Sometime in the middle of the night, Naina started to feel uncomfortable again... the soreness was back, not extreme but enough to wake her up. She didn't want to disturb Sameer by moving too much. But when the back started hurting badly as the intensity increased, she had to turn to lie on her stomach.
The fidgeting woke him up instantly. Seeing her lying with her head resting on folded arm and rubbing the side of her waist with the fist, he touched the back of her shoulder.
She looked back... eyes hooded with pain.
He placed a hand on her lower back, "Naina, main daba dun?"
A muffled acceptance reached his ears. He started to gently press the center of her lower back, rubbing in between.
"Wahan nahi yahan." She continued to rub the side of her waist.
He saw exactly where and how she was doing... and started to rub in the same manner.
She pressed the other side, resting her head on the other arm.
He held her wrist, lifting her hand away from the waist, and started to do it on both sides.
He could guess the extent of her agony by the way she clenched the bedsheet tightly... the movement of her shoulders depicted the laboured breathing.
"Bas rehne do." She said in almost inaudible voice after about five minutes.
"Theek hua?" He asked in a gentle voice.
She turned and placed her head on his folded leg. He saw the tears streaming down from the sides of her eyes. She brought one fisted hand on front of her and pressed it on her chest, twisting in the center. He was shocked. How was it possible that all parts of her body hurt because of a natural process in the stomach... how could Naina ignore all this... and if she had been experiencing this type of problem every few months, why didn't it occur go her that it cannot be normal... he decided to talk to her about it properly once she was done with it this time. After their talks today, he hoped she wouldn't hesitate to tell him... at least whatever she knew.
Suddenly he realised that she had been going through this all alone for last three years... in hostel, there was no one to take care... only once he had gone... that too just for a few hours. His eyes filled up thinking about how she must have laid awake at nights, writhing in pain, not able to go to the dining hall and missing out on meals, no one to give water to take medicine... no one to comfort her...
"Ab tumhe kabhi akele nahi rehne dunga aise dard mein, Naina." He stroked her hair, swallowing the lump forming in his throat.
"Sameer." Her pain reached him through the voice.
He wanted to scoop her up in his arms... keep her close to his heart... rid her of all the suffering... but was scared of causing more hurt... he didn't know which touch would cause her discomfort.
She continued to clutch and press her waist, moving her hand under the kurta now. Without thinking twice, Sameer followed her hand, applying gentle pressure where her hand fisted. He rubbed her stomach, waist, back...
It was almost half an hour when he felt her breathing getting even.
He checked to see if she had slept. Her eyes were half open.
"Naina, tum theek ho na?" He asked.
She nodded once... and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, when she did not show any movement, he laid her down. Lying next to her, he wrapped his arm around, making her sleep on his shoulder. Soon, he drifted off to sleep as well, relieved at her normal breathing.
