A Dream Called Forever ❤️

She rested her head against the balcony chair, the cool evening breeze brushing against her face still thinking about Raghav and all the school old memories, friends and gossips about girls crushes.

But somehow, the ultimate thought is about Raghav.

"I am still thinking about him?" Muskan smiled sadly.

"Maybe...I could never get over him because I can never tell him"

"Some feelings are better kept hidden."

She continued talking to herself, remembering all the little moments she had shared with Raghav over the years. The small conversations, the stolen glances, and all the times she had secretly wished he would feel the same.

Her inner voice slowly became distant.

The night breeze felt warmer.

Her eyes grew heavy.

Without realizing it, Muskan fell asleep while still sitting on the balcony, her phone resting beside her.

When she opened her eyes again, everything looked different.

The balcony had disappeared.

Instead, she stood in a beautifully decorated bedroom filled with warm fairy lights and fresh flowers. She looked down at herself.

A red bridal outfit.

A mangalsutra around her neck.

Glass bangles chimed softly as she lifted her hands.

Her heart skipped a beat.

"I... I'm married?"

A familiar voice spoke from behind.

"You're not just married."

"You are my wife."

Muskan turned around so quickly that her veil slipped from her head.

There he was.

Raghav.

Smiling at her.

She stared at him, unable to believe her eyes.

"Raghav...?"

He laughed softly.

"Who else would it be?"

She felt tears forming instantly.

"This can't be real..."

He walked over to her, stopping close enough that she could feel his warmth. Gently, he tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before lightly holding her hand and kissing her forehead.

"You're shaking."

"I... I dreamed of this for years."

"So did I."

Muskan looked up in surprise.

"What?"

He smiled, his eyes never leaving hers.

"I loved you too."

Her lips parted as Raghav looking at her lips, but no words came out.

"Ever since ninth grade," he continued. "You probably thought I never noticed you."

"I... I did."

"I noticed everything."

"The way you'd pretend not to look at me."

"The way you'd smile whenever I answered a question in class to you."

"The way you'd become quiet whenever I came near."

Muskan couldn't stop the tears now.

"I always thought..." he whispered, gently brushing away one of her tears and kissed them, "...that one day you'd become my wife."

"And now you are."

She let out a shaky laugh ready to hug him.

"You have no idea how many times I imagined hearing those words."

"I know."

He carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a gentle embrace.

She rested her head against his chest and kissed on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

"I love you, Muskan."

"I've loved you for so long," she whispered.

"So have I."

He smiled softly tightening his grip around her and making her comfortable.

"I was just too afraid to tell you."

She smiled through happy tears.

"So... all these years..."

"You were always the one."

Muskan laughed, crying at the same time.

"This is everything I've ever wanted."

He kissed her forehead softly and moved to her lips.

"My wife deserves to smile like this forever."

"May I have the permission to kiss my wife"

She closed her eyes and blushed, giving him the permission and wishing the moment would never end.

A distant ringing sound echoed.

She blinked.

The flowers were gone.

The room disappeared.

She was back on the balcony.

Her phone was ringing which she had left on the carpet near her.

"Hello? Dr. Muskan? Are you awake? There is an emergency, please come to hospital as soon as possible" her friend asked.

Muskan sat up slowly, still dazed.

"Yes, I will come in 15 minutes please prepare the OT for the operation and try to stabilize the patient" She hang up the phone and rushed.

Suddenly she remembered and her cheeks suddenly turned bright red as every moment of the dream came rushing back.

She covered her face with both hands, unable to stop smiling.

"It... it felt so real..."Muskan stayed quiet for a moment.

"It was just a dream..."Muskan smiled shyly.

But her heart knew everything.

Then, almost instinctively, she unlocked her phone.

The first thing she saw was a recent photo on social media.

Raghav.

Standing beside his girlfriend.

Both of them smiling.

The blush faded from her face.

The dream shattered completely.

A lump formed in her throat.

She stared at the screen for several long seconds before quietly locking the phone.

One tear rolled down her cheek.

Then another.

She smiled sadly through her tears.

"I guess..." she whispered, "...he could never be mine." She quickly wiped her tears and stood up to get ready for the hospital.

"I'm fine, it was just a dream."

But she wasn't.

She looked up at the morning sky.

For one beautiful dream, she had been the woman she had always imagined becoming.

She had been loved back.

She had been his wife.

But dreams end.

Reality doesn't.

And in reality...

Raghav was happy with someone else.

Muskan stayed quiet, hiding her tears behind a small smile.

Some love stories are lived.

Some are written.

And some... remain forever inside dreams.

Her phone suddenly rang again.

She glanced at the screen.

Emergency from the hospital.

Within minutes, she was dressed in her scrubs, her hair tied neatly into a bun and was driving through the early morning traffic.

The moment she stepped inside the hospital, the dream was pushed aside.

A young accident victim had been rushed into the operating theatre.

The case was critical.

For the next five hours, nothing else existed.

No memories.

No heartbreak.

No Raghav.

Only monitors, surgical instruments, focused instructions, and the responsibility of saving a life.

By the time the surgery ended, beads of sweat clung to her forehead despite the cool temperature of the operating room.

"We did it."

One of the senior doctors smiled.

"The patient is stable."

Muskan quietly nodded before removing her gloves.

Relief washed over her.

Exhaustion followed immediately after.

She hadn't even had her morning coffee.

A few minutes later, she walked into the hospital cafeteria.

The place buzzed with conversation.

Doctors laughed over inside jokes.

Residents teased each other.

Nurses chatted while finishing lunch.

Someone had even brought cake to celebrate a colleague's birthday.

Muskan simply chose the table in the corner.

Being alone had become a habit.

She wasn't unfriendly.

She just never knew how to become part of conversations.

After collecting a cup of hot coffee, she wrapped both hands around it, enjoying the warmth.

Silence felt easier than forcing herself into a crowd.

To distract herself, she unlocked her phone.

Almost absentmindedly, her fingers searched for one familiar profile.

Raghav.

She knew she shouldn't.

She knew it only made things harder.

Yet she clicked on his profile anyway.

His smile greeted her from the screen.

Photo after photo.

Weekend trips.

Coffee dates.

Birthday celebrations.

Small moments frozen in pictures.

Always with the same girl standing beside him.

His girlfriend Suhani.

The girl he looked at with the same softness Muskan had only experienced in her dreams.

She kept scrolling until the newest post appeared.

It had been uploaded only last night.

Raghav stood beside his girlfriend under strings of golden lights, both of them smiling brightly.

The caption was simple.

"Forever starts with you. ❤️"

Muskan's heart tightened.

She looked through the comments.

Friends were congratulating them.

Sending heart emojis.

Making jokes about wedding preparations.

Then her eyes landed on one comment.

From Raghav himself.

"Will be married soon. ❤️"

For a moment, everything around her seemed to fade.

The cheerful voices in the cafeteria became distant.

The coffee in her hands suddenly felt cold.

Without realizing it, she read the comment again.

And again.

The dream from a few hours earlier replayed in her mind.

"You're finally my wife."

"I always knew you'd be the one."

She let out a tiny, broken laugh.

"What terrible timing..."

A single tear escaped before she quickly wiped it away.

No one in the cafeteria noticed.

To everyone else, Dr. Muskan was simply enjoying a quiet coffee after a long surgery.

No one knew that just minutes after saving someone's life...

She was quietly mourning a future that had never been hers.

She kept her phone on the table and stared into her untouched coffee.

Somewhere in another part of the city, wedding plans were probably beginning.

And somewhere inside her heart...she knew she has to let go of her silent love which has been her anchor even since Class 9, but she doesn't have the strength to do it.

Muskan blinked and quietly locked her phone.

She took one last sip of her now lukewarm coffee before taking a deep breath.

"Enough," she whispered to herself.

She couldn't keep hurting herself by looking at a life that had never belonged to her.

There were patients waiting.

Lives depending on her.

She stood up, adjusted her white coat, and walked back toward the wards.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur.

She completed her rounds, checked on post-operative patients, discussed treatment plans with junior residents, signed discharge summaries, and patiently answered anxious families' questions.

Every now and then, her mind wandered back to Raghav.

To the dream.

To that comment beneath his post.

Will be married soon.

Each time, she gently pushed the thoughts away and focused on the person standing in front of her.

By the time she finished her last round, the hospital corridors had grown quieter.

She changed out of her scrubs, picked up her bag, and walked to the parking lot.

The sky had already turned orange.

For the first time that day, she allowed herself to breathe.

Home.

The familiar smell of fresh rotis and cumin greeted her the moment she opened the door.

Her mother looked up from the kitchen.

"There you are! Do you know what time it is?"

Muskan smiled tiredly.

"Emergency surgery."

Her mother's expression softened immediately.

"You must be exhausted. Go wash up. Dinner is ready."

Before she could take another step, her younger sister Khushi grinned from the sofa.

"Look who's finally remembered she has a family."

Muskan rolled her eyes.

"I saved someone's life today."

"Oh?"

She folded his arms dramatically.

"Aur usse kon bachayega aapke lectures se?"

She picked up a cushion and threw it at him.

"Kuch zayda nahi bolti he tu."

He caught it easily.

"Aapse hi seekha he."

Their father looked over the newspaper and chuckled.

"kitna ladte ho tum dono."

"I've grown up," Muskan protested.

Her sister immediately replied, "Really? Then stop stealing my desserts from the refrigerator."

"I do not."

"Maa..."

"I have proof."

Their mother sighed dramatically.

"dono ke dono... chup rahoga ya me aakar batau ki kon bada he."

The dining table soon filled with laughter.

For a little while, Muskan forgot everything.

She listened as her father talked about work, her brother complained about his office, and her mother narrated neighborhood gossip with complete seriousness.

It felt... peaceful.

After dinner, her father cleared his throat.

"Muskan..."

She looked up.

"We wanted to ask you something."

Her mother exchanged a hesitant glance with him.

"You know we've mentioned this before..."

Muskan already knew what was coming.

Marriage.

Normally, she would smile politely and change the topic.

Or tell them she wasn't ready.

But tonight...

Something inside her had changed.

Perhaps it was the dream.

Perhaps it was finally accepting reality.

Or perhaps she was simply tired of holding on to someone who had already chosen another life.

She looked at both of her parents.

"I'll meet him."

Silence filled the room.

Her mother blinked.

"kya kaha tune?"

Muskan smiled faintly.

"I said... I'm ready."

"I'll meet the person you've found."

"Just meet him."

"No promises."

Her mother's eyes immediately became watery.

"Really?"

Muskan nodded.

"Aagar aap dono ko vo aacha laga he to... I'll give it a chance."

Her father smiled—a quiet smile, but one filled with relief.

"We're not asking you to say yes."

He reached across the table and gently patted her hand.

"Just meet him once."

"If you don't like him, that's completely fine."

Her younger sister couldn't resist teasing.

"So... should I start practicing my emotional speech for my future jija-jii?"

Muskan glared at him.

"I haven't even met him yet."

"I know."

He laughed.

"But I need time to prepare."

She threw another cushion at him.

This time, everyone laughed.

The heaviness in her heart felt just a little lighter.

Later that night, Muskan changed into her pajamas and lay down on her bed.

The room was dark except for the faint moonlight spilling through the curtains.

Her phone lay on the bedside table.

She didn't pick it up.

She didn't open social media.

She didn't search for Raghav's profile.

Instead, she stared quietly at the ceiling.

"It's just a meeting," she told herself.

"Nothing more."

She wasn't looking for love.

She wasn't expecting miracles.

She certainly wasn't expecting anyone to replace the boy she'd loved silently since Class 9.

It was simply one conversation.

One cup of tea.

One introduction.

If nothing came of it, life would continue.

With that thought, she closed her eyes.

For the first time in years, she wasn't falling asleep imagining a future with Raghav.

She was simply letting tomorrow arrive on its own.

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