Chapter 3 Prayers: Answered

Arene's POV

The moment we left the house, I started getting a feeling of uneasiness, like something was going to be wrong.

'The same feeling I was having that day, the day I lost him!'

I shrugged off the evil and unwanted thoughts emerging in my mind quickly, as I wanted to spend the time with my son, Arin.

And as I thought of his name, my lovely boy started speaking as if he was able to hear my thoughts!

"Mumma, I want ice cleam, and I want a lollipop too! The cold one, which just tastes like ice-cleam only but it has a stick with it, you know?"

Aww! Once again, I melted due to the sweet mistake of the reason of my life.

"Arin, honey, those are popsicles you are talking about, those are not lollipops!"

I corrected him.

"Oh! Solly mumma! I didn't know that."

He spoke, covering his mouth with his little palm, while giggling cutely.

'Sometimes I really think, how easy life would have been, if we never had to grow up, if we could always laugh at our mistakes cutely. Like we are saying to the other person that it's just a mistake, what harm can it cause? And I am only making the mistakes while I am alive, you can be sure I won't make any after my death! But after growing up, we have the burden of responsibilities on our shoulders, that every mistake we make is categorised as a blunder- and sometimes it's a sin, committed by our own hands.'

"Mumma...mum...mum-mum, ale you listening to me?"

Arin's musical voice rang in my ears again.

"Yes honey! What happened?"

I heard my voice encountering the surface of my ear drums again, without my permission.

'I think it is safe to conclude that I am really helpless in front of my baby! Guess I have to live with this only, I thought, looking back into the rear view mirror of my car.'

"Mumma, if I don't ask for ice-cleam for two days, will you be buying me a dad?"

"Arin!"

I raised my voice slightly, to indicate to him that I won't be listening to anything about this in the near future.

But the moment I raised my voice, I saw his beautiful face wilting like a flower- and there we go again, my voice was again out my throat without my consent.

"Okay! Baby, we will talk about this once we reach the ice cream parlour ! Now be a good boy and let mumma focus on the drive, okay?"

"Okay mumma!" He cheered from the back seat.

It hadn't even been two minutes of driving, when I saw a man stumbling across the road, in what appeared to be an injured state, his shirt gleaming red in the glow of the headlights.

And before I could have done anything, he came in front of the car and fell down a few feet away from the car, after colliding with a big boulder which was somehow lying in the middle of the road.

'Out of nowhere!? How!? And why?

Was it for me? But nobody knew my whereabouts these days! Well, apart from one person...and even though I hadn't taken his name in years, I know he can never put me in danger. If anything, he will be the first one to fight the danger meant for me! Then-'

But before I could have come up with a plausible list of conclusions I heard Arin, who was screaming while struggling with his seat belt.

"Mumma, help, dad is injuled...dad is injuled..he needs help. He has got a boo boo...mumma, look!"

"Arin! He is not your dad!"

It was the first sentence that I managed to say. And surprisingly, I heard my son...my own son, responding to me.

"Oh ho! Mumma, you don't know but he is my dad, I played in chulch for dad and the fathel uncle told me that if I played with my honest healt then the God grandpa will be glanting my wish. Hully up mumma, see the God have listened to my playels!"

"Arin-"

"Mumma please..." He pleaded again, this time at the verge of crying. And now, I was left with no choice but to help the man. I stepped out of my car and saw the person lying on the ground. He had a strong muscular build, and I couldn't take him to the car all by myself. But there was no-one else around, either.

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Rain's POV

I felt the shocking pain coursing through my whole body like electric current.

The moment I fell down, I realised that it was not any vehicle I had encountered, but my eyes had deceived me while walking.

'The realisation hit me hard: if my eye-sight is weakening already, then there is really very little time left for me.'

It was at that moment I smelt an intense fragrance- the fragrance of thousands of roses, lilies and sandalwood mixed together. And as the musky smell evoked my nose trills, I smelled a familiar smell.

'The smell of a baby? And that too, In the middle of the road?!'

But my senses were probably giving up, so I distracted myself from the thoughts and started to pray instead.

'Moon Goddess, just spare me one life till I get my revenge, on behalf of the miseries my pack has gone through because of the traitor!'

But if I had been expecting a reply from the deity denying my request, I was pleasantly surprised by a sweet voice, ringing in my ears.

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Author's POV

Arene realised that whatever was to be done, had to be done by the two of them; and tried to make him gain partial consciousness by patting his face, so that he could support himself at least a little. But when she turned him around, a slight furrow appeared on her forehead when she noticed that he was injured really badly.

And the injuries reminded her of someone she had lost...someone she lost because of her mistake!

The moment this thought came into her mind, she involuntarily sprinted a few steps away from the person lying unconscious. But then she saw Arin struggling with the seat belt again, trying to get down in order to help his mother.

'I have to do this for my boy!'

She resolved, when a faint voice echoed in her brain again, which had probably been buried in the grave all these years.

"Are you sure that you can do this? Have you forgotten your failure, and what will you do if something happens to him? Are you willing to risk one life - AGAIN?"

The voice dragged her right in the middle of another dilemma.

'I know the hospital is only a five minute ride from here, but I am not sure about who will be on duty today-'

She was struggling with her thoughts, when she noticed the hands of the stranger twitching as he struggled to put his weight on them and try to get up. His eyes were still closed, but still his hands were trying to find a stable surface from which to lift himself up.

Arene crouched near him and reaching her hand out, she spoke in a soft voice so as to not startle him.

"Can you hear me? Try to gather some strength and stand on your feet, I can't take you to my car all by myself!"

But all Rain could bring himself to focus on, was the smell.

'The smell of thousands of roses, lilies and sandalwood. How can it be possible for a human female to have all these smells emanating from her body...as they are definitely not notes of artificial fragrance, and that I can assure you of, even from my deathbed.'

This was the last thought he remembered passing through his mind, when he felt the piercing pain again.

'Probably, I was on my deathbed already.'

He didn't give any response, but Arene felt the grip around her hands tighten.

She held him and somehow managed to drag him to the car, but her hands froze as she was about to open the door to the back seat.

'I can't let him in the back seat, I can't scare Arin with this much blood...then will I be able to drive if I put him in the front seat!?'

The flashbacks started floating in front of her eyes and to get rid of those flashbacks of taking her boyfriend to the hospital, while screaming her lungs out, that she would not let anything happen to him. He just needed to stay awake, so she just shoved him into the front seat!

'I am not weak anymore. I don't trust anyone now, and no-one trusts me. So I will not have any problem in taking him to the hospital.'

Thinking this, she started the car; keeping Arin's safety in mind, she started driving as fast as she could.

But little did she know what was awaiting her at the hospital.

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