"Here, you can put these on." She passed him a shirt and sweatpants. As he took them, she glowed at him and declared, "I will cook dinner for us, well soon it will be morning haha. You change first, then you can come down ok?" He shook his head.
After she left, Nick glanced at the shirt in his hand. If not for her being with him, he would probably stiffen in the rain. Stepping into the washroom, his eyes surveyed the washroom. It had her smell lingering in the air and the room was squeaky-clean and neat.
Standing before the mirror he took off the wet shirt that he was wearing and put it aside. The scars on his body were gone now but he remembered all the sufferings he has gone through.
Sometimes he didn't even remember what he did, when he woke up he just found out that he was hurt, sometimes he found himself lying on the floor when cracked pieces of reflector were everywhere.
Now, he understood how his sufferings doubled because of the person he thought of as a close person and trustable one. His dad, made his life hell when it was already a living hell for him.
There, Sanaya was cutting the vegetables. She changed her clothes and wore a saree, which was the most comfortable for her right now. Though at the time of buying the saree, she thought she would most likely keep it on the shelf only but...
'I wonder if he changed already. He's not healed yet, should I go and check?' She thought. Unattentively she sizzled as she cut her hand.
Sanaya was staring around in search of a band-aid but abruptly, she heard a sound coming from upstairs.
'Is he ok? Nick....' She promptly ran upstairs. The sound came from the bedroom.
Getting in the room when she didn't see him, she ran to the bathroom. She whacked at the door and proclaimed, "Nick, are you ok?"
"..."
Heeding no sound coming inside the bathroom, she thumped again and this time she sounded more worried, "Nick, can you hear me? Are you ok? Is the floor too slippery? Did you somehow fall on the floor? Nick?"
He was not responding, she could only hear the sound of showers. The far she knew him, he would have answered her but after how she saw him tonight, she was now afraid and worried about him all the time.
'Spare key, where did I keep it?' Sanaya got the spare key and she hurriedly opened the bathroom door from outside.
Nick was sitting on the floor, under the shower. He had his head down and he seemed sleepy. Worried, she sauntered to him.
"Nick, what's wrong?" As she touched his hand he looked up. "I can't get up..." He mumbled.
"What?"
"Maybe because I'm not healed yet... I can't get up..." He explained.
"It's ok. Let's try to get up together ok?" She stood up and extended her hand toward him. Nick held her hand.
"Can you put those on yourself or do you need my help?" Pointing her finger towards the shirt and the sweatpants she asked him. As he nodded his head, she handed him the clothes and turned around. "Here."
"Ahh..."
"What's wrong?"
Hearing him groan as she turned around she fell to the floor along with him. Sanaya quickly got up and helped him to get up. Nick couldn't put the shirt on due to his hands hurting.
"I will help you put it on. Let's go." She noticed though he was talking, he was not his usual self. He was not making eye contact, he was talking less and slow unlike he usually did.
Holding his hand she took him into the room. Sanaya took the shirt from his hand and as she stared at the naked upper part of his body, she had a close look at him. His hair was still wet and his eyes seemed depressing, there were some weird things she discovered. Sanaya leaned close to him and as she looked closer, she found out some spots seemed as if they were scars.
She touched a spot near his neck where she saw there was a scar. As he was not in his usual self, he was unattentive. Sanaya checked his back and his abdomen too.
'Did he get hurt severally because of some incidents? Why does he have scars all over his body? They seem to be old scars. If one doesn't look closer, they cannot notice them... He might have gone through a lot.' Subconsciously she touched his face and he stared at her.
'How much I don't know yet about you? Will you tell me about it all one day? I am patiently waiting for that day....' She thought. Looking away she quickly got a hairdryer and asked him, "Is there any dish you want to eat? Tell me, I am gonna cook it for you."
From drying his hair to helping him wear the shirt, he was seated quietly. Neither did he utter a single word, nor did he even move. Sanaya put the hairdryer in the drawer and scowled at him. She didn't like to see him this pale, this sad.
Thinking of something, suddenly she pulled his hand and dragged him downstairs. As if he was a little kid. She put him on the couch and handing him a remote she declared, "Watch anything you want to. And if you press this, you can hear my songs. Got it?"
Nick bobbed his head. Thankfully he was at least reacting. She snickered at him and as she swerved to go to the kitchen, he raised a question to her, "You sing too?"
'Thank God, he is talking.' Sanaya turned towards him and answered him, "Yes. You didn't know, did you?"
"No..." He replied.
"Well, I am not a good singer. You might not like my songs but... You can listen to them."
Right, he still did not know many things about her.
Sanaya was about to go to the kitchen but thinking of something she strolled toward him. Holding his chin, she stared into his eyes, and then she kissed his lips.
"Dinner will be ready soon. Wait until then."
She took the remote and pressed start and suddenly he held her hand and turned her around. Sanaya gave him a startled look. "What's wrong?"
"When did you cut your finger?"
"Huh?"
She was too busy taking care of him that she forgot about it. Concealing her hand behind her back she twirled away from him, "It's nothing. You stay here, I will be done..."
"Sit here."
"Huh? No, I..."
Nick forced her to sit on the couch and clean the cut, he put a band-aid on it. "Since it's done. I will go and cook." When she got up he suddenly pulled the corner of her saree and Sanaya found herself sitting on his lap.
"I will cook, you sit here."
"Huh? No way, how can you..." She couldn't get up. He wrapped his hand around her waist so she could do nothing. Wasn't he injured yesterday? How could he be so strong? Something was fishy.
"I know you are worried about me. You think how can I cook when I'm not ok when I am so lost..."
"No, it's not that..."
Sanaya stopped talking as he touched her face. He looked at her and explained, "You are my strength. How can I be sad when I have you by my side?"
"But your hand, you are hurt. How can you cook now?."
"Don't worry, you have already cut the vegetables. I can manage this little so sit here." He took her in his arms and put her down on the couch.
What did he say? She was his strength? Sanaya was having a feeling that something huge must have happened that made him so sad. That helpless self of him was for sure a mystery. Now, she was waiting to get the news from Mona. She would soon know everything anyway.
'He might feel lonely, and he's not in his best shape too...' Sanaya saw Nick seemed so calm but his eyes were sending a sad vibe.
🎶
🎶
Suddenly hearing songs playing, Nick looked ahead just to find her standing right in front of him. She smiled at him and announced, "I can't miss seeing my handsome husband cooking so I came. You better not shove me away."
This was the first time he was listening to her singing. Soft and smooth, listening to her songs was making him feel relieved. A smile flashed in the corner of his lips when Sanaya tugged the corner of her saree around her waist as if she was up for a war.
"Let's make chili chicken."
"Chilli chicken?"
"Hmm. It's my favorite dish, you know back in India I used to cook chili chicken sometimes. And if not then Kunal dada, I mean Kunal brother used to buy it for me and then we used to eat it in my room, we used to have so much fun. Do you know what happened one day? One day, we were..." He was listening to her attentively...
Seems like they just started knowing each other more and the wall he made between them before was getting invisible...