Page 107 of Mrs. Pandey
"Fuck," I muttered, shaking my head. "I wasn’t just missing you, Ira. That word isn’t even enough. I was starving for you. I was burning. I was dying a little more every day without you. And I have no words to explain how much I wanted you back when you walked away for the last time."
My reflection sneered back at me, pathetic and hollow. I hated it.
"And about cheating…" I hissed, my fists clenching. "No. I never did that to you. I swear on every breath I take. That night with Ridhima? It was nothing. I orchestrated it. I begged her to help me plant the seed of doubt in you. Because I thought… if you hated me enough, you would leave easily. You’d be free from me without looking back. I pushed you away with poison, Ira, because I thought that was the only way to protect you from myself."
I stared at the mirror again, my eyes bloodshot, my voice cracking like glass. "You must be so confused… so betrayed. But I’ll tell you everything. From the very start. Every dirty secret, every rotten piece of truth. You deserve to know. You always deserved the truth."
My shoulders slumped, a sigh tearing from deep inside me. "And look at me now… standing in front of a mirror, practicing words I should have told you long ago. Fucking pathetic."
I pressed my palms against the sink, breathing hard.
But this time… this time was different.
I had gone on another mission. And for once, I had left my haunted memories there, buried in the battlefield where they belonged. I wasn’t broken anymore. I wasn’t weak. I had found pieces of myself again, put them back together with blood and grit and sheer stubbornness.
I had spoken to my therapist, confessed everything, faced the shadows I had been running from. He told me I was ready. That I was strong again. That I could control the darkness instead of letting it control me.
I took test after test, challenge after challenge. And I passed. Every single one. For her. Always for her.
I made myself into the man I used to be, the Prashant who laughed, who dreamed, who believed in love. The Prashant who had fallen head over heels for a stubborn, fiery officer named Ira.
I wasn’t going to let those four years of pain define me anymore. I wasn’t going to let fear dictate my life.
I was ready to fight. For her. For us.
Yes, I had hurt her deliberately. Yes, I had ignored her, pretended I had someone else. But she didn’t know the truth, the truth that my love for her had only grown deeper, darker, fiercer with every passing second. She didn’t know that every lie I told was just another shield to keep her from the poison I thought I carried inside.
But now? Now, nothing would stop me. Nobody would stop me. She wanted me, I knew it. Somewhere deep inside her heart, she wanted me still. And I was going to prove that I belonged to her.
I had heard whispers that she was transferred to Jaipur. That was all I knew. I didn’t dare dig further, because I was terrified I’d discover something that would kill me, that she had moved on, that she had found someone else to love.
But if she had… I told myself I would step back. I would accept it. I would let her be happy, even if it wasn’t with me.
Because this time, I swore, I would never hurt her again.
I was lacing my boots, preparing for duty, when my phone buzzed sharply on the nightstand.
Avni’s name flashed across the screen.
My brows furrowed. Avni never called at night. My gut twisted. Something was wrong.
I snatched the phone up, my pulse hammering. "Avni?"
"Prashant...!" The phone almost slipped from my hand. Avni’s voice was trembling on the other end, words colliding against each other like broken glass.
“Prashant… it’s Ira. She… she’s in the hospital. She gave birth… but…” Her voice cracked. “She’s in a coma. Doctors are saying she’s not responding.”
For a second, my heart simply stopped. My chest felt like it had been caved in, my throat sealed shut.
“What… what did you just say?” I whispered, every syllable shaking.
“She delivered a baby boy… but he’s in the incubator. Premature. Weak, but alive. Ira… she’s… Prashant, she’s not waking up. Doctors don’t know when… or if…”
Her words dissolved into static in my ears. The phone fell from my hand and clattered onto the floor, but I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. My legs buckled, and I found myself sinking onto the edge of the bed, my face in my palms.
A baby. My son.
And Ira… in a coma.
