Seventeen

Chapter 10

(Ishan's)

I was walking on the beach. The sea was clear and sparkling in the warm sunlight. The sand stretched ahead...shining as well. I saw someone's footprints in the sand. The footprints were smaller than my footprints. I began to follow the footprints unconsciously. Somehow I felt I knew the owner of that those footprints.

A few seconds I saw her walking in distance. Ahead of me... I ran to catch up with her. But she was still at a distance. I called out her name... She did not hear. She was walking ahead. I ran faster and went and caught her hand. My hand clasped over her wrist band on her wrist. She turned to me... And she had the widest and most beautiful smile on her face, showing her white teeth, and her eyes radiating the happiness...

But on the next second, the clear day changed to night, and the sea near us turned dark and stormy... A large Tsunami like wave washed over us... I panicked and tried to not let go of her hand. After a second, the wave went back to sea. I looked around. She had disappeared. I opened my hand, and saw her wrist band on my palm... But she had disappeared.

I woke up with a gasp.

A nightmare. I sat up and clutched my forehead. The clock on the wall said 5 am in the morning. I sighed... I lay back on the bed.

Then I heard a knock on the hospital room door.

"Ishan..." Came Suhana's voice. "Ishan, open the door."

I got up and was walking to the door when Suhana said, "Adithi woke up."

I ran to the door, unlocked it and pulled it open.

"Adithi woke up." Suhana beamed at me.

"Really?" I asked.

I could not believe it. I was worried if this was yet another dream. When I wake up if Adithi would still be unconscious.

"She is fine," Suhana said. "In pain, but fine otherwise."

"Thank god..." I let out a breath.

"They need to move her to the room," Suhana said. "So the attendant will come now and change the bedsheets and all. So you need to step out..."

"Okay," I said.

"Go drink tea or something and freshen up," Suhana said. "She will be here when you come back."

I was already getting nature calls. "Yeah," I said, walking away. She woke up... She was okay. That was enough. She was fine. I wiped away a tear that came to me. Tears of relief.

I drank a cup of coffee and went to the public toilet in the hospital, freshened up and walked back to the room. But my feet were not moving. I could not face her.

I did not know what excuse to tell her for leaving her in the sea waves for more than 4 hours. I could not bear to look into those eyes. I would die of guilt. Still...I wanted to see her, to make sure she was okay.

I stopped outside the room. Aunty and Suhana were helping her lie down comfortably with the pillow. I looked at her. She did not see me... But I watched her. Her head was covered in a bandage. And her right hand was in a sling. There were long scratch scars on her jawline and neck. But besides that, she looked okay. Like my old Adithi.

I felt her eyes lifting in the direction of the door. Instinctively, I stepped away from the door, hiding from her viewpoint. I stood near the door, with my back to the wall...

"I will go get some water for you." Aunty was saying. A moment later, aunty came out from the room. She did not notice me as she was in a hurry. I watched her walk a few steps and then sit down to the bench in the corridor. She broke into tears. Tears of relief. I bet she was really super scared these four days when Adithi was sleeping... I watched aunty with sympathy. After a while, aunty got up and left to get the water.