Ankita slowly began climbing the stairs without looking back at Koushik, who was following a step behind. Suddenly, she staggered, falling backward. Koushik reached out to hold her, but she caught the handrail in time and steadied herself. However, catching the handrail so suddenly caused her to sprain her wrist. Koushik rushed to help her when she cried out in pain, but she avoided his hand. His outstretched hand stopped mid-air and fell back to his side with a clenched fist.
Stepping inside her room, Ankita said, pointing at a chair near the study table, "You may sit there."
Koushik sat down obediently. Ankita picked up a water bottle and started drinking. Koushik patiently waited for her to finish. One minute passed, three minutes passed, yet she was still drinking. He let out a deep sigh, understanding that she was trying to stall for time, maybe waiting for him to get impatient and leave. But he resolutely stared at the bottle intensely, following the water-level as it slowly decreased. After some time, Ankita placed the empty bottle down. Koushik breathed out in relief. He did not realise he had been holding his breath until now. Finally getting a chance to speak, he opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Ankita hurried to the bathroom.
'She shouldn't have downed that entire bottle. It seemed to have around one-litre capacity.' He looked at the bathroom door sympathetically.
Click.
Koushik looked up, hearing the door open.
Without wasting any time he started "Sigh... Ankita, please listen. I don't know if I've done anything to offend you for you to avoid me so. I just want to say that I came to check on you, since you looked really unwell the last time. And I'm very relieved to see that you're okay now. Also, I'm speaking the truth when I say I don't know if I offended you anyhow. If any of my actions hurt you please let me know. It's really bothering and... hurting me to see my friend suddenly acting so distant."
Ankita pursed her lips and averted her eyes, hearing the sincerity and woe in his voice. Her nails dug into her palm and her heart felt heavy. He called her his friend. He really thought of her so. As much as it delighted Ankita to be openly acknowledged as his friend, she could not afford to show it.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "Thank you, for your visit."
Then, climbed onto the bed without sparing him a glance.
She knew that if she caught even a glimpse of his pained face, she would not be able to control herself, but she needed to. She had to remain calm. Ankita clenched her teeth and secretly wiped an escaped teardrop.
Koushik fell silent. He could not place his finger on it before, but right then, he became certain that something was wrong with Ankita. He could feel that she was being especially nervous around him, and was trying to hide from him. Initially, he wanted to believe that it was a misconception on his part, but now all his doubts were proving to be certainties.
"So... are you feeling okay now?" He asked, carefully observing her face, trying to get through her.
"Okay? Yes... of course. Why wouldn't I be okay?" Ankita answered slowly.
Her lips curved ever so slightly but the smile did not reach her eyes. Her eyes blankly stared at her phone while her fingers tapped on it aimlessly.
"That's good to hear. Today is Saturday, so you'll get two days to rest before school." He said.
Ankita nodded but her eyes were glued to her phone. However, the screen was the same as it had been minutes ago.
Koushik could not keep it in anymore. He took a deep breath and just blurted out the question that had been bothering him ever since he stepped into the Dey residence. No, rather the day Ankita became sick at school.
"Ankita, are you really okay? What happened that day? There's definitely something you're hiding."
"Koushik, what do you mean? I said that I am fine thrice already. What more do you want to hear? Why do you keep asking the same question? And what nonsense are you spouting? Nothing happened that day." Ankita threw her phone aside and said in an irritated tone.
"Ankita, are you really sure everything's alright with you?" Koushik asked again, in a much more softer and pleading tone.
"Enough is enough Koushik. Why do you keep saying the same thing like a broken record?"
"Because I saw you crying that day! And... it wasn't just pain that reflected on your face but fear! That was the most prominent thing I could see!" Koushik said in one breath but immediately regretted it.
Ankita kept quiet for a moment.
"Did you enjoy watching me like that?" She said coldly.
"No, why would I?" Koushik said exasperated.
"Then why did you mention something knowing it would make me uncomfortable? Are you making fun of me?" Ankita asked in a steely voice.
"No, I'm not!" He shook his head furiously.
"I didn't mean it that way. I just-"
"You what Koushik? You just want to show me how kind you are don't you? Or that how lucky I am to get visited by a celebrity when I'm sick?" Ankita's chest heaved up and down.
"No, Ankita, you're misunderstanding me. I just saw you crying that day and felt you might be feeling really bad. So I came to see if your health improved. There's no other meaning to this." Koushik tried to explain.
"Byas! I don't want to hear a single word from you anymore. Please leave." Ankita raised her hand stopping him.
The sleeve which was covering her arm till her wrist. slid down. Koushik suddenly spotted something suspicious on her wrist. He had not noticed it before as her long sleeves were covering the area but now that he took a closer look at it, that spot seemed to be darker than the rest of her skin.
"Wait, what happened to your arm?"
"Nothing." Ankita quickly pulled her sleeve down.
"How can you say it's nothing? These look like bruises." Koushik stopped her hand before she could fully hide it.
As their regular uniform had short sleeves, Koushik had seen her hands countless times. And even if he had not exactly had a thorough look, he still could not recall ever seeing such marks on her hand that too on both hands and at the same place, the wrists.
"How did you hurt yourself?" he asked with a worried look.
"Koushik release my hand. I already told you it's nothing. I might have bumped somewhere. You know I'm careless. It's nothing serious." Ankita yanked her hand out of his, which accidentally bumped on her knee.
Ankita hissed. Koushik looked down only to see a large bruise. It was more prominent than the ones on her hand but he did not notice them since Ankita's skirt was covering it.
Ankita was not an athlete, so it could not be that she got hurt while playing. Moreover, the bruises on her arm were very peculiar. They roughly resembled the shape of fingers.
Since Ankita was dark-skinned, one would not notice them right away, but they were prominent at closer proximity. Koushik assumed that Ankita's parents were busy taking care of her health, so they did not notice them. And his arrival this morning also prevented them from talking with Ankita about her sudden sickness.