The 151 Days

After a while, Prakhar, exhausted, lay down on the bed.

The lyrics of a song echoed in his ears, as if he were listening to his own heart speak:

"To dream only of you, to wait only for youEvery bit of my loyalty is for youTo think only of you, to wrap myself in your memoriesEvery prayer of mine is for youTo ask only for your companionship, to hold only your handI don't want to go anywhere without youPlease don't ever leave me, don't ever let goI have no one here but youLong for love again and againWish for love again and againDesire love again and againPray for love again and again"

Tears streamed down from his eyes, flowing over his throat with the lyrics of the song.

Meanwhile, Shrey had gone to sleep in his room, and Pranay had dozed off on the sofa. But sleep had no place in Prakhar's eyes. Something was gnawing at him — his mind was pressuring him to leave, while his heart stubbornly insisted on staying.

Lying on the bed, he kept staring blankly at the ceiling when suddenly his phone pinged with a message.

He glanced at it — it was a text from Kunwar:"Don't stress so much, my love. Just sleep peacefully..."

Prakhar gave a faint smile and tossed the phone aside, trying to fall asleep. But the restlessness was so intense that sleep seemed impossible.

Even after turning from side to side repeatedly, there was no hope for sleep. Drenched in deep anxiety, he got up, took a beer bottle and a pack of cigarettes out of the closet. Without thinking, he went and sat in the balcony.

He took deep drags from the cigarette, poured the alcohol into a glass and gulped it all down in one breath. Slowly, he emptied the entire bottle, but the inner turmoil didn't ease for a moment. Pacing restlessly around the room, he rubbed his chest again and again, trying to breathe deeply — as if he could exhale his loneliness and pain.

His hands started trembling, his breath became labored. A sharp pain struck his chest, like his heart was being crushed under a heavy weight. He wanted to scream, but even the slightest sound got stuck in his throat — as if everything had been locked inside him. Every thought, every emotion was drowning him deeper.

In an attempt to calm himself, he started hitting the wall, but even that didn't help. He could feel himself breaking apart with each passing second. Then he dragged himself into the shower, hoping the cold water would soothe him — but as soon as the water hit his body, it only deepened his agony. Despite his shivering state, there was no relief. He sat there, as if everything inside him had died. Cold, water, cigarettes, alcohol — everything had failed him.

Trembling, he started mumbling,"Please don't leave me... I'll become the best, I promise... please don't leave... I'm scared... please..."

Gradually, he lost consciousness.

At that very moment, Diamond (the dog) woke up and came into the bathroom. As soon as he saw Prakhar's condition, he panicked and ran to him, trying to wake him up — but Prakhar didn't move. Frightened, the pup ran toward the door, but it was locked from the inside. Being so small, he couldn't open it. So, he started barking as loud as he could.

Hearing the barking, Pranay, who was asleep in the hall, woke up with a start. It was 2 a.m., and Diamond barking like that was highly unusual.

He went to the door and called out,"Hello? Prakhar...? Can you hear me? Look, I think something's wrong with Diamond... Hello? Prakhar...? Is he not waking up?" he mumbled.

Just then, Shrey arrived, still groggy with sleep."What's wrong with this little guy?" he asked.

"I don't know... and the door's not opening either... do you have a spare key?" Pranay asked.

Shrey shook his head no.

"Damn... I could break the door, but the puppy's right in front of it. What if he gets hurt?" Pranay said, rubbing his forehead.

"We could try entering from the balcony... if the balcony door is open," Shrey suggested.

"Finally, your brain's working!" Pranay said as he sprinted toward the stairs. Shrey ran after him.

Pranay stopped him and said, "You stay here… I'll go unlock the door from inside."

Shrey nodded and waited by Prakhar's door.

Pranay jumped down from the terrace into Prakhar's balcony. His eyes fell on the empty alcohol bottle and heaps of cigarette ash — he was stunned. He quickly went inside and unlocked the door; Shrey entered and started looking around.

"Where the hell is he at this hour...?" Pranay said, but just then, Diamond started tugging at their clothes, leading them toward the bathroom.

When they entered the bathroom, both of them were horrified.

Prakhar lay unconscious under the running shower, blood mixing with the water from both of his hands, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Shrey's heart skipped a beat.

Pranay quickly lifted him and carried him to the bed. Taking out a towel from the closet, he said,"Take off his clothes..."

"But how can I...?" Shrey stammered.

"You'll do it or should I?" Pranay snapped. Shrey, trembling, moved toward Prakhar and started unbuttoning his shirt slowly. Pranay shouted again,"Hurry up!"

Shrey looked at him with tear-filled eyes, but Pranay shook his head and pulled out his phone to call the doctor.

Shrey removed Prakhar's shirt and hesitantly began to take off his pants. But when he couldn't bring himself to do it, Pranay shoved him aside, quickly removed the pants, and covered Prakhar with the towel. He glared at Shrey and said,"Get his clothes."

Shrey quickly ran to the closet and brought some clothes back to Pranay.

"Put them on him," Pranay said — his voice still sharp.

Shrey, with shaking hands, began dressing Prakhar. Prakhar was still unconscious, his body limp. Shrey struggled to hold him up.

As Pranay lifted him, he saw Prakhar's back — marked with deep wounds, old and new. It looked like he had endured pain for months. Scratches, burn marks, and welts from belts...

"What happened to him...?" Shrey asked.

Pranay shook his head silently.

From where Shrey stood, he could only see Prakhar's chest — so he hadn't seen anything.

Once Prakhar was dressed, Pranay covered him with a blanket and began rubbing his hands. Shrey rubbed his feet, trying to stop the trembling of his body.