After The Rain

Chapter Thirty-One - Loose Ends

I hope you are blessed with
a heart like a wildflower.
Strong enough to rise again
after being trampled upon,
tough enough to weather the
worst of the summer storms,
and able to grow and flourish
even in the most broken places.

- Nikita Gill (Hearts Like Wildflowers).

~

Khushi had planned on staying awake.

She wanted to see whether or not her family will agree to stay at Shantivan. And if they did, she wanted to make sure they were comfortable with the arrangement. It was, after all, because of her that Arnav had come up with this plan.

However, the second she got under the blanket, it was game over. She hadn't realised how tired she was until she laid down and once she did, the heaviness behind her eyes could not be fought. It didn't help that a dull ache was emanating from her head, or the fact that her medicines were inducing drowsiness. Finally, she decided not to fight it and went to sleep.

It was when she heard a slight bang that she woke up. Momentarily disoriented by her unfamiliar surroundings, she had to take a few seconds to find her bearings. Once she did, she turned her half-opened eyes towards the source of the sound. Her sister was standing near the bedroom door, fidgeting with the pleats of her saree. When she noticed Khushi watching, she gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry," Payal said. "I was just checking on you. Didn't mean to wake you up, I just stumbled into the door. It's fine. Go back to sleep."

Khushi shut her eyes tight, waited a heartbeat, and then re-opened them. It was bright in her room as if hours had passed since sunrise.

"What time is it?" she grumbled as she dragged herself to a sitting position whilst rubbing her eyes.

"10 o'clock," Payal replied. "I was going to let you sleep for another thirty minutes or so before waking you up for breakfast."

Khushi groaned. She had gone to sleep before midnight, which means she had slept for over 10 hours. The ache in her head had worsened and she wondered whether she had been knocked out unconscious during the course of the night. Keeping that thought to herself, she began rousing from the bed. "No, it's okay. I should get up. It's late."

Payal walked over to her and helped her get out of the blanket that was twisted around her legs.

"Yesterday was exhausting. If you feel tired, you should sleep. I'll wake you for your meals. Don't worry," Payal reassured.

"You're the one who's worrying, Jiji," Khushi said. "I'm fine."

Payal opened her mouth, probably to argue but then let it go. As the sleep cleared from Khushi's eyes, she noticed the lines on her sister's face and the slight darkness around her eyes. It was most probable that she didn't sleep a wink last night even though she had returned home from the hospital to rest. A thought suddenly flashed in her mind.

"Is Arnav-ji home? He stayed at the hospital overnight, didn't he?"

There was no answer. Instead, Payal's face morphed into the same look that she had on when Arnav had asked Khushi to come home with him last night—a look of hesitancy tinged with a little distaste. There was something else too. In the brief pause that Payal took to answer the question, she looked like she was close to bursting. She schooled her expression quickly, but Khushi already knew what was going on in her mind.

"He's still there," Payal replied at last. "He was supposed to leave early this morning, but he insisted on staying at the hospital a while longer. Akash-ji made him promise that he will come home before noon."