*Flashback*

Abir was about to disconnect the call when he heard a familiar voice. 

Mishti : Ohh.. Kya aaya hai reports mei? 

Abir thought to himself, ‘Reports? Lekin Mishti  akeli kyu chali gayi? Why didn't she tell me? I would have gone along with her too. Idiot, usne tujhe call kiya tha. Tune hi phone nahi uthaya.’ He smiled at his stupidity. He became alert when he heard an unfamiliar female voice. He assumed it to be Dr. Arohi's voice. 

Dr. Arohi : Dekh Mishti, what I am about to tell you is going to change your life. But please be strong. And try to absorb my words. I know it will be difficult but you have the right to know. What you have, most of the people don't realize it until it's too late. They ignore the symptoms until the symptoms become worse. And until then, there's no hope left. 

Mishti : Tu kehna kya chahti hai Arohi? Kya hua hai mujhe?

Dr. Arohi : Mishti, tere reports ache nahi hai. In medical terms, what you have is called a glioblastoma multiforme. It's the most aggressive type of brain tumor. According to your scans, it's in the temporal lobe of your brain. I don't want to give you any false hopes, Mishti and it isn't too late for you but judging by the size of your tumor, you have roughly 6 months to live. 

The phone slipped from Abir's hand and fell to pieces. 

*Flashback ends*

After narrating the conversation that Abir overheard, he shut his eyes in pain. A few tears rolled down. With her hand covering her mouth, Kuhu had started crying too. She couldn't believe what she heard just a few seconds ago. She refused to accept that a kind soul like Mishti could be suffering from such a dreadful illness. She didn't understand why Abir and Mishti had to suffer from such a heart-rending fate. 

Kuhu : No.. no.. Aisa nahi ho sakta Abir. Not again. No.. 

Abir : Yeh hi sach hai Kuhu. Jab Maine yeh sab suna tab mujhe bhi yakeen nahi hua. But this is the truth.

He sighed.

Abir : Wait, what do you mean by not again? 

Abir's eyes widened in surprise. He waited for Kuhu to reply. She realized what she had just spoken. 

Kuhu : Kuch nahi. Woh bas aise hi nikal gaya hoga. 

She averted her gaze and tried to cover up. She didn't want to talk about her pain when her best friend was already going through so much. Moreover, Abir had no clue what had happened with her. But Abir didn't let it go.

Abir : Nahi, Kuhu. Tune aise hi nahi bola. Or else you wouldn't have torn away your gaze. Kya chupa rahi hai? Bata.

Kuhu : Abir.. woh.. woh.. 

Abir : Woh kya? Bata Kuhu.

Kuhu : Kunal. 

Abir : Kunal? 

Abir looked at her in shock and queried. Kuhu nodded. She sniffled and wiped off her tears. 

Kuhu : Remember he disappeared all of a sudden? 

Abir bobbed his head.

Kuhu : He had sent me a letter revealing the reasons for his abrupt departure.  

*Flashback*

The doorbell rang. Kuhu went to open the door. A courier boy was at the door. He gave Kuhu an envelope and asked her to sign. She signed and the courier boy left. She closed the door. 

Kuhu : (to herself) Mere liye kya ho sakta hai? 

She tore open the envelope and found a letter inside. She opened the letter. It read,

Hi Kuhu,

First of all, I'm sorry. I know you have feelings for me. But you do know about my cancer too, right? I don't really have much time left. And I'm dying. I know you hate me for disappearing all of a sudden. But I had to do it. No matter how much it hurts me but I had to do it for you to move on. Trust me, it does hurt me too but I don't want to give you hopes and then crush them down, Kuhu. We don't have a future, because mine is in the shadows. I don't want to feed your feelings and then have to leave. Technically, die. I can't put you through that kind of pain. That is why, I'm going away, far far away from everyone. There's some clinical trial that my doctor has suggested. But the chances of survival are minimal. Well honestly, I don't think the trial is going to help me. But why not give it a try? So, I am leaving. I'm sorry for not meeting you one last time. But I know I would have fallen weak if you came in front of me. And I would have changed my decision. I know it's going to hurt for a while but I also know that you'll move on. Before ending my letter, I want to tell you something : I have feelings for you too. But maybe we weren't meant to be together in this universe. Maybe we'll meet again in some alternate universe. Until then, take care.

Yours,
Kunal.

Droplets of tears fell on the letter. She hugged the letter to her chest. 

Kuhu : I don't only have feelings for you Kunal. I love you. I love you, Kunal. 

And she cried.

*Flashback ends*

Kuhu was sobbing by the time she completed. Abir was stunned on hearing this new piece of information. He never knew that the Kuhu who always appeared so strong on the outside had gone through so much pain. He hugged Kuhu and caressed her hair. 

Abir : Shh.. Bas Kuhu. Bas..

After a while, Kuhu composed herself and broke apart. 

Abir : Tune hum sabko kabhi bataya kyu nahi?  Aur Kunal ko cancer tha? Tujhe kab pata chala? Why didn't you tell us that you loved him? 

Kuhu : Abir abhi yeh sab important nahi hai.  

He stared at her in disbelief.

Abir : How did you manage to keep everything to yourself and still act as if everything was normal? Mishti ke baare mei sunte hi mere brain ne jaise kaam karna hi bandh kar dia tha. I didn't know what to do, where to go. Tune itna sab akele kaise handle kar liya Kuhu? Kaise?

Tears filled his eyes.

Kuhu : Abirrrr…

Abir : I'm so sorry Kuhu. Mei ek acha friend nahi ban paya. Tu itna suffer karti rahi and I didn't even see it. You needed me and I wasn't there. I'm so sorry. 

He lowered his head in shame and let the tears flow. He felt guilty for not being there for her when she was here when he needed someone.

Kuhu : Abir, tu yeh sab kya bol raha hai? Are you mad? Abir yeh time inn sab baato ka nahi hai. We need to think about Mishti right now. 

Abir looked up at the mention of Mishti. He wiped off the tear stains from his face. 

Kuhu : Tu aise tut nahi sakta hai Abir. You have to be strong. You have to be strong for Mishti. Abir, agar yeh jaanne ke baad humein itna bada shock lag raha hai toh soch Mishti ki kya haalat hogi. Woh kaisa feel kar rahi hogi. We can't even imagine what she must be going through. You can't be weak Abir. You have to be strong for your love. Mishti calls you her support system, right? So, it's time for you to show her that support. She has always stood by you, stood by us Abir. She has always supported us. Now it's our turn to support her. To stand by her in this difficult phase of her life. Abir, Mishti ko kuch nahi hoga. Jab tak tu Mishti ke saath hai, hum uske saath hai, tab tak usko kuch ho hi nai sakta hai.

Kuhu, who was this carefree person, was being mature and consoling Abir. She was the one explaining to him to not lose hope. Things really had changed. Kuhu had become a lot more mature after what happened between Kunal and her. Abir stared at her in awe. 

Kuhu : Abir I know ki tujhe kaisa feel ho raha hai. And I know it's not easy at all. I completely understand. But we have to do this for Mishti. Uske liye hum itna toh kar sakte hai, hai na? 

Abir had a certain kind of determination in his eyes. Kuhu's words gave him some kind of strength. 

Abir : Haan. Hum Mishti ko kuch nahi hone denge. We'll find a way to save her. 

Kuhu : Yes we will. Ab jaa. Mishti ke paas jaa. She needs you Abir. 

Abir nodded his head. Just then, Kuhu's phone rang. She saw the caller ID and received the call.

Kuhu : Haa Nishant, bol. 

Nishant : Kya yaar Kuhu? Abir aur Mishti toh chale hi gaye the. Fir tu bhi gayab ho gayi. 

Kuhu : Nishant maine message kiya tha naa. Kuch important kaam aagaya tha. Tu bata na kya hua? 

Nishant : Hey bhagwaan! Tujhe yaad hai na parso Abir ka birthday hai. Uski preparations karni hai. Maine Mishti ko bhi call karne ki bahut try ki lekin woh mera phone hi utha rahi hai. Pata nahi kaha hai woh. Isliye hum sab mere ghar aaye discussion karne ke liye. Agar tera kaam hogaya ho toh tu bhi aaja. 

Kuhu : Haa thik hai. Bye.

Saying this, she disconnected the call. 

Abir : Kya hua? 

She had to make an excuse to save their plan.

Kuhu : Woh.. woh kuch nahi. Tujhe pata hai na Nishant kitna dramatic hai. Hum sab aise achanak nikal gaye isliye. Anyway, ab mei chalti hu. Tu bhi jaa Mishti ke ghar. 

Kuhu got up to leave. Abir got up too.

Abir : Thanks Kuhu. I don't know agar aaj tu nahi hoti toh kya hota. Thank you for being there for me. Even if I wasn't.

Kuhu was annoyed now.

Kuhu : Shut up Abir! Ek aur baar yeh bola na toh bahut marungi. Aur thanks kyu? We're friends, Abir. Aur jab hi tujhe meri zarurat hogi, I'll always be there. 

Abir felt blessed to have Kuhu. He smiled at her.

Abir : Chal mei tujhe chod deta hu. Aur please abhi iske baare mei kisi ko kuch mat batana.

Kuhu was startled. She couldn't let Abir drop her to Nishant's place. What would she tell him if he asked her why she wanted to go to Nishant's house? She had to make up an excuse, real quick. 

Kuhu : Arey nahi Abir. Mei cab se chali jaaungi. Mujhse zyada Mishti ko teri zarurat hai. Tu please waha jaa. Aur mei kisi ko kuch nahi baataungi.

Abir agreed and they both left. 

*Somewhere in the middle of an isolated road*

Mishti had decided what she had to do next in order to hide the truth from Abir. She had made up her mind and she was firm about her decision. In order for Abir to move on, this was necessary. No matter how much it hurt her, she would do it for Abir in a blink of an eye. With conviction, she got up from the bench and headed home. On reaching home, she shut the door and cried some more.

Hey guys! Here's the next update. I hope you'll are liking the story. Do leave your votes and comments below.
- Sakshi❤️