Endless Road (Wattys 2015)

Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

16th November, 2019

       For the rest of the day, I concentrated on spending time with my family, and getting dad home. He gained consciousness two hours after the medication was given. After some more physical tests and prescription meds, he was pronounced fit to be discharged. Everyone was relieved; I was relieved. When I went in to see him, he smiled at me. In the last seven years, dad had gotten thinner and a bit weaker, but only then, as he sat in the ugly hospital gown, in the stark, bare ICU chamber, did I realize this change. I went to him, sitting by his bedside, holding his hand as we talked. The heart attack had just been a mild warning; there could be more severe health issues in the future. But I did not want to think about that; I just wanted to spend some time with my father, and to make sure he was okay and not stressing out.

      "Well, my daughter is getting married in fifteen days," he said, smiling. "How can I not be stressed?"

     My smile dimmed a little at his words, but I didn't say anything. What would happen when he got to know I was not getting married?

      After the discharge papers were signed and Surya had taken care of the hospital bills, we all wheeled dad out, settling him in the car.

      "You're coming home, aren't you?" he asked me.

      I nodded. "I'm coming home."

       After they'd gone, I turned back to where Ajay and Pranay were standing.

       For a few seconds, all three of us were silent. Then Pranay said, "Let's go."

      "Okay," I mumbled.

      Pranay and Ajay exchanged farewells, and Ajay nodded at me as we left. I nodded back; a brief, informal greeting that didn't even come close to what we'd shared with each other before.

      When I got into the car, Pranay looked at me and said, "You should go stay at your parents' house for a while."

       I nodded silently. "Yeah, I should."

       "I'll go to my house, too," he murmured. "I think... we should sell our place."

       I bit my lip. Selling our place... yes, that seemed like what we needed to do. I couldn't believe it was over. Me and Pranay... just like that. But, I reminded myself, there was no other way out of this. It had to be done.

       Once we got home, I hauled down my suitcase and began packing my clothes and toiletries in it. I didn't know if it was the exhaustion or everything that had happened today; maybe it was the stress of seeing my father ill, weak; or maybe it was the fact that I'd seen Ajay after seven long years. And then there was the phone call... I flinched. I felt dizzy as I sank down on the bed, clutching my head. The throbbing ache had returned... I felt like I was going to be sick.

      I hunted in the bedside drawer for the pack of aspirin, and swallowed one pill. After I was done packing, I laid down on the bed for a while, closing my eyes.

      When I opened them, it was dark outside. Pranay was sitting beside me, talking on the phone. I got up, disoriented, disgruntled. The pain in my head had subsided, but I still felt queasy. When he saw me getting up, he quickly finished his call and hung up.

      "Were you busy?" I asked.

      "No, just talking to my sister. You were sleeping when I came in."