Page 12 of The Unwanted Husband
She kept screaming out her brother’s name but the kid would not stop. He ran past the open door, down the long driveway and then was running right into the busiest traffic she had seen in the neighborhood.
“Ravi, no!” she screamed over her lungs at the child that was getting away.
“Monisha!” The familiar voice and the way her name was said made her eyes flash open.
A nightmare?
She had nightmares for years after her parents died and hadn’t had one in over a decade.
“The baby,” she whispered, looking in the direction of the kids’ room. She sat up, her back against the head board as he turned on the bedside lamp. Her heart was still racing from the fear of her not being able to stop the kid from getting away and running right into the busy traffic.
“They are sleeping.” He handed her a glass of water and that was when she realized the guy was just wearing a pair of cotton pajamas and was bare chested.
Was she screaming so loud he had to rush to her?
Isha was suddenly embarrassed. “I…I’m sorry…I woke you.”
He nodded in response and he stood looking at her.
She looked away from him and her heart was still beating rapidly and she could still feel the fear gripping her body. As if she needed to address the strange feeling that was looking, she pushed aside the thin sheet that was layered over her body and got out of bed.
She had taken a good few steps before she realized she was only wearing a thin night shirt that barely covered her butt. Too late to go grab a pair of pants.
“Monisha, where are you going?”
“To see them.” There didn’t seem to be any other way to make the strange feeling go away.
“You mean Vish and Vaish?” he asked, following behind her.
Vishruth and Vaishnavi were the names of the twins. But she could not believe their names did not occur to her in her scary dream. She was about to turn the knob on the door when she felt his hand over hers in the dark.
“Slow down,” he whispered.
She nodded and he let her hand go. She slowly opened the door and entered the room with two cribs. One of the nannies who was sleeping to one side of the room, moved in her sleep and sat up. Isha waved her down and approached one of the cribs. She could not tell which one of the kids was the boy but she just looked at the sleeping babies and felt at ease.
She gingerly stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind her softly. She found Ashok standing outside the room as if waiting for her.
Somewhat embarrassed by having woken him up, she didn’t make eye contact. Thankful that the house was only dimly lit when she had such limited clothing on, she mumbled a ‘Good night’ and slipped away into her room.
Hours later, she lay in bed, scared to fall asleep and also confused about what happened. Since the time she was told by Ashok that she needs to be around the kids, she had attempted twice to be around them but barely for a few minutes each time and she had such a horrific dream.
What should she expect if she spent more time?
CHAPTER 7
Isha’s phone was ringing at a distance and she reached for it in her groggy state.
“Hi,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Aman said, making her smile. She had barely slept the previous night, worried she might have a nightmare again. She didn’t know when she fell asleep but it must be pretty late in the morning if Aman was calling.
She sat up and looked at the clock. It was past mid-morning. “No, you didn’t wake me up.”
“You are such a good liar,” he chuckled.
“Well, you did me a favor by calling. It’s almost eleven in the morning.” She sat up resting her back on the head board. “Did you just get back home?”
“Yes, I stayed late at work because I don’t have mygirlfriendaround to hang out with for dinner.”
