Seventeen

Chapter 10

I stood where I was. I could not bring myself to go inside the room yet.

"Are you searching for something?"Suhana asked Adithi in the room.

"Yeah," I heard Adithi's voice. "My wrist band. Where is it?"

"Wrist band?" Suhana asked cluelessly.

"You don't know?" Adithi asked.

"Hm," Suhana nodded.

My hands clasped over Adithi's wrist band in my pocket. I had found it clutched in her hand when we were in the ambulance. I had put the wristband in my pocket in a hurry when we transferred her from the ambulance to the hospital stretcher. I had not looked carefully when I was in the ambulance. But later, when I had changed from the blood-stained clothes to new clothes, I had taken out the wristband from the old clothes. The wrist band was stained in blood as well. I had washed the blood off from it...Then I noticed that it was broken. The thin leather strings had got worn out and, it was torn at the end of one clasp joint.

"That's strange!" Adithi said, "I was sure I had fetched it out from the ocean before the wave hit me."

I froze.

"What the?" Suhana bellowed, "So you went back to the ocean to fetch the wrist band?"

"Hm..." Adithi said. "When I helped you get out from the ocean, I grabbed you by putting my hand around your neck. I guess it broke off from my wrist then, in the force. I noticed it was gone after the boys pulled you out to the shore..."

"So? You went to look for it in the sea?" Suhana yelled.

I could not stand it anymore. I was boiling in anger. I stepped into the room.

"You mentally sick idiot." I yelled at Adithi, "You jumped in the sea for a messy thing like that? What's so big deal about that piece of thing that you do that? It's not even that expensive..."

She blinked at me.

"It's important for me," Adithi said, sounding plain, innocent and honest. "Because it's really important to me."

I could not hold up any longer. I ran to her and hugged her... I realized that I was crying. Adithi was in my arms. I could hug her again... Feel her warmth and stroke her bushy messed up hair. I held her tighter.... Wanting to take in the feel of the whole of her. The fact that she was alive brought so much change.... I was scared to death the last few days... But now, she was there, in my arms. Very alive.

"Why are you crying?" Adithi asked.

"Shut up," I hissed at her, "You little..." I wanted to scold her, hit her for making me worry.

"Ishan... It's kind of paining now." Adithi said. I jumped back. I had heard that 2 of her ribs were broken as well. But I did not want to be away from her. I wanted to touch her more, feel her skin under my fingers, to feel the fact that she was alive. I pushed her fringes gently out of her forehead, softly tracing my hand over her bandage.

"Does it hurt much?" I asked her.

She shook her head.

I hugged her again, softly this time, careful to not hurt her. "Sorry... It's all my fault... I.... I should have found you earlier... Sorry. Really sorry." Although me saying sorry would not make any change. It won't make what already happened to vanish.

I let go of her and looked into her eyes properly and said, "I am sorry."

"Saying once was enough," Adithi said.

I nodded. She is the type who will not hold any grudges and easily forgive people. Even then, I wished if she was angrier with me.

"But....my wrist band is gone. I am sad." She said.