Pain.
It seemed to course through his very being.
He was drowning. With each passing moment, the water swallowed him up a little more.
His lungs were on fire.
How long had he been holding his breath for? A minute? Two minutes? Had it been anymore, he wouldn't have been alive to endure the agony.
It felt as if an eternity had passed.
Icy waves of black water smothered him. His heart screamed for help. His mind was too numb to react.
He wanted to end the pain. End it all. End life itself.
His entire life seemed to flash before his eyes. His life had been simple. So simple that one could describe it in a mere three words.
Anguish. Abandonment. And lonliness.
Hot tears rolled down his eyes, becoming one with his icy prisoner. It hurt. Oh. It hurt so bad. Splotches of black began to shade his vision. He tried. He gave on last futile attempt to free himself. To swim up from the depths of the ocean.
But the strong currents pulled him right back down to where he had begun.
He was helpless.
He could feel his once steady heart rate slow to a silent stop as a new wave of darkness took the life out of him at last.
***
"Can you hear me...? Sir... Can you hear me?"
The voice was deep. Male's voice. But it seemed so far away. So unbelievably distant. He strained to hear. Mumbles. Quiet mumbles. It was all he could make out.
His entire body felt numb. It hurt to think. It hurt to breathe. Was he alive? Dead? He didn't know. All he could think about, all he could remember, was the ocean. The way he had nearly suffocated. The pain he had endured. Had it been a dream? Or a near death experience? Or perhaps death itself.
He winced.
"Sir...? Can you hear me...?" This time the sound was much clearer.
Yes... Yes I can hear you.
He wanted to reply. But his lips felt as if they were sealed shut. He couldn't find his voice.
So he tried, slowly, to open his eyes.
An agonizing pain surged through him. It was a pain so terrorizing that he very nearly forgot to breathe. But he had to do this. He needed to know.
"W...Wha...What...-"
It was torture. He opened his eyes, biting his lip to avoid screaming.
He was met with a blur of white.
Blinding beams of lights cascaded upon him. It felt as if he hadn't opened his eyes in days. He let out a low groan.
The walls had been completely white-washed. Large white machines sat beside him, some which were straddled to his arm. People were swarming around him. All with white coats draped over them.
"We've given you some pain killers, so you should feel fine in a couple of hours." The man who had spoken was young with a boyish smirk on his face as he examined his patient with curiousity.
"Wh...where am I...?"
He scribbled quick notes on his clipboard before replying, "In City Hospital. You're lucky you know. If you had been brought to the hospital a little later, you wouldn't have seen the face of this hospital at all."
His eyes drifted upwards. "You'd be somewhere up there, in heaven! Now, of course, as a doctor, I have to ask you for some formalities, before you can be released. What's your name?"
"Arnav Singh Raizada." He repeated without hesitance. The doctor nodded, pleased. "Good. Where do you live?"
"Shantivan." He replied once more.
"Family?" The doctor asked. Arnav sighed. "I think it's clear, doctor, that I haven't forgotten my past."
The doctor shrugged. "But as I said, it's formalities Mr. Raizada. Want to be released? Answer the questions and you can go."
He sighed. He felt sick. Nauseous. "My sister and her husband, my grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousin brother."
The doctor stopped writing for a brief moment and glanced at Arnav with increased seriousness. "And that girl?"
Arnav frowned, confused. "What girl?"
"The one that was brought to the hospital with you."
Arnav shook his head, slowly limping to his feet. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Please. I need to leave."
As he made his way, unsteadily, out of the door, it suddenly hit him.
Last night. Kiran. Her betrayal. Drinking. The accident.
His heart sank as realization hit.
The blood. The scream.
The girl.
