Monsoon still had a ferocious grip on the city, and it seemed determined to show the citizens the full force of its power. The night seemed to be a mirror image of that fateful one twenty years ago, the hospital lights burning too brightly above them, rivalling the lightning going on outside. He still remembered the soft smile on his oldest friend’s face, imbuing the whole atmosphere with a gentle glow, even as he was too weak to lift his head.
Jay had been Aman’s friend forever, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. It was Jay’s cry that Aman had first heard when he opened his eyes, and his own screeches had joined the cacophony while their parents had looked on with wonder and astonishment gleaming in their exhausted eyes. Call it lack of available private hospital rooms, call it fate - Jay and Aman had been meant to meet. The years that followed passed by in a blur of bruised knees, failed tests, business deals that turned into successful corporations, and then Jay’s diagnosis. That ugly, horrifying diagnosis that had seemed to rip up the ground from underneath Aman, Jay’s wife Naina and daughter Laila. It wasn’t long until that night arrived when they had to bid adieu to a man that had made all of their lives better just by being in it.
Now, twenty years later, Aman stopped in front of a door that was as familiar to him as his own. The truth was, Aman was ashamed. It had taken him two decades to build up the courage to go see his best friend’s family, to survive the bombarding of memories just being here bought upon. Sure, he’d been caught up in growing the business - his and Jay’s business - and sure, it was hard losing your best friend, but after a point, he’d started hiding behind those excuses. No more. Today, he would make amends with a family that had once been as close to him as his own. Today, he would return what he had taken from the hospital room all those years ago.
His hand moved forward of its own accord and rung the bell. In his jacket lay the package - a single, unassuming book wrapped carefully in brown paper. Inside it lay a treasure trove of Jay’s thoughts, wishes, feelings and observations. Aman had perused the pages of Jay’s journal more times than he could remember until it had become both a source of comfort and advice, but now it was time to pass it on to someone who needed it. Aman recalled Jay’s words to him as he placed the book in his hands - “Give it to them when you’re ready.”
Aman smiled, his heart lightening. The door opened, spilling a sliver of light onto the porch in which he saw a young woman, eyes crinkled in a gentle smile that could have been inherited from no one other than Jay.
“Hi Laila, I’m Aman. I was a friend of your father’s, and there’s something I’d like to give you.”
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