“Sister, baby ko feed unki mumma krengi. Aap baby di ko de dijiye.”

(Sister, the baby’s mother will feed him. You give the baby to di.)

She knew her sister had wanted to breastfeed the baby and was taking lactation pills. Jyoti teared up again.

“Par… first feed hai Jiya. I think you should-”

(But…it’s first feed, Jiya.)

“Aapka haq hai di.”

(It’s your right, di.)

Jiya smiled and Jyoti hugged her sister.

“Mai zindagi mai kabhi tera ye ehsaan nhi chuka paaungi Jiya. Kabhi nhi. Thank you so much mujhe meri zindagi ki sabse badi khushi dene ke liye.”

(I would never be able to repay you, Jiya. Never. Thank you so much for giving me the biggest happiness of my life.)

Jiya was trying to get used to not being pregnant. Not having the baby with her also made it difficult sometimes. But then, she would spend time with Varsha and would feel better.

Just a month more and they would have another baby with them. Somehow Jiya felt more connected to this baby than the one she gave birth to.

She was at her home when her phone rang. It was Srish. She smiled and picked it up.

“Hello-”

“Jiya! Come to the hospital! Abhi!”

(Now!)

“Srish? Sab thik hai na? Tu itna panick mai kyu hai? Varsha thik hai?”

(Is everything ok? Why are you in such panic? Is Varsha fine?)

She asked while getting up to get dressed and rushed out of the house.

“Tu… tu pehle hospital aa please. I…”

(You…you come to the hospital first please.)

His voice broke and Jiya knew whatever it was, it was really serious. When she reached the hospital and saw him, her heart raced. He looked dishevelled and his clothes had blood all over.

“Srish? Ye sab… ye sab kya hai? Varsha kaha hai? Wo thik hai na?”

(All this…what is this? Where is Varsha? She is fine, right?)

Srish hugged her tightly and Jiya rubbed his back not caring that his clothes might ruin hers.

“I’m so sorry! I failed Jiya. Mai nhi dhyan rakh paaya uska. Sab meri galti hai. How can I be so careless?”

(I couldn’t take care of her. Everything if my fault.)

He cried and Jiya’s mind went blank. She looked towards the closed doors where she presumed Varsha was being checked.

“Srish? Hua kya hai?”

(What has happened?)

He pulled back and wiped his tears.

“Mai…mai kitchen mai tha. She wanted to have methi ke paranthe. Uske liye paranthe banane kitchen mai gaya. 5 minute bhi nhi huye the when I heard her scream. Mai room mai pahucha toh…she was lying on the floor…”

(I…I was in the kitchen….I went to the kitchen to make paranthas for her. It had not been 5 minutes when I heard her scream. I reached the room and…she was lying on the floor…)

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in pain as if remembering the incident.

“...on her stomach…there was blood all around. Pata nhi kaise hua, kya hua…mai bas bhaagta hua usse yaha le aaya.”

(I don’t know how it happened, what happened….I just brought her here in a rush.)

Jiya felt her legs weaken. She sat down and Srish fell to his knees.

“Mai kabhi khudko maaf nhi kr paaunga agar usse kuch ho gaya toh.”

(I would never be able to forgive myself if something happens to her.)

“It’s not your fault. Iss puri journey mai tu uska sabse bada sahara raha hai Srish. I… I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

(You have been the biggest support to her throughout this journey.)

She tried to comfort him, but the truth was that even she was scared out of her wits. What if something happened to her? She didn’t know how to live in a world where Varsha wasn’t. Neither of them did.

A doctor came out of the room and Srish got up in alarm.

“Doctor? How… how is she?”

“Blood loss bhut ho chuka hai. Plus unki condition is not making it any easier for us. We’ll have to operate and deliver the baby.”

(There’s been a lot of blood loss. Plus her condition is not making it any easier for us.)

“Please! Please do whatever you think is necessary. Just save her and the baby.”

He pleaded and Jiya rubbed his back to calm him. The doctor’s solemn expression scared them. But what he spoke next, made both of them freeze.

“The problem is ki unki condition bhut critical hai. We can’t say anything for sure. Ho sakta hai ki maa aur bacha dono bach jaaye lekin aisa bhi ho skta hai ki hume dono mai se kisi ek ko hi bachana pade. I want you to sign the consent form. Tab hi hum operation ke liye proceed kr paayenge. Please decide and let us know that in case we could save only one of them, whom should we save.”

(The problem is that her condition is very critical…There are chances that both of them can saved and there are chances that we have to choose between either of them….Only then we would be able to proceed for the operation.)

The doctor said and went from there, leaving the two frozen at their places.

Their eyes met and only one word left their mouths.

“Varsha.”

Srish, being the husband, was filling the form. One of his hands clutched Jiya’s for support. He was going to sign off the baby’s life. 

“She’s going to hate me.”

“Initially shayad haan. But then, she’ll understand why we did this. We can’t lose her Srish.”

(Initially yes.)

He nodded and she caressed his hand with her thumb while still clutching his hand. He rested his head back as they waited. And prayed.

After what felt like hours, the lights of the Operation Theatre finally went off. Both of their heartbeats skyrocketed. The door swung open and their eyes widened when they heard what felt like a cry of a baby.

Their eyes met each other with a look that was a mix of hope and fear. Either the doctor managed to save both or…

They couldn’t think about the other possibility. The doctor met them with a solemn look.

“It’s a girl. Baby bilkul healthy hai. Which is very strange given the kind of accident the patient was involved in. Hume expected tha ki baby stillborn hoga. Something really strange happened. I know being doctors ye kehna nhi chahiye hume but I think we just witnessed something unscientific.”

(The baby is healthy….We expected the baby to be stillborn….I know being doctors we should not say this but I think we just witnessed something unscientific.)

Srish’s breath turned laboured and he clutched her hand tighter. He had a really bad feeling about what the doctor was going to say next. Why did he not mention anything about Varsha being ok?

“When we delivered the baby, she had no life. Pure do minute tak, hum koshish krte rahe but she was still. Humne usse almost dead declare kr dia tha when something happened. The heartbeat monitor of the patient went flat. Aur jaise hi maa ne dum toda, bache mai jaan aa gyi. Jaise ki maa ne apne bacho ko apni jaan de di ho.”

(We tried for a good two minutes but she was still. We had almost declared her dead when something happened. And just as the mother died, the baby started breathing. As if the mother had given her soul to her child.)

Jiya released a strangled sob. No! That wasn’t possible. Varsha! Her best friend! Her soul sister! She couldn’t…couldn’t lose her like that.

The doctor placed his hand on Srish’s shoulder sympathetically and said.

“We tried everything in our capacity to bring her back. Par aisa lag raha tha ki wo apne bache ki jaan ki kimat pr wapas nhi aana chahti thi. I’m sorry. We couldn’t save the mother. Baby premature hai isliye hume usse kuch time incubator mai rakhna hoga. You can see her though. Baaki formalities aapko nurse samjha degi.”

(It seemed like she didn’t want to come back at the cost of her baby’s life….We have to keep the baby in the incubator because she is premature….The nurse will explain you the rest of the formalities.)