SHATTERED

The phone rang. Her eyes flew open. She looked at the clock overhead. It was only an hour she slept and she felt like dead. She received the phone on the table beside her and enquired drowsily.

“Who is it?”

“Ana here"

"Where are you?"

"Was sleeping. In my bed"

"Come to the Madison Square Park. Ryan wants to meet you”

Rose felt a sudden jolt at first, but then she reached the park soon.

Ryan was sitting on a bench patiently and Ana strode down the boulevard near in the lap of nature.

Rose came and sat beside him. He resumed after ten long years. “Ana helped me reach you. You have a twin sister and you never told me about her?”

“Well now you know. Why did you call me down here?”

“Rose, I wanted to meet you. Actually I wanted to know something”

“Yeah?”

“Rose, uh... do you still love me?”

“......” I could not disapprove that anyway.

“I came here to owe you an apology”, he took her cold hands, looked into her eyes and said, “I don’t even know why I left you. I was insane”

“Ryan you broke me”, tears rolled down her cheeks as she whispered.

“This is the last time you are crying. I love you, Rose. Please forgive me if possible. Now come back home.”

They were walking down the East 23rd Street holding hands and a plethora of emotions dominated them. “I love you too. A lot”, Rose said him. Ana was walking behind them. The Manhattan sun never shone brighter.

Ryan and Rose had just begun their happy married life. Ryan thought the cruel 10 years of imprisonment were enough to make her realize her felony. But Ryan knew the void he felt within without her was too much to fill. A year later, Rose started behaving strange. She always remained upset. She couldn’t forget Ana’s betrayal.

A day late in that year, when Rose was talking to Ana, somehow an argument broke out.

“The reason why I still love you is you. You broke me Ana. You made me what I am. You told everyone I'm depressed. I'm weak and unsound. Then let me tell you. You hurt me so much that I don’t feel pain anymore. I feel empty. Hollow. You accused me in open court in absence of Ryan and put me behind the bars and tried to take away Ryan from me? Answer me!”

“I... I made a mistake. I agree. But-”

“Oh you agree now, do you? Well that's not what you said in court. Correct me if I'm wrong. You said my sister is a repeat offender and thus a hindrance to our family! Ana you’re the criminal, not I. I gave my all to you and Ryan. My time, my money and all my love to have it end in lies and court orders.”

“Stop it Rosalie! If you did love me enough, you would have at least asked me about my health.You came down at my place after nearly a year. Anyway, why does it even matter? I went to the doctor last week. I’m suffering from chronic liver cirrhosis, stage 4. I need an immediate operation. They are asking for 1500 freaking dollars. Where am I supposed to get it?”

“You....you didn't even bother to tell me. I could've-"

"Ryan and you are broke. You don’t have money for yourself. And why do you bother about me? You hate me don't you?”

With Rose’s voice softer than ever she spoke, “Ana... wait for a minute”. She walked slowly up to the nightstand and picked up the writing pad from among the bunch of Ana’s reports that screamed a failing liver. With trembling hands she wrote down a single paragraph. She pulled open another drawer and picked up Ana’s Glock g19 9mm and took off the glittering 84 carat diamond necklace from her neck that Ryan fondly gifted her on their first anniversary. She said, “Ana... I am sorry for everything. I’m sorry I couldn’t look after you. This necklace...this might help. Let me do one last thing.” She grasped the loaded gun with trembling hands. The scream from the other end did little to muffle the sound of the single gunshot.

“Ryan, get back home as soon as possible! I cannot feel Rose’s pulse”

“What do you mean?! Yes I’ll be there soon.” Sobs came crashing from the other end of the line.

Their happy-ever-after life came to an end very soon. He was all alone again...

7 years passed by. Ryan still couldn’t come out of the shock. Neither could Ana. She got her liver transplanted and married a countryman. Ryan woke up each day on his bed alone. One winter night, he walked down the hallway. With a mind saturated with Rose’s thoughts, Ryan traced her portrait with icy fingers. As he looked around, his eyes fell on the bookshelf which Rose adore the most. With an easy smile, he brought down Ana’s favourite Pride and Prejudice and unfolded the letter treasured safely within its pages. He felt cold, as the place and book both made him feel so. Though Neruda always used to be Rose's favourite poet, he never understood the why. The ink at places got smudged from water, or probably tears. As he began reading it, the lines peacefully came piercing-

“Dear Ana, I sacrificed ten years of my life for you. That day in court, all I could do is to get accused, fake and face everything. I don’t know why you did this to me. Maybe because we look alike. Little did I know that my life would end this way. I am happy with the price you paid for what I did for you. Dear, I always want you to be happy. I always gave you the love of a mother and never let you feel her absence. I’m sorry I couldn’t be a good sister or a good mother to you. Give my love to your family. Look after Ryan. I love him. I always did. I love you Ana, and sometimes you loved me too.”

As Ryan turned around the letter, it quoted Neruda, “But from each crime are born bullets that will one day seek out in you where the heart lies”, and his eyes got blurred with the priceless tears of love and regret.