I Am Guilty

22. Attack

Arjun felt a weird sensation creeping in him. His stomach was hurting in a weird way. The food he just ate, was protesting and he felt like he would throw up.
He was not sure why that would happen. It was one of the regular breakfast he had. But the weird twisting in his stomach was making him restless.

He decided to drink some water. But to his surprise, his legs suddenly felt heavy. There was a slight wobble and he was about to lose his balance. He pulled himself together and walked to the kitchen to drink another glass of water.

He could not feel any better.

He let out a breath from his mouth and decided to concentrate on his breathing. It might be just a heartburn or a spike of acidity, nothing more than that.

He opened the door of the outhouse to let in some fresh air and sat down on the stuffed chair, leaning back.
The weird sensation was increasing with every passing moment and the urge to throw up was getting difficult to control. He rubbed his chest lightly and threw his head back with closed eyes.

A light knock caught his attention and he blinked at the door, only to find Bansi standing there in apprehension.
He sat up straight and found himself weak with every passing second.

"Bansi? Why are you standing there? Come in." He tried to smile.

Bansi put up a small smile and her eyes welled up.
She walked in and sat on another chair while she placed the bowl on the small side table.
Arjun eyed the bowl and looked at her.

"Ate you still upset with me?" She asked in a soft voice.

He smiled. But he somehow realized that small activities were taking a lot of efforts. Something was not right with his body.
"I could never be angry or upset with you." He breathed out.

Bansi was too happy to notice his discomfort.

"What is your favorite sweet dish?" She asked happily.

He thought back for a moment and asked back, "what do you like?"

"Kheer." She replied without a beat.

He smiled, "I like that too."

"Really? I brought you a bowl. Mom makes the best Kheer."
She picked up the bowl and handed it to him.

Arjun blinked at the bowl and looked at her for a brief moment. He was caught in a weird dilemma. His body was already ready to throw up whatever was in there. Stuffing something more was the worst idea. But he did not have the heart to refuse Bansi. He just nodded and picked up the spoon and gulped down the warm Kheer.
Bansi was taken aback by the way he stuffed his mouth without giving a moment to relish on the delicious kheer.

She did not complain and walked out with a forced smile when he emptied the bowl.

Arjun held his stomach and stiffled his groan sometime later.
It was like his blood was slowly draining and his soul was leaving his body.
He could take it no more and pushed himself toward the toilet, just about in time.
He threw up in the toilet bowl. The contents of his stomach came out with such force that his body shook with pain. Tears streamed down his eyes but he could do nothing to hold back.
He dry heaved for a few moments, before he composed himself and washed at the sink.

He knew something was not right with him.

He flushed the toilet, grimaced at the scene and took another round of wash. He again walked back to the kitchen to gulp down two full glasses of water. He shivered as the cold water sting his now scrapped throat.

Taking a deep breath, Arjun pulled himself up to the bed. He needed a nice long sleep.

But this was just a start.

The cycle kept on repeating.
Arjun would lie down, trying to stiffle the pain in his stomach, he would throw up watery contents. He would wash himself and drink water and this would continue.

The weird thing was, his limbs were slowly getting heavier. There was a weird numbness in his toes and his fingers were slowly turning numb too.

After another round of throwing up, Arjun decided to give up on water too and lied down on the bed.

It was late in the night when Kunal decided to check on him. He made a video call to Arjun.
Arjun just wanted a moment of peace, which looked like a long lost dream. He looked at the watch on his wrist and pulled himself up. It was after one in the midnight.

With a mind to ask Kunal to call the next morning, he received the video call.
"What happened, Arjun? You look unwell."

"Yeah, I think I just have an upset stomach. I was throwing up a few times." Arjun replied.

Kunal furrowed his eyebrows. Arjun's slurred speech took him to a panic mode.

"Did you see a doctor?" He asked.

"No, I will...... "

Arjun was interrupted harshly as Kunal noticed a movement on the screen.

"Arjun... Careful!" Kunal's scream was lost as Arjun looked behind to see a masked man, raising a rod to hit him on his head.

The phone fell from Arjun's hand and his alert mind tried to defend himself. He ducked down in time to save his head from getting injured.

Kunal acted on his instincts and put the video call that was still connected, on recording.
He picked up a land-line and called the police station that was nearest to Arjun's home.

He knew, his friend was fighting for life, and the immediate help could be given from home only.
Without thinking, he dialled Bansi's number. She received the call immediately as she was still up, busy studying.

"Is this Bansi?" He asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Yes, who is this?" She asked looking at the unknown number.

"Listen carefully and don't panic. I think Arjun is injured. Go call your father or brother and ask them to help him. Send some security too."

Bansi stood up in a snap.
"What? Who is this? Where are you speaking from?"

"You are wasting precious moments for Arjun. Don't go there alone. Send some help, please. Police is on the way."
Kunal disconnected the phone and went back to the mobile phone that still had the recording going on.
What he heard sent shivers down his spine.

He clenched his fist. But a sudden commotion assured him that the help arrived on time. He did not know if his friend was still alive, but he hoped that the tough man would survive this final attack.

All he needed was strength to see a new day.
Kunal would make sure that he would make sure to wipe the dirt off from the face of the planet.

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Another chapter up.

One more mystery revealed in this chapter.

Some of you have already decoded everything. I am so proud of my readers.

Let the votes and comments flood my inbox.

Love you all.

By the way, who is your favorite character in this story, apart from Arjun?

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