Thank you for all your support in the last chapter. It means the world to me- for that reason, I decided to add chapter seven- One of my favorite chapters. <3 Please vote and comment. It would be a dream come true to see CRASH ranking higher. Please don't be a silent reader. It would lift my spirits to hear what is going on your mind and your opinion on the story.

I've added another song- it's a beautiful song about the growing distance between a couple and how they are now approaching the stage of becoming strangers permanently.

❝ The hardest thing I've done is promise you a future

when I know I'm not the one ❞

C H A P T E R    S E V E N

∞ ∞ ∞

RUDRA STOOD NEAR the window. The doctor lounge was empty and the night was dark, grey- shifting and unsettling. Rudra and Raj had barely stabilized Adhira's condition. There was a blood clot blocking the passage of blood flow to the brain. Rudra had suggested a different drug from the one Raj had been using. Surprisingly, it was like his touch and presence had a positive effect on her condition. Her blood pressure had started becoming normal and the clot began dissipating from the medicine.

Adhira would be kept under observation for the rest of the night. If her condition kept improving, they might not have to operate on her. Still, the balance of her life was hanging on a loose chain. If one link in her health failed, all the other links would easily fall out.

Rudra stared at his empty hands- never had they felt so isolated. Few hours ago, he was holding her hand- dragging her out of his life. The sound of her silent sobs echoed in the desolated night. Moments ago, she was wrapped around his chest- begging him not to let her go. There -he fisted the scrubs near his heart- she gripped his tunic- tears soaking his clothes. He could still feel the wetness of her tears against his chest.

The warmth- feeling of her pulse against his skin was clawing him alive.

Rudra didn't know if it was possible to feel this magnitude of fear and pain. He felt an old part of him return- an old Rudra, who couldn't breathe without Adhira. The night was stirring with the same fear of years ago. He pressed his back against the wall.

Sweat trickled down his forehead- he could see the flames of the crash. He shut his eyes tightly. The burn, the smell - the heat of the crash filled him. Adhira had to live through this. The burn marks on her beautiful skin, the one he had kissed numerous times. It was all his fault. He wasn't going to let her go. He wasn't going to let her go. He wasn't going to let her slip.

The last moment before she left. He could see her back- walking away- her shoulders shaking. The sobs- the silent cries while he just sat on the cold ground. He just sat there- watching her- watching her take her shattered heart.

"Dr. Shah," It was one of the younger nurses. She stood at the door, batting her eyelashes at him. "I brought your cellphone."

Rudra opened his eyes - "Thank you." He had asked Debbie to send someone to get his things from his car. He walked to where she stood at the entrance and took the phone from her hands. She purposely brushed their fingers. Rudra met her gaze- squarely and turned his back towards her.

She lingered by the door for few seconds. When realizing that he wasn't interested in the slightest, she walked away.

He sat down on the couch and staring at his phone, he realized that there was a messages from Adhira. A voicemail from her number.

He read the time of the voicemail and his entire body froze. It was the time from the accident.

10:33 pm: Kapoor

His hands were shaking terribly as he pressed the listen icon.

∞ ∞ ∞

FIVE HOURS AGO

Just as Rudra was about leave his apartment, Mr. and Mrs. Shah appeared at the doorway. They smiled lovingly at him.

"Mom, dad- what a surprise."

Rudra quickly bent down to touch their feet- as a sign of respect. Mr. Shah placed his hand on his shoulder and beamed at him. "Rudra, my boy- it's been a long time since we've had a proper talk-"

"We thought we'd have some nice family time" Mrs. Shah jutted in.

"Right before the festival?" Rudra asked, confused- he had to pick up Adhira and his parents were well aware that he never arrived at an event without her.

"We know that you have to see go see your girlfriend- "Mr. Shah sighed, Rudra never noticed this but his father never addressed Adhira by her name, she always a part of him- a part they had accepted begrudgingly.

Mrs. Shah smiled- it was the first time he had seen his mother smile at the mention of Adhira. "We have convinced Aditya to take care of her when she arrives at the venue."

"That's great, mom." Rudra tucked his hands in black tunic's pockets. "So I'm guessing that we're going together..."

"Indeed." Mr. Shah smiled.

∞ ∞ ∞

Few moments ago, Rudra had met with his old flame, Sasha Patel. His parents wanted him to show her around, since it was her first time at this event. She still looked stunning as ever- slender, narrow hips, sharp eyes and her smile- damn, her smile could kill a man.

Rudra remembered the wild nights they had together when they were just teenagers- sneaking around the empty streets, gazing the dazzling night skies. He adored her smile, literally everything about her. She was such an enigma- motivated, confident, determined.

In the bright lights, dizzying crowd and stunning company, Rudra had forgotten all about a certain quiet lady who had filled his past years with pleasant laughter and breathless smiles. Adhira- with whom words never seemed to run short, with whom he could spend eons with and never feel bored.

How had he forgotten about that woman?

Sasha spun on her heels-like fire blazed through the danced floors, the ember cloth flourished outwards on the floor.

"Rudra..." There was certain click to her voice. The way she said his name, like she knew what exactly she was doing to him. She was the kind of women that ruled the hearts of men- the temptress, every man wanted her but no man dared to own her.

His gentle eyes- were drinking every part of her act in. She knew how to reel in her pray- like expert huntress, she knew how to present herself, how to act, how to behave. She wasn't the childhood friend Rudra had fallen for. That innocent teenage persona had abandoned her long ago- now she was a ruthless business minded woman. She wasn't Adhira- who even after battling the bitterest battles life had to offer- held this brightness inside her.

Yes, Sasha was burning bright that night. Brighter than any of the stars that owned the floor. Yes, Rudra's eyed were captivated by her. She was like a fire which burned everything in its path, leaving nothing but darkness and ashes behind.

And Adhira was that star that burned itself completely to light the world around her.

They couldn't be compared.

Rudra, even in his moment of weakness, didn't forget that. He kept the distance between their bodies polite- what was acceptable for two friends.

Sasha noticed this- bitterly, grudgingly. She purposely brushed closer to him, placing one hand on his arm- she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "I'm feeling really suffocated here."

Rudra- startled by her sudden closeness, took her hand off his arm. He smiled uneasily. "Sasha, I-I- "

"Please, Rudra...." She gripped his hand tightly. "Take me away from here."

Seeing that she was truly feeling suffocated, he scanned the crowd for an opening. "Of-course," He looked over his shoulder. "Just follow me..."

∞ ∞ ∞

Sasha was in the lady's room, fixing her make-up. Rudra stood outside in the balcony- breathing in the fresh night air. He was beginning to feel suffocated inside, around everyone.

There was sound behind him.

He turned around to find Sasha leaning against the railing.

"You do know why I'm back, right?"

Rudra watched her dress slink behind her- he stood straighter. Even though, they were under an open sky. He felt caged.

He met her gaze squarely.

"What's going on Sasha?"

∞ ∞ ∞

P R E S E N T

Rudra knew that what the voicemail held would shatter him. But not like, but not this much. He could hear her raspy breaths- the moments before she would lose consciousness. Even then, he had been on her mind- he had consumed her breaths.

"I just wanted to hear your voice- "The recording was muffled. Even though he could barely make out her sentences, the raw pain was almost transparent. "One last time before I.... goodbye, Rudra."

It was the last straw. The man of cold logic finally broke- like an avalanche, his façade cracked. The true man beneath was revealed. His shoulders shook, his breaths became heavy- finally, finally his eyes that had never been this wet, cried. He didn't remember the last time he had cried like this. He didn't remember the last time his heart had ached like this.

He cried for Adhira's sorrow. He cried for the tears he had gifted her. He cried for hurting a woman who had loved him so selflessly. He didn't cry for himself- he didn't cry because of the pain in his heart.

He cried for Adhira.

The woman he had promised to grant all the happiness in the universe.

Yet he was the reason for the darkness in her skies.

❝Kill me, Adhira but don't love me like this. ❞ Rudra slammed his hands on the table. ❝ Especially when I don't deserve it. ❞

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