Rivals

Chapter 34

She was woken up by someone calling out her name. She opened her eyes to see who it was calling out so gently to her but the bright light in the room made her close them in pain.

A moment later she heard a click before somebody picked her up and placed her head on a shoulder. Prying open her eyes a bit she realised that she was in the bedroom and not somewhere else. And the one who called out her name was Shrey.

After she dozed off, Shrey urged the doctor to come and see her once again before deciding on what to do next. He came, examined her and gave medicines based on the situation he assessed. Before leaving he gave the same instructions as before but this time told him sternly to take her to a hospital rather than calling him again as if her situation got bad he won't have the means to treat her.

It was already past lunch time when things settled down. Not having anything all day, he was feeling quite hungry so he went to the kitchen and made something light to eat. Eating as fast as he could he headed upstairs with a portion of what he made as he knew she too hadn't eaten anything.

He placed the bowl down on the bedside table while sitting on the bed. Noticing her drenched in sweat he fetched a towel and a fresh set of clothes for her.

Subsequent to him picking her up, he looked for the thermometer on the bedside table. Not finding it there he looked for it in the drawer. Where is it? He rummaged through it. I remember bringing it with me.

He couldn't find the thermometer and gave up searching for it after a while. He then turned to see if she was awake or not. Her eyes were closed and he presumed that she had gotten back to sleep. Unbeknownst to him she never felt safe enough to fall asleep in his presence.

To him she was peacefully lying in his arms but to her she was scared of not knowing what he was planning to do. Grabbing the towel, he pulled her closer to him.

Her fears came true as he took off her upper garment. Her body tensed up with only one thought in mind. She pressed her hands on his chest to push him or herself away from him but just as he felt her move he wrapped his hands around her.

" Hey? What happened? " He asked feeling her squirm in his hold. He didn't know if she was awake or not as her head was on his shoulder. He asked again if everything was alright and getting no answer he assumed that she was having a dream.

As he tried to calm her down but she bit him on his shoulder, hard. Hard enough to draw blood. His hold loosened around her and she used the opportunity to get away from him.

" Stay away from me. " She pleaded while cowering away from him.

" What happened, Navya? " He asked getting closer to her only for her to hide herself behind her trembling arms. He stopped realising what happened to her.

Placing the clothes and towel close to her, he got up from the bed and got out into the balcony. Cold wind was blowing outside while the raindrops left small wet spots on the parched land. Lighting a cigarette, he sighed. His mind was muddled with thoughts like the dark clouds he was looking at.

The rain started to get heavy as his cigarette ran out. It was now accompanied with a loud thunder here and there. Extinguishing the stub, he looked inside through a gap in the curtains to check on her. All he could see was her back while she rummaged through the drawers.

Seeing her dressed, he got inside only to find a bunch of pills in her hand. He knew they were sleeping pills as he had seen her take them so many times before. She raised her hand to her mouth not noticing the one hurriedly coming towards her.

" What are you doing? " He questioned, pulling her hand away and in the process scattering the pills on the floor. " Are you out of your mind? " She stayed silent, getting confused while staring at the hand grabbing hers.

She was just taking some pills. Why was it such a big deal for him?

" I-I just wanted to sleep. " She said as he let go of her while grabbing the pill container from his other hand. This made him question if she even saw the number of pills she was going to take.

He sighed, not knowing what to say in this situation. Placing the container on the bedside drawer, he saw the bowl he bought earlier. The bowl was a little bit colder than before but it wasn't that cold for him to go and reheat it.

" Eat something before you go to bed. " He said, placing the bowl in his lap. " I am not hungry. " Slowly, she stated.

" You've barely eaten anything for the whole day. " He extended the spoon towards her mouth. She eyed the spoon suspiciously before reluctantly opening her mouth.

After feeding her a bit more than what she wanted to, he gave her the medicine for the fever. Telling her to get some rest, he switched off all the lights except the bedside lamp. The room went dark but the light from the lamp was enough to see the pills on the floor. He picked them up and was about to leave the room to do the dishes when he saw the pill container on the table. Fearing that she might overdose if he left it there with her, he picked up the container and put it in his pocket.

She was desperate for the pills but couldn't say anything to him as she was scared. She had to silently watch him going out, with her only source of rest. Just as the sound of the footsteps got softer, she got out of the bed and rummaged the closet, looking for the extra bottle she had kept there. She was able to find the bottle after turning half of the closet upside down but unfortunately it was empty.

Clearly remembering that there was another sealed bottle there somewhere, she continued her search. Suddenly she stopped. Soft footsteps were coming towards the room. Instinctively, she hurriedly closed the doors before rushing back to the bed. Pulling the blanket over her head, she hid herself like she used to years ago.

The door opened and in came Shrey. He glanced at her figure wrapped in the blanket before pulling a chair closer to the bed. He took out his laptop and started to work.

The room was silent except for the sound of his fingertips hitting the keys on the laptop and the rain. She patiently waited for him to leave so that she could continue her search. She prayed for the clicking noises to stop soon but as the time went by she realised that they weren't stopping any time soon.

The constant sounds, the inability to sleep and the uncomfortable heat made her restless. On one hand she wanted to get up, find the pills and take them but on the other hand she wanted to wait for him to leave as she didn't want to talk to him.

A tear rolled down her eye. It wasn't due to the pain but due to the fact that she was feeling so powerless. She suppressed her sobs as best as she could. The sound of the rain also helped her conceal her snivels from him.

She calmed herself down and eventually fell asleep after a long while but it came with a cost. Remnants of that one rainy day years ago started to haunt her. She was used to getting nightmares but nights like these made them worse as she was reminded of her brother whose face she now no longer remembers.

He paused the moment he heard a groan. Looking up from the screen he found her shifting around while mumbling something under her breath. He called out her name a couple of times but she didn't respond.

Closing his laptop, he sat down on the bed, next to her. He then gently rubbed her back while wiping the tears away from her face. Slowly she stopped moving and mumbling.

He was brushing her cheek and was about to get up when she suddenly grabbed his hand. He tried to free his hand but she stirred in her sleep whenever he pulled his arm back.

At the end he gave up as he didn't want to disturb her when she finally fell asleep. So turning off the lamp, he got inside the bed. Getting close to her, he wrapped his other hand around her as she groaned again. Hugging her body close to his, he gave her the comfort that he could never provide her when she's awake.