Raksha was three when the incident happened. She didn’t even remember the details but it changed her life, ruined her life if I might say. She was in the hospital a few days back and she was fighting for her life. Now 18, Raksha walked clear off the hospital with a new heart. The mystery man had saved her life.
Raksha thanked God when she entered the house with her mother. There was nobody else at home. The childhood incident had taken away her brother and father. The incident was disastrous as Raksha's mother recalled it.
They, Raksha, her father, her younger brother and her mother were going on her father's motorbike. They were headed for Grandparents' house and without warning, her father lost balance. The accident spared the two women but Raksha was left with a terrible condition. Her heart was damaged. The doctors had said that without a transplant, she wouldn’t live more than twenty years. Because of the death of earning member in the family, her mother couldn’t get her treated then. The Insurance Company had denied paying the mediclaim because there was no sign of accident. The motorbike was simply thrown off-balance. A car had sped from beside them, no doubt, but the CCTV footage confirmed that the car had not even touched the family on the bike.
Raksha had lived a life of terror from then on. She couldn’t concentrate on education because she always nearly kept ill. Other organs in her body had gradually started failing because of the weak heart. And her mother could hardly keep up with her medical expenses with the low-paying job she had started.
But everything was fine now that a donor had given his heart to Raksha. Moreover, he had taken it upon himself, the cost of Raksha's treatment. She couldn’t be grateful enough. She had requested the doctor before the transplant to let her meet her donor but the doctor denied. He told her that the donor had strictly told not to let anyone from her family meet him. Raksha was intrigued but she didn’t press. She could now complete her college. Everything was fine, or was it?
Karan had wasted his entire life. There was nothing left that had meaning. Though he was not born like this. He was born with a silver spoon. His father was a rich businessman and he fulfilled his every single wish right from his childhood. Soon, Karan started doing things that children born rich do. In school itself he had started smoking. College was no better. He was exposed to alcohol as well. Nothing else mattered for Karan except smoking and drinking. Everybody thought that there was no hope for him and then she came. Shakti was his batch mate in the college. Karan loved her and she loved him back. Shakti was successful in distancing Karan from all his bad habits. Karan became a good human because of her. Three years in college, their love flourished. Everyone was happy with Karan for the change but nobody knew the cause. Karan had thought of introducing Shakti to his family after college. But that did not happen.
On the last day of college, Shakti came to Karan to end the relationship. She had started with the lame excuse of him being an addict but soon it turned out that she didn’t have the courage to ask his father about them. "My father won't allow." She had said.
The rest of Karan's 45 years old life was filled with cigarette, alcohol and hatred. He hated Shakti for everything. He hated her beyond hatred. He hated her for reforming him in the first place.
He was in the hospital, being informed by the doctor that he did not have another month to live when he heard about the girl who needed heart. He had asked the doctor if he could donate his heart. The doctos had denied. The reason, the doctor gave, was not that he was an addict. It was that he was 45, the doctor had said, and the girl was 18. His heart wasn’t the right size. Karan was devastated. He wanted to do something good before he died. He had asked the doctor to exempt the girl from hospital charges. Karan was ready to pay for her.
Karan's doctor announced it a day later and he was actually happy about it. It seemed God was permitting Karan to do good before death. Karan's heart, the doctor had said to him, had stopped growing when he was around 20. The mechanism responsible for right-sizing the organs of the body had released the information quite earlier in his heart's case. Karan was extremely happy. He asked the doctor to let him see the girl. However, he staggered back in terror when he saw who it was.
Karan told the doctor in strict confidence, that the car which had overtaken the victim motorbike years earlier was his. He said that while overtaking the family, he had thrown a lit cigarette butt from the car window that had hit motorbike's rider in the eye. It was because of Karan, that the two had died that day and it was because of him that the poor girl had suffered for 15 years.
The doctor kept it quiet. He respected the dying man's wish. What he didn't know that Karan had seen the girl's mother. It was Shakti, the reason for Karan's life as it was now.
Raksha was sitting on the sofa when her mother arrived from the kitchen with a glass of milk.
"The doctor has given a strict diet chart." Shakti said and picked up the laptop to finish her work.
"Shakti, is that you?" Raksha asked, her eyes were wide open.
"What do you mean? Since when did you start addressing me by my name? I am your mother, remember?" Shakti said.
Raksha didn’t say anything. There were voices inside her, bursts of rage she couldn’t control. She felt hatred for her mother, sheer hatred.
With ominous effort, she collected herself and took the glass of milk.
"It is Karan's heart mother." She said drinking the hot milk.
"What?" Shakti asked without raising her eyes from the laptop. She had to work.
"It is Karan's heart that beats inside me." Raksha said again. Her mother didn’t respond. Raksha went into the kitchen to put the glass back. She, however, noticed something else on the counter.
The newspaper next day bore a headline:
"Daughter stabs her mother after getting a heart transplant.'She ruined my entire life. My cigarette ruined hers. ' – She kept saying."