Her Only Saviour

43. Wounds don't bleed, they echo

𝕰𝖐 𝖕𝖆𝖑 𝖒𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝖍𝖎 𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖒 𝖘𝖆 𝖌𝖆𝖞𝖆

𝕿𝖚 𝖍𝖆𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖒𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝖍𝖆𝖆𝖙𝖍 𝖏𝖔 𝖉𝖊 𝖌𝖆𝖞𝖆

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖑𝖚𝖓 𝖒𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖏𝖆𝖍𝖆𝖆𝖓 𝖏𝖆𝖆𝖞𝖊 𝖙𝖚

𝕯𝖆𝖆𝖞𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝖒𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖊, 𝖇𝖆𝖆𝖞𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖚

𝕳𝖔𝖔𝖓 𝖗𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖆𝖎𝖓, 𝖍𝖆𝖜𝖆𝖞𝖊𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖚
𝕾𝖆𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖞𝖆…

~~~~~~~~~~

That night, the silence in Nandini's room was louder than the thunder outside.

The poetry book lay open on her lap, but her eyes hadn’t moved past the same verse in over an hour.

She closed the book.

A gentle knock came at her door.

She knew it was him.

“Come in,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

Anirudh walked in, hands in his pockets, that same unreadable calm on his face.
“I figured you wouldn’t be sleeping.”

She didn’t respond, just looked away.
The air was thick again, but different now—quieter.
Tired.

He walked toward the small seating space near her window and sat down.

“I couldn’t sleep either,” he added.
“Too much... Work in the air.”

Nandini stayed where she was, wrapped in her shawl.
“You don’t have to be here and worry about me. Complete your work.”

“I know,” he said softly.
“But I want to be.”

That made her turn to look at him, brows furrowed.
“Why?”

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“Because I’ve seen the way you hide your pain behind silence. The way you smile to keep everyone from asking questions. The way your eyes search a room before your feet even move.”

She blinked.

He wasn’t supposed to read her like that.

“You think you know me?”

“No,” he said honestly.
“But I want to.”

She looked away.
“People always say that. They stay until they see the cracks. Then they run.”

He stood, walked over, and crouched in front of her chair, eyes level with hers.
“I saw the cracks,” he whispered.
“And I didn’t run.”

That broke something.

A tear slipped from her eye before she could stop it.
“I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I know.”

“I was fine being alone.”

“I know.”

“But... it hurts.”

His hand slowly reached up, brushing away her tear, not forcefully, just enough.
“You don’t have to be strong with me, Nandini.”

And in that moment, the wall didn’t crash—it didn’t need to.

It simply... let a little light in.

She didn’t say anything.

But she didn’t push him away either.