Days turned into weeks as Avni sat in the same position. Her baby was dead, all because she wasn't strong enough to protect it. She hated herself. How could she allow a part of herself to die. Dayawanti won. Avni was tired. She was fed up. How was she supposed to keep fighting? She could see Neil break as she pushed him away everyday, she was hurting him, but she lost her child...it was justified. She refused his help constantly telling him not to touch her, shouting harsh words that she knew tormented him at night, but whilst he lay awake at night so did she. She knew what she was doing but she couldn't stop herself. Pain had taken the driving seat.  People can grow strong enough to whisper at the iron bars that hold them and see them bend out of their way, like the most crazy magic. That's what love can do: fix souls, fix brains, cure us all. Avni wished  she could have mastered that way, but it's hard when you've been starving for so long. You can sit and call for help. You can act like there is no cage, wear a mask of coping and normality. You can rage against the bars. Yet what love makes simple, no other thing can solve. There is another escape route, yet it is one into another great pain. It is possible to be so emotionally starved that you slip through the bars, no longer bound but with your soul crumbling. That was her way out. What followed was endless emotional marathons on bleeding knees. She had learned how to hide the pain, how to look normal. She understood early on why some go cold inside to escape the pain of isolation, why they let their empathy wither and die: numbness over feeling, mental anesthesia.  But, regardless of the pain, she still  believed that living with an incomplete soul is a form of death, and She'd rather be a humane human in pain than a zombie needing to bite others to feed.  She rocked herself back and forth, her heart burning with immense pain, the numbness that kept its hold on her slipped as tears glazed her lotus like eyes. Her heat split again. Her screams sounding in the Khanna family as they all rushed towards her, themselves muffling their sobs looking at the broken angle in front of them. Neil who had just come home ran upstairs hearing the horrifying screams that belonged to his wife. He rushed to where his family were crowded outside of his room along with hers, they heard glass shatter against the floor causing Neil's heart to shatter he moved forwards looking at what was awaiting him. There she was rocking back and forth her hand cut with shards of glass, tears staining her beautiful face, her cries becoming hysteric screams. He rushed forth taking her form and crashing it into his like the tide crashing against the shore. Her hands pushed weakly against his muscular chest trying to push him away, his hands smoothed her hair as he sat moving her more comfortably for them both, he looked up at his family as they began to clear out to give the couple a moment. Neil looked down at his wife, the mother of his child. The child who was supposed to be the symbol of their love. The child that was now dead. He knew that he couldn't begin to understand what she was going through but he wished she would tell him. Tell him how he could help. Tell him how he could make it better. He could feel her heart burning. He  knew that she blamed herself. And he knew that she was awake at night when she thought he was hurting because of her words. And he knew deep down she felt that he blamed her for the loss. But he didn't. He never could. Neil was blaming himself, for their child, for the state that she was in. His own eyes glossed with tears as the husband and wife mourned their loss. Their loss at a new chapter to their lives. Their loss at parenthood.  Avni's screams became muffled as she gripped onto Neil white shirt  wrapping her other arm around his middle. "I'm sorry." She whispered quietly but loud enough for him to hear "You have nothing to be sorry for my love." A fresh pair of tears cascaded down her red cheeks. He rocked her back and forth as she found the solace that she required. Sleep soon consumed her form as Neil picked up her fragile form laying her delicately on their bed. He reached for the first aid kit, his hands trembling at the sight of her blood. He bandaged her cuts kissing the place of her wounds before landing a delicate kiss to her forehead, he removed a strand of her hair from her face and hugging the blanket to her. He quickly but quietly rushed out his heart stabbing with guilt, he ran down the stairs skipping a few and crashing to the floor by the sofa. His own tears raining down violently as he sobbed. His was breaking. His very being shaken to the core. A figure sat besides him placing a hand on his head caressing his hair as he crashed down onto their lap. "Shhh Bacha." His sobs continued as he tried to get a grip. Neela moved his head and looked at him "Bacha i know, i know that your blaming yourself but its not your fault, if you want to blame someone blame Dayawanti and your uncle, this wasn't in your hands Neil and nor Avni's. I know its hard and i know your feeling everything at once and are trying to keep it together for Avni but this one time i'm not going to tell you that you need to be strong. Break Bacha. And build yourself from those ruins. Just this once don't think a bout Avni, you need to mourn Neil, it isn't healthy trying to bury yourself in your work , let go of all the responsibility. Break Bacha. I'm here to keep up the pieces." And with that HE BROKE.

TBC

Author's note:

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy, Damn its been long, two hectic weeks of pure exams and  now is the perfect opportunity to finally update!! Thanks to all of you have stuck by this story, i love you all for loving this story and pushing me to update, i love you all for your comments, your patience and understanding, i owe you all. Thank you soooooo much and i hope that you love this update as much as i loved writing it and exploring different character depths. I love you all. And thanks again.