Chapter Seventeen
With a pounding heart, Ananya rushed into the lobby of the Lilavati hospital, logging in her name as a visitor and barely waiting for the nurse to give her directions-Dia was already waiting near the lift for her. As soon as she saw her friend, she broke into a worried frown.
"What the hell happened?" Ananya demanded, "Is she going to be okay?"
"Easy there," Dia muttered. She looked haggard-Ananya had no idea why that was so. "Apparently, our dear little friend hadn't been eating properly. It seems like she went without food for days. She got dehydrated, and ended up weak and almost fainting on her couch, when I rang the doorbell at her place. Luckily, she managed to open the door before she passed out, or she would have been in her living room, undiscovered for god knows how long."
There was frustration and concern in her friend's voice, and Ananya immediately felt the same way.
"Oh god," she breathed, still unable to recover from the fact that Geet was hospitalized. "The idiot. Where is she? Is she conscious now?"
"Yes, she's conscious. Vidhi is sitting with her. I came to get you. I thought maybe you'd be busy, but I had to call. And..." she stopped suddenly when her eyes fell behind her shoulder, and she spotted Abhay walking towards them with what looked like a genuinely serious expression.
"What is he doing here?" Dia hissed immediately through clenched teeth. It wasn't hard for Ananya to guess how much she was angry then. She let out a long breath, willing herself to be patient.
"I want to see Geet. Now," Ananya said, cutting her off and leaving no room for further discussion. Dia glowered at Abhay, ignoring him almost rudely, and pressed the button for the lift. As she turned her back, Ananya turned to Abhay to fill him in.
When she'd told him what had happened, she saw how he expressed his emotions. And they were anything but fake. Abhay seemed genuinely concerned about what was going on. And even though they didn't know each other much, even though he wasn't even her friend, he declined the offer to leave, and said he'd wait outside until they all saw Geet and made sure she was fine. Ananya found herself smiling, for once, grateful. She murmured a low thanks, which he acknowledged with a nod.
During the exchange, Dia stood behind the two of them, sulking, and wondered if there was any way she could prevent Abhay from entering their lives. From the moment she'd met him, he'd been causing trouble. Sure, Geet's dehydration was none of his fault, but she couldn't help feeling defensive every time he was around. She didn't like outsiders getting to know about their personal stuff-especially stuff that was between the four of them. And the fact that Geet was weak after her erratic dieting was the last thing she wanted Abhay to know. She didn't trust him. She didn't trust anyone at the first time, but with Abhay she was sure it was a permanent thing.
When they reached the second floor, they got out. Geet's room was in the far left corner-a medium sized cubicle with minimum furniture and the typical hospital atmosphere that surrounded any room in there. Vidhi was sitting beside her bed on a stool-they could see her from the small glass window. Dia and Ananya exchanged glances, and nodded at each other. There were questions that Ananya wanted to ask, but they could wait. Right now, she just wanted to make sure that her friend was okay.
Abhay lingered behind while they went in, and Vidhi and Geet looked up when the door closed after them.
For a moment, everyone was silent.
Then Ananya put on her haughtiest expression and said, "If you were trying to kill yourself, you should at least have chosen a method that would have given you immediate results, Geet."
Geet broke into an apologetic smile. "Guess I screwed it up there."
"You definitely did."
"Thank you for coming. I feel really good, now that I've seen you all."
"Yeah, right. Imagine, Geet-I don't feel good after seeing you at all. Not in a hospital, not after you got dehydrated and almost killed yourself," Dia said angrily. Ananya realized that Dia was talking to her for the first time after she regained consciousness. And despite Geet's smile, there was an indefinable tension in the air between them, and she couldn't guess whether it was real or she was imagining it. Something was up, she could tell. Maybe it was because of Dia's reaction, or Geet's miserable eyes. Whatever it was, she wanted to know about it. But not now-not when Geet was resting. She could ask Dia later, when they were alone.
"It was nothing serious," Geet denied. "As if I would die that easily, and let you live in peace," she retorted playfully. "Dehydration doesn't cause death, Dia."
"Well, you never know!" Dia yelled. "You never know, Geet."
Ananya and Vidhi looked at the two of them in silent surprise. For a moment, another tense silence followed, and Dia and Geet stared at each other, sharing something for the first time that neither Ananya nor Vidhi could understand.
"God," Dia muttered, finally relaxing, and dropping down on the bed. "You have no idea how scared I was when I saw you lying on the floor in a heap. You have no freaking idea."
"Look, I'm fine," Geet assured her. "I'm fine, Dia. It was really minor. I'm not dying anytime soon, just so you know."
"Is that supposed to make me happy?" her friend retorted.
"Why the hell did you need to put yourself through this, Geet?" Ananya interrupted them. "Dia told me you'd been going without food for days. What's going on?"
For a moment, Geet actually looked guilty. Ananya knew her too well not to know that she was hiding something. "I was too much engrossed in my studies, and other activities," Geet answered finally. "Honestly. Everything's fine."
"Are you sure?" Vidhi asked, and she nodded.
"Yes. Of course. I'm fine. God, how many times will I need to repeat that?" she smiled.
"Okay, we trust you," Vidhi said, "But from now on, if there's anything that you need to share, anything at all, Geet, just tell us. Even something as trifling as your diet-because in the end, it affects us too."
Geet's eyes moistened. "I know that. Thank you."
Dia snorted. "Now you feel the need to thank us too. What's next, Geet? Forgetting to invite us to your funeral?"
"Shut up, Gandhi," Ananya said. "I think we should leave her alone and let her rest. I need to know the details, and I want to talk to the doctor in charge."
"I'll take you," Dia answered, and the two of them said goodbye to Geet, and left her for a while to see the doctor.
After they were gone, Geet turned to Vidhi. "They were so freaked out."
"Of course they were, you idiot. You gave us a pretty little scare today," she smiled. Then her expression got a little more serious. "Really, Geet. Is something going on that we don't know about?"
And Geet almost told her-she almost told Vidhi about her mother, about the fact that she'd gone for a month this time, but not returned. Instead, she found herself hesitating. And lying, once again.
"No, it's not like that. I'm just... a little tensed. You know, being the only one to help mom and then to shoulder the burden of my studies, too..."
"I understand," Vidhi put her hand on top of hers. "If you need anything, you know where to come asking."
"I do," she said, and they smiled at each other.
"Alright," Vidhi said after a long moment, "I'll leave you to it. We'll be sitting outside for as long as it's allowed, so you know when to holler."
Geet grinned. "Sure. Thanks."
Vidhi squeezed her hand, and then dropped a kiss on her head before leaving.
After everyone was gone, Geet fell back on her bed, alone, thoughtful, miserable. As she stared at the ceiling, only one thought filled her mind.
Where are you, mother?
***
Vidhi slowly closed the door of Geet's room, still thinking of the last few hours and everything that had happened in them. Dia's frantic call had urged her out of her house and out of her mind before she could stop herself. The fact that Geet had passed out had been a shock to her system. Only when she'd seen her for herself, and made sure that she was fine, had she allowed herself to breathe properly. Now as she exited her room, she felt a sudden suspicion gnawing at her insides.
Was Geet hiding something?
If so, she wanted to know what it was. And why was Dia behaving like that? All frustrated and annoyed, as if she knew the secret? The more she thought about it, the more it puzzled her. But as soon as she turned around to go and sit on one of the plastic chairs and ponder over it, she felt herself facing the one person she'd never imagined she'd see again in her life, and the ground seemed to be slipping away from beneath her feet.
This couldn't be, her mind whispered. She was hallucinating.
Abhay Bakshi sat in the chair right opposite her, looking up at her when he saw her come out, and their eyes met instantly. He got up from his seat, all solemn-faced, and approached her.
"Is she fine?" he asked her. No greeting. No sympathy. Nothing remotely intimate-just a logical question with a logical answer, and maybe a hint of concern as a human being. She collected herself and forced herself to look him in the eye. After all, she had no reason to hide-she hadn't been the one to grab him and initiate their kiss that night. He'd done it. It was his fault that things were now so awkward between them.
"Yes," she answered curtly. "What are you doing here?"
"I came with Ananya," he said. His words surprised her. For a moment, she really didn't know how to see it. Had they been hanging out together? Had Ananya been seeing him, in spite of the fact that she kept denying ever having talked to him after that first day she ran into him at her college? Were they becoming friends, or something more than that? Vidhi frowned. Why did she doubt Ananya because of him? She was her best friend-she had reason to trust Ananya. On the other hand, she had no reason to trust Abhay. And she decided that she wouldn't-not again. Not after what he did that night.
She didn't answer, and went to sit on one of the chairs, studiously ignoring him without appearing rude about it. But of course it didn't help, because he came and sat down right next to her. Her fingers clenched unconsciously into a fist.
"Look, about that night," Abhay began after a short pause, and she felt herself being unreasonably pissed off.
"Are you seriously going to bring that up now?" she demanded. "My best friend is in hospital. She fainted due to low blood pressure and dehydration. And you want to talk about some unimportant party?"
He didn't even bat an eyelid. He didn't cringe, didn't turn defensive, and didn't even reply. He just stared at her, as if trying to make her out. For some reason, the fact annoyed her even more. She turned away from him, partly disgusted, partly nervous.
And she had no idea whether the nervousness was due to the fact that she was seeing him for the first time after that kiss, or because he was sitting right next to her in a plastic chair-something she'd not expected to happen anytime soon, not even in a lifetime.
"I'm sorry," he broke the silence, and his words sounded genuine. "I shouldn't have crossed the line. I wasn't thinking right."
"Damn right you weren't, you jackass," she said intensely, and then realized how worked up she'd gotten-how worked up he'd managed to get her. Jesus, why was he eliciting such reactions from her today? What was wrong with her? Usually she wasn't a violent person. But Abhay Bakshi had a unique way of getting under her skin like no one else could-and she'd experienced it. The first time she met him, she'd experienced it. And that was why she needed to stay away from him, she reminded herself. And stop giving him reactions that amused him.
Like the one she gave just seconds ago-calling him a jackass to his face-and proving to him that he could indeed get her riled up. She hated this.
"But anyway, what I mean is this: I don't usually pick on women, as you no doubt imagine I do. I don't seduce them or charm them up onto lonely terraces and take advantage of them. I don't do that, Vidhi."
"Oh, right. Just what you did to me, wasn't it?" she glared at him. This time, he had the grace to flinch a little.
"I'm sorry," he repeated. "Really."
"Look; this is not the time and the place to discuss this, Abhay," she said seriously.
"So I can see. Can we decide another time, another place?"
She gaped at him, feeling like he'd slapped her across the face. This time, her fury was a little less easy to control.
"Did you just dare to repeat the same mistake twice? What makes you think I'm going to agree to see you another time, just because you need to apologize for something you had no qualms doing in the very first place?" she demanded.
Again, he just stared at her. Then his lips twitched slightly, and she felt her anger rising. She wanted to strangle him. Or crush him into pulp. Or maybe lock him in a utility closet.
I'm not a violent person, she reminded herself, and pushed those thoughts aside. I'm rational, clever, and I know how to solve problems.
Sadly, nothing in her twenty years of life had taught her how to deal with a man whom she'd kissed. In that department, she was less experienced than even a new born baby.
"You're not really easy on people, are you?" he said. "Never trust anyone might as well be your motto."
"You don't know me, Abhay," she replied. "And I don't waste time explaining or justifying myself or giving second chances to anyone who doesn't deserve them."
"I believe you," he said, and again that faint smile made its way on his face. Vidhi looked away, determined to ignore anything that he said further. She was here for Geet-it was the only thing she was going to focus on.
"I bet you've never been kissed before."
His words jerked her back to reality, stunning her and giving her multiple emotions. Ignore him, her mind said. Don't bother.
"I bet you've never had a chance to tell someone off before. I bet you don't know how to handle attention."
"If you don't leave me alone right now, I'll be forced to call security," she said through clenched teeth.
And he had the gall to smile! The complete asshole.
"I would hate causing you the trouble," he said, and got up. "I suppose my job here is done. Although, I admit, I'd hoped I would get a chance to tell you I didn't mean to offend you the other night."
"I have nothing else to say to you, and you know it," she said without looking at him. "Just leave."
"I'll be seeing you around, Vidhi," he said as he took a step back, and she felt an unexpected thrill at his words. The fact that he was still willing to see her made her sick. She sure as hell didn't want to see him around, that was confirmed. She just wanted to become invisible-or rather wanted him to stop existing. At least it would solve the problem of being confronted with the fact that in a weird, twisted way, she was still attracted to him.
Vidhi groaned, closing her eyes, and sank back in her seat.
She was not attracted to Abhay Bakshi. Topic closed.