The next day was off. So, I decided to cook, even though I was an awful cook.

“How did you get the idea of cooking? It is so completely out of the blue”, Shruti groaned. She knew how terrible a cook I was.

“I know. I just feel like cooking today. I want to do something productive while I am free. Come on Shruti. Be a good girl and encourage your friend”, I teased her.

“Fine. Do whatever you want”, replied Shruti, quite irritated.

“I always do that”, I said with a playful wink.

“Huh! You keep cooking. I’ll be back in a minute.” With that, she opened the door and was exiting when...

“Hey Daniel! Good morning!” Daniel, I thought. I didn’t know why, but I had got very excited about him being in my hostel room. I ran to the main entrance, with the potato masher in my hand (I was planning to make aloo ke paranthe – an authentic Indian dish, in which chapattis are stuffed with cooked potato predominantly, and some other vegetables.)

“Hi! Good to see you after so long!” I exclaimed.

“Hey! Good to see you too!” he replied. Okay, too much of formality, I thought.

“Come in”, I said.

“Yeah yeah. Go in”, Shruti teased. I gave her a glare and she went out giggling.

“Grab a seat. I am actually trying to make aloo ke paranthe. Do you know what it is?” I enquired.

“Yes, of course. Ma used to make it every weekend. It was our patent weekend breakfast. It’s my favourite type of Indian paranthe”, he replied while sitting on one of the stools near the kitchen counter. I looked at him briefly. He was seemingly engrossed in his own thoughts. Definitely reminiscing about his moments spent together with his family, I thought. He suddenly jerked his head up, and I instantaneously looked down at my mashed potatoes.

“So, is this the first time you are making aloo ke paranthe?” he asked.

“Yes”, I replied without looking at him.

There was an uncomfortable silence between us the whole while I prepared the dough and made small balls of it. This was until I burned my forefinger.

“Ouch!” I squealed. I had put the flattened dough on the pan and was using my fingers to bake it, since I couldn’t find the spatula.

“What happened? Are you fine?” Dan came running towards me, switched off the burner, and took my hand. He seemed really worried. Even though I was hurting, my pain could be seen on Dan’s face, especially his eyes. I had forgotten how expressive his eyes were.

“Dan, I’m fine. Don’t worry yourself so much. Open that drawer and take out a small bowl from there. Open the cabinet below that drawer. You’ll see a red bin there. Take out some flour out of it using the bowl, and bring it here”, I instructed.

“What will you do with the flour? Shouldn’t we put some ice on your finger?”

“No. If I dip my finger in the flour for a few minutes, the burning sensation will vanish and plus, there’ll be no blisters. Mummy always burns her fingers while working in the kitchen. So, she saw this trick on the Internet a few years back.”

“Well, I have got to meet your mother. I’ll definitely learn a lot from her”, said Dan, amused.

“My parents already know you. Meeting them won’t be a problem.”

“They know me? How?”

“I have told them. They know all my friends, school AND college.”

“Oh.”

Just then his phone rang. It was Charles. Dan picked up the phone and I saw his face going from perplexed to tense.

“What?! I’m coming. Stay there.”

“What happened? What did Charles say?” I asked. I was worried because I had grown close to Charles and Mary when I stayed with them for that one week.

“Mary was going to her school when a bus hit her. She is very serious.” He said the last sentence while giving me the look of a small child who is afraid of darkness engulfing him once again. I could sense fear emanating from his body. He had already lost his mother. He couldn’t afford to lose his sister too.

“Dan, everything will be alright. We should go to the hospital”, I said, trying to calm him down.

“What about your finger? Does it still burn?”

“Your sister has met with an accident! Forget about my finger, you fool!” I admonished him. I quickly washed my finger, picked up my mobile, clutched his hand and pulled him out. I’ll call up Shruti when we reach the hospital. I hope she’ll understand, I thought while on our way to the hospital. We reached there in twenty five minutes.

“May I know where Mary Smith is?” Dan enquired.

“She is in the ICU right now. It’s on the fourth floor, third room on the left.”

“Okay, thank you.”

When we came to the second floor, we saw Charles talking to a doctor. He seemed quite relieved.

“Charles! What did the doctor say?” Dan interrogated.

“She is stable now. She has a few fractured bones in her limbs, but those will heal easily. The problem is, she has some injuries in her spinal cord. The accident caused a traumatic blow to the spine which has crushed and dislocated some of her vertebrae. If we don’t take proper precautions, then there can be inflammation, swelling and bleeding around the spinal cord. It’s a miracle that the accident did not damage any of the nerve fibres that pass through her injured area. If she hadn’t been brought her soon, the consequences could have been lethal. We’ll have to take a lot of care of her as well as her spinal cord”, Charles replied. There was silence for a few minutes. I broke it by saying, “I’ll call up Shruti. She might be worried.”

When I came back, Dan and Charles were nowhere to be seen. Just then I saw Charles coming out of room 204.

“Charles, where is Dan? And what were you doing in that room?” I asked.

“Well, actually Daniel is in there. You can go meet him.” What happened to him, I thought, tensed. I burst into the room and saw Dan on the stretcher.

“Dan! What happened to you? Are you alright?” I was terrified at the sight of him being on that stretcher.

“Don’t worry. I had fainted. The doctor said it’s because I was worrying too much. Stress is a dangerous thing, you see”, Dan replied with a chuckle.

“Stop laughing!” I said angrily. “Are you sure you’re fine?” I don’t know, but I was really worried about him. I love all my friends and I am very protective towards all of them. But in his case, there was a part of me that kept screaming – He is not fine! He is going away from you! Dan brought his left hand to my right cheek (his hands were really soft and soothing). He was stroking my cheek with his thumb when he said, “I am absolutely fine. You don’t have to panic so much.” He was smiling very gently. It was as if he had heard that voice inside of me and could feel my pain.

“I wasn’t panicking. I just wanted to confirm”, I said, getting up. I now regret being so adamant about not expressing my feelings to him.

I came to the hostel in the evening. Dan and Charles stayed in the hospital for a few days. They brought Mary back home after nineteen days. Until then, Dan and Charles were going to their respective colleges on consecutive days.

Hello!! Let us hope that Mary gets well soon... And what do you think has happened to Dan? Did he faint because of stress, or is it something else?
Let me know your thoughts... Until then, byeee!!!