Bitting my nails nervously, I sat on my bench waiting for the moment for the door to open and Rey's family members to walk by. They seemed a little confused over the phone as why is a nurse from the Rehab center praising his recovery so much. So much that she literally made them promise they would come and see him this coming family therapy session.
Well, I am a good actress, Drama was one of the subjects i excelled in high school.
Rey sat there, disinterested. He let out a deep sigh as he turned the pages of his magazine, Pretending to read it. I must say,he was a good actor too. Did he take up drama too? I never asked him what is his qualification. Seems like he was good at studies. I mean his smart like that, I bet he took up something like Medicine or Engineering or something.
Just as he was busy pretending to read and had thought he lost all his chances to reconcile with his family,suddenly I noticed a dark skinned woman, a little overweight, dressed in a purple coat with an off white printed scarf walk into the room. My heart skipped a beat. She looked exactly like how Rey would describe his Foster mother. Immediately I looked at Rey, who was still busy with that god damn magazine.
His mother looked around nervously, her eyes scanning for her son, all I could see was eagerness, as if she would break down as soon as her eye would lay on him. It was one of the most beautiful scenes i had ever seen.
Impatient as i was, to catch her attention I yelled, "Rey,You sitting on the left side today? Strange! "
He turned and looked at me as rest of the people present in the room did. I awkwardly stared at him and then at his mother. Unsure of what I was trying to convey he turned and faced his mother too.
His heart must have skipped a beat, a lot of beats!
-------
Few hours later,
"You've been staring at him for quite some time"
The nurse standing behind mocked me. Bitting my lip i turned and faced her,
"Have you ever seen Rey smile that much?" i asked curiously
The nurse stared at the duo too, she was silent for a few minutes, They were still talking, at one point they would weep, second both would laugh. It was weird but worth watching.
"They say if you stare at some one for so long, you might just fall in love" she mocked again.
"I'm not falling in love with Rey" i concluded with a smile.
She closed a file as she walked away murmuring some thing sarcastic like, "Yeah, I believe you"
I gulped and stared at the empty chair infront of me and then at Rey and his mother talking. Aren't I supposed to feel bad about my family not coming here to visit me? Instead of thinking about what I did to deserve such avoidance, here I was sitting on this lonely desk, feeling nothing but happiness because all I could see was Rey smile.
Will he tell his mom about me? About how good friends we've become? How dependant I am on him and probably he is the only one I care about at the moment?
He will... I mean.. he will tell her about me right?
-------------
Midnight.
The whole day passed by and I did nothing but curse my schedule. Not even a single seesion was the same as Reys. All i did was glance as the passage outside every now and then to see Rey. Sitting in my room I decided as soon as the lights go off I would rush to his room and have a long lengthy discussion about his meeting.
His room was dim and silent as always, he laid on his bed as always. I just stood at the door, wondering if his fast asleep. Doesnt he want to talk to me about what happened? Am I not that important to him? I stared at his plane dull blue blanket. Biting my lips out of disappointment I turned to walk out when a voice spoke out from the blanket.
"Thank You"
I immediately turned. He was still facing his back towards me,
"A nurse called my mom few days ago. How strange is that!"
His voice sounded suspicious. I gulped. He continued talking.
"Mom said the nurse kept talking of how important my family was to me"
He took off his blanket and sat on the bed, still facing his back towards me. I just stood in silence.
"Do you have any idea who that nurse might be?" he turned and stared at me. I opened and closed my mouth a few times attempting to answer but just ended up nodding my head.
He licked his lips and walked towards me. I just stared at his eyes, those pure brown eyes.He just proceeded towards me, slowly, step by step. He walked so close that I could literally feel his breath on my face. My heart was pounding, like as if I was expecting just more than standing close to him.
Why was I feeling like this? I don't understand.
He stood there for few minutes just staring at me. And me? Well i stood there too. Just feeling his closeness. He didnt smell like bitter medicine anymore.
As I wanted him to do, he lifted up his hand and removed a strand of hair away from my forehead.
"Thank you" he whispered.
I smiled.
Breathing heavily infront of him and before me or him could even say another word I abruptly hugged him. There was absolute no reason for me to do that. But I had to. Or in other words I wanted to.I grabbed him as if I was thankful to him, as if it was him who did something for me.
I just stayed there, with my eyes shut. Feeling his chest move as he took deep breaths. The silence in the room wasnt helping either, it let me pay attention to his beating heart.
"What did you study after high school?" I asked curiously, I know it was not the most appropriate question, but I just wanted to know.
There was a silence for few minutes after that.
"Taani...I'm leaving in a week"
I furrowed my eyebrows and suddenly all the calmness in the room just crashed down. Did I just hear it right? He majored in medicine, I think thats what he said.
"Leaving?" I asked confused.
"Yeah. The center thinks I'm fine to go. And now that moms around she said I could come home and we can start over. I think I'm ready to go"
"No your not" I opposed furiously as I left him and stepped away, "I've seen you collapse! I've seen you struggling to breath in the store room"
Rey took a deep breath in, "Taani...I...I'm fine. The tests results are clear. I'm over it..the doctor have seen the reports, they've seen me progress..."
"They didnt see what I saw"
"What is it that you want?" He whispered angrily, "Let me just get out of here"
I stood there all upset. He wanted to leave? Now that he has his mom and he will get his family back, he wanted to leave?
"So, what happened to that support Taani thing? help her get through her misery thing?" I asked sarcastically. "Initially you wouldnt leave me alone for a second and now your all ready to leave?"
Squeezing his lips together he just stared at the ground and nodded, "Taani you're doing amazing, Look at you, in a few months you'll be all flushed out and learn how to ..."
"stop!" I whisper yelled. "just stop" with tears beaming out of my eyes I stared at the wall behind him.Calling his mom felt like a mistake, helping him felt like my worst decision ever. I gulped hard and let a deep breath out,
"It was nice meeting you Rey. Have a nice life"
The last thing I heard that night was he calling my name and my room door smashing as I slammed it.
