Crushed and Created- Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

Movement

ARBAAZ

The beeps were driving me crazy. The wires, the white walls, the sterile feel, and the eerie silence- everything was driving me crazy.

The next thirty six hours were extremely important for us. Lizzie was critical, unstable and on the edge. It was important for her to pull through these thirty six hours. If she could, she had chances of survival, or else not. Anything else goes wrong and we’d lose her.

The doctors were trying hard to save her, but there were complications in her breathing. They couldn’t find what exactly was wrong until she was conscious enough. Till that time, they had to rely on trial and error, and treat the symptoms and not the real cause. Her internal injuries were bad, and so were her vitals.

“Salman? Want me to sit now?” I whispered, opening the door to her room slightly. After a lot of begging, the doctor allowed only one person to be by her side. Salman had been here since hours on a go.

“No, I’m fine. Go home, and talk to Arhaan. He must be scared now.” He replied, without looking away from Lizzie. I couldn’t do that, I hated to see her wired up, lying helpless on the bed. It pained me to look at her, and even at Salman. He had been numb all the time, he didn’t let a single tear slip his eyes.

I nodded rigidly and went out to get Malaika. She was a mess by now, sitting on one of the hard plastic chairs. She was done sobbing; now she was relying on luck and God. Nobody knew what to do. Before I could say anything, Sohail came up with bags in his hand.

“Paid for the next few days, and uhh…got some food.” He held the bags up, scratching his hair with another and I nodded once. He hugged me out of nowhere, and I gave him a little squeeze. Then, helping Malaika up, I called for the bodyguards. Sohail went in and gave food to Salman and the people who had come to see her. I hadn’t been bothered to  get engaged in formalities and exchange pleasantries in a situation like this.

“You know the brief. Stay close, no matter what.” Ruth ordered, and we got out to be bombarded by questions. The media had made this hospital their second home, the attack being the main focus of millions around the globe. It was an attack against humanity, against innocent kids.

But right now, I didn’t want to deal with it.

“What if she goes into coma?” asked one person from BBC, and I threw glares at him. He didn’t back out, but continued to ask questions even worse.

“What if your sister dies, any moment?” he asked, and I pushed him back with all my force.

“Don’t you dare think about it!” I yelled into his face grabbing his collar by both hands. Paparazzi swarmed around me but before more chaos, the security pushed me into the car. After we left, I punched the seat and Malaika held my hand in hers. I held it back, and we exchanged understanding looks. We both knew that it wasn’t the best action, but we both also knew that I did what I felt like doing in the moment. Besides, he deserved to know that he could not talk about shit like that.

“Daddy.” Arhaan ran to me once we got home. I kissed his forehead and picked him up. The poor almost two year old didn’t even know what was going on and why everyone was gathered outside his house in numbers of hundreds. He had no idea what his dear aunt was going through, nor did he know that hundreds of families were crushed.

“So, what did my champ do today?” I asked, and he talked about his new found hobby- lizards. His pet lizard entertained him every day.

“Where is Dhee Dhee? Where is Uncle?” he asked the most dreaded question. I wished he wouldn’t, but at the same time I knew he would.

“She’ll be back soon, she has some important school work. Uncle is helping her.” I lied to my one and a half year old son. What else could I tell him? That his favorite girl on the planet was swinging between life and death? He didn’t even know what death and pain meant.