Blooming Flower ✔️

Chapter 10: Heart to Heart

But, just remembering why he had the foreign kidney inside of him made me so uneasy. All the feelings on that day came flooding back, and 98% of them were feelings that I never wanted to experience ever again in my life. The call that Sandhya Aunty gave me, followed by me crumpling to the floor, feeling like a baseball was being shoved into my chest, crushing my lungs.

The silent prayers that I conveyed at the hospital as I hoped that there would be a donor that was willing to give a kidney to replace the cyst filled ones that had failed inside of his body. Just the thought of it and the mention of it made me feel uneasy, and that was the reason why I never thought of it.

When the memories crossed my mind, I just pushed them to the side and focused on other things. I didn't want to be reminded of that day as much as Manish did.

    As I inched closer towards Manish's house, I could hear the sounds of his guitar filling the air. As I took steps closer to his house, I could hear the sound of his gentle voice blending beautifully with the notes he played on his guitar. It helped that nobody was out during this time, so the music could float throughout the air and bless everyone's ears without any background noise.

I smiled, and then automatically recognized the tune and the lyrics of the song that he was singing. Smiling, I walked towards the house to get a better hearing of the song. "O aasma mila, zameen ko gayi, aadhe aadhe poore hain hum. Tere naam pe meri zindagi likh di mere humdum." (My earth has skies, you and me became full. I wrote my life in your name, my soulmate.)

I walked closer to the steps of the house, to see him trying to strum out notes and match them to the song. "Haan seekha maine jeena jeena kaise jeena. Haan seekha maine jeena mere humdum," (I got to know how to live, live, how to live. I got to know how to live, my soulmate). I attempted to sing, knowing full well that I probably sounded like a dying goat compared to the almost angelic voice of Sunny's.

He looked up from his guitar, and saw me. "Jaya," he said, plainly.

I walked up the steps, and said, "Hey, stranger." He gave me a smile, and stood up from the steps from where he was sitting. "How's the infection? Did it subside?"

I held out the box, and he took it, looking very glad. "Yeah, it subsided, but it was awful this time. I was lying in bed feeling like total garbage. I'm just packing up some of the loose things that I have to ship across the country. Thank gosh they offer auto moving, because I refuse to drive my car all the way to Seattle. Considering I can't even drive it to the movies without nearly hitting a squirrel, I don't trust myself to drive it across the country."

I snickered, and then say, "Sandy would be very disappointed if you hit one of her cousins, huh?"

Manish raised an eyebrow. "Since when did her cousins live in California?" I rolled my eyes at him, as he gave me that signature smile that he always gave me when he had me pushed into a corner. Manish took his guitar, and placed it on the little balcony. I didn't see him take out his keys, so I found it odd that he would just sit there without getting up.

"Actually, before we go inside, can I talk to you, Jaya?" His voice had all the emotions that I didn't want to hear from him wrapped around his voice, which made worry bubble up inside of me.

I gulped a little bit, and asked, "Sure. Is everything okay?"

I sat down on the steps, right next to him, and he shook his head. "To be honest, no. Everything really isn't okay." Those were the words that I never really wanted to hear from him. Because I knew that if Manish said that something was wrong, then something had really been weighing on him for a long time. It was something that he had been yearning to get off of his chest, and a lot of times, it would turn into an emotional rollercoaster that would be like throwing needles at my heart.

I gulped once more, and then nodded. "Tell me then. What's wrong?" I asked, with some of the most genuine concern wrapping around my voice.

Sunny let out a long sigh, and then started to release some of the emotional tension that was weighing down on him. "I-I'm just so scared, Jaya."

My eyes widened. Manish was somebody who would jump at the sound of a large dog barking, but I could tell that this fear was deeper and much more layered. I was determined to peel off each layer until the raw truth was staring me, ready to smack me in the face. "Of what?" I asked.

This time, he let out another sigh. Although not as long, the jaggedness of it because of his voice breaking was already starting to crack my heart. "I'm scared of leaving my family. I've always wanted a job opportunity like this, but the fact that I have to leave my family to pursue my dreams is so scary. How are my parents going to manage? They're already worried about my health when I'm right here and they can somewhat control it. I don't want to worry them even more now that there's a chance my kidney disease could get worse and my health could deteriorate. I don't want to stress my family like that," he said, with his voice almost completely breaking towards the end. His eyes started to get red, puffy, and glistened with tears towards the end.

Seeing his heart slowly breaking slowly caused the most familiar lump to form towards the back of my throat. I tried to swallow it back, but it was still there, stuck at the back of my throat, refusing to move. I took deep breaths in an attempt to fix my cracking heart, but nothing was working. I scooted in, and snaked an arm around him so that I could comfort him a little bit.

He rested his head against my shoulder, and then I said, "Your parents are going to be fine, Manish. But I get where you're coming from." I try to mask my cracking voice, and I just barely succeed. I hear Manish's jagged breathing, and I just hugged him a little bit more.

For the first time in a while, just like when we first started becoming friends, our hearts are starting to connect once more. I loved it, and although I felt like my heart was ripping in two, it was nice to connect with Sunny and be there for him on this rough patch in his life.

I think that's what ultimately makes a friendship stronger and stronger each day.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Songs: