"Would you look at me?" Anna inquired with a voice full of pain.
Justin raised his head but couldn't keep it up for long before he broke down again.
"I'm not hurt by what you did. I'm only hurt by what you said." Anna said to him calmly. "God! What were you thinking to tell me that I was having an extra-marital affair?"
"I don't know what got into me. Maybe my insecurities got to me in the time when I was down and so shocked. I'm really sorry for what I said. I promise I'll make it up to you but please forgive me and give me another chance." Justin said so fast that he didn't believe he was the one who said all those words.
"I'm not going to act like, I'll forget it and it never happened when it did and my heart was hurt by it. But I can forgive you and hope you won't repeat that because I can't take another heartbreak. Not after all the things we've been through together, I can't let this thing ruin it for us." Anna was also crying by the end of her emotional talk.
"Does that mean you forgave me?" Justin asked with hope in his dull eyes.
"Let's get you something to eat before you go to sleep." Anna went to help him up and he was on the horizon but couldn't quite make it clear for both of them.
Justin had dinner with Anna and swore right there on the table that he would never repeat such a foolish mistake ever again. It was in moments like those that made him feel that he might be his father's son with all that he was acting. He just hoped Aarush didn't inherit that bad gene.
¶
Days passed by and when the ninth birthday of Aarush was about to roll around, Aarush went back home one-day running and calling out to his father so loudly. "Daddy, come and see this!"
"By any chance, can you tell me what is that, son?!" Justin asked when he saw Aarush carrying an envelope in his hand jumping up and down in excitement.
"I got it from school. I won a test!" Aarush shouted.
Justin congratulated him and took the envelope said they could open it later when Mom was back. After that, Aarush went about his daily timetable, which was playing with Roshni after school.
When Anna came back, they opened the envelope to find a 500 rupees check from the school to Aarush and a letter of appreciation for his creativity along with a certificate for winning that computer competition.
Everybody was so proud of him, from Justin to Anna, Minna Ma, and Rustema. In return for what Aarush did, Justin bought him a desktop computer as a gift to learn more about computers and see where it'll take him. They were so excited about how Aarush was going headfirst in all things he was keen about.
Justin even spared some of his time to teach Aarush a few things which were essential for any computer user to know. He even went further and bought him books that taught the computer language and coding practices. It was great to see Justin having a father and son moment with Aarush and investing in his dreams instead of forcing something he didn't even know he liked on him.
While all was well between father and son, Anna also had a solid relationship with her son, and even though she spent much time going to the clinic and doing other productive activities to keep her body in a correct situation. She was happy when Shivangi said she could expect the baby to be born on 18th September, the same day as Aarush's birthday. There was nothing she could have liked more than to have two sons born on the same date in different years.
It was on the 15th of September when Anna experienced a pain she had never thought of before and her whole body was exhausted. Her water hadn't broken yet but with the pain she felt, it was clear that there was something wrong with the baby. She called Justin and told him about it and in no time, Justin was there with an ambulance to take her to the hospital.
They went to the hospital and Shivangi took charge ensuring Justin that everything will be fine. She went in with Anna and a few nurses to help her examine Anna and see if there was anything wrong with the baby or her.
It took Shivangi about a whole hour of running tests and other things before she got back to Justin who was sitting with Minna Ma waiting impatiently for her.
"Justin, can you come to my office?" Shivangi asked him.
Minna Ma took his hand and they went to her office together. Justin looked so afraid and so pale.
"Is everything alright Doctor? How is Anna doing?" Minna Ma asked in a voice so low that you could say she said that to herself.
"Justin, I know you are a doctor and you can understand this situation well than the other will, so I need your help to keep a clear head and listen to me while paying attention. The baby is in Diaphalopaniasis state and so a quick surgery is required to remove it." Shivangi took a deep breath before she continued. "But since the due date is near and the position is challenging, we have two options with us. It's either to have the baby delivered safely which means the death of the mother or to keep the mother alive. It's now or never. You just have an hour to think of this as we prepare for the surgery."
"I can assure the life for both of them. I have operated on three people with that condition about 10 years back in Canada. One ended up saving only her baby due to loss of a lot of blood and the two were a success." Justin said after Dr. Shivangi spoke
The doctor clapped her hands and said "If that's the case then you can come with us to the OP, the surgery starts in 15 minutes."
"No, I can't disobey the law. My license doesn't allow me to do any medical services to my family at the hospital. But I can be in the room and direct you throughout the surgery."
"We will kindly appreciate that, so if you don't mind can I take you to the changing room to save time," Shivangi said rolling her eyes at the license Justin was mentioning.
'Sure' was what Justin said before he hugged good luck with Minna Ma.
Justin changed into the surgical room attire and got in with Dr. Shivangi to assist with the surgery. It all started with the anesthetist doing her job down to Dr. Shivangi starting the surgery. It was going well for most of it until the time the baby was supposed to be taken out. They had an x-ray of the baby's position but the baby had shifted before the surgery and thus made it pretty difficult to find where his head was.
"I think the position changed last minute. What are we supposed to do?" Shivangi asked already starting to panic.
"Just keep your hands steady and push them on the baby's shoulder. Tell me when you get them." Justin said looking so frantic.
"I got them, I got them," Shivangi announced.
"Now move up to where the head is and tilt the baby. When the baby is in position, you'll pull it out." Justin said to Shivangi who did as she was told and after two to three tries, she managed to pull the baby out but something bigger happened.
Anna stopped breathing and the machine went off like crazy before it shut down completely.
Anna was dead.
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