Chapter 35: Run
Ritu woke up to the beep of the phone. Rain drops fell gently against the window panes; it had rained all evening. The sound of pigeons' muted cooing filtered in as they sheltered under the awning of her window. It was dark outside. She looked at her bedside clock and was surprised. Nine at night. She had slept through the evening and hadn't even picked up Aayush from her parents' place.
She reached for her cell-phone to call her parents and then remembered that it was the sound of the phone that had woken her. She sat upright with a jolt, as she read Sameer's message.
Earlier in the evening, when Sameer left in haste, she had a feeling it was serious. Hospitalization could mean anything high fever, dengue, food poisoning. Grave enough to be taken to hospital but not necessarily life threatening. But something told her this was more than hospital serious. This was life and death serious.
A range of emotions gripped her. Sadness. Guilt. Fear.