Maha stood in the middle of the room like a statue made of ice. Her eyes were wide, but she was not seeing anything. Lucky did not understand what was happening. She called out Maha's name, but there was no answer. She saw the phone lying on the floor and quickly picked it up.
"Hello? Hello, Mamaya?" Lucky asked, her voice trembling.
A man's voice answered from the other side. It was not Raghu. "Ma'am... I am calling from this phone because the owner of this phone just met with a very bad accident. I have admitted them to the hospital."
Lucky felt the world tilt. Tears began to stream down her face instantly. she looked at Maha, who was still standing there, frozen and expressionless. It was as if Maha's soul had already sensed the truth.
"Hello? Ma'am? Can you hear me?" the man asked.
"Yes..." Lucky sobbed, trying to catch her breath. "Can you... can you please tell me the location? Which hospital?"
The man gave her the address of a hospital near a place .
"Please," Lucky begged. "Please stay there until we arrive. Please don't leave them."
"I will stay, maa," the man promised.
Lucky immediately called Rudra and Shiva. Her voice was thick with tears as she told them the news. She then turned to Maha and wrapped her arms around her, sobbing loudly. "Maha! Maha!"
The touch broke the spell. Maha came back from her trance. She looked at Lucky with hollow eyes. "Lucky... what I heard... is it true?"
Lucky couldn't speak. She only nodded her head. Maha let out a broken cry and hugged Lucky back. They clung to each other.
The family rushed to the hospital. When they reached the entrance, Rudra ran toward the man who had called.
"Thank you, sir," Rudra said, his voice tight. "Thank you for helping them."
"There is no need for thanks," the man said sadly. "I saw the accident happen. I couldn't just leave them there. I brought them here as fast as I could."
Ram stepped forward. He was holding back his own tears because he knew he had to be strong for the children. He gripped the man's hand. "Thank you, sir. We will never forget your kindness."
Shiva saw a nurse walking by and stopped her. "Nurse! Please, tell us. Is everything okay? How are they?"
The nurse looked at them with pity. "All three of them are in very critical condition," she said before hurrying away.
Rudra turned to the stranger. "Sir, did you see how it happened?"
The man nodded. "Yes. A large lorry was coming down the road. Suddenly, their car came in front of it. It happened so fast. I have to go now, I have some work. I hope for the best for your family."
Rudra thanked him one last time, and the man disappeared into the crowd.
A few hours passed. Every second felt like a year. Finally, the doctor came out of the emergency room. He looked exhausted and sad. He asked the nurse if the family had arrived.
"Sir, we are the family," Ram said, stepping forward. "How are they? Please tell us they are okay."
The doctor sighed and looked at the ground. "I am so sorry. We tried everything we could. We really did. But we could not save them."
The hallway went silent.
"The accident was too violent," the doctor continued. "Pieces of glass penetrated their heads, and the impact damaged their nervous systems. Two of them died almost instantly. The third patient had a major blood clot in the brain. We tried surgery, but it was no use. They are all gone."
Rudra's face turned red with a mix of shock and fury. He lunged forward and grabbed the doctor by his collar, shaking him. "How can you say that?! How can you say you couldn't save them? They can't leave us like this! Go back in there! Check again! They are strong... they must be alive!"
The doctor gently removed Rudra's hands from his shirt. "Sir, I understand your pain. I truly do. But the truth is... they are no more."
Suddenly, the stress became too much for Lucky. Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted, falling toward the hard floor. Shiva and Maha caught her just in time.
"Lucky! Wake up! Lucky!" they screamed, patting her cheeks.
The doctor called for help, and after checking her, he said, "She is just in shock. Her body couldn't handle the pain, so she lost consciousness. I have given her an injection. She will be awake soon."
One by one, they were allowed to go near the bodies of Seetha, Sanjana, and Raghu. The sight was unbearable.
Maha walked to her father's side. Her voice was hoarse from crying. "Nanna... look at me. You asked me about my marks, remember? See... I got 94 percent. I got good marks, Nanna. Please... open your eyes and look at my result."
She turned to her mother, Sanjana. "Maa... please say something. Don't be angry with me anymore. I promise I will eat your upma every day. I will eat whatever you make, I won't complain. Just please, open your eyes, Maa!"
Maha's cries filled the room. Ram, Shiva, and Rudra watched her, their hearts breaking into a thousand pieces. Shiva was crying openly. Ram was silent, his tears falling onto his chest. Rudra's eyes were blood-red. He didn't cry a single drop, but the pain in his face was deeper than any ocean. He wasn't ready to let the tears out yet.
Maha then moved to Seetha. "Seetha... how could you leave me? You said you would always be there for me. You said you wanted to see your grandchildren one day. How can you leave us now?"
Shiva couldn't take it anymore. He turned and ran out of the room, unable to look at his mother's cold face. Rudra followed him, his footsteps heavy and silent.
Maha turned to Ram, grabbing his arm. "Ram Mamaya... you are their best friend. You are Seetha's husband. Tell them to wake up! I don't want to see them on these beds. Please... tell them to open their eyes!"
Ram placed a trembling hand on Maha's shoulder. He tried to console her, even though he was dying inside. He pulled her into a hug, and she sobbed against his chest.
"They have left us, Maha," Ram whispered, his voice cracking. "They are not coming back."
Days passed. The funerals were over, but the silence that followed was even worse.
Maha stayed in her own house. Every morning, she woke up early by habit. She would start making coffee for Raghu and tea for Sanjana, only to realize halfway through that there was no one to give them to. She sat alone in the kitchen, remembering the loud laughter and the small arguments they used to have.
Ram came to her house every day. "Maha, come and live with us," he begged. "Don't stay here alone in this empty house."
But Maha refused. She wanted to stay where she could still feel the shadows of her parents. Ram didn't give up he stayed with her until she ate at least a few bites of food, even when she cried and said she wasn't hungry.
At Ram's house, the air was just as cold. Shiva and Lucky refused to eat most of the time. Every meal reminded them of Seetha. They could almost see her sitting there, feeding them with her own hands.
Ram had to be the anchor. He forcefully made them eat, his voice stern but his eyes full of love. Rudra, however, changed the most. He became a workaholic. He spent almost all his time at the office, burying himself in papers and meetings to avoid the loneliness of the house.
Rudra ate very little, just enough so that Shiva and Lucky would see him eating and follow his lead. He secretly kept a watch on Maha, calling Ram every hour to check if she had eaten her meals.
The two houses, which were once filled with music, giggles, and the smell of fresh coffee, were now silent. The happiness was gone. Ram sat in his room every night, looking at a photo of the three they had lost, praying to God to bring the children back to life and fix their broken hearts.