Afraid Of Dawn

Arjun was deeply in love with his wife, Anya. Three years had passed since their marriage, and every day with her felt like a blessing. She was his happiness, his peace, his home—the one person he could never imagine living without. Their life together was beautiful, filled with love, laughter, and countless little moments that meant everything to them.

Neither of them knew how cruelly fate was about to shatter their world.

It happened on an ordinary day.

Anya was driving home when a speeding truck suddenly appeared in front of her. Before she could react, a horrifying collision occurred, leaving her car wrecked and her unconscious body trapped inside.

She was rushed to the hospital.

And Arjun’s world came crashing down the moment he received the news.

For a few seconds, he couldn’t breathe. His mind refused to process the words he had just heard.

No. It couldn’t be true.

His hands trembled as he grabbed his car keys and rushed to the hospital, his heart pounding painfully against his chest. A thousand terrifying thoughts raced through his mind, but he desperately clung to just one hope.

Please, let her be okay.

The moment he reached the hospital, he ran through the corridors, frantically searching for someone who could tell him where she was.

And then he saw her.

Anya was being taken into the operation theatre.

“Anya!” he cried, rushing towards her.

But the doors closed before he could reach her.

He stood frozen in front of them, staring at the place where he had last seen his wife. His entire body had gone numb, yet his heart was screaming in agony.

A nurse approached him a few moments later.

“Sir, please wait outside. We will let you know as soon as there’s an update.”

“But she’s my wife,” he choked out, his eyes fixed on the closed doors. “Please… I just want to see her.”

“I understand, sir, but you need to wait here.”

The nurse walked away, leaving him standing helplessly in the corridor.

He couldn’t move.

He couldn’t think.

All he could do was stare at the operation theatre doors, silently begging God to give his wife back to him.

He pressed his trembling hands together, tears streaming down his face.

“Please, God,” he whispered desperately. “Take everything from me if you want. Take my life, everything. But please, don’t take her away from me. I can’t live without her.”

Minutes turned into hours, and every passing second felt like torture.

Arjun had never felt so helpless in his life. He had always believed that no matter what happened, he would find a way to protect Anya. He would hold her hand through every difficulty, shield her from every pain, and stand between her and anything that dared to hurt her.

But today, the woman he loved more than his own life was lying behind those doors, fighting for her life, and there was absolutely nothing he could do.

For the first time, he realized how powerless love could feel in the face of fate.

Finally, the operation theatre doors opened.

Arjun immediately rushed towards the doctor.

“Doctor! How is my wife? Is she okay? Please, tell me she’s okay!”

The doctor looked at him gravely.

“The operation was successful. She is out of immediate danger, but she is still unconscious. We will continue to monitor her condition.”

Arjun released a shaky breath. His knees nearly gave way with relief.

“She… she’s going to be okay, right?”

The doctor hesitated before speaking again.

“There’s something else you need to know.”

Arjun’s heart sank.

“Due to the severity of her injuries, her spinal cord has been damaged. Unfortunately, she has lost movement in both her legs. The damage appears to have caused permanent paralysis, and she is unlikely to walk again.”

For a moment, Arjun simply stared at him.

The words reached his ears, but his mind refused to understand them.

She will never walk again.

Never?

His Anya, who loved dancing around the house while he watched her with a smile. His Anya, who would run into his arms the moment he returned home. His Anya, who had so many dreams for their future.

Would she never do those things again?

His eyes filled with tears, but he forced himself to ask the only question that mattered to him at that moment.

“But… she’s alive, right?”

“Yes,” the doctor replied gently. “She’s alive.”

Arjun closed his eyes.

A sob escaped his throat as he pressed a hand over his mouth, trying desperately to hold himself together.

She was alive.

And for that, he would thank God for the rest of his life.

But beneath the overwhelming relief was a grief he couldn’t begin to describe. He wished he could take her pain away. He wished he could somehow carry the burden of what had happened, so she would never have to experience it herself.

If he could exchange his legs for hers, he would do it without a second thought.

If he could give her his strength, his health, his very life, he would.

But all he could do was wait.

And pray.

That night, Arjun sat beside Anya’s hospital bed, holding her hand between both of his.

She lay motionless, her face pale, her eyes closed, and her body surrounded by medical equipment. She looked so fragile that it hurt him to look at her for too long.

He gently brushed a strand of hair away from her forehead.

“Anya,” he whispered, his voice breaking. “You promised you’d stay with me forever, remember?”

A tear slipped down his cheek.

“So you have to wake up. You have to come back to me.”

He pressed her hand against his lips and kissed it tenderly.

“I don’t care about anything else. I don’t care what happens tomorrow. I don’t care what our life looks like anymore. I just need you here with me.”

He rested his forehead against her hand, silently crying.

Throughout the night, he barely moved from her side. Whenever exhaustion threatened to overcome him, he would look at her face and find himself wide awake again, terrified that even a moment of inattention might somehow take her away from him.

He prayed until he had no words left.

And when morning finally arrived, he was still there, holding her hand.

Waiting for her to open her eyes.

Waiting to hear her voice.

Waiting for his world to come back to life.

A faint movement of her fingers stirred him from his exhaustion.

Arjun immediately lifted his head.

Anya’s eyelids fluttered.

“Anya?”

His voice came out barely above a whisper.

She slowly opened her eyes, blinking against the brightness of the hospital room. For a few moments, she looked around in confusion before her gaze finally settled on him.

“Arjun…?”

He couldn’t stop himself.

“Anya!”

He leaned forward, cupping her face gently as tears instantly filled his eyes. A broken laugh escaped him, somewhere between relief and the sobs he had been holding back all night.

“You’re awake,” he whispered. “Oh, God, you’re awake.”

He kissed her forehead repeatedly, holding her face as though he needed to convince himself that she was really there.

Anya gave him a faint, confused smile.

“What happened?” she murmured. Her voice was weak and hoarse.

Arjun froze.

For a moment, he couldn’t answer.

How could he tell her?

How could he look into those innocent eyes and tell her that the life she had known until yesterday had changed forever?

He swallowed hard, struggling to find his voice.

“It’s okay. You’re here with me now. You’re safe.”

She stared at him, trying to piece together the fragments of her memory.

Then, almost instinctively, she tried to move her legs.

Nothing happened.

She frowned and tried again.

Still nothing.

A strange uneasiness crept into her expression.

“Arjun?”

He immediately took her hand.

“What is it?”

“I can’t…” Her voice faltered. “Why can’t I move my legs?”

His heart shattered all over again.

He looked at her, but no words came.

“Arjun, I’m trying to move them.” Her breathing grew uneven. “I can’t feel them properly. Why can’t I feel my legs?”

He lowered his head, tears spilling silently down his cheeks.

“Arjun, please!”

The fear in her voice made him look up.

He tried to speak, but his throat had closed painfully.

Instead, he leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her as carefully as he could, holding her against his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Two words.

That was all he could manage.

Anya stiffened in his arms.

“Sorry?” she repeated, pulling back just enough to look at him. “Why are you saying sorry? Arjun, what’s happening? You’re scaring me.”

He couldn’t look at her.

His tears fell onto her shoulder.

he choked out. “I’m so sorry.”

Before he could say anything more, the doctor entered the room.

He examined Anya briefly before turning towards her.

“Mrs. Anya, I need to explain something about your injuries.”

She looked at him anxiously.

“What happened to me, Doctor?”

The doctor paused, choosing his words carefully.

“The accident caused severe damage to your spinal cord. Unfortunately, you’ve lost movement in both your legs. Based on the extent of the injury, the paralysis is expected to be permanent.”

The room fell silent.

Anya stared at him.

For a moment, she didn’t even seem to breathe.

Then she let out a small, disbelieving laugh.

“No…”

She shook her head.

“No, that can’t be right.”

The doctor began to explain further, but she barely heard him.

Her eyes moved desperately towards Arjun.

He was standing beside her bed, his face drenched in tears, his lips trembling as he tried to hold himself together.

She searched his face, looking for something—anything—that would tell her the doctor was wrong.

“Arjun?”

He stepped closer immediately.

She reached for his hand and clutched it tightly.

“Tell me he’s wrong.”

He stared at her, unable to speak.

“Arjun, please.” Her voice broke. “Tell me this isn’t true.”

His tears fell faster.

She shook her head frantically.

“No. No, you know me. You know I can’t—”

Her words caught in her throat.

She looked down at her legs, then back at him.

Arjun sank onto the edge of her bed.

He gently took her face between his trembling palms, forcing himself to meet her eyes even as his own blurred with tears.

God, how desperately he wanted to lie.

He wanted to smile and tell her that everything would be fine, that this was just a terrible misunderstanding, that in a few days she would be back on her feet, running into his arms as she always did.

But he couldn’t give her a promise he didn’t know how to keep.

So he closed his eyes for a moment, fighting the sob rising in his chest.

Then he slowly nodded.

One small movement.

One devastating answer.

Anya stared at him.

And something inside her broke.

He immediately pulled her into his arms.

But she clung to him, shaking her head against his chest, as though refusing to accept the truth might somehow make it disappear.

“No! This can’t be happening to me!”

Her voice rose into a desperate cry.

She pulled away, looking at him with wild, frightened eyes.

Arjun had no answer.

He could only hold her hands and cry with her.

She tried again, desperately willing her legs to respond.

Nothing.

Her breathing became ragged.

“Please!” she cried.

But her legs remained still.

And with every passing second, the truth became harder to deny.

She looked down at herself, her tears falling.

“I’ll never walk again?”

The words escaped her as a whisper.

Then she looked at Arjun, her face crumpling.

He couldn’t bear it.

He pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pressing her head against his chest.

“Anya…”

“Why me?” she cried. “Why did this happen to me? What did I do wrong?”

His voice broke. “You did nothing wrong.”

“Then why?” she sobbed, clutching his shirt in both hands.

He held her tighter, his own tears falling uncontrollably.

“I don’t know,” he whispered helplessly.

She buried her face against him and cried as though her heart were breaking apart inside her chest.

And perhaps it was.

She cried for the life she had known yesterday. For the things she had taken for granted. For the simple freedom of standing up, walking across a room, running into her husband’s arms, and dancing with him in their living room.

For the future she had imagined so clearly, a future that now seemed to have vanished before she had even been given the chance to understand what was happening.

Everything had changed.

And she hadn’t even had the chance to say goodbye to the life she had lost.

“Arjun, I’m scared,” she whispered between sobs.

Those three words broke whatever remained of his strength.

He pressed a trembling kiss to her forehead and held her face against his.

“I know”

“What will happen to me now?”

He shook his head, unable to stop crying.

“I don’t know what happens next,” he admitted, his voice thick with emotion. “But please, look at me.”

She slowly lifted her tear-filled eyes to his.

He cupped her face, wiping her cheeks with his thumbs, though fresh tears immediately replaced the ones he brushed away.

“I’m here,” he whispered. “I’m right here, Anya. I’m not going anywhere.”

She stared at him, trembling.

“You don’t have to figure anything out right now.”

“But I can’t walk…”

His expression crumpled.

He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers.

“I know”

“I’ll never be the same again.”

He closed his eyes, a tear slipping down his cheek.

“I know.”

She began to cry harder.

And this time, he didn’t try to tell her not to cry. He didn’t tell her to be strong or promise that everything would somehow work out.

He simply held her.

Because what could he possibly say to ease a pain he couldn’t take away?

What words could mend a heart that had been shattered by a reality neither of them had ever imagined?

He wanted to be strong for her. He wanted to become the person she could lean on, the person who would keep her from falling apart.

But he was falling apart, too.

She was his wife. His best friend. His entire world.

And watching her suffer while being unable to change a single thing was tearing him apart in ways he had never known were possible.

Anya clutched him desperately, her sobs shaking her entire body.

Arjun wrapped both arms around her and held her as close as he dared, burying his face in her hair.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered again and again.

She shook her head against his chest.

“I don’t want this life,” she cried. “I don’t want this. I don’t want any of this to have happened.”

He shut his eyes tightly.

Neither did he.

He would have given anything to go back to yesterday. To the ordinary morning when he had kissed her goodbye. To the days when their biggest worries had been the smallest things. To a time when their future had seemed certain and happiness had felt so effortless.

He would have traded everything for one more ordinary day with her.

But there was no going back.

There was only this hospital room, the woman he loved trembling in his arms, and a future neither of them knew how to face.

So Arjun held her while she cried.

And Anya held him as though he were the only thing left in her world that hadn’t changed.

They cried together, their tears mingling, their hearts breaking in the same unbearable silence.

Outside the window, the morning sun continued to rise, indifferent to the tragedy unfolding inside the room.

But for Arjun and Anya, the world had stopped.

Three years of marriage. A thousand memories. Countless dreams.

And in a single moment, everything they had imagined for their future had been thrown into uncertainty.

He couldn’t take away her pain.

He couldn’t undo the accident.

All he could do was stay.

And as Anya sobbed against his chest, Arjun held his wife and cried with her, silently praying that somehow, someday, they would find a way to survive the life fate had forced upon them.

For now, there were no answers.

No comforting words.

No miracle to make the pain disappear.

Only two broken hearts, clinging to each other in the middle of a world that had suddenly become unrecognizable.

And neither of them let go.