Dark Secrets

4

"How did this happen?" Mrs Thakur's scream had alarmed the entire household and his father was in the room in a flash.The next minute,Darsh and Shreshtha rushed in.

"It..... it was dark, and I accidently put my hand on it", Yuvansh stuttered, hoping against hope that this was a plausible explanation. As his mother ran for the first-aid kit ,Shreshtha came forward and took his hand in a firm grasp. Darsh and Mahendra hovered anxiously over him as they waited for the casualty's mother to hurry back with the medical supplies.

"Just look at me", commanded Shreshtha , gripping Yuvansh's hand."You'll be all right". She spoke like an expert at medical crises: "Darsh , soak some dettol in a cotton swab."

Darsh did as he was told.

"On the count of three,I'll pull the compass out, okay?" she looked at Yuvi, who nodded wordlessly. As she drew the compass out in one swift motion, his body stiffened for a moment, but no sound betrayed him.

"I must say you'are a very brave boy", Shreshtha said encouragingly as she put the bloodied compass away and dabbed at the bleeding wound with the dettol- soaked cotton wad. The antiseptic burned against his skin but Yuvansh couldn't stop looking at Shreshtha. And then, with some effort, he averted his eyes to look at his wound.

After bandaging the wound properly, everyone left the room, instructing Yuvansh not to study that night. Mrs Thakur couldn't thank Shreshtha enough.

"It's okay, auntie .I'm the "doctor" in my house. I learnt all this from my granddad," she laughed.

"I wish these two were my parents. After this incident, they would have been highly impressed with their future daughter-in-law," Darsh joked, whispering in her ears as they stepped out of the room.

That night, Yuvansh couldn't sleep. There was an inexplicable unease which he couldn't ignore. Every time he tried to picture Shreshtha's smiling face, it was superimposed by the heaving eroticism of the dark passion that he had witnessed on the terrace. It sullied the purity of her etheral beauty. Why does it bother me so? Shreshtha and Darsh were a couple. They were doing what any couple would do. So, why did it disturb him like this?He  had never been in a relationship- never touched , or been touched by, a girl in a sexual way.But he wasn't a fool.He knew what people in love did. Unable to bear it anymore, he went into the bathroom and dunked an entire bucket of icy cold water on himself hoping to derail his train of thought.As he lay on his bed shivering, he stared at his bandaged hand. She had nursed it. Yuvansh pressed the centre of his bandaged palm until a littleblood spurted out of wound. He smiled-in the pain he felt her presence within him.

The next morning , Darsh left for Udaipur. As Yuvansh was getting ready to leave for school, he was surprised to see Yuvansh struggling with his father's old scooter.

"That doesn't work ", he said but Shreshtha determinedly continued, trying to kick-start the bucket of bolts.

"Yuvi beta, your tiffin is ready," his mother called out.

Yuvansh went in and asked his mother ,"What's she doing with papa's scooter?

"She is such a darling," his mother replied." I was supposed to go to the market to fetch a few things , but she offered to run errnad for me. She wants to stay here, not as a guest, but as  family.God bless her. Darsh is really lucky".

Yuvansh grabbed his tiffin box and ran out . As he hitched his bag to his bicycle, he heard the scooter's engine sputter into life . He turned to see Shreshtha astride on the scooter.

"Everything works", she yelled out over the noise of the revive engine,"you just need to know how to make it work". Shreshtha buckled on an old helmet  and said,"Hop on, I'll drop you off."