At His Mercy

Part 38- Aya

Ami- Ji takes one look at me unsteadily walking towards her and she knows instantly something isn't right.   She says nothing but searches my face for a silent explanation. Takes my trembling hand, she holds my face with the other to help me focus on her. I'm finding it hard to keep my mind on what she is saying with the blood pounding in my head. 'Adam?' she whispers 'kahan her?'.  

She sits me down on a sofa. With the influx of guests leaving and guards appearing, I'm not sure what happens next. A wall of black suits forms around us before we are ushered into someone's office where there is a barage of urgent hushed whispers and I register that there is a sudden flurry of movement around me. 

'In the- the- the ladies bathroom,' I stammer 'you have to help him.' I mumble- immediately there is a rush in movement around us. Still finding it hard to find my voice, I stammer out to Ami Ji as much as I can about what happened. Ami ji listens silently, quietly. Not interrupting me. . With gentle fingers she moves the collar of my shirt aside and gasps. Her eyes widen when she sees the angry red welts on my neck.

 I can see the shock and disbelief in her eyes as she tries to come to terms with what is happening. Her eyes are wild with fire, but her face remains passive. her grip on my arm is a little harder as I tell her how Adam locked the door behind me after I left the restroom. I hear Ami ji's voice from a distance, biting out impatient instructions 'bathroom Mei ja Ker  deeiko -Jaldi sei. . . . . .driver ko ballow!' I know all three drivers in Adam's household also double up as the body guards occasionally and I have been told that all three are always armed. Though the security at the PC is tight and the metal detectors are used to ensure no one enters armed, I am not sure how they will be allowed on site.

'Adam. .. . Adam!' I murmur realising anything could have happened to him. I turn to find anyone who can help, but there is a bustle of black suits all either swarming around us or running to and fro in as discrete a manner as is possible under the circumstances.  The glass window reveals Ami Ji is speaking to an older man in a suit, who must be the manager. I see Ami Ji places her hands on her chest in a gesture that shows relief and begins to shake her head, abruptly she turns and re-enters the room.

'Adam teek hai' Ami Ji tells me straight away, taking off her shawl and placing it around my shoulders. I must be in shock because it takes me a few moments to comprehend what she says. 'Gar chalain, vahaan millain gei!' she tells me and helps me to my feet.  when I hesitate she repeats 'Adam teek hei!'.  we are surrounded by the drivers and the PC guards as we are ushered  through a side door to the waiting 4 x 4 which whisks us away.  

It's an hour later when Ami Ji's doctor arrives at house.  I'm in a pair of slacks and t shirt, sitting in the living room with Ami Ji, when we hear the car pull up.  Immediately I jump up and move towards the door in dreaded anticipation.  Will Adam be ok? What will I see?  Ami-Ji is up and next to me and says in a gentle voice 'Adam ko kuch deir hei abhi, it won't be him beitah.'

When the door opens it is the same gynochologist I met with to see about the birth control.  Ami Ji comes with her to my room so that she can examine me.  I don't mind, there is nothing but the marks on my neck and wrist worth showing her.  

But as she asks me to remove my shirt, I hear Ami Ji gasp in shock, apparently there are purple and blue bruises on my back where it must have made contact with the hook on the wall. The doctor's furtive examination takes the whole of 10 minutes before she asks Ami Ji, If she can get me some water and paracetamol for the pair, possibly some tea too. 

As she leaves, the doctor turns to me and gives me what I can only describe as a gentle look. 'Aya, I know the shock has been significant this evening from the trauma you've received, but I need to ask you if .  . . .' she pauses as if thinking carefully about the words she will use with me '. . . were you-'

'-No' I reply immediately, without thinking. 'He didn't touch me anywhere else- he didn't have time' I tag on as an after thought.

She is still and I know she is weighing up whether she believes me.  'Okay,' she says searching my face.  'I'd like to have some x-rays done, for your back- to make sure we don't miss anything. we could do it tomorrow morning, but to be honest, looking at the position of the bruises, I'd feel better if we can check asap.' I know what she's thinking, the bruises are right where my kidney is and I am feeling more than a little discomfort now that the initial shock is beginning to wear off. 

Ami Ji accompanies me to the hospital, I don't really want to go, but the final thing to convince us, is when we are told that it will be much quieter during the evening and there is a better chance of being inconspicuous. 

The doctor herself is quick to fill in the forms and reels of a list of questions: allegiant, past health issues, smoking, family history including the one that stops me on my tracks: 'Pregnant?' I repeat  'Urm, I don't. . .' but then I stop. Did I have my period this month?  Shit!

Glossary

kahan her? where is he?

Gar chalain, vahaan millain gei - lets go home, we'll meet him there

bathroom Mei ja Ker deeiko Jaldi sei-quickly go to the bathroom and see whats happening there

driver ko ballow!- call the driver 

Adam teek her - Adam is fine