That Geek Is A Trouble

Chapter 28

"Hey, you guys!"

They looked up hearing me. Lily without wasting a second bounded off her seat and tackled me with a hug which almost tripped us both.

"Easy there, tiger. Still not healed completely." Hearing that Lily immediately let off me with a horrified expression.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! It didn't hurt! Did it?" Lily said frantically looking at my stomach area.

I chuckled at her. "Don't worry it's all good but I still need to be a little conscious about it."

"Oh, Chas!" With a whimper, she hugged me again but with more care. "I was so scared and worried."

I patted on her shoulder lightly. "It's okay now. I'm okay." Looking up I found Keith watching us with a smile on his face.

"Will I be getting a hug anytime soon?"

"Of course. Come 'ere, already."

He stepped forward as Lily moved sideways with cautious movements. If I didn't know any better I would have thought they were trying their best not to touch each other. Again, I brushed away that feeling.

Keith's long arms wrapped around my small frame engulfing me in one of his famous bear hugs. "I'm happy that you're fine," he said as he rocked me like a kid. "Don't ever pull a stunt like that again."

In his goofy but strained words and Lily's welled up eyes I saw how much I really mattered to my friends. The days when I felt ignored like a third wheel were as good as forgotten.

Soon we fell into our old routine. Well, as much as we could. I still didn't attend the classes what with my heavy medication which would surely knock me down during the hour-long lectures. And of course, my mom's overloaded concern, which I'm totally not complaining about.

Later, in few days I found that the uneasiness I felt between my two best friends wasn't just my imagination or the product of my prescribed drug intakes. It was in between those days when I went missing which I now call as the 'dark days' that they broke up. As for the reason why I still didn't know. Nor did I made any effort to know. I decided that I would wait until they themselves would open up to me.

Other than them dancing around each other's edges everything started to feel normal again. Mom went back to her happy home when she was assured that I would not get myself back to the hospital and can feed myself regularly. Though she didn't leave before making me write down the 'Do's and don's' list which is now stuck to my refrigerator's door. Glaring at me each time when I enter the kitchen with a thought of eating something that I shouldn't.

Days rolled by. I started to feel at ease with my lost memories. Started going uni. Outings with Lily and Keith increased in numbers. And the calls I made to the Portland hospital decreased from once in two days to once in a week or two. The last time I called which was a week earlier Ian was still unconscious. I still felt the sharp pang in my chest when I would hear that but the effect of it on me was diminishing slowly. Like an old bulb about to give out.

Fall was retreating with all its vibrant colors giving wide berth to winter but the world was yet to be painted white. And with winter coming closer the semester ended. Though I had attended the classes I was way short on my attendance. As a result, I wasn't allowed to appear in the semester-end exams. It wasn't like I was disheartened or upset. Even if I was allowed to I wouldn't be able to cram up all the semester worth of studying. It only meant I would be graduating six months later than originally planned. And it also meant six months more of Prof Gellar's early lectures.

The thing about lost memories is that no matter how much you try getting them back they won't come. They are much like rain in summer. You wish. You pray. You beg, looking up at the sky, for few minutes of drizzle to cool off the heat. At that moment even if there are few clouds around, they would flip you off and disappear into nothingness. But when you least expect them, definitely not when you're enjoying a sunny day at the beach, the rain comes barrelling down at you ruining all your plans.