TWO blaring, deafening gunshots...

The dark cloudless sky, the wild ruffling wind, the empty pitch black street... everything seemed to have faded into oblivion, her mind non-registered to the entire world, but him!
Bondita's hands had pressed the bullet wound on Anirudh's left shoulder blade, his head lay limp on her lap, straining her light pink saree in a dark scarlet hue of death. Her hands were bloodstained too, and so was her bosom.

"Barrister babu.... Noo... Please... Look at me... Look at me once... Here am I Barrister Babu... Your Bondita..."

Her wails had filled up the air with a heavy sadness, as tears flew her cheeks uncontrollably.

"Bondita... "
A firm hand had pressed her shoulder, shaking her up from the sorrowful trans she was in. She tried to shake the hand away, gripped Anirudh's limp body tighter, as she pulled him even closer to her body.

"Bondita... Get a hold on yourself!" The hand on her shoulder squeezed her a little harder, as she looked up she saw a pair of emerald green eyes staring back at her.

"Look... look what happened to him... Look... He isn't looking at me... He isn't answering... It has never happened that he won't answer me... Why isn't he answering?"

Her words felt disoriented, her voice feeble, as her body shook violently from the aftershocks of the bloodied occurance.

Satya leaned down and sat on the road on his knees.
"Here, let me see." He tried to touch Anirudh's shoulder as Bondita immediately shook his hand away from her husband's unconscious body.

"No... Don't touch him... Just don't."
Tears were rolling down her eyes uncontrollably, and her trembling hands had clutched her husband's body with all her might. She looked frenzied, confused, disoriented, her eyes had that fearful empty look, and Satya couldn't help but felt a piercing twitch in his heart at the sight.

"Bondita... Come back to your senses... You have to... For him..." He had leaned forward and had cupped her face, shaking her back to reality. His hands patted on her cheeks with a gentle firmness, as she opened her eyes like a demented soul and looked up at him.

"Satya..?" She murmured.

Satya forced a smile and nodded.
"We don't have a lot of time Bondita... Lay him on his back... Fast."

Bondita's hands were shaking, but she carefully lay Anirudh's limp body on the street, his head on her thighs.
Satya had pulled out a small torch from a white medicine box that he had carried. Her pulled Anirudh's eyelids and checked for concussions.

"We have to bring him to his senses Bondita... Now."
He grabbed a fat syringe and pulled Anirudh's blood-damp shirt apart with force, plunging the needle in the middle of his chest.
Anirudh didn't move, not did he open his eyes.
"Anirudh Babu... Open your eyes... Anirudh Babu...", his hands were smacking his well sculpted jawline, hoping to bring him back to his consciousness.
He pulled out another small vile of medicine and started to prepare another dose of injection.

"Bondita... Hold his head up... Carefully... Put your hand at the back of his neck."
Satya instructed and Bondita followed, her hands still trembling from the shock.
Her sobs had muffled, her sniffs had subsided, and in their place she felt a strange numbness, an emptiness that was unknown to her till then.

Satya pushed another needle near the bullet wound on Anirudh's shoulder, as his steady hand pierced his skin with a sharp scalpel. The light fell from the torch, clutched between his teeth, as his keen expert eyes focused on pulling the metal bullet out of Anirudh's body.

"It didn't go in deep... Thank God." He had put the torch down from his mouth and grabbed the loose end of Bondita's cotton saree, tearing away a little from the end.

"Hold him still!" He commanded, putting the bullet in the piece of cloth, as his hands grabbed some fresh cotton and disinfectant from the small medicine box.

"Why isn't he opening his eyes Satya?" Bondita let out a cry, as if from her core, as Satya let out a sigh and continued cleaning the bloodied wounds from his head.

"He should have, by now... " He breathed, anxiety evident from his tone, sending current of terrifying shivers down Bondita's entire body.

"They why isn't he?" She murmured.

Satya's hands were now on Anirudh's chest, lightly pressing the upper part of his sternum, pumping his heart slowly.
"Shit... his ribs are broken!"

"What??" A grasp and a sob left Bondita's lips at once, her eyes foggy from the constant flow of unbound tears.

"Anirudh Babu... Do you hear me??" Satya's hands were slapping his face again, a little harder this time, but everytime he withdrew his hand, Anirudh's face fell to his left, limp, touching his shoulder.

"He probably had a concussion... a bad one." Satya's voice was serious.
He pulled out another set of syringe and prepared the needle as Bondita suddenly pulled Anirudh's head up, making him almost sit, her hands supporting his neck and spine. And before Satyakirth could react, to his utter surprise, he saw her leaning forward as she pressed her lips to his slightly parted mouth, her tongue plunging deep inside his, her eyes closed, deepening the one sided kiss with a forceful urgency.

If a kiss could take your breath away, I'd kiss you deep, everytime, everyday, till I'd live.
My heart is yours, let me breathe your breath...
Let my kiss invoke life in you... Once more, take mine instead...
Lips to lips, heart to heart, life to life!

Satyakirth turned his eyes away immediately, a soft tear glistened in the corner of his eyes.
Is this what love looks like? This?

Bondita's lips were on his, as if sucking the death away from his soul, sucking away his pain, showering wet kisses, salty with blood and tears, and then she felt a compassionate hand on her shoulder.

"Bondita, let me... " Satya's voice was choking.

Her throat was choking too, her head left light, as if floating in the endless abyss of nothingness.
What was life without her Barrister Babu?
What was she without him?
And just one word rang in her head in an endless loop...
NOTHING!!

Satya had touched her head, making her part away from the kiss slowly, her eyes felt vacant, her heart felt faint, and her feeble trembling hands were promptly replaced by Satya's strong hands, grabbing Anirudh's neck firmly.

The entire world seemed to revolve around her, the face of her husband fading away gradually, she had almost closed her eyes, giving up... And it was exactly when she heard him.

"Bondita...!!"
A faint voice, coughing up some blood along with it.

Satya's face had brightened up immediately, as he placed the syringe back in the box and picked up a small water flask and help Anirudh sip some water.

Anirudh's eyes were red, his lips quivering, as he faintly smiled at his wife sitting infront of him like a lifeless statue.

"Bondita..." He breathed, straining his words with all his strength.
"Were you kissing me?" He tried to narrow his eyes at her, a naughty smirk on his lips.
"I just felt as if you are kissing me..." His face flinched a little in pain, the smirk intact on his lips.
"And, something inside me just told me that I have to kiss you back."

Satya was still holding his head and shoulders in his arms, as he turned his eyes away from them.
Bondita had already jumped in his arms, without letting him complete his words, as their lips met again, sharing a mutual kiss, a kiss of life.

"Careful... Your ribs.."
Satya murmured awkwardly, his lips too, curved in a smile of happy embarassment, as he saw from a corner of his eyes the two soul lost into each other, arms to arms, mouth to mouth, life to life.

...............................................