Daksh waited anxiously outside the Operation Theatre. Priya walked out of the OT and sat beside him. Their Dad sat in a chair at the extreme end of the corridor. Priya ran her fingers thru Daksh’s hair, put her arm around him and let him rest his head on her shoulder. With tears in his eyes, Daksh asked.

Daksh: How much time do we have left?

Priya: Not much…

Daksh: Look at him, this is all my fault. I can’t see him like this, heartbroken and wailing.

Priya: Hmm…I wish I could lie and tell you it wasn’t your fault.

Priya looked at Daksh and just giggled out loud and looked around to see if Dad noticed it. Daksh disgusted by Priya’s insensitivity decided to not talk further. Priya sensed this and tried to ease his mind.

Priya: You know me, I don’t act or react well in such situations. Well, how would you know? it’s been ages since we had a decent conversation.

No matter how hard he tried to ignore it, Daksh knew Priya was right. They were pretty close as kids, it was only after their Parents split that things changed. Daksh grew up with their Dad while Priya lived with their Mom. It was difficult at first, eventually things fell into a routine and they got busy with school, college, work and well, life took over. Gone was the connection, the love, the bond they shared. Over time they molded themselves into the society set standards of being ‘Mature Adults’ who spoke formally over phones calls couple of times in a year. This was the first time in years that he was having a face-to-face conversation with his kid sister. He wanted to apologize for being a jerk, but his ego wouldn’t let him. He checked his pocket for the joint he had rolled earlier; he couldn’t find it though.

Priya: Mom was right, Dad just spoiled you too bad with this freedom and independent decision-making nonsense. You have absolutely no sense of time and place.

Getting slightly irritated Daksh, tried his best to control his words. Unfortunately, that wasn’t one of his best traits…

Daksh: You are no one to speak, Mom and you never really cared about me. If anything, I hate her for deserting Dad and me and leaving home with you. Do you know how difficult it was, for Dad, for me?

Priya sighed and blurted out.

Priya: Daksh, Mom left Dad because she couldn’t handle it anymore!

Daksh: Handle what? What are you even talking about!?

Priya: His Addiction Daksh! She left because she couldn’t get him to stop. She left with me because she felt, that maybe having to take care of you would help him change his ways. She was wrong though, he never changed and you never had the brains to figure things out. You’d know a thing or two about addictions right, look where yours’ got us to.

Daksh looked at Priya furiously. Priya laughed. She wasn’t one to stay angry throughout, she’d say what she had on her mind and then move on

Priya: Your dagger sharp stares don’t work on me anymore, save them for your future girlfriends.

Daksh looked at his kid sister, wondering how her brain works. He got up and looked thru the glass of the OT. Priya too got up and stood by him, holding his hand.

Priya: I want you to know that she loves you a lot. She didn’t come meet you often or be a part of your life, but there wasn’t a day when she didn’t speak about you or worry about Dad.

Daksh: Hmm, I wish I could do something about it. I never really understood Mum and Dad, their issues, or maybe I tried to block it all out and live in a bubble.

Shocked by the sensible words that so rarely escape out of Daksh’s mouth, Priya looked at him all puzzled.

Priya: Wow, you proved me wrong. You do seem to have a full functioning brain, quite frankly it hasn’t been used much though.

Tired of her lame jokes, Daksh impulsively shoved her by his shoulder. She clung on to him as she was almost about to lose balance.

Priya: HAHA, good try!! You aren’t that strong. Mom would tell me, how I used to bully you even as a baby, taking up all your toys and laughing as you cried like the big baby that you still are!!

A smile appeared on Daksh's face.

Daksh: Mum, she is pretty cool, isn’t she?

Priya: She is way funnier than Dad for sure!

Daksh: What do we do now? How much time do we have left?

As they looked thru the glass of the OT, Priya turned and looked at Daksh. With a cute smile, she put her arm around her brother and whispered into his ear.

Priya: Actually, dear brother, what do you do now, with the time you have left?

Puzzled by what Priya meant, lines instantly formed on his forehead. He turned to ask her.

Daksh: What do you………..

Before he could complete his question, his eyes widened as a flash of light ran thru the end of the corridor behind Priya, completely blinding him. As the blinding effect of the light faded off, Daksh found him standing alone in the corridor in front of the OT. His father still seated in the chair. Unable to find Priya, Daksh panicked and he ran to his Dad and asked if he saw Priya go somewhere. His Dad didn’t respond, the poor man remained seated and tears continued to roll down his cheek. Now knowing that his Dad never was the pious saint he assumed him to be, Daksh didn’t think much about consoling him. He ran thru the corridors looking for his sister. He grew restless with every passing second and screamed out loudly, he looked around the doctors and nurses moving by him. It’s as if no one could hear him. He started to feel a congestion in his chest, his heart beginning to beat fast, he felt scared, a strange force pulling him, almost dragging him in the direction of the OT.

72 hours later Daksh regained consciousness, lying in a hospital bed with several bio-monitors around him and pipes sticking out of his mouth. His Mum and Dad sat besides his bed, with the very little energy left in his body he scanned the room for Priya, she was nowhere to be found. Daksh muttered something, unable to understand his Mum came closer to him.

Daksh: Priya… Priya

His mum broke down, not sure how she tells him that Priya was no more. That her heart gave up while on the Operating Table. Seeing his Mum cry, Daksh’s heartrate started rising again, his parents panicked and called for the nurse. The nurse rushed in and requested Daksh to calm down as she injected him something to get him to relax. Daksh’s mum came close to him and placed her hand over his.

As the nurse walked out, she was stopped by a couple of cops. They were there to speak with Daksh and initiate the investigation into the accident that he caused. There was just one witness who saw the swerving car losing control and hitting into a divider, however the joint found inside the car definitely seemed to give a whole different turn to the investigation.

As the cops walked inside, Daksh now had calmed down and started to drift off into sleep, he started to remember everything that transpired three days ago. Piecing together his memories from that fateful day, of him about to meet Priya after two long years, picking her up late from the airport as he was busy partying, on the way towards home, then losing control of the car while trying to retrieve the joint that fell out of his pocket. Unable to do much the cops decided to wait for Daksh to wake up, as he drifted off into sleep wondering if the conversation he had with Priya actually happened and all the thing she told, were they actually true.

Fin.
© Thatguywith_thebeard