Gautham kept running his hands through her soft locks while Sindhu kept her head buried over his chest. She could hear the calm steady thumping of his heart. It calmed her down considerably. She did not feel scared anymore.
"Hey baby... You can tell me anything you know that right??" Gautham asked softly at last breaking the silence between them. He caressed the back of her head gently and gave her a soft kiss on her crown.
Sindhu did not say anything. She just stayed quiet. She could hear his throat rumbling against his chests when he talked.
"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't feel like it. But I just wanted you to know that if you ever wanted to talk, I am here for you." Gautham clarified further. But even now Sindhu just stayed silent. She did not say a word. Silence ensued in the room.
After a very long time Sindhu opened her mouth and started talking, "Even I don't know what happened exactly. That's what scared me I guess. I was perfectly alright when I was driving to a client's place. I was driving and suddenly there were a bunch of guys driving at high speed. They were just shouting hooting and having fun I guess. One of them slightly slipped and drove a little too close to the barrier."
She took a pause before continuing. "I don't know what happened. I just suddenly had a flash of images... it was almost like a dream. I don't even know how to explain it right. And right after that I had this splitting pain on my head and images just kept bombarding on my head. It was me in there but still everything else in there was so unfamiliar... there was a knife in my hand and blood everywhere... I don't know my head was hurting and everything in my head was so... I don't know why... I just panicked and started hyperventilating."
"It was almost like the ones I used to have when I had withdrawal symptoms. That just made everything so much worse. At last I thought I was okay and I can stay sober but then that just happened... it was like a bucket of cold water... as if life was mocking at me saying I cannot walk away from my mistakes." Sindhu's voice had the panic. And Gautham could feel her getting agitated.
So he put his hands behind her back and patted them in a comforting manner hugging her closer and said interrupting her rambling, "Hey hey... shh... shh... Sindhu, it's alright. Nothing is wrong okay. Nothing is wrong with you. You are not having withdrawals. Trust me okay."
Gautham could easily guess what was happening. She probably remembered her accident. He decided to take her to doctors tomorrow just to be safe even though John said there shouldn't be any repercussions if she remembers them naturally.
"How do you know that??" Sindhu asked confused. Then a thought struck her, "You know something don't you??? That's why you're so calm aren't you??" Sindhu enquired.
Gautham let out a sign and replied, "Yes I do know something. I will tell you. But only if you promise to be calm okay."
Sindhu nodded her head and looked at Gautham expectantly.
Gautham took a deep breath and started to explain what John told him. He explained how she got cornered by the goons and how she activated the alarm. And how she got stabbed but still escaped on a bike. And lastly how she got revived and how doctors told them not to tell her anything until she remembers them naturally.
Sindhu stayed quiet all the way through and let Gautham talk.
"John told me when I was complaining about your nightmares." Gautham finally said and stayed silent to assess Sindhu's reaction. But she had none. She was neither upset nor afraid or angry. She was acting as if he was telling her a story or something. But that was exactly how she felt at the moment. The whole thing felt like a story straight out of one of the books she read. It is not that she could not believe them. The way she was in Bangalore, if someone told her she had murdered someone in cold blood also she will end up believing them. But that was not the problem. The problem was she was not able to remember fully, so the emotions attached to the incident were lost for her.
The flashes of images she had seemed to match with what Gautham was telling her. But even then everything felt foreign to her like she was hearing a story from a long lost friend.
"hey..." Gautham called out.
"I am okay Gautham. Don't worry." She said softly. But then she entangled herself from him and shifted and laid down on the other side of the bed facing away from him.
Gautham caressed her head, leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"I am just going to get some sleep Gautham." Sindhu replied softly and closed her eyes exhausted. She really was just going to sleep on it. She was not holding back or suppressing anything. She has no clue what she felt about any of the things. She was not naive enough accuse anyone of lying to her nor was she a moron to throw a fit about broken trust. She understood why John and Gautham had to keep things from her. A part of her was even grateful for them. If she had known all these back then, she seriously doubted she would have been able to cope. She had been an absolute moron back then and a part of her thought she... she might not have deserved it but she most definitely had it coming her way for being so stupid in spite of having fully functioning brain.
"Okay, get some sleep. I will be right outside okay if you need anything." Gautham said and gave her a kiss on top of head and walked out of the room.
Suddenly Gautham remembered Aarav's warning. Guess the warning actually did come true after all. He did not like the thought of Sindhu pulling away from everyone especially him. It hurt him to think that she wants to deal with it on her own. But he did not want to pry and make things harder for her. So he decided to give her some space if she needed.
He slowly closed the door behind him and went out to do some of his office work. He did not want to leave Sindhu alone at home at this time. But he had work he had to finish. So he asked one of his colleagues to drop off the files at his home. So he took them out and started working on it.