The Unventured Passions

Winter and Spring 🤍💚

It was dawn until Batuk had supervised the raided shipments, along with everyone's comfort, all with equal readiness. Both his mentors were wounded, and somehow he took it upon himself to tend to everyone's needs.
Anirudh and Bondita were still sleeping, and so was Satya, and it was when Batuk heard the sound of continued coughing coming from the room where Raimoti had laid.

Desparate times calls for desparate measures. And, exhaling sharply, Batakrishna Roy Chowdhury gathered the much needed courage and knocked on the half shut door, gently. His intension was to check on her needs.

"It's not my bedroom, you won't have to knock."
Raimoti was panting, as the bouts of cough made her sound restless.

Batuk entered with a glass of water in his hand.
"You are coughing a lot." He neared her and held the glass infront.

"Oh you?" Raimoti looked up, trying to sit, and Batuk leaned at once helping her to sit upright.
"Sorry if I've woken you up."
She breathed unsteadily as Batuk made her drink some water.

"Don't worry. I wasn't sleeping." He tried to smile.
Batuk's hand was on Raimoti's bare waist, and her skin felt flushed.

"You have fever." He narrowed his eyes, examining the patched up wound on her shoulder and forehead.
"It should have gone by now, unless..."

"Unless...?" Raimoti huffed. "Unless I'm dying?"

Batuk pressed his lips and smiled.
"Death isn't that easy Rai... I mean Raimoti." He paused. "There must have been some open would, some infection... Are you hurt anywhere else?"

His eyes were roaming around her body in search of a visible affliction.
"My back hurts." She groaned. "I don't know wound or not, but... Yeah... It really hurts."

Batuk kept the glass on the small wooden table beside the bed and turned up the yellow flame of the gas lantern.
"Would you please turn around." He asked her, and Raimoti nodded, trying to turn slowly, facing her back towards him. She still wore the black deep cut blouse along with the black saree that had taken Satya's senses away.
The diamond jewelleries were still glittering on her body and for a moment Batuk felt like cursing himself for not being able to appreciate the beauty sitting infront of him.

"It is bad?" Raimoti asked softly, bringing Batuk back to the pressing reality.

"I don't know actually, nothing is visible."
Batuk took out the small pocket torch and started to check her perfectly unblemished skin that was visible, her upper back, and then her slender waist, barring the finger-length stretch of black cloth dividing the two.

"I don't see... Oh wait..."
Raimoti's head was held in her hands, her breathing rugged, and Batuk let out a sharp gasp at the sight of driey blood spots on the blouse.

"Holy hell, Raimoti, your hurt!" He almost shrieked, as with a clean white handkerchief he held the blouse strip to check the source of the blood.

"What? What happened?"
Her voice was faint, and Batuk left her side and stood up at once.

"Raimoti, are you for real? There are iron splinters on your back, from the blast I think, and you have bore the pain all night!!"

Raimoti sighed, unbothered about the news.
"Oh...it that so?" She coughed again, "that explains the pain."

"Just pain?" Batuk gasped. "How are you even in your senses?"

"The morphine worked I guess. The British are very particular about not diluting their bearings." She let out a soft chuckle, murmuring to herself, and Batuk quickly reached out for the medicine tray that he had used the night before.
"My arms hurt as well."