Fates

Part 109- Things Left Unsaid

"Ms. Sood, are you okay?" Rakshit asked worriedly again when Drishti gave him no response, just hugging him tightly as her breathing got heavier and heavier with each passing moment, eyes still tightly shut, hiding her face in Rakshit's chest.

"Okay, Ms. Sood you need to calm down." Rakshit instructed recognizing the telltale signs of an upcoming panic attack when Drishti only started to breathe heavier, seeming to not have heard Rakshit.

"Drishti, calm down." Rakshit instructed gently, slowly hugging her back, his arms around her waist, as he slowly reached a hand up to cup the back of her head.

"Sh-she will ki- kill her. She- wi- will ki- kill h- her." Drishti stuttered out weakly, breathing heavily, her voice muffled by Rakshit's chest where her face was hiding, tears streaming down her face and wettening the front of Rakshit's shirt.

"Who will kill who, Drishti?" Rakshit asked worriedly, his forehead creasing in confusion, as he tried to inch a little away from Drishti so that he could see her face, even though it was still dark.

"No! Do- don't go, please don't g- go, I ca- can't be a- alone again, ple- please." Drishti said with pained desperation, as she hugged Rakshit tighter to stop him from leaving, gripping the back of his shirt so tightly that her knuckles turned white, now full-on sobbing as she gasped for breath.

"I won't, I won't, as long as I'm here you won't ever be alone again." Rakshit whispered gently stroking Drishti's back, but Drishti only sobbed harder out of fear, struggling to breathe.

"Come here, calm down, you're okay, you're okay." Rakshit whispered gently as he lowered both himself and Drishti to the floor, maneuvering her so that she was sitting sideways on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck, her face now hiding the area between his shoulder and neck, slowly rocking her back and forth in his embrace, not saying anything as her sobs turned into little sniffs.

Drishti who was slowly coming back to her senses lifted her head and moved a little away from Rakshit to look at him, their faces now inches apart from one another. Rakshit looked at Drishti worriedly, he stopped rocking back and forth, waiting for her to say something. While Drishti looked at Rakshit with an undefinable expression, lost in each other's eyes, slowly lifting a hand to his face, about to cup his cheek as the light flickered back on, breaking the spell.

"I-." Drishti began to say, truly coming back to reality, her eyes going wide in embarrassed realization, as she realized the intimate position that she and Rakshit were in, quickly standing up with a light blush coloring her cheeks. Rakshit stood up too, still looking at Drishti worriedly.

"Woah, here sit down." Rakshit said quickly catching Drishti by holding on to her hand and helping her straighten up, as she stumbled as soon as she stood up because of exhaustion from getting so worked up. He then led her to the chair behind his desk, sitting her down, all the while holding her hand, Drishti being too shaken by what had happened to say anything else.

"Here, drink some water." Rakshit said caringly, as he bend down to the height of the chair, holding a glass of water in front of Drishti, which she took with shaky hands, taking small sips from it, all the while looking at Rakshit who had a hint of a smile on his face.

"You were crying." Drishti whispered out of the blue, as she noticed the dried tracks of tears on Rakshit's face that were still there, worriedly remembering why she had stayed in Rakshit's cabin in the first place.

"Just drink the water, Ms. Sood." Rakshit said blankly, averting his gaze and looking away from Drishti, as the hint of a smile turned into a frown.

Rakshit then wordlessly went to sit on one of the chairs in front of his desk, both of them sneaking glances at each other, as they began to work. Rakshit wondered what had made Drishti panic like that. And with Drishti wondering what had made Rakshit cry. While both Rakshit and Drishti were curious to know, it wasn't their place to ask, at least not yet.