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He turned the key and opened the door. To his horror, he saw . . . 

Something that school had never prepared him for. Something that Mrs.Mathews had never taught him to do. Something that was so beyond words and so uncomprehending, something that left him scarred for life.

 Adi froze. His mind could not fathom what was happening , his insides turned icy and his vision got all blurry. After what seemed like ages , he recovered only to frantically search for the phone. Sweating profusely he began scrambling , looking for it. The cordless was found to be in the opposite room . His breathing got shallow , he wanted to calm himself but his body had entered a fight-and-flight mode. He dialed the emergency number for the third consecutive time, trying hard to get it right. His thoughts turned hazy... 

She lay on the floor , blood oozing out of her left hand, veins still throbbing on her wrist.Her beautiful face was askew , her hair was scattered . The floor beneath showed no shades of white , having turned crimson.

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He opened his eyes to find the white lights of the hospital blinding him. His eyebrows were twitching and he rubbed his temple for the hundredth time. It had been sixteen hours since he had brought his mother to the hospital.

When he returned from school that day , it was an ordinary affair. His mid-term tests were finally over and he was looking forward to the State-wide Table Tennis Tournament. He was going to Mumbai along with his team. Neha would also be there. When you are fourteen you think you know what love is. You think , love is when Neha smiles at you, when she laughs with you, when she plays Table Tennis with you. 

Neha seemed far away now....