For A Fleeting Moment – Ishk Par Zor Nahi

Set in the party night. I wrote this before Mayank’s truth was revealed. This was my imagination of how it could unfold. Pretty random. 

Clasping her hand, he rushed inside the hospital after laying her on the stretcher. His eyes screamed terror as he continued to squeeze her hand to wake up but all in vain. Her unconscious self refused to respond. 

“Ishqi.”

The only name that escaped his lips!

His cracked voice pleaded to her. To talk to him. To fight with him. To call him Naam Teen Banda Mean. 

As his hand caressed her blood-stricken cheek, his frightened gaze couldn’t look at her bleeding head.

He was forced to look up when her hand slipped off his, and the stretcher was pushed inside the hospital room and an intern doctor stood between him and her, who was on the other side.

The intern doctor calmly told him that he must wait outside but he refused, verbalizing an almost threat not to stop him; little did he know that his pitch failed to match even his normal one let aside shouting like he thought he was doing.

His stammering words gave away the dread that had filled him. His throat clogged with the lump formed, snatching his ability to talk, leaving him to stand wordlessly helpless there.

The intern doctor could only return him a weak smile assuring that Ishqi would get the best treatment and every effort… they could put in to save her life.

Being an intern, she might not have seen plenty of cases but being a doctor, she held sensitivity toward the man, who looked aghast at the sight of the unconscious woman he had brought.

“Mujhe andar rehna hai. Ishqi ke saath.” He pulled himself together after a long moment of silence only to urge them to let him in.

The intern doctor helplessly sighed.

His fingers trembled as Ishqi’s absence unsettled him. 

He needed to see her. He needed to be with her. He knew… she needed him.

He knew he needed her more.

Had Kartik not interrupted, saying that if he did not stop, Ishqi’s treatment would get delayed and it would only mean…

Kartik had deliberately halted his words, knowing what he said was more than enough to pull Ahaan back and he wasn’t wrong.

Glancing at the doctor once, his pleading eyes silently screamed to bring her back to him, safe and sound... lively and cheerful... just the way she had always been.

Absolutely perfect despite her every imperfection!

He slumped on the nearest bench, clutching its arm to support his weak limbs.

Anxiety wasn’t letting him breathe. He suffocated at the memory of her ghastly injury. The stinging possibility of her not returning to him pricked his heart.

“Ishqi ko kuch nahi hoga.” Kartik sat beside him, wounding his hand around his miserable brother.

Ishqi ko kuch nahi hoga!

He didn’t remember if he had heard anything more soothing than it before. Those were probably the most comforting words to his aching soul at that moment.

Ishqi.

Only she could do something that she had just done. To protect Sonu from Mayank’s clutches, she hadn’t thought even once before putting her own life at stake.

He still did not know how exactly things had taken a turn. The last he remembered, everything seemed just fine at the party until he couldn’t locate Sonu and Ishqi.

Initially, he hadn’t taken it too seriously thinking that they must have been somewhere enjoying around but as time passed, he couldn’t stand still.

His heart skipped a beat upon recalling the sight he had witnessed after breaking into one of the rooms he had heard Sonu screaming from.

Mayank had banged two wine bottles on Ishqi’s head, leaving the blood slowly dripping before it began to profusely bleed.

He had rushed toward her to hold her before she could fall to the floor. He had just sat there, with her head in his lap, unable to process and accept the event that had unfolded in front of him.

His mind could have never processed Mayank hitting Ishqi had Sonu not revealed how Mayank was molesting her when Ishqi happened to pass by and how she had just stepped in right away to her rescue despite knowing nothing.

All that Ishqi had understood was what Mayank was trying to do with Sonu and going with her first instinct, she had decided to get Sonu out of there first before finding out the details.

And in that process, a furious Mayank had thought not once before doing what he had done. Crashing the glass bottles right on her head. The hit had been so hard that the shock had gotten Ahaan’s ears deaf, not letting him process anything else.

Ishqi.

Tears threatened to flow from his eyes as he continued to stare at the operation theatre Ishqi was taken to. His desperate eyes longed to see her and his desperate ears couldn’t wait to hear that she was okay.

I have lived without my mother.
I won’t be able to live without you, Ishqi.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he just sat there, internally praying to the universe that he believed in.

He was yet to deal with Mayank. He was yet to figure out what exactly had happened. Because that wasn’t his priority at the moment. His priority was Ishqi. He wasn’t going to move an inch from his place until he was sure that she was okay but once she was okay, Mayank would have to pay for hurting the two women he cared the most about.

Come back to me, Ishqi. Come back to me, please.

Fir se andhere chha gaye,
Khoyee ujale ki kiran,
Kal raaho me phool the,
Ab hai kaaton ko chubhan!

“Careful. Aaram se,” Ahaan murmured, his voice soft as if she was a glass doll that could crack with a loud sound. Slipping his hand behind her back, he helped her straighten up. “Just a second.” His hand firmly supported her weight but made sure not to hurt her in the slightest way as he adjusted the pillows for her to be able to comfortably sit.

“Thank you,” she said, a faint smile gracing her lips as she stared at him who was filling a glass of water for her.

It was her third day in the hospital and she was already fed up with being there. 

“When can I go home?” She cringed at the thought of spending another day there. “Aap batayenge? Mai aapse baat kar rahi hoon, AVM.”

He forwarded the tablet in his palm to her, keeping his response silent.

“I won’t. I won’t take it. Not until you tell me for how long they are going to keep me here. Main bata rahi hoon na aapko, main bilkul thik hu. Inn logo ka kya hai? Inhe to bas apna bill badhana hai. Dekhiye mujhe. Ekdum thik hu main. Ye to aise kar rahe hai jaise main marne wali hu -“

“Shut up, Ishqi. I said, just… shut up,” he furiously yelled but brutally failed to conceal his traumatized heart with fake anger.

Placing the tablet in her hand and the glass on the side table within her reach, he turned around. He needed to because if he didn’t, she would have seen his watering eyes.

She gazed at his back, floating in confusion at his reaction. Inhe itna kya bura lag gaya? Aisa bhi kya bol diya maine? She wondered.

Naam teen banda mean waise bhi kaafi ajeeb behave kar raha hai!

For the past three days, he hadn’t left her alone. He had been there to look after her every need. Because of certain unexpected issues that the hospital was facing, only one person was allowed to stay with the patient and only one visitor every third day.

Ahaan was the one who chose to stay with her for her. Maasii was still recovering from her own injuries. Maasii being her only family, there was nobody else to be with her. 

Ever since she had regained consciousness, she had only seen Ahaan and that too on his toes. Rushing here and there. Sometimes to bring medicines. Sometimes to have a word with her doctor. Sometimes to get the IV sets.

This or that. Something or the other. 

For a moment, she couldn’t help but wonder if Mayank had really done even half of it had he been in Ahaan’s place. 

Mayank. She sighed at the thought that had just crossed her mind. She had been persistent in asking him about the matter but Ahaan had kept mum. In fact, he had asked her not to ask him anything until she was out of the hospital.

“Wait outside.” The intern doctor who had just entered the room caught Ahaan’s attention.

He gave her a nod before he quickly walked out.

Ek baar dekha bhi nahi. Ishqi’s face reddened as she watched his retreating back.

“How are you feeling?” 

Ishqi smiled at the doctor, blinking her eyes, conveying that she was better.

She helped Ishqi to change into a fresh pair of clothing that she had requested Ahaan to bring the previous night. She took off the infusion bottle and replaced it with another one before adjusting its drip. 

Ideally, it wasn’t her job but since the entire hospital staff was busy, she had stepped up to take care of patients.

Ishqi’s relief was indescribable. She despised those white hospital clothes like nothing else. Quite honestly, she had not expected Ahaan to so readily give in to her demand but to her surprise, he hadn’t uttered a word in the argument.

She didn’t know who he called up but her clothes reached the hospital within an hour. 

Naam teen banda mean was being actually quite sweet.

“I envy you for having such an affectionate boyfriend.” The doctor playfully laughed while noting down the medicines.

Boyfriend. 

Ishqi’s heart skipped a beat. AVM and her boyfriend? What did he do for the doctor to get that impression of him? 

Ishqi awkwardly cleared her throat. “I didn’t get you.” 

The doctor kept her writing pad on the table, sitting in front of her. “I recently had a break-up.” 

“Oh. I am sorry to hear that,” Ishqi said, empathizing with her.

“Yeah. We weren’t compatible. We were together for almost three years and let me tell you very honestly if he had been even a quarter of what your boyfriend is, I would have married him right away. Your boyfriend was miserable when you were brought here, you know. He had been persistent in urging me to let him stay with you while we were treating you. I actually thought that he was about to break down when I told him that it was not possible.”

Ishqi’s brows raised, her eyes blinking several times as she heard the intern doctor speak. 

AVM was about to break down? Because of her? For… her?

She shifted her gaze to the front, avoiding the eyes of the doctor. 

“He had been running around ever since. To take care of everything that concerns you. His eyes tell the tale of his love. The love that didn’t let him sleep until the woman he loves was stable.” 

The doctor left, but the impact of her revelations shook Ishqi inside out.

His eyes tell the tale of his love.
The love that didn’t let him sleep until the woman he loves was stable.

Her thoughts had to see an abrupt halt with him walking in. “Ah,” a small shriek escaped her lips when her hand connected to the drip slipped off the bed.

Dammit. Within one long stride, he was beside her, gently putting her hand back on the bed. “Are you okay? Does it hurt? Wait, I’ll call the doctor.”

He did not even wait for a single answer to the questions he had bombarded her with. Visibly panicked, he turned around to make a quick run to the doctor’s cabin but was held rooted in his place with her one call.

“AVM. Main thik hu.” She made a futile attempt to assure him because just as he turned back, she just knew that he didn’t believe her.

His heart ached at her pained expression. He went near her bed. “Chup raho. Nahi ho tum thik. Samajh aaya? Every time… every freaking time, you just want to flaunt your strength to the world, right?” 

His hand clenched into a fist, watching her struggle hard to hide the excruciating pain shooting inside her.

The doctor had informed him that they weren’t able to add many painkillers to her because her body wasn’t responding well to them. He was already warned that Ishqi would have to be through the pain and at the moment, there wasn’t much that they could do about it.

“Aap fir aa gaye apni hi-fi English lekar? Abhi bhi hospital me hoon main. Marte marte bachi hu. Ab to baksh dijiye.” 

“Maine kaha tha na ye bakwas band karo? Kuch nahi hua hai tumhe,” he yelled for the second time in the day at the same thing. Kuch nahi hone dunga tumhe. Na aaj. Na kal. 

“Par abhi to aapne kaha ke main thik nahi hoon?” She suppressed a chuckle at the frustration on his face.

“Chup rahogi tum?”

“Baithenge aap?”

Their eyes locked in an intense eye-lock before he gave in, doing what she wanted him to do. Sitting down.

His downcast eyes refused to look at her. 

“Mujhe doctor ne bataya ki aap thik se soye nahi hai. Ghar jaaiye, aaram -“

“Main kahi nahi jaa raha.” He did not even let her finish, cutting her off in the middle. Without looking at her, he got up and moved to the couch, and pulled out his phone. Pretending to be busy on his phone, he just sat there, wordlessly.

Naam teen banda mean was currently being ajeeb more than mean. She narrowed her eyes at his royal ignorance toward her.

The same intern doctor who was assisting Ishqi’s case knocked on the already open door. 

“The doctor wants to see you,” she told Ahaan. “Phone thik ho gaya? Toot gaya tha na subah. Par aap to bahar gaye hi nahi to thik kaise karwaya?”

What the fudge! Why did she have to blurt it out here?

“Thik to hua hi hoga. Tabhi to kaafi busy the phone mein.” Ishqi taunted, her gaze stuck on him who was already on his feet to escape her questioning glares.

Her tone was enough for him to know that he was caught. 

“Main doctor se milkar aata hu.” He slunk away, and so did the doctor. 

Once he was out of her sight, Ishqi let out a hearty laugh. Who knew AVM could be so cute? 

Jab mai tumhari shakal nahi dekhta to palat ke dekhne ka mann karta hai.
Fiqr hoti hai mujhe tumhari.
Aisa lagta hai tum thik ho ya nahi ho.
Bohot fiqr hoti hai tumhari.
And you know what, I do a lot of effort for you.
Bohot saari cheeze karta hoon main tumhare liye par kabhi batata nahi hoon.

Her lips curled up in a beautiful smile upon recalling the unexpected confession that he had made. 

Maine tab bhi kaha tha, AVM, aap bataye na bataye, mujhe pata chal jata hai. 

It was beyond her that she could never feel anything for Mayank what she felt for Ahaan and that Mayank could never make her feel what Ahaan did. 

Ahaan was practically no one to her but he had always stood firm beside her, offering his support whenever problems knocked on her door.

For a fleeting moment, her heart desired to call him hers.
For a fleeting moment, she wished for him to be hers.
For a fleeting moment, she wished for herself to be his. 

Just for a fleeting moment.

Tum hi kaho kya baat hai,
Mujhko lage tum apne kyun.
Jabse dekha hai tumhe,
Dekh rahi hu sapne kyun!

Drama Name – Ishk Par Zor Nahi. 

PS: The lyrics at the end are from the beautiful song, Mujhko Ye Zindagi. 

Do leave a comment if you have made it till here. They are my favorite source of encouragement. 💜