MaNan : Moon Light

16. In the dark

Never leave a weapon at a crime scene.

That was one thing that Nandini knew to never do, and yet picking up the switchblade again seemed too hard for her to do. She didn't want to feel the heavy weight of the plastic handle in her palm, tacky with blood. 

Had there been a gutter, she would have shoved it down through the grates and watched it get swept away by the pathetic little trickle of water until she never had to look at it ever again.

But there was no gutter and so the younger forced herself to hunker down and pick it back up. She checked it over before realizing that she couldn't put it in her pockets with it being so covered in blood.

So Nandini held her breath and reached over to snag a handful of Ali's shirt, slicing a scrap free and then using it to wipe the blood off the knife and her hands. 

After some fiddling she managed to get the blade to slip back into the handle and so she shoved it into her bomber jacket pocket.

Even after wiping her hands with the shirt scrap they still felt tacky and she could see blood caught in the grooves of her palms that she couldn't wipe free. Nandini would need scorching hot water and maybe bleach to rid her of the coppery scent that clung to her hands.

A few feet away Cabir was still lying on the ground, on his stomach with his hands clasped around his abdomen. She was vaguely aware of the fact that her friend wouldn't be able to walk after being struck by such a blow. 

His lower stomach would be too sore and there would be horrible swelling and bruising as a result. But the blow in the abdomen area wasn't the only blow that she was worried about.

Cabir had taken so many smacks to the ribs that one of them might just be busted and she had no clue if he had been hit by around the head. Nandini thought about Suresh and his crushed skull, about the goon that had been in ICU with concussion and swelling of the brain.

"Ca-Cabir," Nandini said in a voice that was uneven. It sounded like she was shivering and she was, her skin was freezing cold and she could feel her teeth wanting to chatter together. "Can you muh-move right now?"

He didn't reply or even shift and she was aware of the fact that he was in shock. Why, the younger didn't know, for it wasn't like he had killed a man. Yet Cabir was just lying there with his hair messily spread across the floor just an inch or so away and he wasn't moving or speaking.

Was it shock or had he maybe suffered a hard enough hit to the head?

Not too far from her, she could see his bag lying on the floor. One of the straps had been torn free and the material had been slashed so that the envelopes of cash and maybe even drugs were on show.

"Cabir?" Nandini asked again, more urgent than the first. Her voice was edging close to a shout and she was pretty sure that she might just start shouting if she didn't get away from the body lying on the floor beside him.

Nandini didn't know if Ali was dead or not for he wasn't moving but there was a steady pool of blood spreading out and soaking into his clothes. She had felt warm to the touch when she had grabbed hold of his shirt but in an hour or two he would start cooling to the current air temperature and when night finally fell he would turn cold.

"Cabir I nuh-need you to talk to me pl-please."

Her friend tried hard to blink, "I...I don't know," Cabir said in a croaky voice. "I don't know if I can move, Nandu."

The younger is already verge of crying with her voice trembling, "Just tuh-try for me, Cabir. Puh-please?"

For a moment Cabir didn't do anything more than stare at her from his one open eye and then he slowly rolled onto his side. As he did he groaned and Nandini saw him tightening his hold on his aching stomach. After a momentary struggle, he managed to sit up and he let out more deep groans as he did, wincing and scrunching his face up.