My grand aunt was discharged the next afternoon. I spent the morning signing papers and hiring medical staff. There will be two half time nurses, one in night duty and the other during day. We also hired special chef who would cook with the perfect proportions of nutrients Judy has to consume.
The doctor, Mr. Andrews also gave me his assistant's number so that I could call him in any emergency.
And then, we were good to go.
The hospital sent an ambulance to drop Judy back home to be more careful.
Susan decided to take a leave and go back to her hometown, I am quite happy about that to be honest.
After about an hour, everything was settled down. Judy's room had to be organised again to fit some machines. And by the time they set everything up and left, Judy was too tired. She wanted to take a nap, and the nurse had arrived too.
So I left them alone and went in my room, Harry staying with me all this time.
"I could just sleep and wake up next week." I say, falling down on my bed with a thud.
"Why do you always fall on the bed like that? Doesn't it hurt or something?" Harry asks, his mouth filled with chocolate.
I think I'll have to take the chocolates back. He's eating too many.
"No it doesn't, and it feels amazing." I turn my face to look at me so that he could hear my voice.
"That's weird."
He literally put an entire block of chocolate in his mouth after speaking.
"Harry that's way too much of chocolate. I might take your stock back if you go at this speed."
"Okay fine, I won't eat them again,"
"Good."
"Until tomorrow." He giggled.
I shook my head at his silly joke.
I close my eyes for a while, and hear him shuffling around the room.
I fell asleep within 2 minutes.
Rebecca, the nurse (with night duty) called me at 8, asking me to come down for dinner.
My first thought was to deny but then I remembered my decision to spend more time with Judy and said I'll be there in 10.
Harry will eat after everyone shuffles back to their rooms. He eats late every night.
Judy had to eat her dinner in her room, and just juices. So I sat with her and we chatted for a while until she finished her meal.
She asked me to teach her how to use Netflix, so I spent the next hour teaching her how to use it.
After that, she had to sleep.
After making sure things were okay, I went to my room.
"What's for dinner tonight?" Harry asked.
He was sprawled on the bed, friends ready to play on tv.
"Pizza."
I said and plopped down next to him.
"Pizza, why ?"
"Because I couldn't ask the new chef to cook something for me and Susan is not here."
It is even more embarrassing as I say it out loud.
"You could have told me, I am a good chef. And I also have a mini kitchen up in my room." He sounded offended for some reason.
"I'll keep that in mind." I smile at him and start the episode.
We have reached the second season now.
After a few minutes, my phone notified that the pizzas were here. So I got up and went downstairs to bring them.
Within the next hour, Harry and I were laughing our asses off while eating pizzas. I had ordered three large pizzas knowing how much Harry eats.
"Oh god, my stomach hurts," Harry says, still chuckling.
"Mine hurts too."
We off the tv and lay down, having eaten way too much.
"I am physically unable to move."
"Let's just sleep." I say and close my eyes.
"Yeah, goodnight Violet."
But I was already far too gone to answer him.
- - - - - -after a week- - - - - - -
I wake up hearing christmas carols.
"Rise and shine Violet, Merry Christmas!"
I wish I didn't wake up.
I don't answer him and close my eyes again, trying to go back to sleep.
I have been dreading this day so freaking much. It's already here.
It's been a few days since exams ended, I have been stuck in a same routine for days now.
Seep, eat, spend time with Judy, read, watch friends with Harry, repeat.
"Come on, show some festival spirit Violet."
Why are british people so excited all the time ?
I just groaned and stuffed my face inside the pillow.
Harry please don't do this to me.
I have been on the edge since the day I realised that christmas was just round the corner, and now that it's finally 25th of december, I am afraid I would loose my shit.
And I am certainly not going to cry in front of Harry.
"I prepared English breakfast for you." He softly moves a strand of my hair behind my ear as he spoke.
Atleast I could pretend for Harry's sake, he has not left my side the whole time I genuinely needed someone. This is the least I could do.
I open my eyes again and slowly get up, stretching my limbs.
I looked over at Harry.
He was wearing a Santa Claus hat and holding a tray in his hands.
"I knew it would wake you up." He smirked devilishly and sat down, placing the tray on my lap.
It took a lot of effort to smile.
He opened the hemispherical lid and revealed a typical english breakfast in the plate.
Fried eggs, black pudding and bacon. Along with tea.
"No coffee today, try drinking this." He added two cubes of sugar and placed the cup beside my plate.
"Harry you didn't have to -"
"Nope, we used to have a huge feast for breakfast every Christmas morning in the palace. I used to cook this every year. And this year, I am lucky to be cooking for someone else." He had such a big happy smile on his face as he spoke.
I ate in silence, praising the food once in a while.
Harry really did cook delicious food.
After that, I was back to feeling like shit. I took an hour long bath, remembering the awful events that had happened today and crying softly.
Harry must have heard my sniffles. Because when I went back in the room, he was looking at me with careful expression.
I excused myself and went downstairs to spend sometime with Judy, and also stay away from Harry. I don't want to ruin his mood.
Judy didn't wish me a Merry Christmas, and neither did anyone else. It was just like a normal day down here. No trees, lights, santa hats or gifts.
There was sympathy in Judy's eyes when I went in her room.
I felt like turning around and getting out of this house.
"Hey sweety," she said.
No, please don't do this to me Judy.
"How are you feeling ?" She asked
Honestly, like shit.
"Fine," I lie.
"Come sit here, let's talk about something else."
Oh. Now that makes me feel a lot more better.
I spend the afternoon with her, she was telling stories of her twin sister, my grandma.
My grandma died early, I was just 4 at that time. I do have a few extremely distant memories of her.
They were not identical twins. Infact, they were opposite poles.
It was a good distraction until she mentioned other people.
My family.
It was a slip up, she said how they all used to meet at city church every christmas morning and my dad used to play the piano.
She realized this as soon as the words left her mouth, but it was too late.
That one memory of him playing the piano was enough to break the wall I had built around myself. It was enough to make me lose my shit.
And for the first time in so many years, I let one single tear escape my eyes.
I closed them after that, trying with all the energy I possessed, to not break down.
Soon, Judy had to take a nap. Her condition was still soft, she couldn't handle more stress.
So I put on my brave face and smiled at her.
I reached up in my room after a few minutes, taking a deep breathe as I opened the door.
I noticed the staircase out, so Harry must be up in his room.
Thanking my lucky stars, I managed to step inside the bathroom.
There was a neatly gift wrapped box sitting on the sink platform.
I saw it but didn't do anything.
Instead, I sat down on the toilet seat, pushed the flush button and cried silently.
It took me a while to gather myself again and fix my face.
I looked in the mirror to see my reflection. My eyes were bloodshot, looking dangerously red. And some strands of my hair had escaped from the bun I had tied this morning.
In short, I looked just like how I felt.
A disaster.
"Violet?" A knock followed by Harry's voice broke my spiralling thoughts.
"Yeah," I quickly wash my face and dry it with a towel.
After a few moments, I opened the door.
"Did you see it ?" His eyes still didn't loose the excitement.
Oh god.
"What?" I ask, in no mood to talk.
"That," he said, looking behind me and shifting inside to grab the gift wrapped box.
He gave it to me.
"No Harry, I can't take -"
"Please, Violet." He cuts me off.
Without waiting for my reply, he starts to walk towards the couch and opened the box.
"Harry, please try to understand I -"
"Come on Violet, I have been making this for you since a week now. Atleast look at it."
"Harry, look. It's not about the gift." I try to stop the shivers coming over me as I speak.
"Then what is it about ?" He asks, keeping the box aside and taking out a white folded cloth from it.
"Its -"
I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Suddenly, I was feeling difficulty breathing.
My eyes subconsiously shifted to the last drawer of my night stand, where my world lies.
The world which had shattered to so many pieces five years ago that I am still searching for the lost pieces.
I wanted to be alone.
So I told him, to leave me alone.
I practically begged him.
He must have seen the desperate look in my eyes, so he didn't question and put the piece back inside the box and silently left.
I waited to hear the soft creak of staircase as it disappears inside the wall, but I didn't hear it.
At this point, I don't care.
I nervously move to the nightstand and take the photo frame out.
I just took one glance at the picture, and closed my eyes, clutching the frame hard against my chest and pretending to hug them.
I sat down on the floor, taking support of the bed.
I couldn't hold it in anymore.
Since morning, I did a very good job in concealing my outburst. I even managed to shade a few tears in solitude and pull myself back.
It's been five years of concealing my emotions, trying to cage them and lock them in the darkest corner of my heart.
Back in orphanage, Niall always did a good job in distracting me. He knows everything, and he knows what to do.
It's different here, I don't have anyone I could lean on when I feel like this.
I am alone.
I have been alone for five years now, but I never felt lonely before, as if there is no one who would understand, no one who would give me the same warmth I once had.
I felt so lonely at that moment.
And then, I broke down all over again.
______________________________________
Violet has her own past, something she is still not over yet.
Sometimes, suppressing emotions makes them stronger and poisonous. If not expressed on time, it could make a person insane.
Thanks for coming to my ted talk.😃
Now tell me what you think about this chapter and give it a vote !
Sincerely,
Meera.