Chapter 25
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Hours later, she came out of the daze and the first thing she noticed was the warmth against her side and felt like she was floating midair. Moments later, a familiar masculine scent hit her and her eyes fluttered open.
She opened her eyes just a small slit only to confirm her suspicion that she was being carried upstairs to her room from the car.
She was awake when he loaded her into the passenger seat.
Embarrassed that she fell asleep in the short drive from the hospital, she decided to stay put in that situation.
It was kind of Ashok to carry her up and down the stairs twice in a matter of a few hours. She was thankful she was sent home with a sling and pain medications. She had sustained a hairline fracture from the fall that would heal in a few weeks.
She pretended to be passed out even as he placed her gently on the bed.
She still had her hospital gown on and her toweling robe draped over, with the sling holding her arm in place.
She lay on her slide and watched him adjust the sheets over her exposed legs and she kept looking at him, for what reason she didn’t know.
A deep disappointment hit her when he left right after.
Why? What did she expect? Sit there and watch her sleep?
She pulled the robe around a bit and was about to fall back asleep when she heard soft footsteps.
It had to be Ashok. She didn’t open her eyes even as she heard him place a water bottle and what seemed like a paper bag with her medications. Her eyes were still shut but she felt his presence.
Ashok was not moving but she was sure he was there and for some strange reason, her heart started to beat fast. She took a deep breath and sighed in the process.
The anticipation that was building made her stomach knot. Like curiosity got the better of her, she slit her eyes open. And in the dim light, she saw a man who was over six feet, resting in an uncomfortable position in a chair to one side.
The stupid chair was tiny even for her and she could not believe he was planning to spend what was left of the night on that chair.
Why? To tend to her? Was he genuinely worried about her, like the nurse had mentioned?
Moments later, she opened her eyes slowly to find him passed out on the chair and somewhere deep in her chest, she felt good about him being there.
It was weird that she wanted that comfort from someone she didn’t know that well but never once pursued that from her own family. It was the last thing she would have wanted Aman to do but it was nice of Ashok to stick around.
Curious about what time it was, she looked at the small digital alarm and she saw it was five minutes to six. The three fives were hard to ignore but she only took a deep breath as she remembered what Chandini said about change and a good one at that.
She let out a soft sigh. A broken bone is the change when I never broke a bone in my life before today.
Soon after, she drifted into a deep restful sleep, all thoughts melting away.