Tears | [BoyxBoy] | English

28

With the completion of Yeheni's general education, she started preparing for the second exam in mathematics. My university studies had started and Shanalka was ready to take over his father's job. Everything was going well, but it was no secret that the three of us had problems within ourselves that we did not tell each other.

Yeheni had intermittent pain from her operated back and was often irritable. Time had passed so fast that we didn't even realize it. It had been almost six years since Mehansa had died and six years had passed since I settled in his room with Shanalka. 

The only thing that hadn't changed all this time was my desire to somehow take up Mehansa's case again and do her justice. The time was not yet right for it as neither I nor Shanalka was financially stable. Apart from that, I had strongly marked in my mind that Yeheni should not be allowed to stand on the witness stand until the end of her education.

It made me happy that I never met Sahesh after the bridge incident. It was fair that even the sight of his face turned into an abomination. Shanalka even said time and time again that nothing Sahesh did was causal.

By Yeheni's side, her mother's abuse was slowly stopping, allowing her to breathe more freely. Just as I was feeling a bit alarmed that things were suddenly getting better, obstacles started crashing down on us again.

Initially, it started when Shanalka's vehicle lost its brakes and got into an accident.

It was a Friday. I was on my way home from college when my phone rang. I answered it from the bus itself.

'Hello?'

'Mr. Shanalka Samarasinghe's girlfriend?' The person on the call asked me.

'I'm his boyfriend. What can I do for you?' I replied honestly after a while.

'Can you come to Navaloka Hospital as soon as possible?'

'What happened?' I asked worriedly, but the phone call was disconnected. I immediately got off the bus and took a taxi to Navaloka Hospital bearing the feeling that the peaceful life was over.

'Shanalka Samarasinghe?' When I inquired at the counter, she pointed to the emergency department. While I was nervously walking there, Yeheni, who came from somewhere, dragged me by the hand to a bed covered with curtains.

As we were getting there, a nurse came out from behind the curtains with a large amount of blood-stained gauze in her hand. I nervously opened the curtains. Shanalka looked up from inside. The right part of his trousers was cut off near the knee and below the knee was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. I panicked and knelt down next to him, letting the bag on my shoulder fall to the floor.

'What happened?'

'The vehicle crashed into a traffic light without braking.' When Yeheni said from the side, I remembered that she was also in the vehicle with Shanalka.

'Are you okay Yeheni!' I nervously asked her too. She held up her hand to show the plaster cast on the broken arm. I sighed and looked at Shanalka's foot again.

'Oh my God...' I finally said when I had nothing to say.

'Don't be afraid Miruu. This will subside quickly.' Shanalka said as if to comfort me, but there was pain in his voice. When my eyes were about to burst into tears, a doctor came to where we were.

'The police will be here in a bit...' she said to Shanalka and turned to me, studying me under her glasses.

'Patient's relation?'

'Yes.' I replied.

'He has serious damage to his leg. Will have to use crutches for another two months. You have to come twice a week to put the medicine. He is not allowed to drive until his leg is fully recovered. Don't walk or strain yourself in any way. Got it?' As the doctor continued, we nodded to show that we understood her instructions.

'And this girl...' the doctor pointed to Yeheni. 'Don't let her do heavy work either. The bone near the elbow is a little pulled. If we keep it with the plaster for about a month, it will be fine.'

By the morning of the next day, the three of us were able to come home with tired eyes. After putting Shanalka to bed, I stretched out next to him and fell asleep.

Three weeks later, Yeheni was hospitalized again after slipping down the steps of the bridge and being unable to hold on to the handrail. I had to spend all my time on her because the previous surgery on her back had damaged her so much that she could not stand up. Although Yeheni's real mother came and checked on us from time to time, Shanalka insisted that she should not visit Yeheni.

It was a relief to see that Shanalka recovered almost as Yeheni recovered. It was strangely comforting to break free from a dizzyingly hectic routine.

When we arrived at the peaceful time, we were ready to go back to our hectic lifestyle, ready to face certain challenges of an uncertain life.

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TEARS

2022. 08. 04