Book 2 - When Life Gave A Second Chance

Chapter 15

6 Months Later 

Aarav's POV 

Life has been extremely difficult over the past six months. After the four weeks of leave, Mr. Kumar asked me to return to work but when I begged even further Mr. Kumar extended my leave to another one month. After that Mr. Kumar had enough of it, he asked me to come back otherwise he threatened to fire me. I would visit Sakshi every other weekend, of course It wasn't easy but being away from her made me feel lonely and depressed.

Currently, Damini aunty was in Chennai. The government was funding Sakshi's treatment but from my savings, I too helped Damini aunty financially as she had no other active income. 

Through these six months Keshav and Meera were a big pillar of support for me. Words are not enough for me to thank them for understanding and respecting my choices. Honestly, I didn't think Sakshi would make it when she suffered a cardiac arrest on her transfer from Bangalore to Chennai, due to the doctors efficiency CPR was given on time and due to the grace of God Sakshi escaped death. To me all the doctors who are looking after Sakshi is equivalent to God in my heart.

 There have been numerous instances where Dr Ravi who was handling Sakshi's case in Chennai pressured Damini aunty to turn the life support off as Sakshi was deteriorating instead of improving.  Every time the doctor mentioned it Damini aunty would ring me and cry, but we had confidence that Sakshi would come back to life therefore, we went against the idea of turning off her life support. There also came numerous instances where Sakshi's blood platelets went way below the normal range, Sakshi's blood type being rare made things more difficult. Me being in Bangalore didn't help either but we fought through all that and currently Sakshi is in the road to recovery. She has been moved out from the ICU to the wards, no longer needs the life support however, a page is not enough when listing the number of medications she has to take. Her body is extremely weak from all the medications and the side-effects of it but I have confidence that we will fight through all of this. Sakshi is very well aware of her surroundings and is conscious but she does not speak much, constantly stares at the wall opposite to her. Often I notice tears streaming down her eyes, other than that Sakshi doesn't respond to any conversations to engage with anyone.  I know it will take Sakshi time to come back to her old self or she may never come back to her old self, no matter what I will be there to support Sakshi. 

I've currently boarded the flight to to Chennai. The flight should land in the next five minutes. Because It was Sakshi's birthday today, I got her a small gold chain with diamond studs to gift her. She may not appreciate it at this instance but that is understandable. Once the flight had landed I rushed to the hospital, like usual, Sakshi was staring onto the wall opposite her. 

"Happiest Birthday Sakshi" I wished her but Sakshi looked at me as if I was an alien. Gently I stroked her hair but Sakshi shuddered to that as a reaction. After a couple of seconds I got my gift out but before I could give it to her, Sakshi grabbed hold of the gift and threw it across the room. Sakshi then stormed out of the bed and started running out of the ward, various nurses and I ran behind her. Eventually, a nurse grabbed hold of her but Sakshi unintentionally attacked the nurse, started screaming and crying. Understanding that it was becoming difficult for the nurses to cope and control her I went ahead and wrapped Sakshi against my big frame, immediately utilising this moment the nurse injected a sleeping medications into Sakshi arms, within a couple of seconds Sakshi collapsed onto me. 

Seeing Sakshi in such a situation was painful, I cannot even find the right words to express it. All I wish is for the criminals to rot in earth and hell.

Meera's POV

Can you believe it has been six months since the incident? Not even in my dreams I had imagined a situation such as this. It is shocking as well as heart-breaking to see my dearest friend in such a situation. No matter what I will be there till the end to ensure Sakshi gets justice, sexual violence against women is a crime more than that a inhumane act. Life has been very different after the attack. After Sakshi's transfer to Chennai, I had to come back to Bangalore after a week. At the end of the day your job and your employers won't understand how much of a tough situation you are travelling in. After my parents got to know about the incident they are pressuring me to resign my job and return to my native but it is after so many hardships and difficulty I got this job. I am not willing to just resign it.