"Please don't leave me......." His voice muffled by his own heavy breathing, hairs slicked wet on his forehead, beads of sweat were the fair evidence of how much he was struggling.

"don't......." he chocked before snapping awake from his sleep.... his petite self was panting, his black silk shirt drenched wet in sweat despite the air conditioner.

It took him a moment to realize his surroundings and when he did, he groaned out loud before falling back into bed....

Running a frustrated hand through his dark locks, he reached out for his mobile phone.

3:56 am, the lockscreen read but this isn't what his eyes were rooted at... It was the wallpaper he was staring at.....

"It's been three years....." he mumbled, "three years since you left me... three years since I had my heart broken in the most brutal way.... three years since the last time I felt happy.... three years since I decided to ruin myself...."

Her photo.... smiling widely in the picture as she was looking at him while he was busy talking on the phone......

The picture was low quality but the emotions he felt from that were real.

He chuckled sadly remembering how much fun he had made of her that day, how shy she was when he showed her this picture..... how in a random photograph she was captured, sneakily stealing glances at him.

"See its proved, you're obsessed with me and my face...." he had teased her.

"With you? No!! With your face?? Yess...." she replied shrugging her shoulders, "get over yourself, I don't love you... I just like your handsome face beside me....." she giggled, which was like the most beautiful music he had ever heard in his life.... "you beside me make me look powerful, confidenttt like I have conquered the whole world....."

But May be she wasn't lying.... May be indeed it was what she said it was.... May be it was him being delusional all this time...

♡

"Abhi..... You didn't attend the event....... again....." she stated, coming to sit on the opposite side of the bed... its been a long day as she was tired as hell.

"Hmm.....????" She heard him, her husband, question followed by a deep sigh.... "oh that???? I didnt have time...." he replied, without even glancing her, hands busy typing some report on his laptop.

"Atleast you could've picked me!! Wese Bhi you were home earlier than me!!!" She tried to keep her voice calm, but she could slowly feel the anger bubbling inside her.

"Picked you and what?? Get noticed by those delulu teenage girls???" He said with a chuckle, but the sarcasm in it was pretty evident.... "And the next thing I know is there's a big picture of me in the newspaper beside the nation's favourite novelist.... no thanks I'd very much like to skip such chaos!!"

He laughed heartily, as if telling the funniest joke of the century, but that sound pricked her skin like several needles..... like it was the last string of patience she had....

"What is your problem?? For how long you want to hide the fact that I'm your Fucking wife!!!!" despite wanting to take things lightly, her voice was raised, eyes bloodshot as she saw her husband shamlessly typing on his laptop before turning towards her...

"My problem???" He chuckled, "You're seriously asking me that what is my problem???? When you yourself is the biggest problem of my life!!! This relationship is the problem!!! Our marriage is the problem!!"

He voice enraged.

"Isn't it obvious?? How could I tell my friends that you're my wife??? A woman who writes delusional sickening romance books that are nothing but cheap and disgusting?? Two of my friends have doctor wives, one is a lawyer, and amid that group you want me to introduce you???? Spare me, I dont want to embarass myself like that!!..."

"You're embarrassed of me..?" It wasn't a question, it was a statement, something she didn't even need to confirm. The little hope she had seemed to vanish right before her eyes as a tiny drop of tear trailed down her cheek, followed by many.....

An immediate regret flashed in abhi eyes and he sighed, eyes softening a bit...

"Preeta....." he called out, softly this time and extended his hand to hold hers but she quickly jerked away....

"You shouldn't have married me in the first place...." she whispered, wiping her tears harshly, "You knew what I do...I didn't hide the fact that I write, and you were okay with that...."

She raised her head looking straight into his eyes with nothing but disappointment.... "it was you who asked for my hand in marriage, not the other way round...."

"I know...." he sighed, running a hand through his hair frustrated, "but I just thought of it as a side hobby and I respected that....but I never knew you would be fucking making it your profession... your identity...."

Preeta could very much hear the disappointment in his voice, he was disappointed in her, he was disgusted by her passion... the fact alone was making her nauseous... worsening her headache than it already was....

She sighed, nodding at him, accepting the fact That indeed, she was the one who was responsible for their failing relationship.... adjusting the covers she laid down... too tired to retort...

"We can still correct things between us preeta...." he said before standing up, "just leave this writing and continue your job as a designer.... just like you initially planned....." was the last thing she heard from him, before the sleep overtook her senses, engulfing her in a peaceful slumber.

♡

Walking through the halfway, the smell of chemicals and various antiseptics was consuming her... heels clicking against the tiled floor, she got in to the heavily crowded elevator and pressed the number 15 as she waited for the desire floor.

People started getting off and now only two floors were highlighted, 15 and 18.

"You dont even visit us in the company, but today you decided to come on this tour with me??? God forbade but this sounds like a trouble....." she heard someone say behind her.

"Well since, women equals trouble.... I guess you're right bhai..." a deep voice resonated behind her...

Her movements halted, just by listening to his honeycoated voice... his words held an accent, funny how it was a mix of hindi and British english, there was just something so strong about his voice that she had this sudden urge to just turn around and face him....

The other person laughed at his reply, "getting laid by a doctor I see......" he stated amused.

"Ahannn not a doctor, a nurse.... that too a hot one..." the honeycoated voice said, despite his disgusting words, she couldnt help lean into the voice, the kinda voice people dream about when they think about their Prince charming, the kinda voice that writers and poets never stop writing about.

"Good for you..... I've heard the nurses of this hospital are kinda sexy......" the other person stated... and she heard the two of them laugh... men...

"Exactly!!! And that's why I like being in India.... women here have got the right curves in the right places...."

Nevermind.

All the attraction gone.

The trance broken

and at this point she just wanted to turn around, not to see the owner of that deep beautiful voice, but to smack her heels into his eyeballs, giving him the right curves in the right place.

The other oerson just laughed in response, "BTW, I cant believe Veronica ditched you.... like she was so head over heels for you...."

"Oh well..... that's a long story bhai....." she heard him sigh, "honestly I feel bad for her... I kinda like moaned someone's else name when we were making out...."

The person choked onto air, followed by a chuckle, while preeta had a hard time controlling her thoughts, is this a topic to discuss openly?? Especially when you have a third party with you... but still a part of her felt bad for the poor girl who experienced that...

And no matter how bad it is to admit, but she did find the situation funny.

"Seriously???? Damnnnn I can't imagine what that poor soul might have felt....."

The honeycoated voiced hummed, the vibrations in the air made her feel so little.... She shifted in her place, a bit uncomfortable, but it's not like she wasn't feeling interested in their talks though....

Tea is tea...

"So I guess you'll be coming home late....." the other person stated..

"Well depends..... if things get steamy, I may not come home tonight at all......"

The other person tsked shaking his head, "karan...... its not London... its India!! Have some manners will you...."

The honey coated voice, with not so honey mind, which she believed was karan, chuckled amusely, "look who's talking about manners, like it's not you taught me stuff...."

Now she was equally hating both of them...

"That was like a long time ago.... I am a changed man now.... we should respect women...."

Preeta mentally nodded with the other person, scolding the other guy, karan in her mind for his casanova behaviour.... boys like him had a way to get on her nerves... and she made a mental note to write a novel about such spoilt brat and not give him a happy ending... huh....

The elevator dinged, indicating her floor and she got down, making her way to the reception.... not knowing what storm was awaiting her.

♡

"Preeta sharma!!" The nurse announced in the waiting room and preeta immediately stood up, "it's me!!!" She smiled.

The nurse nodded, "your reports are here, room no. 14, Dr Mehta is waiting for you....."

She nodded getting her essentials and made her way inside the long corridor, before knocking at the door tagged 14.

"Come in...." she heard him say, "oh Mrs preeta... I was actually waiting for you...." he smiled, but there was something about his smile that made her uneasy.... "So tell me about your condition, how are you feeling...."

"Better than before, but sometimes the headache becomes so extreme that I am unable to even walk...." she explained, somewhat nervous and uncomfortable.

"Hmm.... any other specifity when you have this episode...?? Ever fainted or any memory problems???"

"Actually yes..." she nodded, heart sinking as she waited for him to say something... but he signed her to continue.... "I fainted twice last week and now that you have mentioned, I've actually became forgetful... there are incidents when someone questions me about something I did a day before and I can't even pinpoint what and when did I something like that...." she voiced out, sweat begin to cover her forehead and her feet ran cold when she heard the doctor sigh..

"Is everything alright Dr mehta???" She asked, nervously.

Dr mehta shook his head in response, "preeta...." he sighed, "no one would have been more happier than me if everything was fine...."

He whispered, quite softly and her heart forgot how to beat... "what is it???"

"You've a fatal neurodegenerative disorder preeta...... something like alzheimer....."

"Alzhimer?????" She didn't know but the first one is but she definitely knew alzheimer wasn't a good news.

"A neurodegenerative disorder is something that destroys your brain cells, like alzheimer... but alzheimer is something that happens in elderly and we have done your tests and it's not alzheimer..." he sighed, "what you have is CJD, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a prion disease, that causes symptoms like memory loss, motor loss, pain, fatigue, unconsciousness.... and the symptoms worsens over time....."

Her voice seemed to have caught in her throat as she heard him say stuff her mind couldn't decipher, she didn't know what any of it mean... she didn't want to believe him.... he's lying.... she can't be dying, she's perfectly alright...

The only thing she knew was she had a whole life ahead.... she hasn't even started living yet.....

"Is there...... a treatment???" Her voice broke.

He shook his head, looking at her with pity, even she could hear the nurse sniffing beside her, when she should be the one crying.

"Unfortunately, there's no cure.... you've to get yourself admitted in the hospital.... so we could overcome the symptoms and make it less painful..."

"But I am perfectly fine....." she frowned, "beside headache there's nothing much wrong with me, I don't need to get admit...." she didn't know how the words came out of her mouth but nevertheless she voiced out what her mind was telling her.... ignorance.... neglectance.... denial.....

"As of now, you're okay... you're in initial stage, but as time goes by, you'll start forgetting your closed ones, even yourself... you won't be able to eat, walk, talk and if the situation worsens, you may even lose your eyesight... your brain will basically lose its control over your body..... almost like paralysis......"

Her heart stopped, she can't even imagine someone going through such painful death, then how can she imagine herself experiencing something like this......... no one deserves to die like this....

"How..... how long... do I have????" She whispered.

"8 months.... and if you and we do the best we could, max would be 10 months......"

🥀