Story: She Said Yes… Didn’t She?
I really don’t want to open my eyes. I can’t bear to see the destruction anymore. But…wait a second. Shouldn’t I feel the pain now? Yeah, I am pretty sure I should, because I think somehow, I have returned to consciousness.
But there’s no pain. I keep my eyes shut, and try to activate my other senses. Okay I am pretty sure I have lost it now, because I hear laughter…and is that, music? What the heck? Where am I? In spite of myself, I open my eyes and the scene before me is so unexpected that I just stand there, staring in shock.
There is just one explanation for this…yep, one logical explanation.
I must be dead.
And this must be the “Afterlife”.
Though I have never believed in one. I am a man of science. No proof, no faith…it’s always been how it is for me.
Yet now, this seems like the only explanation I have.
I am standing in the middle of a ballroom. There’s a big, and I mean HUGE Christmas tree at the corner, just by the grand door. Fairy lights and chandeliers light up the whole room. I can see a buffet system lined up exactly opposite to me, in the other end of the room. And some kind of jazz music seems to be playing. I turn around to find a DJ swaying to it.
But the most surprising part is that the hall is full of people. People I know. People I have known since my school days, my friends.
Okay, this is officially the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.
Just then I feel a tap on my shoulder, and spin around so fast I almost crick my neck.
And there she is.
The love of my life.
Anita.
Her face lit up in a billion dollar smile, the one that I love so much.
I should’ve been overjoyed to see her, to find her safe and sound, standing in front of me.
Except I couldn’t wrap my mind around what’s happening.
Okay, so to catch you all up. Anita and I were heading to this exact party. It was supposed to be a big reunion party organized by a few of our school friends in our school auditorium. Anita hadn’t wanted to come initially, but I had worn her down and convinced her otherwise.
Although I did have another motive. I wanted to ask a very important question to the most important person in my life, right where I had met her for the very first time, all those years back, in school. Yes, I had made this elaborate plan to ask her to marry me in front of all our friends.
As soon as I remember this, I feel for the ring in my front pocket. The velvety box is still there. I sigh in relief. Maybe the bus crashing, the cries of horror and pain, dragging an unconscious Anita out from the bus…maybe it was all a nightmare? A very detailed one, regardless.
“What’s with the long face, stupid?”, Anita asks, dragging me onto the dance floor, “I thought it was your idea to come here.”
I nod. And then I think I shouldn’t delay it any longer. Life had given me a second chance…I would be stupid not to make good use of it.
“Anita, I have something important to ask you.”, I say, my eyes focused on her chocolate brown ones.
She looks at me curiously.
“Will you…”, I manage to say, before a slicing pain pierces through my forehead and the vision in front of me fades momentarily.
Now in my foggy vision, I see a man dressed in white, saying, “Sir, you have to let go now, please.”
Let go of what, though? God! Focus, Amit! It’s not important. Don’t mess up your second chance!
I will myself to concentrate, until Anita comes back into focus, and the noises of the party are ringing in my ears.
Anita is still looking at me curiously.
“Anita, will you marry me, please?”, I ask in one breath.
Also Read: The World in My Eyes
Her face splits into that brilliant billion dollar smile I love, as she hugs me tight. The whole hall erupts into applause, as she whispers into my ears, the one word I had been longing to hear.
“Yes.”
And then the pain is back, worse than before. Much worse. I close my eyes, trying to block it out. Please not now. I will it to stop, and slowly it does.
And along with it fades away the sounds of the party, the music, the laughter. I open my eyes, unsure of what I will find. I am sitting in a white room…the walls are white, the floor is white, the ceiling is white. It’s so white my eyes hurt, and I blink rapidly. There’s a man standing in front of me…and of course, he too is dressed in white.
Flabbergasted, I ask him, “What the hell is this place?”
“This is the mortuary, sir.”, he says calmly.
I focus carefully on the walls. Sure enough, there are vaults in the walls, which are probably filled with, God knows how many bodies.
“But why am I here?”, I ask the man, who seems to be a doctor here.
“Sir, I am afraid you have to let her go now.”, he says gently.
“Her? What? Let go?”, I ask confused.
Only then do I realize I am holding something cold in my hands. I look down, and I almost fall out of my chair in shock. Anita is lying before me, lifeless. Her head in bandages. Her chest covered in blood. One of her lifeless ice cold hands in mine.
“No! This can’t be!”, I yell at the doctor.
“I am sorry sir. You were in a bus accident. Only 5 survived. She didn’t make it.”, he says gently.
“It can’t be!!! I just…we were just at a party!”, I shout. I hate the calm look he has on his face. I want to rip it off. How can it be? I was just at the party with her. Everything was fine. I proposed, she said yes. We were going to start off the new year on a high note. This just couldn’t be. I had to be dreaming.
“What is going on here?”, I ask frantically.
“Please don’t get too excited sir. It’s not good for you.”, the doctor says again, “You wanted to meet her one last time. So we wheeled you in, to say goodbye.”
“Goodbye?”, I ask, “No, you don’t understand. We were together, just minutes back. She said she’d marry me. She was in my arms.”
”Ah! The last meeting conundrum.”, he says, smiling sadly.
“What?”, I ask.
Before he wheels me out, I grasp Anita’s hand one last time. Her face doesn’t light up in that smile I love. Her eyes don’t crinkle like they used to when she laughed. She just lays motionless on the table.
“It’s a very rare occurrence, Sir.”, he says, “There’s a theory, that, when a loved one dies, leaving some important business unfinished, after death, you get one chance to complete it with them. However it’s very rare. The odds for this happening, medically speaking, is one in a million. You’d need a very strong emotional and psychological connection. If all circumstances align, then you’d get one last chance to meet them, and complete whatever needed to be.”
I look at him, still as confused as before.
“It means, it’d feel as though you’re really with them, even after they’ve passed. And as soon as the purpose is fulfilled, the charm breaks, and you’re brought back to harsh reality. It’s just the universe’s way of giving second chances to a lucky few.”, the doctor finishes.
“So…this wasn’t real? None of it? It was all in my head?”, I ask.
“As a wise man once said, Sir. Of course it was in your head. But why should it mean that it wasn’t real?”, he says, smiling softly.
“Albus Dumbledore. He said that.”, I whisper.
Despite being a man of science, under Anita’s constant insistence, I had had to read and watch Harry Potter quite a few times for the popular quotes to be ingrained in me by now.
The doctor nods.
“I have never heard of this thing before.”, I say.
“As I said, Sir. It’s very rare. But still, a very real medical phenomenon.”, he says, “I’m afraid you’ve been here for far too long. You need to rest.”
He comes over to wheel me out of the room.
“Wait! She said yes, right?”, I ask looking at him desprately.
“I am sorry, Sir. There’s no way for a third party to witness this extraordinary phenomenon. Therefore, I have no idea whatsoever of the conversation you had with Ms. Anita.”, he says apologetically, “Let us go, Sir. You need rest.”
Before he wheels me out, I grasp Anita’s hand one last time. Her face doesn’t light up in that smile I love. Her eyes don’t crinkle like they used to when she laughed. She just lays motionless on the table.
I don’t care about any syndromes or conundrums or whatever the hell that this was. All I am is, incredibly grateful to the universe for this second chance.
I lean down, so that my lips are level with her ear, and whisper, so that only she can hear me, “You said yes…didn’t you?”
All images are generated by AI
Isha is currently pursuing her MBBS degree. She has been a voracious reader since childhood. She has been a regular in authoring articles, poems & stories in school/college magazines. She has won multiple awards, certificates in college fests, competitions etc for her literary pursuits. Isha also has a panache in performing card magic tricks, loves to play the guitar, ukelele, synthesizer and is a travel-bug.
