MR. RAISINGHANIA AND MS. SHAH

4.

My eyelids felt heavy as I tried to open them. My whole body ached as though a truck had run over me. I took deep breaths to summon the strength to open my eyes. The first thing I saw was the blank white ceiling. I stared at the ceiling while trying to make sense of my surroundings. The ceiling in my room was a light peach color so I was definitely not in my room.

I saw some movement from the corner of my eyes and slightly turned my head to the right to see a blurry person make his way towards me. I blinked a few times to clear my vision and saw the face of the person clearly.

Mr. Rai Singhania!

What was he doing here?

Then it all came crashing down on me.

Aahan being kidnapped and me following him.

The blonde man who slapped and kicked me.

Aahan screaming and the man hurting him...

Oh no.

Aahan!

He was hurt!

I tried to sit up in panic but a sharp pain shot up through my abdomen due to the sudden movement. I winced and lay back on the mattress with my eyes shut tight. Slowly I felt the head of the bed rise up and I opened my eyes and saw Mr. Rai Singhania near the edge of the bed. He was adjusting the electric bed so that I could sit in an upright position. I felt slight pain in my stomach but it was nothing compared to the sudden sting that I had just experienced.

After adjusting the bed, he went to the table next to the bed. He poured a glass of water and handed it to me. I held the glass and hissed as both my wrists were hurting. I drank some water to moisten my dry mouth then handed the glass to him. He took the glass and kept it back on the table.

There was silence for about fifteen seconds where he stood next to the machines with his arms crossed over his chest and stared at me. I cleared my throat awkwardly and voiced the first question that came to my mind.

"Aahan?"

"He is fine."

"I want to see him."

"You are weak."

He reasoned and I looked up to see his face. I parted my mouth to say something but I could not reason out with his excuse. I felt exhausted but I knew that I had to see him if I were to rest peacefully. I bit my lip as I contemplated asking him about the dozen other questions that were forming in my mind.

"Please."

Instead I requested him. I just had to make sure that Aahan was fine. All the other questions could wait. I heard him sigh and then he shifted closer to the bed and held out his hand for me. I stared at his hand for a moment and then placed my hand in his.

This was the first time I was touching him. For the last three months that we were devoted to our project, we had never touched each other. We would meet at the college and talk only when required. There were no other normal greetings like goodbye or good-morning or anything. We would just talk about the problem related to the project and that's it. I doubted if he even knew my name.

He clasped my hand in his firmly and helped me to get down from the bed. It took me a good three minutes to stabilize myself. After I was perfectly standing, he started to walk towards the door and I followed behind him. Once we were in the corridor, I saw a few people staring at me.

An older man nodded at Mr. Rai Singhania and he nodded in return. I was confused seeing all this but had no time to process as I was gently pulled along the right side of the corridor. After walking past a supply room, we stopped in front of a room which was similar to the one I had just exited.