Tarnished

7. Attempts

It was late afternoon when Avni stirred in her sleep. She opened her eyes and found herself alone in the room.
It was the same room that she had stayed the previous day.

She recalled the help extended by the man who had supposedly married her. She slowly got up and pushed the duvet away. Not knowing what to do, she looked at the door of attached bathroom and thought that a nice shower would be a real refresher. She stepped down the bed and folded the duvet neatly. She then walked to the changing room, where her small suitcase was kept. She pulled out a fresh pair of her clothing and walked to the bathroom.
The contemporary bathroom caught her attention and she looked at everything with great interest.
Keeping her clothes on a rack, she rummaged through the cabinets, but did not find what she wanted. She was disappointed for a moment. She then licked her lips and decided on something.

She walked out of the bedroom and looked around. She was not very familiar with the house and lingered there for another moment. Looking around, she slowly stepped down the stairs and walked around in search of something.

"You want anything, Ma'am?" A voice came from behind and she was startled.

Looking behind with blinking eyes, Avni nodded after a moment.

"I need cleaning tools and soaps, detergents."

The maid appeared taken aback. She was contemplating on whether to give the cleaning tools or to ask what the need was.

"Avni?" Came a manly voice and both the women looked back at Mehul.

"What are you doing here?" Mehul asked coming closer.
He looked at the maid when Avni did not reply. Not that he expected her to reply.

"She was looking for cleaning tools." The maid replied.

Mehul raised an eyebrow for a moment and nodded. He then gently held Avni's wrist and asked her to follow him.
He guided her to the bedroom. Though he knew she was extremely weak, he wanted to know how far she could exert herself.

When he came in the bedroom, he looked at her and asked, "why do you need cleaning tools? What do you want to clean?"

"The bathroom." She replied without a beat.

"Is that unclean?" Mehul asked surprised.

Avni chewed on her chapped bottom lip. Mehul knew, she would say no more.

Mehul waited for another moment for her to reply. He then raised his hand and lightly stroked her unshaped eyebrow. Avni looked at him with rapidly blinking eyes and parted lips.
"How about you take a nice warm shower and then we can eat together?  It's already past my lunch time."

Avni looked at him as if she could not believe what she was hearing.

"You want me to help you with a bath?" Mehul asked her when she chose to keep quiet.

Avni blinked and looked down. Mehul could not understand why she replies very rarely and chooses to keep silent most of the time. He sighed and and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her to the bathroom. She did not protest and walked with him silently. He made her stand at a distance and pulled down a knob and water flowed down.

"Take a shower and come out. I will wait for you." Mehul said and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He sat down on the bed and waited patiently for her to come out.
It was after a moment, that Avni came out, without a wash and Mehul looked at her surprised.

"I need the cleaning tools." She finally gathered some courage to talk.

Mehul was not surprised.
"What's wrong with the bathroom? What is there to clean? It was cleaned in the morning."

Avni again chose to keep quiet, but she was twisting her fingers.

"What do you want to clean it?" Mehul asked again.

"Because you give me food." She whispered.

Mehul took a moment to grasp the meaning behind it. Was she trying to work in exchange of food?

He did not know if what he was thinking was true.

"You don't have to bother about anything. Go and get a shower. We will talk about everything later." He tried to ease her situation.
But that did not seem to convince Avni. She stood rooted to her spot, without another word.

Mehul had his heart twisted at her condition. She was not only tortured, but probably deprived of food too.
He could stop himself no more, and next moment he pulled her in his arms. She was startled, but that did not stop him from holding her head close to his heart and hiding her in his safe comforting embrace. He did not know if he was trying to take away her pain, or trying to get rid of that uneasiness budding in his heart.

He finally held her face in the hollow of his palms and kissed her forehead. She was taken aback by his gesture. It was a foreign feeling for her and her heart was thumping loudly. She had no courage to refuse him, when she was lovingly ordered to take a shower.

Mehul looked at her figure as she walked away with slumped shoulders towards the bathroom.
Mehul had requested for the food trolley to be delivered to the room. By the time she had showered and changed into fresh pair, Mehul had the plates of food ready to be devoured.
She was not given a chance to protest, when Mehul had made her sit on the bed and fed her small morsels. He did not want to waste any time in encouraging her to eat. He decided to take the reigns in his hands. He fed her a small portion that was not too less or too heavy for her... Just enough to be nutritious.

Mehul too, ate with her, so that she doesn't feel left out.

He called up the kitchen and asked to clear the food trolley.
He got up from the bed and opened a paper packet. Taking out a few tablets, he opened Avni's palm and and placed a glass of water in her other hand. Avni gulped down the tablets and looked at Mehul, who was busy looking at a tube of cream and contemplating on something.

He looked at her and smiled lightly.
"Turn around." He gently ordered.

She looked at him with blank gaze.
Mehul took a step forward and sat behind her on the empty space.
She was startled when he placed a hand on her shoulder from behind. He slowly pulled down the zip of her dress and she turned around to look at him. He was focused on his task. He pulled the zipper completely down. This time, Avni was prepared for him to see her tattered condition. But she gasped lowly, when a soothing cold touch was felt on her scars.

Mehul was applying an ointment on her scars, to heal them completely. It was recommended by the doctors and he was assured that the scars will be slowly fade away.

He had to blink rapidly to push back the unshed tears. But a notorious drop managed to slip away. He did not want to imagine the pain that those wounds might have caused her. He found her looking back at him when he was still doing his work, with eyes full to their brim.

He looked away and applied the medicine to all the scars. He then zipped her dress back, and pulled her in his embrace and lied down.

Avni found a weird peace in his beating heart. The even and steady beats played a soothing rhythm that pulled her to a deep slumber.

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

Another chapter up.

Vote....
Comment....

Love......