Meanwhile, Chaits was about to give up trying to persuade her to open the locked door. He took a step backward as he paused to think whether he should really quit trying.
“No! Sunny!” she screamed, “I’m not going to open that door and let him see me in this state – and – you are not going to open it either…”
A hope rose within him and something inside gave him the confidence that she would – sooner or later – open that door and let him in. Getting her out of that room and getting her to meet Pallavi was his only aim.
In the living room, Pallavi was explaining about Anjali’s problem to others who sat there and kept wondering about it…
“This primarily is a type of mental disorder – it’s commonly known as ‘Schizophrenia’. What Anjali is experiencing is categorized as hallucinations. We all know that she met with an accident and her best friend ‘Sunny’ couldn’t survive that accident. This incidence or perhaps the remorse that he died and she is the cause seems to have impacted her mind.”
“But – everyone here knows this fact and none of us can see him – obviously – he is non-existent.” Guru spoke in his confusion. “How come Anjali sees him, talks to him, feels his presence – but we can’t?”
“That exactly is what happens in such cases. We can distinguish between a thought, a feeling, a dream and the reality. That is why we are normal and sane. But Anjali – she cannot. Her mind has created this illusion of Sunny and she believes in that. Her illusion of Sunny acts and speaks exactly what she thinks he should be doing at that moment. To her – he is REAL … She will fight with anyone who tries to show her the reality. It’s beyond her control to distinguish between the illusion of Sunny and accepting the fact that he is no more and move on in her life. It’s like her mind is still stuck at the point when he was alive…”
“Will she ever get out of this?” her mother asked in concern.
“Yes. The possibility cannot be ruled out. However, cannot say how long will it be when she comes out of this stage and when she does – no guarantee it won’t relapse and trouble her again…”
Tanvi couldn’t stop herself. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. Anjali anyways seemed to be affected for her lifetime – she felt sad and remorse that she was responsible – she could have kept Chaits away from all this pain – had she done her homework…
Chaits realized that Anjali was now almost ready to yield to his pleadings and stopped from quitting. He stopped near the stairs, a couple of steps away from the door. He kept quiet to hear ay noise of any movement inside the room.
Anjali paused to hear his voice. She couldn’t. She kept quiet on her side to try and listen if he had given up and was climbing downstairs. She could hear nothing – she was like a silent patient who dreaded the treatment as if it was the nastiest thing anyone could endure. Yet, she was more scared at the thought that Chaits might give up on her – someone she love beyond anyone or anything…
“Chaits – are you still there?” she asked in despair, her voice almost croaking in her plight.
“Yes sweetheart, I still am here waiting for you to open that door, smile at me like ever, take me in your arms and kiss me sweet…”
She felt relieved – he had not yet given up on her. She sat there like a lonely girl in room, full of agony. Her heart wanted her to race out of that closed door and feel protected in his arms, shower him with kisses of her love,,, Her mind told her that if she opened that door – she would lose him – forever…
“Chaits” she pleaded weakly, “please don’t go away. I need you. I need your support. I need your love…”
“That exactly is what I want to give you, but, I can’t do that from behind a closed door…”
“Chaits – you don’t know how I have faced these horrible days without you. You don’t know how these medicines have affected me. You told me you fell in love with me at my first sight – I don’t want you to start hating me at this first sight of mine…”
“Now I really am concerned Anjali, open that door – I want to see you right now and make sure that everything’s alright.”
“Will you still love me? If I open that door and you see a ghastly me, will you still love me?”
“Sweetheart, my love for you is not restricted to your looks. I love you, I love your heart, your mind and your soul. Will make no difference if you think you look ghastly. To me – you are still will be my sweetheart.”
“Sunny!! Don’t you dare open that door without my permission… You know how angry I can be with you when you overdo your nonsense… No! You can never be my boyfriend – Chaits is the only person I love and He Is My Boyfriend. Stop pestering me and sit there quietly … No … Sunny!! … YOU IDIOT…”
Chaits was standing there – silent and confused – he was finding it difficult to understand as to when she spoke to him and when she spoke with Sunny. Suddenly, amid her screaming and scolding Sunny, he heard a noise of the door being unbolted and unlocked…
He saw his chance and rushed toward the door. He pushed the door open. He knew that Anjali would most probably push the door from inside to close it again. He was surprised when the door opened without any resistance…
He peeked inside cautiously and saw Anjali. She was sitting in a chair at the farthest corner of the room, away from the door. She sat facing away from him, her hair seemed in mess and she kept looking out of the window… She must have run the distance from the door and settled in that chair with a supernatural speed. His two steps towards the door against her running the distance at the farthest corner and settling down in the chair as if it wasn’t her who had unlocked the door…
“Anjali…” he called her gently, “look at me – I’m here…”
“Please stay where you are. I don’t want you to see me. If not for this idiot Sunny, the door would still be locked and you would still be outside…”
“I understand sweetheart that you have been through a very difficult phase. I couldn’t stop myself and I left a huge pile of work at my office and rushed here to meet you. This drive all the way here was to make sure that everything’s gonna be alright…”
“Chaits – I don’t want to continue these medicines.’ She said in a weak voice, “I feel utterly lost when I consume them. I don’t seem to know the difference between night and day. I don’t feel like smiling or even stepping out of this room. I feel horribly sick…”
“I can see that and I do understand sweetheart,” he said in a gentle voice full of concern, but, this treatment is necessary – this treatment is to ensure that we live happily together – all our lives…”
“How can such horrible pain inflicting treatment ensure our happy life? I’m afraid that I’ll not be able to survive. I may not live long enough…”
“That’s nonsense. You are consuming medicines – not poison…”
“Do medicines affect people like this??” she said and turned around in her swivelling chair. Chaits looked at her – horrified. Her long hair that had attracted him, were in a complete mess. The twinkle in her eye could no longer be seen. They now had a jaded look, sunk deep inside covered all around with deep black circles. She seemed to have lost the blossom in her cheeks along with much of the fat. She looked pale. She looked frail. Her limbs and her body had grown awfully thin making her look undernourished. He could visibly see the adverse effect of the medicines she had been consuming. All this – only for him and his sake…
He could not bear to see her in this state and the fact that she solely had accepted this for his sake weighed heavily on him. He sank on his knees, tears in his eyes.
She looked at the pain of the realization in his eyes and slowly tried to get out of her chair. She started to walk toward him but could manage only a couple of steps with much difficulty. She could walk no further and dropped on the floor and crawled the balance distance to him. With her frail trembling hands – she wiped off the tears that seemed to run down his cheeks.
“Darling – I love you too much. If you ask me to consume poison – I will do that – just for you… Shut up Sunny – You know and I know – he’ll never ask me to do something like that…”
“Sweetheart – this exactly is our problem. For you – Sunny exists. For me and the world – he doesn’t…” he looked at her gently holding her face between his palms, “You got to switch back to the reality – Sunny Doesn’t Exist… Once you start distinguishing between the thin line of reality and imagination – we won’t need anyone like Pallavi to prescribe any horrible medicines for you…”
She abruptly rolled back a couple of steps away from him as if she was pulled back by someone with a jerk “Oww – that hurt, Sunny… No… I have told this umpteen times – You can never be my boyfriend – you can keep dreaming that you are my boyfriend – you always were and are going to remain what you always were – My Best Friend…”
“Where’s Sunny?” he asked and she pointed to the floor next to her.
“Right here – he’s sitting right next to me…”
Chaits fished out his mobile phone and clicked a photo of her. He then showed that photo to her and she looked at it – bewildered – the photograph did show her – but it didn’t show Sunny…”
“See – this is what I mean. You see him, you talk to him. He does many things to make you laugh. Please realize this – it’s you – I’ll rather say it’s your imagination of Sunny you think is real him – not me, nor anyone else can see or hear him. And this kind of behaviour is called as ‘schizophrenia’ in medical terms of psychiatry. This can be cured. Remember that incident of the imaginary apple? Remember how you felt when I wanted that imaginary apple – I feel the same when you imagine Sunny…”
“But – Sunny Is Real…”
“So was that juicy apple I wanted to eat…”
“Stop it Chaits! Now – you are branding me as a crazy and mentally imbalanced person. I’m not crazy. I’m hurt. Your allegation has caused me more pain than all the medicines I have consumed for your sake.” Saying this, she crawled back to her chair near the window. ‘Sunny – help me sit in that chair.” She stood up with difficulty as if Sunny was really helping her to stand and sit in that chair, “No Sunny, I don’t want you do anything else. Just stand quietly in that corner and don’t disturb us.”
Chaits looked around at the empty room. He was trying to find words to reason with her. For once, he knew, he was short of them. She seemed adamant and not at all ready to look at the reality of the photograph. He was now losing his patience and getting desperate.
‘If poison kills poison – I’m sure a deep remorse should cure the mental state she is in because of the remorse that Sunny died because of her…’ he thought, ‘let me try and intimidate her into doing something crazy she would feel remorse for – but, what?
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