"Maa.Maa".Arun called,"Bring me a glass of water". He couldn't walk properly. His head was on the verge of blowing up, ready to explode. He managed to drag himself and the dining chair together.He sat there and caught his head in agony. "Maa.Maaa.", louder this time. Time was eating away all of his vigour. The pain didn't allow him to open his eyes.
Suddenly, he sensed footsteps approaching him. 'CLINK' A glass was placed. His right hand desperately reached forward to search for the glass. He raised the glass and attempted to take a sip. Just as his lips were about to touch, he felt an unexpected object hit his face .The glass broke before his eyes could open and comprehend.
Pieces fell to the floor, some on his lap & on the dining. Rest were piercing through his face like leeches.
"Aahh oh Aah", Arun cried in despair but to no avail. The pieces were getting deeply buried with every cry.
"Maa. Help me. Maa", Arun attempted to get up. However, the throbbing pain sent him crashing down to the ground.
Laughs were heard, laughs of a maniac
'Has my mom gone crazy?', Arun wondered.
'But this laugh, this voice, doesn't match her. This voice is unknown.'
Before his consciousness could come to any conclusion, hot water started to stream upon him. The temperature was enough for the skin to peel out.
Arun cried in more despair but he felt something unusual, his voice was gone. His entire body was trembling, as if someone was forcing their way into his soul, against his will. He lay on the ground, defeated and succumbed waiting for another wave of misery to come.This was the end for him.
All of a sudden, he hears a voice.A voice so familiar and pleasant to his ears was his wife Sima's voice. The voice was beckoning & each time the source got closer,the intensity increased. Suddenly Arun's face was splashed with water.
With his remaining energy, Arun sat up and opened his eyes.
'All this was a nightmare. Shit' He glanced towards his bedside. Sima was not there.
'Thank God. Sima is not here. What would she have thought of me? Such childish behaviour.', He said to himself.
"Sima... Sima... Sima", Arun called.
No answers.
'Must be in the garden doing her Yoga', thought Arun.
He climbed down from bed, put on his slippers, and headed for the door.
As he was exiting the room,he noticed a portrait of himself. An unusual portrait with a good-looking passport photo & a garland on the frame.
Below the portrait, a writing
Mr. ARUN BHATIA
1992-2021
"What the fu*k", shouted Arun. He stormed out of the room to search answers for this.
"Sima. Sima.", He cried out with all his might.
No answers.
'Let me check the garden', thought Arun and stepped outside.However he felt strange when he crossed the living area and went into the hallway. The atmosphere was changed and felt unknown to him as if he was a guest in his own house.
'This house is mine but everything seems so different like these all are new for me', thought Arun. 'Perhaps Sima did this, I should ask her'. "Sima Sima", Arun yelled again but no response. "Why isn't she listening to me? Let me go and check the garden". When Arun reached the garden, he saw Sima watering her favourite labyrinths.
'Thank God there she is', "Sima Sima"
This time Sima turned towards him and smiled. Her smile, the sweetest and loveliest smile for Arun . The smile that made him bend down on his knees & say those 4 enchanted words "PLEASE BE MY WIFE "
"What is this, Sima? You have been ignoring my calls for the last fourteen minutes. Don't you have time for your beloved. Come on now give me a hug I had a nightmare" Arun said and held out his arms. Sima smiled and stepped forward.
Arun closed his eyes to experience the divine feeling of his soulmate's touch.
However, he sensed nothing of it. He opened his eyes and could not understand anything because there was no one only air engulfing him.
Arun spun around when he heard a very familiar voice declaring "I love you" out of nowhere behind his back. "What is Rishi doing here???. motherf**?" Arun was astounded by what he saw.
"This is a dream, this f** thing shouldn't be real", screamed Arun.
Sima was standing there hugging Arun's best friend Rishi & he was reciprocating.
"Why damn'it? This? Really this? I should have died", screamed Arun.
'Why? How?' Everything was messing in his mind but the biggest question was 'Why did Sima cheat him?'
'Was my love not enough? Am I not a good husband? Didn't I love her? Didn't I care for her? Wasn't that care enough?'' if my love was perfect then Why this? Why this Sima?', Arun sobbed miserably and dropped to the ground seeing the couple infront of him.
His cries and screaming were unheard by the couple as they were busy tasting each other's lips.
He couldn't bear more, all the jealousy, betrayal, and confusion multiplied in his head. "What went wrong", he shouted.
This time it was louder even for God to hear but suddenly the familiar headache from the dream returned again which was beyond his control.
He screamed even louder, but the agony persisted. Suddenly, he felt paralyzed and his eyes began to close in the depth of darkness.
Arun eyes began to open to discover the murmuring of two voices.
"Sister, pass the scalpel and Scissors."
"The abdominal section is sliced open. Blood flow indicates the deceased was healthy before death. Now we are going to examine the intestine, gizzard & liver", saying this the doctor kept down his recorder on the table nearby.
The doctor grabbed the retractors & began to examine the body's intestines.
He stood in front of the body, blocking its face.
Arun shifted to take a glimpse of the face.He stood shocked deeply rooted on the ground as he saw his own body lying on the table, dead.
Regaining consciousness, he walked towards the report lying on the table to find his name.
ARUN KUMAR//SEX-MALE//AGE-28// REASON OF DEATH- OVERDOSE OF BENZODIAZEPINES
Arun was clear now. All his confusion was gone.
He felt light. He felt dissolved in the air.
"MURDERER oops sorry MURDERERS. Murderer friend & Murderer Wife. Ha ha ha ha ha
Nice Nice Sima, you were fooling me all along.I was naive to believe that your love was genuine but you were playing your games within. The drink given by Rishi was the last drink for me. Ha ha ha ha."
Arun's headache started to subdue. He felt light. His body started to dissolve faster. He closed his eyes to experience the pain going.
"Sister give me the craniotome. We need to check the brain.", stated the doctor.
"We have carried out the autopsy with proper procedures & care. The deceased Mr. Arun Kumar died as a result of brain haemorrhage due to a BENZODIAZEPINES overdose i.e. sleeping pills overdose. Saying this the doctor hit the recorder stop button.