Aditya said "Zoya, parde bandh karo na, light aa..". His own voice woke him up.
The sunlight was blinding him. It was almost past midday when he woke up.Like a child he wished that everything that had happened was a nightmare.He looked around himself and saw the mess that was on the floor. Everything that once adorned the room was now on the floor, he had broken and torn everything he had managed to get his hands on.
He had got tired and then slept on the floor. He stood up and realised he had a back ache and stiff neck from sleeping in an awkward position.

He went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He looked a sight. His hair was dishevelled, his face was dirty with streaks of tears, the place where Zoya's ring had struck him had turned blue and purple. He gently touched that area and as soon as he pressed it , blood started oozing out. There were cuts on his hands because of the havoc he had created in his room yesterday. His eyes were puffy and red.

He splashed some water on his face.
The voice in his head came back and said to him "Waah Adi, Zoya se ek raat jhagda karke kya halat bana li hai apni. Dekh le ab , bina Zoya ke poori zindagi aisa hi dikhega tu."
Aditya said "Zoya dhokebaaz hai, uske saath mujhe koi zindagi nhi jeeni."
The voice said "Oh really. Apne dil se pooch, kya sach mein lagta hai Zoya ne tujhe dhoka diya hoga. Kal tune uski aankhein nhi dekhi thi. Oh sorry, kaise dekhi hogi, tu toh uske bhai ke baare mein bolne mein zyada busy tha na."

Aditya closed his eyes and clutched the basin at this. Everything that he had said came back to him. He had abused Zoya , pushed and pulled her and the worst of all he had dug up her past, the one thing that he knew would break Zoya apart. Not once had he thought before saying all those things.

How could he have done all that. He  loved Zoya. How could he do that to the woman he loved. His hot head had completely taken over his good heart. Tears were streaming down his eyes. He just didnt know what to believe anymore. All that he had heard with his own ears or the broken Zoya that he had seen in front of him. He wondered whether he had made a horrible mistake and accused Zoya for nothing.

Now that he wasn't angry anymore, his calm mind of a doctor told him that maybe Zoya's meeting with Sahir could have just been a friendly one. He had not heard their entire conversation. Maybe he had just misconstrued the entire thing. And if he had then Zoya would never forgive him.

He wiped his tears and took a bath and thought that he had to find out the entire truth somehow. He was filled with regret and remorse. If only he had waited a bit and spoken to Zoya in a calm manner, this morning would have been a bit different.

He got ready and left for work. He was already late and though he hadn't eaten anything the entire day , he wasn't hungry. It was a good thing that Harsh and Mri had gone on a trip and would be back after a few days. As he got in the car, he frantically started calling Zoya but was greeted by the same message "The number you are trying to reach is currently out of network area,please try again later." everytime.

He muttered "Zoya, please ek baar phone uthaao. Please. Baat karni hai mujhe tumse. Please ek baar."

He reached his clinic and rushed to Zoya's cubicle , his heart told him that he would find her there. But much to his dismay , she wasn't there. He asked Dr.Arora , the one who used to sit next to her cubicle "Dr.Siddiquie ko dekha kya aapne?"
Dr.Arora looked up and said "Nhi sir. Aaj voh aai nhi hai subah se."
Aditya nodded and left while thinking "Agar voh hospital mein bhi nhi hai toh kahan gyi hogi."

He went to his own cabin and much to his surprise saw someone sitting there.
He just had to take one glance at that bronze hair to know that it was Zoya. He whispered "Zoya."

Zoya turned around and her eyes lingered on the bruise on Aditya's face.

Aditya looked at her as if he was meeting her after ages. Her eyes were red and the kajal was smudged, her face which usually had a huge smile and shine was dull and grim, her hair wasn't brushed properly and was untidy with lose strands of hair falling on her face, her lips were swollen as she had bit them as she cried, there huge cut on her forehead where she had hit the tree while crying, her cheeks bore minute scratches because of the way her nails had clutched her face last night ,she was in the same clothes as the night before and had not had a bath.

Aditya found himself close to tears as he saw her state. He was responsible for this. Deep down he understood he had made a huge mistake last night. He had broken his wife yet again.

He said softly "Tum yahin thi raat bhar? Tumne dawai lagai uss chot pe ?"
Zoya regarded him with cold eyes and said in a low voice "Aapse matlab."
Aditya winced at her icy cold voice.
He said "Mujhe tumse kuch baat karni hai."

She replied "Kak raat ke baad bhi kuch kehna aur sunna baaki hai?"
Aditya said "Kal raat ke baare mein hi baat karni hai."

"Humein nhi karni hai Aditya." she said in that same low voice.
"Zoya meri baat suno ek baar." said Aditya and grabbed her arm. Zoya looked at his hand and jerked of her arm from his grip and said "Humein sunna hi nhi hai kuch Aditya. Kal humne bohot sun liya. Aapko koi aur ilzaam lagane ho toh please message kar di jiyega. Aapki awaz bhi humko nhi sunni hai. Aur haan , hum yahan apna istifa dene aaye the. Humein aur is hospital mein kaam nhi karna. Humein aapke saaye ke paas bhi nhi aana. Consider this as my 2 weeks notice."

Aditya was shocked and said "Zoya , tum ek hi jhatke mein sab khatam karna chahti ho ? Ek baar baat toh sunlo meri."

Zoya said "Khatam toh aapne kal hi kar diya tha. Humare rishte ki buniyaad hi bharosa tha aur voh aapne kal ek hi jhatke mein tod diya.
Aur suniye aapko sach jaan na hai na toh li jiye. Humare Sahir ke saath koi affair nhi hai. Hum unke ghar humari anniversay plan karne gye the. Hum 2 hafton se vohi kar rhe the. Ab aap yeh sach rakhiye apne paas aur jiye apni zindagi. Goodbye."

Aditya was shaking. He wanted to say something. He couldn't understand what he felt after hearing this from her.
He was relieved and happy after learning the truth but deep down he had hoped that he was right because he knew if he was wrong he wouldn't be able to live with the burden of guilt and that's what had happened. He was in a daze. It was over. Everything was over in a matter of a few hours. He could never ask for forgiveness, she would never forgive him. As he saw Zoya's figure walking far away from him, the gravity of the situation and his words hit him. He had done something that was very difficult to rectify.

As he was still in a daze, a nurse came up to him an said "Sir, ek myocradial infaction ka patient hai. Bohot serious hai."
Aditya snapped himself back to reality and said "Dr.Khurana kahan hai ?"
The nurse said "Sir voh toh hai nhi abhi. Phone bhi nhi lag rha unhe."
Aditya said "Angiography ke liye OT ready karo. Main aata hoon. Get me Dr.Siddiquie in the OT as well."
He had not wanted Zoya in the OT just because he wanted a chance to get her to speak to him, he wanted the best to assist him.

Aditya walked in the OT and said "Dr.Siddiquie, insert the catheter in the femoral artery."
Zoya nodded and did as she was told. Both of them looked at the X ray as it came out and Zoya said "Sir, yeh 3 blocks toh kaafi major hai. Aur 2 aur minor blocks hai in do arteries mein."
Aditya said "Hmm. Un do arteries ke liye we will inject thrombolytic drugs aur baaki 3 ke liye angioplasty se 3 stents lagane padenge."

After an hour or so , they were done.
Aditya came out and met the patients family and said "Patient abhi out of danger hai. 3 stent lagaye hai. 2 din aur admitted  rakhiye unhe for precautions , sometimes there can be subcutaneous bleeding or bruises. Baaki check up ka main aapko apne cabin mein batata hoon ."
The patients family said "Aap sach mein farishta hai." That was the confidence he used to ooze in the hopeless of hopeless cases.

As he walked away from the family , Zoya asked him in awe "Aap toh neurosurgeon hai sir. Phir yeh angioplasty kaise seekhi aapne."
Aditya said "Voh jab main PG mein surgery kar rha tha tab main observe karta tha postings mein and then I started assisting as well. I acquired this skill. It helps..."
Both of them realised that they were talking normally again.
Zoya looked away and said "Excuse me Sir."
Aditya watched her go and thought "I hate it when she calls me Sir.
But dont worry Zoya, main tumhe apni zindagi se itni jaldi nhi jaane doonga. I will win you back again in someway."

Sorry people for the  delay and for this not so well written chapter.
I had my exams and then I was too tired to do anything. But I am back now. You will got loads of nice chapters and 2 new books soon (Hopefully) . Anyway drop in your reviews. It really matters to me.
Loads of love.