Chapter Seven
“Nimi! Nimi!” he called out, automatically using the nickname he had given her during their tutoring sessions. Roshan reached her just as she landed in the water. Luckily the water was quite shallow. He had started toward her as soon as she cried out in pain, her arms flailing.
“You okay?” he asked as he approached her.
She seemed dazed.
“Did you hit your head?”
“My head is not on my ass,” she quipped.
Roshan bit back a smile. “I saw you fall backward.” He knelt and did a quick neural check. She had hit her head, but showed no signs of head trauma. He sighed in relief.
“Need me to call the paramedics?” Karan asked as he approached, his phone out.
“No,” Nimita said, groggy but coherent. “I’m okay.”
“Okay,” Roshan said, relief relaxing his body. “Can you stand?”
She tried to stand up but scrunched up her face in pain.
“Okay. Hold up. Let me see.” He kneeled in the shallow water. “Which foot? Left?”
She nodded, wincing. “I think my other toe is broken.” She tried to stand up on her own, but pain shot through her left foot, making everything spin. She plopped back down.
Roshan tried to help her up. “Lean on me.”
“I can do it,” she insisted.
“I know,” he told her. “Just can’t have you falling again, or I have to call the paramedics.”
This seemed to placate her, and she allowed him to put an arm around her waist so she could lean on him to stand. She hissed as she got to her feet and put down her left foot.
“It’s okay. I got you.” Roshan kept up his calm doctor voice, even though the fact that she was in pain made him anxious. “We’ll take it slow. The beach is just a few steps away.”
“Yeah. Okay.” She nodded and leaned into him, moving slowly toward the white sand.
Karan laid down a few towels so she could sit comfortably, and Vishal hurried off to retrieve Roshan’s backpack from the car. They knew he traveled with a makeshift doctor’s kit wherever he went.
Roshan sat her down gently. “Can I take a look?”
She nodded.
He gently lifted her foot and tried small movements in all directions. She hissed in pain when he moved her ankle and her big toe.
“Your left ankle is sprained for sure. And your big toe, too. Though there is a small possibility that your toe has a small fracture in it.”
She met his gaze, a look of panic in her face. “I’m not getting an X-ray.”
Roshan nodded his understanding. She had no job, so she was worried about health insurance. “Not necessary right now. An X-ray will not change the treatment.”
“Which is what?”
“Rest. Ice. Compression. Elevation and pain relief.”
She stared at him, disbelief in her eyes. “Are you serious?”
He nodded as he opened his bag and pulled out an ACE bandage and wrapped her foot, including the toes.
He actually wished he had some turmeric to make the haldi paste his mom had used in these situations.
He made himself stay in doctor mode and not think about the fact that he was touching her.
That she was allowing it. Though why that should thrill him was a whole other situation.
“I think tape will hurt too much, if it really is broken.” He put everything away and then offered his arm to help her up.
“I can walk myself,” she insisted, pulling away from him.
Damn but she was stubborn. He sighed his irritation but stepped away from her. She stood and teetered, clearly unable to put much weight on her sprained ankle. Roshan’s arm flew out, catching her.
“Fine,” she capitulated, her arms out for balance. “Just to the car.”
“Of course.” He tried to hide his grin as he once again wrapped an arm around her waist and she leaned into him.
“No need to enjoy my pain so much,” she mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear.
It wasn’t her pain that he was enjoying.
She smelled of flowers, and he was transported to his parents’ kitchen island while she helped him balance chemical equations.
Her proximity was new, but her murmured voice felt intimate in a way that he enjoyed.
“I’ve only known the grown-up version of you for a few days, but I already know that you like to do things on your own—sprained ankle or not.
Not too different than the high school version of you.
” He chuckled. “It’s nice to see you let someone help you. ” Also, her pain was killing him.
“I have no choice,” she grumbled.
Karan disappeared for a bit, while Roshan and Vishal helped Nimita back up to the car. Karan was waiting with a pouch of ice. They walked her toward the passenger seat.
“Hey!” Her protest was expected.
Roshan turned to her. “You can’t possibly think you’re driving.”
“I can drive!” she insisted, even as she winced.
“You have a sprained ankle and a possible broken toe.” He spoke slowly to be sure she understood.
“In my left foot.” She mimicked his slow speech.
Roshan shook his head and spoke calmly, invoking his doctor voice once again. “That foot needs rest, elevation and ice. Plus, I’m not excited about you driving these roads while clearly in pain.”
She stared at him and groaned. “Fine. There’s no need to get huffy.”
This woman was going to be the death of him. He stared at her, wondering what was behind the need for such control. “Vishal. There’s ibuprofen in that bag.”
Vishal chuckled behind him. “Let’s get her in the car,” he said amiably.
They settled her into the front seat—she refused the back. They elevated her left foot on the dash. Roshan secured the ice pack over her ankle and toe with another ACE bandage. Karan handed her ibuprofen and water, while Roshan settled himself in the driver seat.
“All set?” he asked.
“I suppose,” she grumbled.
He pulled out of the parking spot.
“Look out. People walking,” she said.
“I can see them.” He spoke through gritted teeth, all memory of her body against his washed away. He pulled out to the junction and gave his signal.
“Let’s stop at Kaihalulu Beach on the way home,” Nimita said.
“You really need to rest,” he stated.
“I’ll be fine.” She waved a hand. “You guys shouldn’t miss this because of me. I’m tougher than you give me credit for.”
Roshan studied her for a minute. She would feel awful if they missed out on something because she was injured. It was against his medical instinct. She really should rest that ankle. Though she was a grown woman and that was her call. He shrugged. “Tell me which way to go.”
“Great.” A small smile of relief lit up her face. It was a beautiful thing. “Just be careful. Cars come speeding around the corner.”
“I have driven a car before,” he snarked. “On a road, even.” She’s injured, he told himself. Be patient.
He made it two miles before she said, “Watch the curve.”
“I can see it.”
“Don’t get so close to the line,” Nimita said.
He moved the car away from the center line.
“Too close to the side,” she said.
“Nimi! Are you kidding me?” he snapped at her. “I can drive a car.”
“Can you, Dave? Because you’re all over the road,” she snapped back.
“Am not!” Great, now he’d stooped to being a ten-year-old. Nimita definitely brought out the worst in him.
“Just let me drive,” she tossed at him.
Was she for real? “Your toe is broken!” Maybe. But still.
She rolled her eyes, her annoyance a palpable thing in the air.
Whatever.
The next ten minutes were quiet in the car, as Roshan drove and Nimita did not speak. It was glorious. They reached Kaihalulu Beach in good time.
“Take that road, right there.” Nimita pointed ahead, her voice gentle for the first time. Gone was her irritation; she seemed to simply want to go somewhere.
They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Kaihalulu Beach came into view.
“Whoa.”
“This is…”
“Amazing,” Roshan concluded with a smile at Nimita. “Totally worth it,” he admitted. Even worth Nimita’s passenger side driving.
Nimita beamed. “This is a red sand beach. Thought you might like to see it on the way home.”
They found parking near the beach. And while Roshan helped Nimita hobble along, Vishal and Karan sped ahead. By the time Roshan and Nimita arrived, they had set up a makeshift camp for her, complete with umbrella and her backpack. Roshan hadn’t needed to say a word. The guys just knew.
Nimita grinned at them, clearly impressed.
Roshan swore his heart skipped a beat seeing that she was pleased, even if she seemed abashed by the attention at the same time.
“Thanks so much. Leave me here with my ice and my book. You all go in the water. We have about thirty minutes before we should head home.”
Vishal and Karan did not need to be asked twice. But of course they stopped at a truck to get a snack first. They then stripped off their T-shirts and ran to the water like children. Roshan held back.
“I’m a big girl, Dave. This is your vacation. Don’t babysit me,” Nimita said firmly, but this time, she did not snap at him.
He nodded at her, already learning when she meant something earnestly. He took off his shirt and joined his friends in the water.
* * *
Nimita watched Roshan join his friends and relaxed.
She didn’t think she would have been able to bear him sitting out the fun to watch over her because she couldn’t be trusted to walk in water.
She had wanted to melt into the sand when she had opened her eyes and found him staring down at her with real concern and possibly even fear in his eyes.
It took her a few minutes to piece it all together, and when she did, she wished she hadn’t. How completely mortifying to have slipped and fallen in the water. Not to mention, now her ankle was sprained, and she had possibly broken her toe. Honestly, what else could happen?
Nix that question, she didn’t want to know. It was bad enough that her ankle and toe throbbed, despite the ice and ibuprofen.