I ran to her like a madman, my chest tightening with unbearable pain as I saw her fragile body collapse onto the cold, unforgiving ground.

Blood.

It stained her soft skin, pooled beneath her head, painted my hands as I held her close. My Angel… my Niranya… she was slipping away from me.

No!

“Jaan… No, no, no! Stay with me, please—look at me!” My voice cracked as I cradled her face, my thumb trembling as it brushed against her cold cheek.

She blinked slowly, her lashes fluttering, her beautiful eyes struggling to focus on me. “A…s..h…” Her voice was barely above a whisper, weak and broken, yet it destroyed me.

I let out a choked sob. “Yes, Jaan, I’m here! I’m right here!”

Her lips quivered, and she tried to lift her hand. I quickly caught it, pressing it against my face, letting her warmth seep into my skin.

“Ash…” she murmured again, her breath hitching. “After me… you will live, right?”

My entire body went rigid. No. No, she wasn’t saying this. She wasn’t…

“Y-you will move on… you will live for me,” she whispered weakly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Rage. Pain. Fear. It all crashed down on me like a violent storm.

“No! No, don’t say that, Niranya! Don’t you fucking dare!” My voice was hoarse, laced with pure devastation. “I am not letting you go anywhere! You hear me? You’re not leaving me! Aap humesha mere pass hi rahogi.”

Tears blurred my vision as I held her closer, my lips pressing against her forehead desperately. “Please… please, Jaan… stay with me. I’ll take you to the hospital. You will be fine. Just keep your eyes open, Angel. Please.”

Her lips curved into a weak smile, but that scared me even more. Why was she smiling like this?

I felt her fingers go slack in my grip, her eyelids fluttering dangerously.

“No! No, Niranya! Don’t close your eyes! Jaan, please! Don’t do this to me!” My voice broke as I lifted her into my arms, holding on as if my life depended on it—because it did.

She was my life.

And I was not letting her go.

Quickly, I lifted her into my arms, pressing her close to my chest as if I could shield her from the pain, from the darkness trying to pull her away from me. My heart pounded erratically, my breath coming in sharp gasps as I ran toward the car, my mind screaming in terror.

“Hold on, Jaan! I’m taking you to the hospital. Just stay with me!” My voice was desperate, raw with agony.

Her body felt so light in my arms—too light. It scared me. She was slipping.

Throwing open the car door, I gently placed her in the passenger seat, my fingers shaking as I fastened the seatbelt around her fragile frame. Blood stained the leather, the scent of it thick in the air, suffocating me.

I jumped into the driver’s seat, my hands gripping the wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. Slamming my foot on the accelerator, I drove like a man possessed, weaving recklessly through the streets.

“Niranya! Angel, keep your eyes on me!” I yelled, glancing at her every few seconds, fear clawing at my throat.

Her eyes fluttered, her breathing shallow. No. No, no, no.

“Jaan, no! Don’t close your eyes! Just listen to me, Angel,” I begged, reaching over to grab her hand, squeezing it as if that alone could tether her to me.

She tried to smile, her lips trembling. “Ash…”

A sharp sob escaped me. “Your Ash can’t live without you, Jaan. Please… be brave for me! I know you can. I know my Angel is strong.”

Her fingers twitched weakly in my grip, her warmth barely there. I felt something shatter deep inside me.

The hospital was still far. Too far.

And I was running out of time.

The moment I screeched to a stop in front of the hospital, I didn’t waste a second. I flung the car door open, my hands trembling as I gathered her fragile body in my arms. Her blood had soaked through my shirt, her warmth fading with every second. No. No. No.

I stormed through the hospital doors, my voice raw and merciless as I roared, "Somebody help! My wife is in pain! Save her! NOW!"

Doctors and nurses rushed toward me, but their movements weren’t fast enough. I growled, my voice dark and threatening, “If anything happens to her, I will burn this whole fucking hospital to the ground!” My bloodshot eyes dared them to test my patience.

One of the doctors tried to take her from my arms, but I didn’t let go. I couldn’t.

“Sir, please! Let us take her. We need to treat her immediately,” a nurse pleaded.

I looked down at Niranya—her eyes were half-lidded, her breath barely there. My heart clenched so painfully I could hardly breathe.

“Jaan, hold on. You’re not leaving me,” I whispered, pressing a trembling kiss to her forehead before finally—reluctantly—letting them take her from me.

My hands, now empty, felt cold.

As they rushed her away, I stood frozen, my body shaking violently. The warmth of her blood still clung to my skin, but she—my Niranya, my Angel—was slipping away from me.

I staggered back, my breath uneven, my world crashing around me.

And for the first time in 200 years, I felt truly helpless.

Half an hour had passed, but it felt like a lifetime. I paced the sterile, cold waiting room, my mind spinning in a whirlpool of panic and disbelief. Each second that passed felt like an eternity, and I was drowning in the suffocating thought that I might lose her.

And then, the door swung open.

Megha and Vedant rushed inside, their eyes wide with concern. Before they could ask a single question, I dropped to my knees, my breath ragged as I finally broke.

I didn’t care that they were here, didn’t care that they could see the weakness I was finally letting show. My hands trembled, fingers digging into the floor, my heart shattering into pieces.

Megha knelt down beside me, her face pale, panic rising in her eyes. "Ashtram sir... what happened? Is she okay? What’s going on?"

But I couldn’t answer her. The words stuck in my throat. I wanted to scream, to shout, to demand that they save her, but nothing came out except a strangled sob.

I could only stare at the ground, the weight of the world pressing down on me.

Vedant moved beside me, his usually calm demeanor shaken as he sat next to me, gently placing his hand on my back. “Ashtram, look at me.”

I couldn’t.

“Look at me,” he repeated, his voice softer now, almost pleading.

Slowly, I raised my eyes, meeting his, but the despair that clouded my expression made it clear I wasn’t even present. I was lost.

Vedant’s voice was quiet, but the raw concern in it made me falter. “She’ll make it. Niranya is strong, Ashtram. You have to be strong for her too.”

I shook my head violently, the thought of losing her too much to bear. “I can’t lose her. I can’t. I… I’m nothing without her, Vedant. She’s my heart. My soul. And if she’s gone…”

I broke off, unable to finish the sentence. My body shook uncontrollably, the pain too much, too suffocating to handle.

Vedant's hand tightened on my shoulder, his voice unwavering. “No. Don’t think like that. She’s not leaving you. She’s not. You’ll see, Ashtram. She’s gonna be okay. You have to hold on. For her.”

But how could I hold on when all I felt was the weight of my own helplessness crushing me?

The door to the operating theatre creaked open, and every muscle in my body tensed. I couldn’t breathe. My eyes locked on the doctor as he walked out, his face grim, and I rushed toward him, my heart thundering in my chest.

“How is she?” I demanded, my voice rough with panic, desperation clawing at me.

The doctor didn’t meet my eyes. He hesitated for a moment, as if trying to gather the right words, but I could already tell it wasn’t going to be good.

He spoke softly, as if the words were poison. “We... we tried everything we could, Mr Raghuvanshi. But her head injury was severe. The blood loss... it was too much. Right now, we can’t say anything for certain. She... may survive, or...”

I didn’t need to hear the rest.

Before he could finish, I grabbed him by the collar, pulling him close, my voice coming out in a low growl, desperate and cold. “No, don’t you dare finish that sentence.”

The pressure in my chest threatened to crack me open, but I couldn’t let it show. I couldn’t let myself break in front of anyone. Not now. Not like this. I could barely hold on.

“You’re a doctor, aren’t you? Then do your fucking job and save her.” My grip tightened on his collar, shaking him slightly, and my voice dropped to a dark whisper, full of malice and broken emotion. “If she dies, if you let her die, no one in this hospital will be safe. Understand?”

His eyes widened in fear, but all I could feel was the burning pain consuming me.

The doctor’s voice was a fractured whisper as he tried to speak, but I couldn’t let him. I couldn’t let him say it. Not the words that would shatter me completely.

“We are trying. We’re doing everything we can... but... it’s in God’s hands now.”

I pulled him closer, my voice trembling with rage and helplessness, each word sharper than a blade. “Then you better pray, because I’m not going to let her go.”

I shoved him away, leaving him there to stand in the shadow of my fury. But nothing mattered. Nothing would fix this. Nothing would bring her back.

I turned and slammed my fist into the nearest wall, feeling the sharp pain of my knuckles meeting solid concrete, but it was nothing compared to the emptiness tearing me apart from the inside out.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to rage. To break something, anything. But all I could do was stand there, my body trembling, my mind screaming her name, over and over.

And then I heard it.

A whisper.

“Please... come back to me.”

But I knew, deep down, it wasn’t a request. It was a plea. It was a cry of a man on the brink of losing everything.

I couldn’t—wouldn’t—let her go. Not like this. Not without a fight.

But it wasn’t in my hands anymore.

I dropped to my knees, my chest tightening as my thoughts blurred. She was slipping away, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

The doctor’s words echoed in my mind, but I shut them out. I refused to accept them. I wasn’t ready to lose her. Not like this.

My hands shook, my body trembling with exhaustion, but there was no relief. There was only the waiting. The agony of waiting.

And the terrifying thought that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t get to see her eyes again.

“Please, don’t leave me.”

I couldn’t even recognize my own voice anymore.

----

The sterile hum of machines filled the cold, lifeless room as I walked towards her. My breath hitched in my throat when I saw Niranya—her body lying so still, her head wrapped in bandages. The room felt suffocating, her silence deafening. She had always been the one to light up every corner of my world, but now… now there was nothing but darkness.

The nurses looked at me with pity, but their sympathy didn’t matter. They didn’t know her the way I did. They didn’t know the depth of my soul, my heart, the life I’d found in her.

"Out. Now." My voice was sharp, like a knife, and they didn’t hesitate to leave. I needed to be alone with her—nothing else mattered.

I sat beside her, my hand trembling as I held hers, its coldness making my heart sink.

“Angel...” I whispered, my voice cracking with a mixture of fear and longing. "Please... just open your eyes... for me."

I leaned in, my forehead resting against her lifeless body, the tears falling freely. The machines beeped rhythmically, but their sound was nothing compared to the deafening silence in my chest.

“Main jinda hoon kyunki aap mere saath thi, Niranya… aapne mujhe zinda kiya tha. Aapke bina, yeh duniya ab kuch nahi hai. Aapke bina, main mar chuka hoon.”

(I’m alive because you were with me, Niranya… you brought me back to life. Without you, this world means nothing. Without you, I’m already dead.)

I held her hand tighter, feeling the chill seeping into me. The coldness didn’t match the warmth she had once given me.

“Main har ek devta se, har mandir, har dargah se dua karunga... agar zarurat padhi, toh main duniya se bhi ladunga. Aapko wapas laane ke liye main kuch bhi karunga.”

(I will pray to every God, every temple, every Dargah... if needed, I’ll fight the world itself. I will do anything to bring you back.)

Tears blurred my vision as I brushed my thumb against her cheek, desperate to feel something warm, something familiar. I couldn’t lose her.

“Main aapke bina zinda nahi reh sakta... aap meri rooh ho, Niranya. Mera sab kuch... aap ho.”

(I can’t live without you... You are my soul, Niranya. You are everything to me.)

The silence pressed in around me like a heavy weight, suffocating me. I felt as though I was drowning in it.

“Aap meri jaan ho, Niranya...” I whispered, my voice raw with pain. "Aap mere saath har janam jeena chahti thi na? To phir… ab mujhe kaise akela chhod sakti ho?”

(You are my life, Niranya... You always wanted to live with me in every lifetime, right? Then… how can you leave me alone now?)

My chest heaved with a sob I couldn’t hold back. The tears fell relentlessly as I pressed my forehead to hers, holding on to her hand as if it were the only lifeline I had left.

“Main aapke bina jeene ka soch bhi nahi sakta… Main aapko khona nahi chahta, Niranya… Mujhe aap chahiye.”

(I can’t even think of living without you... I don’t want to lose you, Niranya... I need you.)

I felt the weight of the world crashing down on me. There was no purpose to anything if she wasn’t there with me.

“Jaan... aapko meri kasam hai…aapko mere liye lautna hoga… Mujhe jeene ke liye aapki zarurat hai.”

(My love... I swear on you… you have to come back for me... I need you to live.)

My voice trembled as I pressed her lifeless hand against my forehead, each word heavier than the last. It felt like I was begging, pleading, to the universe for one chance, one more breath of life with her.

“Main kabhi aapko apne se door nahi jaane doonga... Aap meri ho, aur main aapke bina kuch bhi nahi hoon.”

(I will never let you go... You are mine, and without you, I am nothing.)

The silence around us felt like a crushing weight, but I didn’t care. I needed her to come back. For her, I would fight heaven and hell.

"Aap sun rahi hain na, jaan? Bas ek baar... ek baar aankhein khol dijiye... Mujhe bata dijiye ke main akela nahi hoon!"

(You can hear me, right, my love? Just once… open your eyes once… tell me that I’m not alone!)

I couldn’t bear the thought of living without her. My world had collapsed, and the only thing that could fix it was her.