F U N E R A L
The drive to the hospital felt endless.
My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles had turned white. The rain kept hitting the windshield, the wipers moving frantically back and forth, but my vision still felt blurred.
One thought kept repeating in my mind.
She can’t be dead.
No.
It wasn’t possible.
I had just spoken to her hours ago.
She had been crying… begging me not to leave.
The memory made something twist painfully in my chest.
I pressed the accelerator harder.
“Please…” I whispered to no one.
“Please let this be wrong.”
The hospital building finally came into view.
I didn’t even bother parking properly.
I slammed the car door shut and ran toward the entrance.
Inside, the bright white lights made my head spin.
People were moving everywhere, nurses, doctors, patients, but all I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
I rushed to the reception desk.
“Excuse me,” I said breathlessly.
The nurse looked up.
“Yes?”
“I’m looking for someone,” I said quickly. “Ira Veyansh.”
The moment the name left my mouth, her expression changed slightly.
“Please wait a moment,” she said.
“No,” I said quickly, my voice shaking. “Please… tell me where she is.”
The nurse hesitated.
“Are you family?”
The question made my throat tighten.
For a moment I didn’t know what to say.
Then the words slipped out.
“…I’m her b-boyfriend.”
My voice cracked embarrassingly on the word.
The nurse studied my face for a moment before nodding slowly.
“Follow me.”
My legs felt heavy as I followed her through the corridor.
Each step echoed loudly against the floor.
My chest felt tight.
My mind kept screaming the same thing.
Please be alive.
Please be alive.
The nurse stopped outside a room and pushed the door open quietly.
I stepped inside.
And froze.
Neetha aunty was crying uncontrollably beside the bed.
“IRAAAA!” she wailed, clutching the body lying there.
“My daughter! My baby!”
Arav uncle stood beside her, his face pale, tears running down his face as he held Ira’s lifeless hand.
“Ira…” he whispered hoarsely.
Their pain filled the entire room.
They were so broken. So lost in their grief.
They didn’t even notice me standing there.
My eyes slowly moved to the bed.
And my world shattered.
Ira lay there.
Completely still.
Her face was pale.
Bruises marked her skin. A cut ran across her forehead. Her white wedding dress was stained dark with dried blood.
My legs suddenly felt weak.
“No…” I whispered.
The word came out broken.
I walked toward the bed slowly.
Each step felt heavier than the last.
“No… this can’t be…”
My hand trembled as I reached out and touched her cheek.
Cold.
Too cold.
“My baby…” I whispered.
My chest tightened painfully.
“Ira…”
The moment her name left my lips, something inside me broke.
“Ira!” I cried suddenly.
The sound shocked even Neetha aunty and Arav uncle.
They looked up at me, but I barely noticed them.
My entire world was lying on that hospital bed.
“Ira, wake up!” I shouted, grabbing her shoulders gently.
“Hey… hey, stop pretending… this isn’t funny!”
My voice trembled.
“Come on… get up…”
I shook her slightly.
Nothing.
“Ira!” I screamed louder.
Tears blurred my vision as panic clawed through my chest.
“No… no no…”
My hands moved to her face, cupping it desperately.
“Look at me… please…”
My voice broke completely.
“I’m here… I came back…”
My body began shaking.
“I’m sorry, okay?” I choked out.
“I’m sorry for everything I said…”
The memory of the call flashed through my mind.
You disgust me.
My chest burned with guilt.
“I didn’t mean it…” I whispered desperately.
“Ira please… please open your eyes.”
I leaned closer, my forehead resting against hers.
“Give me another chance.”
My voice trembled violently.
“I’ll fix everything.”
Tears kept falling onto her cold skin.
“I won’t leave you again… I swear.”
My hands clutched her fingers tightly.
“You’re the only one I’ve ever loved.”
My voice cracked into a sob.
“The only one, Ira.”
“I was angry… I was stupid…”
My breathing turned uneven.
“But I never stopped loving you.”
The room stayed silent.
The machines beside the bed made no sound.
No heartbeat.
No breath.
Nothing.
“Ira…” I whispered again.
My voice broke completely.
“Please…”
My shoulders shook as I cried openly now.
“Don’t leave me like this…”
But the girl I had loved my whole life.
Didn’t move.
Didn’t answer.
And for the first time in my life.
I realized some mistakes could never be undone.
The sky above the old stone church was dull and grey.
A light wind moved through the tall trees surrounding the graveyard, rustling the leaves softly. The bells of the church had stopped ringing only a few minutes ago, but the heavy sound still seemed to echo in the air.
People stood dressed in black, their heads bowed.
The Catholic funeral Mass had ended inside the church. Candles had burned beside the altar while the priest prayed for Ira’s soul. Soft hymns had filled the quiet space.
Now everyone had gathered outside.
Near the grave.
The coffin rested above the open ground, surrounded by white flowers.
Inside it lay Ira Veyansh.
For the last time, she was dressed in white.
Not her wedding dress. The hospital had removed it days ago, stained and ruined. Instead, the funeral home had dressed her in a simple white gown, her dark hair brushed neatly over her shoulders.
She looked peaceful.
Too peaceful.
As if she were only sleeping.
But everyone standing there knew the truth.
Three days had passed.
And she had never woken up.
On the wet grass, Neetha Veyansh sat beside the coffin.
She hadn’t listened when people asked her to stand. She hadn’t cared about the mud staining her black saree. Her hands rested against the polished wood of the coffin as if she could still feel her daughter through it.
“Ira…” she whispered hoarsely.
Her voice had been raw for hours.
“Ira, wake up… please… just wake up…”
Her fingers trembled as they slid across the surface of the coffin.
“It’s been three days, baby… you can wake up now… you can stop this…”
Her shoulders shook violently as tears streamed down her face.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
A soft sob broke from her chest.
“I didn’t listen to you… I didn’t see you… I didn’t protect you…”
She pressed her forehead against the coffin.
“Please come back to mama…”
But the coffin stayed silent.
Behind her stood Arav Veyansh.
The powerful businessman who had always looked untouchable now looked years older. His shoulders were stiff, his jaw tight, but his eyes were red.
He hadn’t spoken much during the ceremony.
Not when the priest prayed.
Not when people offered condolences.
Not even when the coffin was carried outside.
But now, standing there, looking at the grave meant for his daughter, something inside him seemed to break.
His voice came out rough.
“…Ira.”
The name sounded strange on his lips.
Like he hadn’t said it enough in his life.
Arav swallowed hard, his eyes fixed on the coffin as if expecting it to move.
“…You were always so stubborn,” he said quietly.
His fingers curled slowly into fists at his sides.
“You argued… you shouted… you made mistakes…”
His voice began to shake.
“But you were still my little girl.”
He let out a broken breath.
“I should have protected you… I should have listened.”
His eyes blurred with tears.
“…Ira, if you can hear me… just wake up once.”
His voice cracked completely.
“Just once, beta.”
“I’ll do everything right this time.”
The words cracked in the middle.
He looked away quickly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
A few steps away stood Neil and Aron.
Ira’s older brothers.
For two years, they hadn’t spoken to her properly.
Not after the incidents.
Not after the humiliation she had caused the family again and again.
They had been angry.
Disappointed.
Ashamed.
And slowly, they had stopped seeing her as someone worth defending.
Neil stood stiffly with his hands in his pockets, staring at the coffin like he couldn’t believe it was real.
Aron looked worse.
His face was pale, his jaw tight as he watched their mother cry beside the coffin.
Both of them cried for hours the next day when they saw her body.
And standing here, beside the grave, made their chests tighten painfully all again.
Neil spoke first, his voice quiet.
“…She looks small.”
Aron didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the coffin.
“…She always was.”
Silence stretched between them.
Then Aron let out a shaky breath.
“…Do you remember the last thing you said to her?”
Neil’s expression hardened.
“…Don’t.”
But Aron continued anyway.
“I told her… that she was a disgrace to this family.”
His voice cracked.
“I told her not to show her face to us again.”
Neil shut his eyes.
“…I told her the same.”
They both stood there quietly.
Looking at the coffin.
Looking at the reality they had never imagined.
The sister they had ignored for years.
The sister they had pushed away again and again.
Was gone.
Aron swallowed hard.
“…She used to follow us everywhere when she was little.”
Neil looked down at the grass.
“…Yeah.”
“Always asking stupid questions.”
Neil nodded slowly.
“And we told her to shut up.”
A long silence followed.
Then Aron whispered hoarsely,
“…I wish she would ask those stupid questions again.”
Neil’s throat tightened.
Neither of them looked at each other.
Because both of them were thinking the same thing.
Please wake up.
Please give us another chance.
But the coffin remained still.
The priest stepped forward gently.
“It is time.”
The workers slowly began lowering the coffin.
Neetha screamed the moment it started moving.
“NO!”
She grabbed the coffin desperately.
“Stop! Stop!”
“Ira is still here!”
Her cries echoed across the graveyard.
“She will wake up!”
“She will wake up!”
Arav rushed forward, holding her shoulders as she struggled.
“Neetha...”
“Let her go!” she cried hysterically. “She’s cold! She’s alone down there!”
The coffin continued descending.
Slowly.
Relentlessly.
Neil’s face twisted as he looked away.
Aron covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking.
Tears started to flow down his cheeks..
And as the coffin disappeared into the earth, a terrible truth settled over all of them.
Ira Veyansh was gone.
And the second chance they wanted so badly…
Would never come.