A Heart That Bleeds

Chapter Eleven

Inline comments please

Kindest souls are the purest souls!

"Manik are you okay?" Nandini asked worriedly seeing his injured leg. He had given no explanation for how he was injured and that very thing was gnawing her head.

"I'm perfect!" He lied as he walked past her.

Nandini then heard a thud around the corner and found Manik lying on the floor.

"Manik!" She yelled and squatted down to examine his state.

His skin was as hot as a burning coal. Hot tears brimmed up in her eyes as she checked his body temperature anxiously. With no help around, she brought a pillow and placed it under his head. It was impossible for her small frame to pick up Manik and bring him to the bed. So she did what she could at the moment. Dipping a piece of cloth in cold water, she placed it on Manik's forehead. That's what she had been doing that whole night until the morning when he opened his eyes and smiled at her affection and graciousness.

The sweet memories brought tears in her doe like eyes. Brushing them off, Nandini rushed to the spot where Manik fell down from the bed.

"Manik! Manik! Are you okay?" She enquired as she tried to move him.

Manik laid motionless on the floor, his eyeballs moved under his eyelids and he murmured something inaudible to Nandini's ears. Quickly, she got up and moved out of the room for help. Riya's parents came up running as soon as they heard Nandini. Together they helped Manik to get up and put him on the bed.

"Nandu he is burning! Come to the kitchen I'll give you some ice water." Nandini nodded and looked up at Riya whose face displayed a lot of questions.

"Nandini how did you both patch up?" She asked in hushed whispers.

"I'll answer your questions some other day!" Nandini replied politely and then vanished into the kitchen. Shrugging off, Riya left for her room.

With the bowl in her one hand and a cloth in the other, Nandini climbed up the stairs carefully when her phone went off. Keeping aside the things she picked up the call. It was Shrey.

"Sorry to call you at this hour. But I felt something wasn't good. Is everything all right there?" He enquired.

"Umm yeah everything is good. It's just that our boss had fallen sick."

"Oh! Take care of your boyfriend then!"

"Shrey he's---"

Nandini's words remained unsaid when she heard a beeping tone from the other end indicating Shrey had hung up. Shrey owed a lot of explanation from Nandini. She thought to explain it to him the other day. Sighing, she went inside Manik's room and placed the bowl and the cloth on the bedside table. Manik was still lying in a half conscious state with his lips moving slightly while his eyes remained closed. Nandini sat before him picking up the cloth but a painful memory made her drop that and she walked away from his bed.

Nandini didn't leave but stood by the window watching the clouds hiding the moon behind them. It seemed the moon and the clouds were playing hide and seek at this late hour. Her feelings too appeared and disappeared like the beautiful moon behind the clouds. She seemed flustered. She felt a knot in her stomach, an uneasy feeling that showcased her anxiety. Her inner self was in a conflict. On one level, she wanted to help him out but on the other level the past memories made her heart cry thereby turning it into a rock. She fidgeted with her fingers, bit her bottom lip and finally arrived at a decision.

She couldn't be cruel and obnoxious like her sadist tormentor because she had a heart, a heart that was the kindest of all. Yes for a moment her heart had frozen bereft of any kind of feeling. But the tenderness of her soul melted her frozen heart with its warmth.