Before We Leave

Chapter Eleven

“I read the book” I said and handed the book to her.

“Keep it, it’s a gift from my side” she said and refused to take the book.

I didn’t insisted anymore. Something was off about Devi that day. A week has passed from the surgery of Mrs.Bakshi; when we visited her today she seemed lost in her own world. Around Mrs.Bakshi she is always so excited and happy but today was different.

Usually we hang out on our room, but today she insisted that we stay on her room. We ate our lunch together at her room and I was going through another of her novel. She didn’t even wanted my yoghurt that day, she half ate her lunch and kept on scribbling on her notebook, occasionally looking up and staring blankly.

“You should write a book” I suggested.

“I am a reader, writing is not my thing” she said, her voice cold.

She returned to her scribbling and I had no more topics to talk about, so I focused on the book.

“You should write a book” suddenly she said.

“The best I can do is write shitty poems” I replied without looking up.

“No but think it would be a good thing, you can be a writer and someday I will come to your launch party and you will not recognize me at first, then I would tell about these memories and then you will remember” she said and gave one of her awkward creepy smiles.

I chuckled and said, “What will I write about?”

I was sitting on my wheelchair, right opposite to her bed. I pushed myself near the bed, and kept the book on the bed.

“You can write about me” she said, flashing another creepy smile.

“No” I replied, sarcastically hoping she would protest back but she just ignored it.

“What is up with you today?’ I asked.

“Nothing” she said, still writing something on her notebook, probably one of her letters.

I knew something was wrong, but I also knew she would not tell me until and unless she wanted to, so I didn’t force anymore. But it also pained me to look her like that; I had to make her mood happy again.

“Lets watch the fireflies tonight” I suggested, well knowingly that the fireflies was the only thing that can make her happy now.

She nodded but before she could answer the door lock of her room disengaged, we both turned to see mom pooping her head inside and smiling.

“My work finished early today, so I came early” she explained as she entered the room.

I nodded my head and tried to push my wheelchair to leave. Mom came to help but I refused to. I had recovered a lot, my exercise regime was going well and if all goes well I would be getting crutches from wheelchair in a few days.

“You coming?” Mom asked Devi, “I brought ice-cream”

A smile appeared on Devi’s face, a happy smile. She jumped from her bed and we all went to my room. Mom changed the old clothes with fresh ones and then we ate our ice-cream cones.

Mom stayed about an hour and Devi went to her room just after that, saying she needed some rest. I asked her whether we are hanging out in the evening and she informed that she had a checkup.

I wanted to ask her if she wanted to see the fireflies but before I could she closed the door of my room. She was distracted by something and I wanted to know why she was feeling that and I wanted to make her happy, but I couldn’t so I decided to take some rest.

Devi didn’t come in the evening as she said. I decided to read a book but after two lines or so, I got distracted by Devi’s thought. So then I decided to sleep it off which worked because I had taken some medicines in the evening which made me sleepy
.
I woke up to eat dinner, which I half ate and half forced myself to eat because the nurse would nag me if I didn’t. I waited for Devi to come after dinner to watch the fireflies, I even asked the nurse to close the window because I wanted her to open it and enjoy but an hour passed and she didn’t made an appearance.

I decided I will go check myself if she wanted to come. So I carefully sat on the wheelchair and made my way to her room. But I was stopped midway, Devi’s door was closed, her lights were probably off too. I knocked on the door a few times, but no answer came.

I returned to my room, worried and sad. My mind going into overdrive with a barrage of questions.

“What happened to her? Is she okay? Is she sick? Have I done something? Is she ignoring me?”

But unfortunately I had no answer. The window remained close that night, I slept with a mind full of questions and I didn’t even knew if Devi was okay.

I was woken up the next day by Souza. Since the first day of physio, Devi was the one who woke me up but there was no sign of Devi in my room.

Souza understood my concern and said, “She is her room, I called her when I noticed she wasn’t here. She said she didn’t want to come”

My heart wrenched in the inside.

“Is she okay?” I asked.

“I had the same concern, so I called in her doctor. The doctor told me she was fine” Souza replied.

I stared blankly at the wall in front of me.

“She might be tired with all the jumping around and her continuous blabbering” Souza tried to put me at ease but failed because in my mind I was already thinking the worst things revolving it.

I was distracted all throughout the physio session; Souza understood that so he gave me an early leave. I came back to my room and put on some fresh clothes, which I could do by myself because of my well going physio regime. I had a destination in mind, Devi’s room and I need to change her mood from sad to happy, anyhow.

So I took a piece of paper from my notebook and wrote the first thing that came to mind.

‘The only way out of the abyss is to follow the light’

I folded the paper neatly and pushed my wheel chair to her door. It was locked, I knocked and said, “Its me”

There was no reply, I knocked again and finally her voice came.

“Go away Sourya, go away. Please leave me alone”