When I opened my eyes, I was still in my room, tucked neatly under my sheets. The room was empty of anyone, yet I could tell someone else had been there. Things were different, in different places. A chair sat next to the bed pulled so close, the leg touched the bed frame.
As I sat up, I noticed my chest didn't hurt as much as it had before. Which also made me think, how long had I been out? Turning my head towards the door, I could see the living room had been lived in, the couch right outside the door strewn with pillows and blankets. Someone had been here with me, stayed over night.
"Divya!" Indi appeared in the doorway suddenly with a glass of orange juice and a straw. "Didi! Welcome back! How are you feeling?" She raced over to me with a smile so big, I thought she might actually pull a muscle. Setting the drink down on the night stand, she leaned over and hugged me tightly, bringing back a little of the all too familiar burning in my chest, causing me to cough again.
"Sorry, sorry. Here baba," she handed me the juice and I could have kissed her; the cold, acidic liquid immediately calming my already itching throat. I held the glass back out and she took it back, setting it back in it's place on the night stand.
"Thank you," I coughed once, clearing my throat.
"Are you okay?" She sat down in the chair next to the bed, putting a caring hand in my leg.
"Yeah," I shook my head, really only partially sure. "What happened?" There were fragments of it, I knew I'd been outside...
"You drowned!" Her eyes wide, she squeezed my knee as she said it. "On Wednesday, after I called you, you went swimming on your own and got your hair caught in the trap at the bottom of the pool!"
"What?" My face scrunched as I tried to remember it all.
"Didi!" She adjusted the strap on her couture tank top and looked back up at me excitedly. "If it hadn't been for Sunil seeing you as he was leaving, you'd be dead!" Indi smiled wide and I knew she was keeping something from me.
"Indi..." I glared at her as I ran my hand through my hair, noticing a patch, about four inches or so, had been gruesomely cut off, uneven and shredded. "What's happened to my hair?!"
"Sunil! He had to cut your hair to get you free. Then he gave you CPR to bring you back. He was amazing Divya, I'm telling you. Amazing." She clapped her hands together, barely able to keep her excitement down. "I just got here to see him jump in after you."
"Really?" How could I not remember any of this. Well I did remember some of it, but mostly before getting in the pool.
"Oh Didi, it was right out of a movie. I was pulling up when he started running towards the pool from the front of the house, like Superman or something. He was yelling for your father to come. Then he jumped the fence, ripped off his suit jacket and jumped in, shoes and all."
My face must have been contorted or something because Indi shook her head at me, as if I didn't understand. "He jumped right in, without even thinking. I just made it to the pool to see him pull out a small knife from his ankle and cut your hair. God Divya, I was so scared you wouldn't make it, but he brought you back up to the surface. Aatish brought your father over just as he dragged you out of he pool. You were purple, changing colours. We were freaking out but he was so calm, he knew exactly what to do."
"Wow," was all I could think of to say. I could get flashes of moments, coughing mostly, but most of it was gone.
"Yeah, wow. Once he brought you back, your father had him bring you in here to wait for Dr. Bishay," she nodded suggestively, as if it meant something else.
"What?" There was something behind that crooked smile of hers that said something big had happened.
"Well..." She wasn't going to give it up easily. I crossed my arms and scowled at her hard. "After, when he brought you in here, when your father went to call for the doctor..."
"Yes..."
Indi shifted in the chair, her eyes dropping to the sheets as her hands began to fidget with her ponytail. "Didi, I think he's in love with you." My heart stopped and I actually clutched my chest. Why this news had hit me so hard, I had no idea, but it was like the same punch to the chest I now remembered from before. Maybe I wasn't so hopeless after all. I didn't know it had meant so much. Did it?
"What?" Confusion hit, as I realized I knew almost nothing about him. How did he know anything enough about me to make those conclusions?
"You were in and out of it when he brought you in, we couldn't get you to keep your eyes open. But I know I heard it."
"Heard what?"
"I heard him talking to you, telling you to come back," Indi put her hand back on my leg and her whole body perked up. "He kept telling you that you were scaring your father and I, and that you needed to come back for your dad," she paused and her brow flickered up. "And for him."
This was definitely Indi playing games and making fun of me again. "Stop it," I slapped at her playfully.
"I'm being completely serious Didi! He said that he needed you to come back to help him help your father. Something about moving forward together. He said to give him a chance."
"You're kidding right?" All of a sudden, I felt heavy, like some sort of high expectation had been put on me.
"Maybe this is the man Papa is going to set you up with!" My eyes grew wide as she verbalized my thoughts exactly. Maybe my father had been thinking about it. A whisper of Sunil's voice saying my name misted through my head and all the heaviness lifted. I could remember now how he'd made me feel. When I couldn't control even my own breath or body, he made me feel safe, like everything was going to be okay.
"Hmmm..." was all I could manage. Now I wasn't sure at all how I felt. It wasn't like I had spoken to him, other than the few words he'd said with Papa there. And when he'd woken me up for the first time after. He had been like...and then I saw it, the small, black, diamond angel pin my father had given my mother for their wedding anniversary. He had given it to her on their twentieth wedding anniversary, Papa saying Mom had saved him from a life of violence and crime. He'd always said my mother had been the one to set him straight so many years ago.
"Hmmmm?" Indi shook her head at me like I was crazy. "What is there to think about Divya? This man is perfect for you, he's already saved your life once. What more could you ask for?"
Which then reminded me, "How is everything with Ranjit?" her face immediately dropped to her hands in her lap. Good news wasn't about to follow.
"Well..." she hesitated and my heart fell.
"Indi..." My hand immediately found hers, a heavy sigh escaping from under her bowed head.
"He's..." She shook her head unable to continue.
"Oh Indi, I'm so sorry honey," I opened my arms and she hopped up into them, sobbing lightly.
"I just want to be with him Didi, why can't we just be happy? Who cares about religion? About children? I just want him," her fingers dug into my arms as she sobbed into my chest. I couldn't understand it either. They loved each other, why couldn't they just be happy? Together?
"Things will work out Indi, don't worry, you'll see." But I had no idea, I just wished her the best.
"Listen," she shot up, wiping her face, putting on the most forced smile she could manage. I nodded trying to help her keep up appearances. "The most important thing is that my best friend didn't die two days ago. That I still have," she forced a smile again and my heart broke a little more. "I don't know what I would have done without you." She hugged me again and then wiped the tears from her face. "You're father wants you to go in and see him when you're feeling up to it and I have to go and meet with Ranjit's sister for menu choices."
"I thought you'd already..."
"Yeah," she got up and fixed her hair in the mirror, placing her sun glasses back down on her dainty nose "So did I, but Sunita has some other ideas she wants to run past me first, before I finalize anything."
"Good luck with that," I pulled the sheets up from over me and swung my legs over the side of the bed. As soon and I stood up, gravity won and my legs buckled beneath me, sending me to the floor.
"Didi!" Indi rushed over, helping me sit back up on the edge. "You okay?"
"My legs," I rubbed them, trying to bring the feeling back slowly, inch by inch. "They're just a little sleepy."
"Well, you have been in that bed for almost three days now. Whatever that doctor gave you, did the trick." She nodded, rubbing my back briefly then gathering her things. "Sorry about the living room, I'll clean up later if that's okay, I just wanted to make sure you were okay." She nodded in the direction of the living room with pillows and blankets strewn. As I saw it, it only meant she cared.
"Don't even worry about it. I'll get it later."
"Don't push yourself too hard Didi, you'll want to save something for Sunil when he comes by later," She smiled coyly, giving me a final hug and kiss.
"He's coming? Here?" Why was my heart pounding again?
"In a few hours to meet with your father again." Her smile was all knowing, and she also knew it killed me to be this nervous over a man. I'd never really cared about anyone like that before. "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah," I took a deep breath and steadied myself as best I could. I was going to have to be. "I'll be fine. Thank you so much Indi," this time I stood up much more slowly, allowing time to adjust.
"Who else would put up with you?" She squeezed me tightly before making her way to the door. Holding it open for her, she pulled out her car keys before leaving. She stopped and turned to me in all seriousness. "I love you Didi."
"I love you too honey." I squeezed her as tightly as I could, because it was true. I loved her as a sister would love their sibling.
As I stepped back, the familiar black SUV pulled up the driveway and stopped in front of the house. "Looks like your Superman is back! Early to boot. He just couldn't keep away from you!" Indi squeezed me again before rushing off down the path to the front of the house. She stopped, they exchanged words, and Sunil passed me a look over her shoulder, nodding in my direction with no evident mood or emotion. A few more words were exchanged and I wished more than anything she would come back and tell me. But of course she just turned and waved at me with the biggest smile, before getting into her car and leaving. Sunil paused one more time to watch me intensely before nodding one more time and heading inside.250Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bRr8htUJS
