Unsteady | ✓

Chapter 16 : Hold On

Gauri held his hand with bother hers. "I am here." Her gaze drifted down to his hands that had little color on them. 

Omkara was still trying to figure out if she was real or a fragment of his imagination. This was the third time he was seeing her. The last two times he had seen her when he was extremely exhausted but didn't sleep.  The touch felt real.

"Where's the washroom?" She asked softly. 

Omkara blinked. That definitely was her voice. He used his free hand to point in the direction of the washroom. He quietly followed her as she held his hand walking towards the washroom.

"Are you real?" He asked with his confusion thickening. His head had began to hurt and he felt exhausted like he had run a marathon.

"Wash your hands and face." Gauri said standing by the door.

Omkara took a deep breath and walked inside. He splashed the running cold water on his face. Not bothering that his hair was also getting wet. He washed his hands clean, seeing the colored water disappear down the drain. He looked at himself in the mirror taking a deep breath. Shivaay was right, he was only inviting trouble for himself. Wiping his face with the hand towel that hung on the rod, he turned to find her still there. 

He blinked nervously.

Gauri sighed, "I am here. Jiju asked me to come. You refused to eat, he said."

"You came..."

"Yes, I did." She answered meeting his eyes. "Come..." she said walking towards the couch. Shivaay had handed her a tiffin.

Omkara lolled at her with uncertainty.

"Sit." She said bringing the steel boxes out of the insulation cover.

"This smells good". She remarked laying the boxes down.

Omkara timidly sat on the couch. His eyes fixed on the food. He then looked at her. He closed his eyes rubbing his palms on his face. 

He opened his eyes and she was still there. "Why did you come?"

Gauri looked at him. Seeing him in so much misery had put all her anger to the back seat. Right now, she was worried about his well being. From his manner it seemed like he had had hallucinations before. He was talking about drinking when she had entered the room. Did he drink that much? Or was it just the lack of sleep. She stared at him thoughtfully.

He sat motionless before her, staring right back at her. Gauri shifted closer to him. The only sound in the room was that of her movement. "You should eat." She said placing her hand on his. Almost immediately his gaze dropped down to her hand.

Before Gauri could grasp his sudden movement, he was hugging her. 

"I am sorry, Gauri. I am so sorry." He kept on mumbling sorry profusely.

Tears blurred Gauri's vision. She slowly rubbed his back to comfort him. She pulled away after blinking a couple of times to let her tears fade away.

"You've worried Jiju so much." She said pouring some daal over the rice in the box. She took a spoonful of ge mixture and held the spoon to his mouth. 

His eyes wouldn't leave her at all. He slowly parted his lips, accepting the food. 

"So, this is where you work?" Gauri asked looking around. She didn't know whether she was attempting to distract herself or him. 

"Yeah," he replied softly.

Gauri fed him a little more. "That painting is beautiful!" She said. His gaze drifted to the painting of a flower having droplets of rain on them.