22nd August 2044.
The monsoon season reached its peak. The sky was dark throughout the day. Rains didn't obey to the Sun's timing constraints. Not because the clouds were superior to that mighty fireball, but because they were inferior and so could hide its might.
Animals were full-on energy as there was apparently no Sun to drain their energy. Birds circled their mates to initiate their breeding season, as if they were pilgrims of individual temples.
But, this never mattered inside the air-sphere. Plants were watered not by rains but by sprinklers. Sunshine is not the only source of light. Photosynthesis demands light, not nuclear fusion energy.
Raghav came out of the bathroom as Janu woke up. His body-structure flaunting ceremony was unintentional, as that's not the appropriate time to behave like animals in the name of being natural.
Their room had minimal furniture with a wardrobe and a little study area. He switched on the Holojector for the latest news. The News reporter started to blabber, "Millions escaped The Horror as the Universal Vaccine project of the Birmingham Military hospital..." Raghav couldn't bear it anymore. The word 'Birmingham' was more painful to him than it was for Mahatma Gandhi a century ago.
He dressed up and climbed down the staircase to reach the guest room. Draupadi was nowhere to be seen in there. Abhi and Subha were sleeping peacefully, as if their dad was around them always as a protection. Raghav's eyes gleamed with a hint of pity mixed with worry as tears constantly lubricated his eyelashes.
He went to the living room and found Draupadi sitting alone. Yes, she was alone. Her kerchief was wet, so did her face. Her dark complexion was completely replaced by a brick-red one. She mumbled, "I won't cry. I shouldn't weep.", as she rinsed her kerchief in the endless stream of her tears. Raghav sat near her and held her hands. She never bothered to turn towards him.
"When are we going, Raghav?", asked Draupadi in a fumbling voice. Yes, 'Raghav' was what he heard. Raghav let out a deep sigh.
"Four hours from now, you'd be with him", said Raghav as he wiped her tears.
Draupadi turned towards him in anger. "You still say 'you'd be with him'?", screamed Draupadi.
4 hours later...
Raghav boarded the front seat of the cab. The driver asked, "Destination, sir?". It looked like it took three business days for the question to reach Raghav. "Sir?", the driver called again. "Birmingham Military Hospital", said Raghav in a lowe voice.
When they reached their destination, Draupadi, who maintained absolute silence till then, ran towards the receptionist to enquire about Arjun's whereabouts. "The Mortuary is in the Basement, madam", replied the receptionist. Tears overflowed from her eyes. She held her palm in front of the receptionist signaling him to stop, before she turned towards the lift.
A janitor guided her to a nurse-boy. He took her along with the others to Arjun's cot. His cot was completely insulated as a part of preventive measures. Draupadi met Arjun, but he can't see her. She wanted him to. But he can't. She consoled herself as that was the nature's law. But her nature was a firewall against the consolation. She cried. She collapsed to the floor. That's all she could do.
Janu went and sat near her. Abhi stood near her father's head, weeping as if she lost her favourite bracelet. Aditya carried Subha in his hands. Raghav stood on the other side of the cot with his eight year old son. And that's all they could do.
The nurse-boy whispered in Raghav's ears. He then went near Draupadi's right ear and said, "Shall we take the body to India or shall we finish everything here?" Draupadi wiped off her tears and turned towards Raghav.
The eye-contact lasted for a few more moments than it did earlier, before Raghav broke it by looking down. She held his collar and shouted," He is Arjun, Krishna. Not a body. Why on earth are you so keen to 'finish everything'?"
She left him and started to weep like never before. Abhi hugged Raghav tightly and whispered,"Chris", in a breaking voice. Chris is her version of Krishna.
"Genes, it is, the possession", Aditya thought to himself.
It took Draupadi nearly 10 minutes to recollect herself. She turned towards Janu and said, "I don't want to trouble Arjun anymore." She collapsed on Janu's left shoulder and continued her weeping.