Page 79 of A Royal Deception

They took turns holding Zarna’s hand while I paced up and down the corridor, eager for any news from the OR. The surgery went on for more than five hours, and both Zarna and I refused to eat or drink anything until we heard from the doctor.

“This is my fault,” she whispered. “If I hadn’t gone with Kavya Baisa, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“You didn’t know this would happen, sweetie,” said Isha, holding her hand tightly.

“How could I have been so dumb? She said she felt bad about what had happened on the wedding day and wanted to make it up to Di. She said she wanted to buy her a nice wedding present and wanted my input.”

“You’re not dumb. She was just very cunning. Kavya played you, Zarna. It’s not your fault. You believed she’d had a change of heart because you’re a child and children aren’t as cynical as adults,” I said fiercely. “If anyone is to be blamed for this, it is I. If I hadn’t left you guys alone at the palace, Shivina wouldn’t be fighting for her life in there right now.”

“Are you going to divorce my sister?” asked Zarna starkly. “I’m not that much of a child. I know you guys were breaking up.”

“Never,” I declared. “You’ll have to pry me from her when I take my last breath.”

I sank to the ground next to Zarna and prayed for another chance to make it all up to my wonderful wife. Veer nudged me gently when the doctor came out, and I jumped to my feet in fear.

“Shivina made it through the surgery, but she’s still very critical,” he said gravely. “Three bullets entered and exited her body. The bullet wound to her shoulder wasn’t too bad, but the two bullet wounds to the pelvic area caused a lot of internal injuries and blood loss. Let’s see if she makes it through the next twenty-four hours.”

Thankfully, she pulled through the first twenty-four hours, and he allowed me to see her for five minutes.

She looked so small and frail in the hospital bed, with all those tubes and bandages.

I stroked her fingers softly and blew her a kiss.

“Hang in there, baby. For Zarna, if not for me. You can’t leave her all alone in the world. Fight back for her sake,” I urged.

It was a long, tough road to recovery, but ten days later, Shivina was moved into a private room. She was still in severe pain and extremely weak. But she was the most beautiful thing in the world, I thought tiredly. Because she was alive and fighting.

Zarna and I stayed in the hospital all day, and while she seemed happy to see her sister, Shivina only stared at me blankly as if she wondered why I was still there. She was too weak to talk but smiled at all her visitors. Except me.

I deserved it, I told myself. But I swore that I was going to prove to her that I loved her the way she deserved to be loved.

The day they started feeding her orally, she sat up in bed to drink some juice and finally spoke to Zarna and Ma. Her voice was hoarse and rusty from disuse, but she told them she loved them.

When she turned to me, I braced myself for a torrent of abuse. But she stared at me blankly for a minute before she spoke.

“I’m going to file for divorce as soon I’m discharged from the hospital. Please make the arrangements.”

Ma hustled Zarna out of the room to give us some privacy.

“Shivina, please,” I begged. “Just focus on getting better for now.”

“Iamgetting better,” she said matter-of-factly. “And I don’t have the strength or space in my life for drama. So let’s resolve this amicably.”

“I’ll do whatever you like. But you need to rest now.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she snapped, panting a little from the exertion of talking. “The doctor wants to speak to you before you leave.”

“I’ll speak to the doctor, but I’m not going anywhere,” I said stubbornly.

She closed her eyes, and I left her to rest. When I came out of the room, the doctor was waiting for me.

“Your Highness, I’m afraid there’s some bad news. As you know, two of the bullets hit Shivina in the pelvic area and caused a lot of internal damage.”

“Will Shivina be all right?” I asked as a wave of terror gripped me.

“Yes, she will be completely fine. But she will not be able to bear any children since we had to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes due to extensive tissue damage.”

“I don’t care! Will Shivina survive?”

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