeding.
?"Kashvi."
?Nothing.
?"Kashvi, open your eyes." Her voice cracked. "Please."
?Still nothing.
?Aadhira leaned closer, her hands shaking violently. "Ankhein kholo, Kashvi. Please."
?She looked toward the crowd. "Someone call an ambulance!"
?"Please, hurry!"
?Aadhira looked back down. "Kashvi, look at me." Her fingers were slippery with blood. "Don't do this to me."
?Her breathing came faster. "You were just laughing." A tear slipped down her cheek. "You were just talking about Vivaan." Her voice broke completely.
"You said you wanted a future."
?Kashvi didn't move.
?Aadhira shook her head. "No. No, you're not leaving."
?Behind her, a small voice trembled. "Mumma..."
?Aadhira froze. She turned.
?Ayaan stood on the pavement, completely motionless.
His little face had gone white, his eyes fixed on Kashvi.
?Aadhira's heart broke. She couldn't leave Kashvi, but she couldn't leave her son.
?"Don't move, baby," the words came out breathlessly. "Stay right there."
?Ayaan nodded, but his lower lip was trembling.
?A shadow moved near him. One of the Singhania guards had reached him and immediately placed himself between the child and the road. "Ma'am," the guard called. "I've got him."
?Aadhira nodded without looking away from Kashvi.
?Then she heard it-a siren. Far away, growing louder.
?"Come on..." She pressed harder. "Please, Kashvi."
?The ambulance arrived moments later. Paramedics rushed toward them.
?"Move back!"
?"She has severe trauma!"
?"Pulse?"
?"Faint."
?"Get the stretcher."
?Aadhira refused to move until one of the paramedics gently caught her wrist. "Ma'am, we need space."
?"She needs me."
?"We need to treat her."
?Aadhira stared at him. For a second, she couldn't understand the sentence. Then she slowly moved back.
Her hands came away from Kashvi's body completely red. The sight made her stomach twist.
?The paramedics lifted Kashvi onto the stretcher. Aadhira followed immediately. "I'll come with her."
?One of them nodded. "Fine. Stay out of the way."
?Aadhira climbed into the ambulance. Then she remembered-
?"Ayaan!"
?She turned. The guard was already bringing him toward the vehicle.
?"Mumma!"
?Aadhira reached for him. "Come here."
?Ayaan climbed into her arms. She held him tightly with one hand while the other remained pressed against Kashvi's shoulder.
?The ambulance doors slammed shut. The siren screamed, and the city disappeared behind them.
?The emergency-room doors burst open. Doctors and nurses rushed Kashvi through.
?"Female, approximately-"
?"Blood pressure dropping."
?"Trauma bay three."
?"Get the blood bank on standby."
?Aadhira followed until a nurse stepped directly in front of her. "Ma'am, you can't come any further."
?"She's my friend."
?"I understand, but you need to wait here."
?Aadhira stared through the glass. Kashvi disappeared behind swinging doors, and suddenly-there was nothing left for her to do. No blood to press. No hand to hold. No instruction to follow. Nothing.
?She simply stood there.
?Ayaan tugged at her clothes. "Mumma..."
?Aadhira looked down. He was staring at her hands. She followed his gaze. Blood covered them-her fingers, her palms, her wrists, her clothes.
?For the first time, the reality of what had happened seemed to reach her. Her lips parted.
She tried to breathe, but the breath caught halfway. She tried again. Nothing.
?"Mumma?"
?Aadhira immediately crouched in front of him. "I'm okay, baby." The lie came automatically.
?Ayaan's eyes filled. "And Masi?"
?Aadhira swallowed.
"Masi will we fine too."
?Ayaan's face crumpled. "Is she hurt Because I ran?"
?"No." The answer came instantly.
Aadhira took his face between her hands. "Listen to me. This is not your fault."
?"But Masi came because-"
?"She chose to protect you." Aadhira's voice trembled. "She loves you. Do you understand?"
?Ayaan nodded weakly.
"She's going to be okay?"
?Aadhira stared at him. She desperately wanted to promise, but she couldn't lie to him again. "She has doctors with her."
?Ayaan sniffed.
"They'll help her ok."
?He nodded, then suddenly wrapped both arms around her.
Aadhira pulled him against her chest, and that was when her body finally started shaking.
She closed her eyes, held him tighter, and whispered into his hair, "Please be okay."
?She wasn't sure whether she was talking to Kashvi or asking God.
?Minutes passed. Then more. The corridor slowly emptied. The crowd from the accident disappeared, the paramedics disappeared, and the emergency doors opened and closed. Opened. Closed.
Every time they opened, Aadhira's head snapped toward them. Every time they closed, her heart sank again.
?Ayaan eventually fell asleep against her, his little fingers still curled into the fabric of her sleeve.
Aadhira didn't move. She sat beneath the harsh hospital lights, staring at the operating-room doors.
?Twenty minutes. Thirty. Forty. An hour.
?She checked the clock, then stopped. She didn't want to know anymore.
?A nurse passed. Aadhira stood immediately. "Excuse me."
?The nurse slowed. "My friend. Kashvi."
?"She is still in surgery."
?"Is she-"
?The nurse gave her a sympathetic look. "The doctors are working." And then she was gone.
?Aadhira slowly sat again. Her hands were beginning to dry, the blood turning dark and cracking between her fingers.
She rubbed her thumb against her palm. Nothing. She rubbed harder. Still nothing.
?Her breathing became uneven. She looked down at the sleeping boy beside her, then at the blood, then at the operating-room doors.
Something inside her finally broke.
With one hand cradling her son's head, she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed the one person who could protect them without asking questions.
Reyansh answered on the second ring. "Aadhi?"
"Come to City Hospital," she said flatly. "Please." And cut the call.
?She carefully lifted Ayaan into the nearby chair and covered him with her shawl. "Stay here."
?The guard stepped forward. "I won't leave him."
?Aadhira nodded and walked away. Not quickly, not with purpose-just away.
?The restroom door closed behind her. Silence.
?Aadhira reached the sink and turned on the tap. Cold water struck her hands. She stared at the red spiraling down the drain. Once. Twice. She rubbed harder, her fingers trembling.
?"Bhagwan ji..." Her voice broke. "Please."
?She pressed her palms beneath the water. "Please, Kashvi..."
?Her shoulders began shaking. "Sab sahi chal raha tha."