Her shots were all DPs and Monty took extra care to have the camera on her body and not her face. Chris and Matt her usual partners were thankfully the DP pair. But however careful they were, DPs always hurt more. Pari took some pills to dull her senses.
Monty took every opportunity to mock her well-rounded body with the lithe frames of the new girls. Chris and Yovinne, gave her company, when they were free. But thankfully there was very little chatter time and small talk was just not happening with the tight schedule. Monty's attention was occupied with managing the time slots, interspersed with his solo trip to any vacant room with one of the new girls.
They had been back on a Sunday and from Monday a gruelling indoor schedule started. Monty told her to do one of the BDSM shots with a new face. Pari refused. Monty threatened with less money. They were working round the clock in divided groups. Monty and Robin were just taking four hours off. It showed in their puffed red eyes, and impatient, at times rude behaviour.
Wednesday, when they finally ended, it was past midnight. They would do the reshoots, after the films came back from the editing table. It was quiet late, when Pari dragged herself up the stairs. The lift was caught two floors above. The last she remembered was the whiff of the dead Gerberas, as she opened the door; they had not had a change of water for a week.
It was pitch dark in the room. As her eyes slowly opened to the darkness and her mind lost some of its disorientation, she found herself lying on the floor. She tried to get up but all her joints seemed to have rusted. She had her jacket on and her whole body felt flushed. She supported her weight on the table and pulled herself up. She desperately wanted to ease off her burning body and somehow managed to run a bath. She started shivering in five minutes, and caught the sides of the tub to get out. Wrapping herself in the bath robe hanging behind the door, she hobbled towards the bed room and took out two crocin tablets from the drawer. The pain needed to go.
The January sun did not have the strength to make it through the heavy drapes and so when Pari groaned and turned on her back, rummaging for her mobile, the room was still dark. Not finding it, she lay there exhausted from the effort, looking up at the ceiling. God! she had been really tired last night and maybe had a slight fever. But she felt better now. She would get up, in some more time, she thought through her foggy senses.
When finally she got her phone from her bag, she saw that it was past 11. For a second she panicked, but then remembered that they had completed the shoot last night and unless needed for a re shoot, she can just forget everything.
It was finally over.
She did not want to be ungrateful, it had served its purpose. But now she can thankfully leave everything behind and look ahead. Life with Roger. Seemed like a dream. No not a dream. It was unreal.
There was nothing in the fridge. She felt hungry and made some soup noodle from a ready to use packet. Her joints still ached, so she took some more of the pills and called Roger.
London, January 2020
It was almost a week, but Pari's fever was not abating. She had a cough, a dry bothersome thing. She had called her GP and he had advised her to watch for a few more days. So today when she had called to report, the clinic had scheduled an appointment.
Ammi had called yesterday. Roger was coming home. Shona and Kajol were excited. Ammi and abbu were very appreciative of Roger coming to meet them, 'to ask for Pari's hand in marriage,' ammi tried to imitate Roger's bangla accent. He had said that he wanted to meet the three of them before Khalu and the rest of the extended family came to Ardapunia for the marriage.
Ammi told her that Khalu was doing the shopping in Dhaka. "Make a list and get the things that you need," ammi reminded her. Pari assured her that she would get it done.
Pari had wanted to call Ashok and Seema. She had called Seema, a few times, before. They had spoken about the children. Seema had always asked her to come home. But she knew Ashok da would not like it. But suddenly she had wanted to share her happiness with them. She had no one else and her heart was bursting with love.
She waited at the reception for some time before the nurse called her in. She took Pari's temperature and checked her vitals. When Dr. Morton saw her, Pari could feel her fever was rising again. She answered his questions and he asked her to get a few tests done at the pathology. Once done with the samples, Pari called a cab.
Next day the clinic called. "Am I speaking to Ms. Parveen Haque? This is a call from Dr. Morton's office," the voice was clipped. "Yes, Parveen speaking." "Ms. Haque can you please come over to the clinic today evening. And please pack yourself a little overnight case. You may have to get admitted for a day or two," the line disconnected.
"Pari, there is no cause for alarm," Dr. Morton was saying, as he checked her reports. "You need to be under observation. There is a new viral disease that's going on and its contagious. So getting admitted is the best thing. Do you have any family here?" "No," Pari answered, her voice stifled with fear. She had never been in a hospital, let alone getting admitted into one and being told that she had some contagious disease.
"No, no there is no need to come. It's flu but a stronger one. Don't worry and please don't tell ammi and abbu," Pari said, when she called Roger in the evening. She was feeling much better, with warm soup, medicines and the reassuring presence of the hospital staff. Dr. Morton's clinic had arranged for her transfer to the hospital.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
"You sound very tired," Roger said.
"Yes, a bit, but getting back there," she replied cheerily.
Roger told her how he was getting pampered, and seemed quite out of depth, right on the first day. Pari listened and laughed. "Chin up, this is how the son-in-law is shown love," Pari was laughing, visualising Roger drowning in love. Her cough started, as she spoke. This was the most painful part. It came in bouts and felt like it will choke her. They did not speak for long and Roger said that he would call in the morning.
Her fever was quiet high. She had not slept properly at night. She did not feel hungry but when the day nurse said that she needed to eat a bit so that they can give her the antibiotics, she took a few spoons of the toast and egg. There was no salt in the egg and she asked for some. When Roger called, she did not have the same courage, as last night, to tell him not to come. She lay down exhausted once the call was over, feeling a little relieved that he was on his way back.
She had dozed off and woke up with a feeling of tightness in the chest. A tightness that comes from a fitting blouse. A breathless, uneasy feeling. She had the strong urge to tear open the loose hospital gown.
They put a mask on her face and it was very disconcerting at first. But it helped to take the load of her chest. She took strong gulps of air, like a person who has not breathed for a while. She felt terrified. They said that the mask would stay for a while.
She woke up gasping for breath. The room hummed with machine sounds and lights blinked on monitors. There was a faint music coming from the nurse's station. She searched wildly for the call button. She could not find it. The mask, she had to tear off the mask and shout for help. There was no air to breathe. She felt as if someone was choking her, squashing her chest with a fist. "Help, someone, please help," she shouted with all her strength.