Meant To Be

Chapter 8. The Journey back home

Sam kept looking at the Khejri tree swaying to the orders of the light breeze, the events of the past 1 hour flashing in front of her eyes. How Boby's aunt was laying unconscious on the floor, how Shammi and Boby took her to the village hospital and how she fought with Shammi di to take her to the hospital too. "Kids of your age aren't allowed in the hospital." Shammi had said to her in an angry tone. Sam felt anger raging inside her for calling her a kid. But the next moment, her eyes welled up with tears, picturing Boby's aunt. "She was such a nice lady. She..she.. made me feel at home and treated me like her family member." she thought to herself. She still remembered the first time she'd met Boby's aunt, the warm smile which she always had on her face. It made Sam's tears fall from her eyes. She sat with her head between her knees and started crying. She had never seen anyone unconscious, in her entire life.

After what felt like an eternity, Sam heard her phone ring. She couldn't see the name of the person who was calling her, as her eyes were welled with tears. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and saw who calling her. It was her mom. She cleared her throat and picked up the call. "Hello?" she asked. "Hello dear, how much time will it take for you all to come back?" her mom asked in a questioning tone. Sam looked up at the wall clock. It was 11 am. If the incident wouldn't have taken place, they'd have alredy left the aunt's house. "I don't know." she replied, her voice choking. "What do you mean? Haven't y'all left for Khimsar?" her mom asked, now in a bit angry tone. "Actually..." she couldn't find the voice to continue. She let out a low, audible cry. "What's the matter, dear? Is everything alright? Are they treating you well?" her mother asked in a panic- stricken tone. "Yes they are but...but.. today morning when we sat down to eat our breakfast, aunt went to the kitchen to bring bananas. And the next moment, we heard the sound of utensils falling. When we went to check..we saw- we saw.." she said, her voice trailing away, the horrible scene being repeated in her vision. ".....aunt was laying unconscious on the floor. Boby and Shammi di have taken her to the hospital now." For a moment, there was silence on the other side of the phone. When Sam was about to say something to break the silence, her mom said, "Dear, should we come there to pick you up?" Sam couldn't believe her ears. Leaving the three of them, who took great care of her, treated her as a family, alone during their time of trouble? The direct answer which came to her mind was No. She wasn't going to leave them all alone, even though she didn't know what to do at such times. "I'm- " as she started to say, the call got disconnected. She checked her phone. The battery was very low and her phone had suddenly switched off. She kept the phone in the pocket of her kurta, thinking that it was not good to use Shammi di or Boby's charger, without their permission.

After about 10 minutes, there was a knock on the door. "Who would be at this time, when no one's there in the house? And should I open the door?" As she was sitting on the sofa, weighing her options, there was a knock on the door once again. At last she decided to open the door. She got up and went to open the door. As she came close to the door, her stomach started  twitching uncontrollably. She opened the door a bit and saw a man standing in front of her. He was a bit taller than her, with broad shoulders and muscles. "It's me." said the man. Sam instantly recognised this voice. She looked up and saw, and for a minute, she had an expression of happiness on her face. It was Boby. She opened the door completely and let him in. Sam could see, that Boby's eyes were a bit swollen, as if he had cried a lot. That swollen eyes, made Sam's heart beat faster. She started getting weird thoughts. "What if....aunt passed away?" She stood there for a minute, waiting for him to say something. But he didn't. "How's- how's aunt?" she stammered. Boby looked at her with those swollen eyes and said at last, "She's fine now. The doctors have said that she had a heart attack and she needs rest. So she's admitted there for a few days." Sam took a sigh of relief and whispered, "Thank God." "Have you packed your bag?" Boby asked suddenly. "Yes." she said, looking confused. "Good. Bring you bag, I'll go and pack my bag and then we'll leave." he said and started towards his aunt's room. Sam was now completely confused. She turned around and called out, "Wait. What? What do you mean by 'we'll leave'?" she asked, air quoting the words - we'll leave. "I'm leaving you home, Sam." he said coolly. "What? I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNLESS AUNT COMES HOME." Sam yelled. Boby frowned and looked as if he was ready to pounce on her and chew her alive  but he said in a surprisingly  calm tone, "Look, I'm telling you. Go back to your home. Don't wait here. You might just waste your time and you have a home to go back to. We don't want to trouble you." he said and he walked away. Sam stood there, shocked. Just yesterday, they had called her a family and today, they were behaving as if she was a guest again. She slowly walked towards her guest bedroom, picked up her bag, came back to the living room and stood waiting for Boby. Soon, Boby came out, carrying a shoulder bag. "Shammi will stay here with aunt. I'll be going back to Khimsar with you." he said and gave a weak smile to her.

Boby was driving very slowly due to traffic. Sam sat in the front passenger seat beside Boby. She was staring outside the window, lost in her thoughts. There was dead silence in the car. At last Boby spoke, in a normal tone, breaking the silence "So.. who was that with whom you were talking to on the phone yesterday and you suddenly disconnected it?" Sam was snapped out of her thoughts and at this question, she turned to look at Boby who was looking expectedly at her, alternately looking in the front. Sam instantly remembered. She had forgotten about Nish in this entire mess. She hit her forehead with her palm and said, "It was my best friend, Nisha also known as Nish. She had called me to ask if she could come to my house but I said that I was on my way to Khuri with y'all." "She knows us? I've never heard her name." Boby asked, raising his brows. "Y-Yes. I had told her about y'all." Sam stammered. At this Boby nodded his head and then there was silence once again. Boby didn't try to break the silence. "I'm so sorry-" as Sam was about to continue, the car suddenly stopped. Sam and Boby both jerked ahead. They looked at each other, wide- eyed. Boby jumped out of the car and opened the bonnet of the car. Sam got down too and the next moment she saw black smoke coming out of the engine. She coughed a bit. "The engine is sputtering. We need to take this to the repair shop." Boby said coughing a bit. Sam looked around. They were stuck in the middle of nowhere. She could only see tall grasses and some trees wherever she turned her head. She remembered. They had passed through this route. It looked all deserted, especially when it was so close to dusk. "I can't find any human habitation over here." Sam said.

What will happen? Will Sam make it to her home by night or would they be stuck forver in that deserted road?

To be continued...