An Indian and His Tide (ManxMan)

14: Reunion

AN: I decided not to edit the ending of the previous chapter because I liked the way it ended.

Ranil spent a lot of time staring up at the rehab center from the parking lot. It was around eight at night and he was surprised that visitors were allowed until ten. If he had known that before he would surely would have procrastinated longer.

It wasn't that he was scared of Ajeeta, he was just scared of having a conversation with her. She was already someone who lost their temper easily, and he was sure that being in a withdrawal state didn't make it better. Plus, they were about to talk about things he didn't share with her while they were happening. How much lower could he make her feel? Ranil had treated Josie as more of a sister than Ajeeta.

And all this time he had been telling himself that it wasn't necessarily his fault. He tried to tell himself that he should have made more of an effort to talk to her, but he knew he couldn't do that. So early in her rehabilitation she would have tried to convince him to let her leave and that she was well.

He shook his head and decided to make his way into the building. Every second he spent thinking about things could be spent actually talking about them with her. Ranil pulled the door open and stepped into the surprisingly warm building. There was a receptionist to his left and he spoke with her a moment. She told him where Ajeeta's room was located and allowed Ranil to make the trip down the hall himself.

Apparently most of the visitor's rooms were closed and so they had to meet in Ajeeta's bedroom. The rehab center looked like a mixture of a cheap hotel and a lower class resort center. The carpet was a hideous shade of green and the walls were a stale cream color. When he got to room five, he knocked on the door twice. Ranil heard shuffling and then the door swung open, nearly immediately. It made him realize how much his sister had been anticipating his arrival.

Ranil was genuinely surprised at how Ajeeta looked. Her skin was glowing a warm shade of reddish brown, her hair was glossy and heathy looking, and somehow the bags that her eyes used to nestle so comfortably on were gone. Instead, her eyes were alert, wide and full of happiness at seeing her brother.

Ajeeta immediately jumped on him and hugged him nearly to death and Ranil happily squeezed back.

"Brother!" She cried and then pulled back while still gripping his shoulders tightly. Ajeeta looked at him in wonderment with a smile still pulling her face. She searched Ranil's face before holding it gently in her hand as she still stared at him with glowing eyes.

It was in that moment that Ranil fully realized he hadn't seen his sister several months and they haven't really talked to each other either. When he blinked he felt the tears fall and he bowed into her shoulders as even more tears rolled down his face.

He heard Ajeeta sniffle as she rubbed his back. "I didn't want to cry you asshole!" Ajeeta whined.

Ranil knew that if he tried to say something he would only let out a sob, so instead he chuckled sadly while he let his tears flow freely.

Ajeeta pulled back and looked at him, tear streaks staining her face, "Let's come into the room." She said as she brought her brother into her bedroom.

It looked like a single person bedroom that you would get at a hotel, except there wasn't the ugly, boxy TV from the eighties that old hotel's forced you to use. The carpet was the ever present green, yet this time it had heinous gold brocade splattered everywhere.

"Yes, this is the place I have to lay my head every night." Ajeeta stated humorously with her arms spread to present the room.

Ranil laughed, "I'd have nightmares."