The hours following the unnecessarily long meeting got more productive work done and hence he arrived really content an hour back. A shower and some food later, he settles in the balcony, hoping she will come too and he will be able to say a hi at the minimum.
The window in front of him opens. A pair of arms hold onto the window pane with all their might. He springs when he sees her face emerge, pale, sweaty and panting.
"H-e-l-p" she says and he gets into action.
"Abhira, listen to me. I need to get in there okay, so you need to move away from the window. Move away so I can come there and help you" he says, pronouncing the words clearly so she can get what he is saying. She manages a nod and pulls away from the pane. He hears a thud and winces inadvertently even as panic begins to rise within him. With a deep breath, he gathers himself and looks around for something that can serve the purpose. The distance between her window and his balcony is not too much but it is not too less either, but it is the best option. It would take him a long time to break her entrance door (since she was in no state to open it for him) and navigate his way to the room she is in.
The only thing that comes to his sight is the ladder at the side. Deciding it would have to do, he forwards it from his balcony till one end of it is touching the pane of her window. With careful movements, he manages to make sure the ladder is evenly balanced. He then brings a step stool and climbs onto the ladder. He stills, slowly testing with one foot to see if it is as balanced as it looks. When the ladder does not shake, he hurries his way across it and enters the room through the window.
She is slumped on the floor a little away from the window, dressed in a midnight blue long full sleeve t-shirt and grey pants with her hair framing her face, her entire body shivering slightly. He rushes to her and crouches near her, trying to figure out what is wrong.
"Abhira! What's wrong? What can I do?" he asks frantically, trying to pull out his phone to call an ambulance.
Her voice is hoarse as she says
"N-no h-os-pit-al! Ju-st h--elp me u-p!"
He has no time to give it another thought as he feels her trying to get up. He helps her up after a few efforts and manages to hold her against him as they slowly try to exit the room.
_
They stumble twice before they make it to the last room. There is a couch there that he makes her sit on before opening the cupboard she is pointing to amidst the bout of coughs that make him wince at just the sound. The handle is sturdy and he understands why she would not have been able to open it, with the dearth of energy and firm grip that she has.
He pulls out the nebulizer kept at the top and a box with the other extensions. He connects it to a plug point nearby and gets it started with the instructions she manages through the wheezing that looks extremely painful now. It takes a few moments but then the wheeze subsides and he can see her entire body sag in relief.
This is when he finally looks around. The room is painted in light beige color. The décor is minimum with just a couch, a table, a shelf and a few cardboard boxes. He finds a spot on the ground and makes himself comfortable, looking over at her with concern etched on his face.
Her eyes are closed, her head resting against the wall. The only sound that fills the room is the whirring of the nebulizer. It feels like a soothing drone as he thinks about all the happenings till now. Lost in these, he doesn't realize the nebulizer has switched off and that she is calling him till he feels something hit him on the shoulder, finally jolting him from his thoughts. He looks down to register that it was a cushion that hit him. He looks up at her then when he hears her say
"I tried calling your name to the extent my energy allows but you were lost. The cushion was the only thing around me I could throw at you"
Her voice is still hoarse and she looks exhausted but at least, the wheezing is no more.
"It's alright Abhira! I zoned out thinking about something" he says
"Mind if I ask what?"
"Not really because it's about you. What just happened Abhira? What is wrong with your health?" he asks, concern and worry evident in his tone.
She sighs, looking away. He waits patiently for her answer, leaving the agency to her. After what feels like a long time but is barely a few minutes, she says
"Asthma...umm...I am an asthmatic. Have been since early months after my birth."
"Is it always this worse?" he asks and she looks at him with a rueful smile before saying
"This is actually mid. I have had worse attacks before"
He swallows and there is silence between them. He breaks it with a hesitant question.
"These worse attacks....how many have you weathered alone?" he asks and it is like something flips within her. A storm rages, the broken parts within her rattling. His question pierces her like a dagger, so offensive like a drop of rain is to a drought wrecked land!
"Why do you ask? Want to pity this good for nothing creature who cannot even breath properly? Want to know if she was always this incapable or today's something special?" her voice sounds foreign, thick with loathing and anguish. It tears at him despite being stunned to silence as he is.
Her eyes harbor a wild look, something indecipherable rising in them. It prompts him to gather himself and find some calm because he knows her words are not directed to him as much as they are directed to herself.
"I ask because I want to know. You are my friend. I want to know what is wrong. I ask because I am worried about you" he says genuinely, deliberately leaving the descriptors she used for herself from his reply. He refuses to acknowledge them because he understands that is what she wants. She wants him to deride her because she is ashamed of showing the vulnerability she has since past some time. He knows that if she could, she would have handled it all by herself and he never would have known how much she has been suffering. But now wants to know her, this enigma that paints so wonderfully, who makes everything feel okay while herself harboring secrets that are painful and suffering in silence. He wants to know everything about the only person he has ever felt such a connection with.
The wild look abates in her eyes, heart wrenching anguish filling it. She looks like it is the first time someone has told her they are asking because they care about her, are concerned for her, not just because they have to. She is looking at him like everything within her is breaking all over again and she cannot take it anymore. She sniffs, her eyes filling. Her hands clench, her face fractures but she still tries her damnest to hold together. He can see how hard she is trying and respect for her and her inner strength rises within him like flight. With tears filling his eyes, pain and understanding filling his chest, he whispers soothingly
"It is okay Abhira. You can let yourself fall apart. There is no one to judge you. It is okay. Let yourself break."
The dam holding it all back shatters!
She lets go.
She breaks.
_
WC: 1351 words
Love,
Pratyusha
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Edge Of The Night | ONC2024 ✓
General Fiction[Open Novella Contest - 2024] ONC2024 Longlister Round 1 & 2 Qualifier Prompts: 24,5 Tired of rising from the ashes, when his last reason to hold on falls apart, a man seeking peace moves into a new apartment. What he doesn't expect is to become e...
