Bearer of bad news

"You okay?" The boy, dressed in a white oversized t-shirt and black jeans was looking at her, a little startled.

"Yes, I am! Sorry for overreacting just now. Cool, so you are telling me that I can't go anywhere for the next fifteen days! Like, are you kidding me?! But it's okay. Nitya, it's okay! Just breathe, everything will be alright. So is there anything else you wanted to tell me? Or is this all?"

Ji-hun looked at her and chuckled at how quickly her mood had shifted from high in the mountains to deep down in the ocean somewhere. He didn't know how to break the bad news to her, but he really needed to tell her. He looked at the girl with a sincere expression and said "Actually...actually, I don't know how to say this to you-"

"Oh come on, there's nothing that can cause me to freak out more than the fact that I can't go anywhere for the next fifteen days! So tell me, whatever it is, without any hesitation."

"Actually, there is a scar on your leg now due to the accident. The doctors are hopeful that it will fade with time, but there is a possibility that it will never go away completely. I am really sorry."

"What are you sorry for? And if anything, I should be apologising to you as well as thanking you; you were the one to save me and bring me to the hospital. I'm sorry for disrupting your busy schedule."

Ji-hun was amazed at how she was not concerned about her scar, as if it didn't bother her even for a fraction of a second. He said "Are you sure you heard me clearly? I mean to say that-"

"-that there will be a scar on my leg from now on? So what, have you seen my face! The people who love me and have stayed in my life are just because they love me, not because they found me beautiful! And if you can see my face, do you think a little scar can scare me? Never! The only thing which is scaring me right now is the thought of having to explain to my best friend, my brothers and my parents that I am somewhere in the world, lying on a hospital bed with my leg plastered up!" Nitya justified her apparent lack of concern about the scar.

"Do you need me to explain this to them? I can talk to them on your behalf, I'm sure they won't say anything to you that way. Are you afraid of them; have you got very strict parents?" Ji-hun asked, becoming more concerned about her.

"Strict!" She laughed, and he was mesmerized once again. 'He had seen many idols in front of him, many beautiful faces before; but what she had said was true indeed. He was not talking to her because he found her beautiful; he was talking to her because she felt like a portion of his own soul that had been lost for so long, which he just found via an unfortunate accident. But he was still glad that she was not hurt badly and he was able to meet her.'

He was pulled back into reality when she continued her narration further. "They are anything but strict. All those people I mentioned are very busy in their lives, but always act like I am their priority. When they find out, I'm sure all of them will board a plane, just to come here and murder me! I really don't know what I am supposed to do now; I'll be in trouble whatever option I choose. Are you sure I haven't gotten any calls in the last twenty four hours?"

"Ahm! Actually I don't know, your phone was discharged; or probably got locked by me and I was unable to restart it. And I don't have an appropriate charger for your phone, so I couldn't switch it back on!" Ji-hun said, a little sheepishly.

"Wow, this is actually turning out to be my last day on this planet! So you are saying that my phone has been switched off for the past 24 hours?"

"Nope, I mean to say that your phone has been switched off for the last twenty seven-and-a-half hours."

"Jesus Christ! I am so dead! It was really nice meeting you, dude. Hope to see you in my next life, but please pray that it won't be by means of an accident again! Can I really make a call from your phone though?"

"Yes, of course. Why are you asking this again, take my phone and make as many calls you want to."

"I have to make an international call! It might be costly, but you can relax on that part- my family will definitely pay whatever amount I owe you. And I have yet another request: please don't tell my best friend that-I mean, the person I am going to call, that my leg is badly hurt! Can you promise me this?"

"I don't understand, why so?"

"You will understand everything as soon as the call is received. So can you promise me?"

"Hmm, okay. I promise!"

Nitya dailed the number and pressed the call button, releasing a deep breath. Within a few rings, the call was connected and a tense voice was heard "Hello? Who is this?"

Nitya relished her final moments of peace as she said "Suro-". No sooner had her voice been transmitted that the person on the other side of the phone exploded.

"NITYA JAIKAR, WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? IT'S LIKE YOU DROPPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH COMPLETELY! AND CAN YOU TELL ME, WHY THE HELL IS YOUR PHONE SWITCHED OFF?! YOU BETTER PRAY THAT YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY FINE, OTHERWISE I AM GONNA KILL YOU WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS. I HAVE ALMOST GOTTEN A HEART ATTACK, MEHUL DADA IS ALMOST LOST IN SEARCH OF YOU, HONESTLY I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW I HAVE MANAGED TO HANDLE MUKUL! AND BOTH OF OUR FAMILIES, THESE JAIKAR'S AND KASHYAP'S HAVE GONE COMPLETELY INSANE! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING? ARE YOU GOING TO SAY ANYTHING?! TELL ME, WHERE ON FREAKING EARTH ARE YOU RIGHT NOW!"

Nitya was listening to everything as if it was business as usual, while the other person was looking on, completely overwhelmed as she had kept the phone on speaker. His eyeballs were bouncing between Nitya and the phone like a ping-pong ball. After going on for a minute , the other person calmed down enough to allow Nitya to get in a word or two; or maybe she had stopped momentarily to catch her breath, there was no way for him to be sure! This was when Nitya said in a sing-song voice "Babyyy...Do I have a spare life?"

This made Ji-hun giggle at how cute someone could be without even putting in any effort. Surbhi started admonishing her once again "Don't you dare 'Babyyy' me-", but she stopped abruptly as she realised that she had heard someone giggle. "Are you with someone?!"

Nitya knew she had a chance to explain herself now, but the only problem was that she was really panicked; and yet, she was trying to be strong in front of the guy as she hated letting her emotions show in front of strangers. This was one of the reasons she had learnt plenty of languages, so that she could always have spare language to talk to someone in, without letting anybody intrude on her privacy!

She blurted out "Suro, meri galti nahi hai [Hindi], wo aazmayish hi aisi aa gayi thi [urdu]! Aami kichui bujhate pari na [Bangla], shuru kis gal naal karu [Punjabi]. Jiko ga arimashita [Japanese]...et le verre était sur le point de tomber sur la personne [French], fen ke tha maine aise daur lagai aur dhakka de diya samne walen ne [Rajasthani dialect]! Lekin fir shayad mere paer me bhi chhotu si chot lag gayi [Hindi]...and now I am in the hospital!"

("Suro, it was not my fault at all, the circumstances were so complicated! I was unable to understand anything, I don't know where to start. There was an accident...and the glass was about to fall on the person, so I ran and pushed the person aside! But then I ended up hurting my own leg slightly...and now I'm in the hospital!")

"YOU ARE IN A HOSPITAL! DID I HEAR IT RIGHT?" Surbhi's voice thundered out from the other side of the call again.

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