DESTINY (SHORT STORY)
The wind on their back, adrenaline pumping high, they were scared and yet they had each other.
"Are you ready??"
"Who's shitty idea was this??? And how did you guys convince me for this madness??"
"It was easy really, you are stupid enough to love me aren't you? This is just another level !!"
"If you love birds are done, can we just go ahead now??"
Biking downhill was never gonna be easy. But the three of them never did anything alone... Be it skydiving, backpacking or partying wild. They came as a pack of 3.
"OK. One... Two... Go !!"
It took just 3 minutes, she was scared and panicked... She had lost control of her bike and headed for disaster. When the rock hit her front tire; she was flying.. the stones dead in her sight, only the screams of her friends in her ears... life flashing in her eyes... and then... complete blackout...
"The helmet saved her from major brain injury, but unfortunately her face is completely disfigured"
Their rush was just wearing off. They had run miles in the jungle carrying her; soaked in blood, her face barely visible in all the dark red before they found the airlift. At first, they thought they lost her, but there was some life left in her and the will to survive..
"How do we fix it??"
"Well its not going to be easy. She will need multiple corrective surgeries, a whole lot of counseling and mental support. Its a very long road to recovery... But I think we can get there.."
"But she we will be alright wont she?? Can we meet her?"
"She's in recovery, not yet up. You can see her from the door, but till her post-op checks are done... You will have to wait"
From the little window at her door, she looked like a broken doll. Hooked up to multiple pipes and machines. Face wrapped up in bandages and yet somehow alive and breathing. There was hope and hope is all they needed right now.
He wanted to cry, but he had to be strong for them; his best friends and roomies for years... They needed him; their pillar; always the sane one...
The first couple of months were the most difficult. She could not stop crying; her boyfriend mostly stayed away; either drunk or lost to them... As much as he loved her; her completely disfigured face was not something he was able to handle.
Her boyfriend missing, it was only her friend that went on... patiently taking care of all her needs. They were close since childhood and in this moment he was her best and probably the only friend with her.
Changing her dressings, feeding her, being there holding her hand at every painful surgery... Telling her she will be alright; not once wincing at the ghastly sight of what remained in place of her face. He did not give up on her..
A few weeks past..
"I can't take this anymore. I'm leaving..."
"What the hell mate?? You're her boyfriend... She needs you the most now and you are bailing !!"
"And what have I really done for her? Eh? You're the one doing everything I should really be doing... all the crying, the surgeries, you can see her face can't you now? It's not easy... and I'm not built for this... I'm sorry man, but I am leaving... I am no good for her anyways... I'm really sorry. Please... take care of her... You don't abandon her as well..."
The house had never been this silent. They called it "Circus". Always full of life, never quiet... The laughing; the fighting; the parties... This is where they had fallen in love. All that was gone now. Left behind were silent hallways, the smell of medicine and the sound of her crying alone in the night.
"He left didn't he?"
He couldn't say anything, just the tear rolling down his eye. She didn't cry. She said nothing. Just turned her head and looked out the window. The warm sunlight bringing out the blue color of her eyes.
Everything changed after he left. She spent most of her time in bed. Looking out the window, lost to a different world. He had removed all mirrors in the house to help her recover. Once the girl who wouldn't stop talking was now the woman who wouldn't talk at all.
And yet, he never gave up. Always by her side, telling her what to hear, taking the butt of her frustration and yet the only real friend and family she had left. Even through her anger bouts, she always prayed for him to be there, to be her light; the only last hope to stay alive...
A few months & multiple surgeries later..
"This is it. Last surgery... No one will ever know anything happened to that pretty face..."
"I wanted to ask you something. And I need an honest reply"
"Can't it wait till after the surgery? They are almost ready"
"No. If something were to go wrong in the surgery, I don't want to die with an unanswered question"
"Stop being dramatic. The most critical ones are done. This one is minor"
"Still !!"
"OK... Shoot..."
"When he left. I understood. Why should he waste his life over something that may never have been fixed. I could have remained ugly & scarred forever if things hadn't worked out. I accepted it... But why did you stay, take care of me for months... without flinching, without complaining, always there for me.. why?"
He was looking into her eyes. She was there ready to be pulled into surgery and yet anxious for his reply.
"Because when I look at you, I don't see the scars, the marks, the bitterness of fate... I see the see the little girl I played with as a kid in my backyard, the girl who was excited to tell me her crush invited her to prom as I held back the roses I had brought to ask her to prom..."
A million things around her and she heard nothing but his voice and saw nothing but the love in his eyes...
"I saw the girl who cried in my arms and also hugged me tight when happy. I saw my best friend and the only person in this world I really care about... And if you ever saw that through my eyes... You would know why I did... What I did"
Her eyes were moist... and yet she smiled.
"I have... loved you for a very long time... and this incident was not big enough to change how I feel"
She said nothing more... Just held his hand tight and kissed his cheek as he hugged her good luck before the attendants wheeled her in...
"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part"
"(Finally !!) I do.."
"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part"
"Ohhh yes.. I do"
Not all stories have a happy ending; not all have a happy beginning; yet the ones that survive the test of life; are ones meant to be told...