Yashasvi was getting worried. It had been more than half an hour, but Shubhi bhaiya was still not returning. Finding the number engaged when he attempted to call him, Yash decided to go and find his roommate and to bring him back to their room on his own.
He searched everywhere he suspected Shubhi to be, but he didn't find him anywhere he searched, and was about to return when he suddenly bumped into someone hurrying in the opposite direction.
"Sorry sorry I'm sorry" Yash rambled before realising it was the person he was searching for.
"Bhaiya, aap idhar? Mai aapko kabse dhund raha tha... kidhar chale gaye the aap?" (Bhaiya, you're here? I've been searching for you for so long... where did you wander off too?) Yash asked worriedly. His worry grew tenfold when he took a closer look at his face.
"Ye aap khudka kya haal banake rakha hai aapne? Chaliye apne room chalte hai. Kuch khaya aapne?" (What's this state you've put yourself into? Come let's go to our room. Did you have anything?) Yash rambled off, panicking on seeing Shubhi's tear-stricken face.
Shubhi nodded and let Yash guide him to their room and make him sit on the bed. He watched blankly as Yash closed the door and came and sat beside him before wrapping a comforting arm around him and squeezed his arms.
"FIFA khelein?" (Shall we play FIFA?)
"Yar mainu kuch khelne ka man nahi kar raha" (Dude I really don't feel like playing anything)
"Achha fir... kahi ghumne chalein? Bohot sare achhe jagah hai as pas" (Okay then... let's go somewhere? There are lots of good places around here)
Shubman again shook his head before taking off his shoes and dragging his knees to his chest.
"Yar mujhe kuch karne ka man nahi kar raha hai, bas idhar pade rehna hai" (Dude I don't want to do a single thing, just stay and rot here) He confessed, resting his head on his knees.
"...achha fir koi movie dekhe?" (...okay then let's watch a movie?)
"...haan thik hai par koi emotional movie nahi chalega" (Yeah alright, but no emotional movie)
"Tom and Jerry?"
"Yaar wo original movie bohot emotional hai" (Dude the original movie is very emotional)
"To wo wala choriye... Fast and Furry wala chalega?" (Then leave that... how about Fast and Furry?)
"Haan thik hai" (Yeah alright)
Yash beamed, and proceeded to prepare the room for the movie. Shubhi watched in fascination as Yash meticulously poured several snacks from their joint secret stash into separate paper bowls for each snack, and set them in a straight line on the bed. He then produced two paper cups and poured a bottle of sprite equally into each cup.
Handing one cup to Shubhi, Yash took his own cup and crawled into the covers beside Shubhi before starting the movie.
*
In between laughing until his sides hurt watching the shenanigans of the famous cat and mouse duo, Yash noticed the way Shubhi bhaiya had barely touched any of the snacks in front of them, and he had barely even cracked a smile, not even when Jerry had run his car over Tom's tongue, where Yash had almost laughed himself off the bed.
He paused the movie and took a close look at his Shubhi bhaiya. He seemed to be shivering even in the warm weather of Hyderabad, and looked incredibly pale in the dimmed sunlight that seeped from between the blinds. That was bad, and Yash didn't hesitate at all in pulling out his phone and calling Rohit bhaiya and asking him to have the doctor check on his partner ASAP.
*
Yash had just finished putting away the snacks when the doorbell rang. He opened the door to find a very worried Rohit Sharma standing in the corridor along with their team doctor. They came in and settled themselves on the chairs beside the bed, looking expectantly at the two youngsters.
"Kya hua , Yash?" (What's wrong, Yash?) Rohit asked kindly. His heart ached at Yash's worried eyes and Shubhi's blank stare. The kids weren't alright, and he'd be damned if he didn't get to the bottom of it NOW.
"Pata nahi bhaiya, mai subah se dekh raha hu inhe, kaise ajeeb se behave kar rahe hai... kal aane ke baad se hi kaise udaas lag rahe hai the,, na thik se baat kar rahe hai, na thik se kuch kha rahe hai... tom and jerry pe bhi nahi has rahe... aur ab mujhe dekhke laga ki wo kaanp rahe hai iss garmi me..." (Don't know, bhaiya, I've been noticing him since morning, he's behaving quite strangely... since returning yesterday he's been so down,, he hasn't been talking or eating properly, and he's not even laughing at tom and jerry... and now I think I even saw him shivering in this heat...)
The doctor nodded and brought out the thermometer to check Shubhi's temperature and frowned when he took the reading. 101 degrees fever with unknown cause was not good, and especially not when said person was just hospitalized for a severe bout of dengue a few months back, so he prodded, trying to understand the cause.
"Practice ke baad ya khelne k baad aake hi fan full speed me chala diye the?" (Did you come back from practicing or playing and immediately turned on the fan at full speed?)
Shubman shook his head quietly.
"Aisa kuch khaye jo thora ajeeb sa taste kar raha tha kuch din k andar?" (Had anything that didn't taste quite alright recently?)
He again shook his head, a bit more aggressively this time. He didn't even feel like eating anything that tasted absolutely fine these days, where did the Doc get the idea that he might have had anything that tasted off?
"Thik hai, koi baat nahi.. Kya aap apne symptoms mujhe bol sakte hai?" (Okay, okay. Could you please describe your symptoms for me?)
"Bas thora thanda lag raha hai... aur thakaan bhi bohot hai" (Just feeling a bit chilly...and also really exhausted)
"Sar dukh raha hai?" (Headache?)
"Utna bura nahi, but sar bohot bhari lag raha hai.." ( Not really, but my head feels really heavy)
"Thik hai.. Koi sardi khasi jaise kuch? Kitna bhi mild ho" (Okay.. any cough and cold? Doesn't matter how mild)
"Nahi." (No)
"Sharir me dard?" (Body ache?)
"Nahi." (No)
The doctor kept on prodding till he ruled out all physical causes of fever. That only left....
"Aap ka mental health kaisa raha recently?" (How has your mental health been recently?)
The doctor watched as the taller boy curled up into a tighter ball at that. Bingo. Now he only had to figure out how bad it was. He took out an extremely neglected questionnaire and a pen from the depths of the bag and gave it to Shubman.
"Ab aap isko ekdam honestly bhariye, thik hai? Hum char ko chhor k aur koi nahi janega, aur hum iske liye aapko bilkul judge nahi karenge. Aap bas ekdam sachchai se bhariye" (Now I want you to be absolutely honest while filling it, okay? No one except the four of us will ever know, and we will not judge you at all. Just be completely honest with it.)
Shubman silently took the form and the pen, filled it with a trembling hand, and folded it in half before giving it back. That was it, he thought. There's no way they'll keep someone so mentally unstable in the team anymore. He closed his eyes and ears and braced himself for the inevitable.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So... what do you think will happen next?
Do let me know how y'all like it! Happy reading :D
YOU ARE READING
Raat ke baad hi to savera hota hai
FanfictionYashasvi may be new to the team and the youngest player on the squad, but he noticed things. So when Shubman starts acting strangely he sets out to investigate what's wrong with his roommate and newly acquired Bhai. With a little extra help from a b...
