Never Leave Me Again! - Chapters 3 and 4

The sharp pain on the left side of my forehead forced me to open my eyes.

"Ouch! What happened?"

The road was pitch black. Not a single car to be seen. Only the headlights of our car were allowing me to observe the surroundings. There was a forest on either side of the road, smoke coming out of our car bonnet and something gray and lifeless was lying about 5 meters away from me.

"Oh shit! Ayan."

I hurriedly got up from the ground and limped my way to his side. It was as if all the pain and soreness had just vanished from my body. I quickly fell to the ground as soon as I got to him.

He was unconscious.

"Ayan! Ayan! Wake up. Oh please get up. For me." I cried helplessly whilst shaking his lifeless body.

I quickly picked up his head and placed it into my lap. Why did his hair feel so wet? As I slowly took my hands out from beneath his head, the sight horrified me.

"Blood?"

My hands started shaking uncontrollably. How could I have been so stupid and not notice that he was bleeding. I could feel the tears starting to form around my eyes.
What do I do? There was no one to be seen around and the hospital would be kilometers away from here. But I couldn't just sit here and do nothing. I frantically searched for my mobile phone and dialed the emergency helpline. But what was I going to say? Where were we? I couldn't see any road sign in sight that would give me a clue as to which road we were on.

"What do I do? Oh Ayan please, wake up! Ayan can you hear me? Baby, please open your eyes." My voice cracked as I broke into loud sobs.

Why did it have to happen with us?

At that moment Ayan stirred and groaned in my lap.

"Oh Ayan! Thank god! Baby, how do you feel? Can you tell me where we are so that I can call the ambulance for you as soon as possible?"

"J-just d-dial the number and I'll explain it to them."

Without thinking once, I dialed triple zero and within minutes we were in the ambulance, making our way to the closest hospital. That was the only time when I wished that perhaps we shouldn't have gone out to this dinner tonight. And then maybe, just maybe, Ayan wouldn't be wrapped in wires, fighting for his life.

That night had been the worst night of my life, ever since I had met Ayan. It was a night that changed my life completely and I could only wish that it was a bad dream and that I would soon wake up to the sight of Ayan sleeping peacefully next to me in our room. But that never happened. And now it's been two whole years and I still can't be sure when that day will come, when I would be able to sleep peacefully without having to cry myself to sleep.

It has been ages since I had come home. Home meaning, our home. Ayan's home. Even though his parents had requested that I continue staying with them, I figured it would be better that I didn't stay in the same house as Ayan. The doctor had been very clear when he had said, "Look Ashlisha, I frankly think that you should remain a stranger to him, as reminding him of anything related to his past, could have a fatal effect on his health."

And that was when I took the decision of never seeing Ayan. I had decided that I would be able to live all my life with the satisfaction that at least he was safe and happy wherever he was.

"Oh my god! Di is that you?"

I suddenly jumped at the high-pitched call behind me. When I turned around, I felt so overwhelmed from seeing her. It was Riya, Ayan's younger sister. There was a huge smile spread across her face, but at the same time tears were forming in her eyes. I loved Riya like a younger sister rather than a sister-in-law. Fortunately, she was overseas on a vacation with her friends when I moved out of Ayan's house. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for me to leave her.
She half-ran towards me and enveloped me into a tight hug.

"I've missed you Di."

"I've missed you too Ri.' I replied whilst trying to hold back my tears.

And it was true. If there was anyone who knew me better than Ayan or my parents, it was Ri. If there was anything that I missed the most about this house, other than being with Ayan, it would be Riya and her ability to make everyone smile. She was always full of life and no matter how bad you were feeling, you could never stay sad or depressed for long in her presence.

As she slowly pulled back, I realized just how badly she was crying.

"Oh Ri, please don't cry. You know I can't see you crying."

"I thought you'd never come back."

"That's what I thought as well. But I guess I just couldn't take it anymore. It's too hard to live without him. Too hard to not talk to him. And so I've decided I'm going to meet him."

"Oh my god really!" Riya jumped with excitement like a 5-year-old. As I nodded in response, she pulled me into another tight hug. Gosh, I'd missed this girl.

"Let me just go call him and tell him that you've finally come home."

As Riya was about to pick the cordless phone, I grabbed her arm.

"Riya, we can't do that. I mean he doesn't remember anything. He doesn't remember how we met, our first date, our first kiss, our wedding. He doesn't remember me Ri." My was voice shaking a little at the last sentence.

"So what? We'll try to get him to remember. We'll tell him everything. I'm sure he'll believe me."

"No Ri, we can't do that. I can't risk Ayan's life. Don't you remember what the doctor had said? If we tell him anything about the past, he might lose his mental stability."

"But Di we have no other choice. Do you have a better idea?"

"Actually, yes I do."

At that instance Riya raised her eyebrow in anticipation.

"What you don't believe me?" I asked with a mocking tone.

"No no it's not that. I'm just curious about your plan."

"Well it's simple. So Ayan doesn't remember me right? He doesn't remember falling in love with me. No problem. It could always happen again."

"What do you mean?" Riya questioned in an impatient tone.

"I'm going to go meet Ayan. Not as Mrs. Ashlisha Verma, but as Ms. Ashlisha Roy. We're going to start all over again, from scratch. Just like we met the first time. As two complete strangers. The only difference is that the first time we met it was a coincidence, but this time it'll be planned."

I turned towards Riya and saw a smile starting to form on her lips as everything sunk into her.

"That's an awesome idea Di."

"Haha Thanks."

"I'm a hundred percent sure that this is so going to work out," she said whilst clapping her hands in excitement.

I smiled at her statement. I hoped so too. I was desperate for this to work out. It was my last hope. I just had to stay strong and not give up. And then everything would be normal again, me and Ayan together, once again.

I took a deep breath and smiled at the thought of us being together after what seemed like eternity.
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Chapter 4

Rewinding the memories!
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The next few hours passed by in a breeze. Ri and I really had a lot of catching up to do. We talked for two hours non-stop. What she'd been up to in the last couple of months, her uni and of course the boys. Ri was gorgeous. With big, brown eyes, and dark brown, waist-length hair with natural curls, all the guys died to be with her. She had a unique charm to her. Her innocent face complimented her petite figure and hence she's always looked younger than her age. Despite being the most popular girl at uni, Ri's strength was her humble personality and down-to-earth nature. She had everything. Fame, wealth, looks; but at the end of the day, nothing mattered to her more than her family.

It was around 2 o'clock when the front door flung open and then for the next whole hour, I couldn't stop crying.
Ayan's mom had a board meeting to attend in the afternoon, but as soon as Riya called her up to tell her about me, she scheduled the meeting to take place in the morning so she could come home as soon as possible. The past hour had been very emotional with all the catching up. But now since all the locked up tears had escaped our eyes, we were feeling much better and enjoying a cup of coffee.

"Oh Ashlisha darling, you clearly haven't been taking care of yourself. Look how pale you've gotten."

"Mom, I'm absolutely fine. In fact you look like the one who's been sick. Haven't you been taking your medication on time?"

Mom had been heartbroken when I had taken the decision of leaving home. She just couldn't understand why I couldn't stay here. She had even suggested that we could just tell Ayan that I was just a daughter of a friend of hers and was going to stay with them for a few months till I didn't find an accommodation. But I had been adamant and strongly opposed the idea. Now that I think of it, it was actually good in a way that I didn't stay back. How else would I have realized how much I loved Ayan and that I really can't live without him all my life.

"Oh of course I have," she replied whilst twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Really mom?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Ok, maybe not regularly, but I do take it whenever I remember," she replies in a guilty tone.

"Oh mom, you know how important it is for you to take it regularly. You know your sugar levels rise if you skip your medication. And then what about like last time? What about you get that attack again? And oh my god, no one's usually at home during the day, what about if it happens during daytime? Who's going to take care of you? How will we..."

"Shhh Ashlisha. Calm down sweety. Nothing's going to happen."

"But mom."

"I promise, now that you've come back, I'll take better care of my health," she replied with teary eyes.

"Oh mom! You must. Otherwise, I'll leave again and never come back."

"No. No I promise. But you also have to promise me that you'll never leave me again."
I couldn't see tears in her eyes. I just couldn't say no to those eyes which were filled with so much pain and were begging me to never leave their sight.

"I promise mom, no matter what happens, I'll never leave you, dad or Ri ever again."

A small smile formed around her lips and all the pain and fear vanished from her eyes. A sense of relief washed through me. Mom had been one of my biggest worries when I had left the house two years ago. The reason for that is probably because she never did anything without me. We always cooked together, went out together, shopped together. I would never do anything without asking her and she would always ask me before taking any final decisions. Sometimes she wouldn't even take her medications, without me giving them to her. She loved me not as a mother-in-law, but as a real mother. And that's why I always told people, that I didn't have one, but two mothers. At times, people would actually mistake her to be my mother instead of Ayan's because of the strong bond and understanding we had between us. In fact, there would be times when Ayan and I would be involved in an argument and he would ask mother to be the judge, expecting that she would take his side. And at those instances I knew that victory was coming my way, because she always supported me.

"And what about Ayan?"

"Well I have to first get him back and then I'll decide whether I'll ever leave him or not," I replied in a mocking tone.

"True, true." She replied with a chuckle.

"Anyway mom, I think I should really get going. Ayan's going to be home soon and I also need to pick up a few things before I get home."

"But Ashlisha, you've just come and we haven't even finished catching up on everything."

I smiled at her innocence. Clearly she hadn't realized that we had been talking for four hours straight.

"I promise I'll come back tomorrow to finish catching up. But please promise to take care of yourself and I don't want to see anymore tears in your eyes."

She smiled at my concern and let out a little laugh.

"Okay dear. Take care and keep smiling."

She leaned forward and gave me a hug and I couldn't help but hug her a little tighter. It really felt nice, to be back home with my family. With the people I loved the most in the world.

As I drove back home that evening, I couldn't help but imagine what my meeting with Ayan tomorrow would be like. How would he look like? Would he have changed much in the last two years? Well according to Ri, he did get a haircut.
Would he sort of recognize me, after catching a glimpse of me? Would he ever end up remembering me? I guess I didn't know the answers to these questions just yet. I would have to wait and see what was stored for the both of us. At the end of the day, I just had to try my best to get Ayan back because without him I felt incomplete just like a person is without his/her shadow. I needed him in order to stay alive longer. It was basically a do or die situation now.
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Replies from Chapter 2:

@Sammer: Aww... thanks but I'm still nowhere near how you write. I'm sorry it's been a long time since I've posted, but hope you're still interested in reading it.
@Thanks a lot for your support Noor. Really appreciate it.
@Rohini: Thanks for your comment! Sorry it's been ages, but I promise to post more regularly now.

Author's Note:

"Di' means sister in Hindi.

Hey guys! I know it's been ages. I've just had a very hectic schedule for the last few months. Some serious family ailments and then I've really been busy with school assessments and exams. But I promise that I'll post more frequently now. I am really sorry. Hope you guys still want to read the story though. Please comment! I would really appreciate feedback. Thank you.

Guys, I know I'm sorry it's pretty short, but I want that Chapter 5 should mark a new start in Ashlisha's life. I promise to post soon though. Please keep commenting, because they give me the motivation to write faster. Thank You. :)