Chapter 7: Where Did I Go Wrong?

Anika’s P.O.V

“Fucking sack of potatoes!” I cursed for the millionth time as I dragged the man across the driveway and into the house.

I had taken out one of the bedcovers from the cupboard in the bedroom and then placed it on the ground before pushing and pulling the man onto the cover and tied it around him to help me pull him along. By the time I had made it to the bedroom with him, more than half an hour had passed and my entire dress was soaked through with sweat.

Why was I doing this again you say? I could have easily just left him on the road and pretended I hadn't seen him and gotten away with it too, because apart from the bruising, his two main injuries were the stab wounds. But damn that Hippocratic Oath and my conscience as a doctor! I just couldn’t leave a wounded person behind, no matter what he did or who he was.

So, after another few minutes of struggle, I hauled him on top of the bed and discarded the bed sheet that was now covered in dirt and tears from the gravel.

Then I went back to my car and get my suitcases into the cabin and locked my car before entering the cabin. But just as I was about to enter, I heard a noise coming from the deeper woods…a sound that sounded awfully like a wolf howl.

Impossible! I thought to myself. How could there be wild wolves here?

But then I heard another howl, joined by another. It wasn’t long before the sound seemed to be coming from all around me. Racing into my cabin, I slammed the door shut and typed in the electronic lock. Will this be enough to keep us safe? The cabin was made entirely of wood…

 But even though I was unsure of the durability of the cabin, I still went on checking all corners and locking all doors properly and checking on the windows for safety reasons as well. Only once I was sure that everything was closed shut, including the door to the terrace, was I able to breathe a sigh of relief. But I had yet to take a break.

Putting on my gloves and a mask, I went straight to the bedroom to my patient, with a big bowl of hot water, disinfectant liquids and towels. Lots of towels. I needed to give him a sponge bath. But as I neared the bed, I hesitated.

I had seen plenty of naked men and women. I was a professional doctor and a patient was just a body to me. A body that needed my help to heal. Moreover, during my time as an intern, I had spent two months with the team that ‘prepped’ a patient for operations and yes, that had included shaving off hair from the pubic areas of both men and women, young and old. I thought that the time had helped me overcome so much of my shyness and made me more comfortable in my own skin.

Then why was I getting flushed at having to witness this guy naked?

I slapped my cheeks then. “Get a grip, Ani!” I told myself. “He’s just like any other patient! Just a body that needed treatment! And fast!”

But even though I said that, my mental preparation flew out the window the second I removed the towel from around his waist, to reveal him in all his glory.

“Oh…God!” I turned around, feeling my cheeks heat up and my heart hammer in my chest.

The man was built like a tank, so naturally…he was big. Not that I had any experience in sizes…but he truly was big.

“Oh god, woman!” I scolded myself once more, feeling ashamed. “Stop behaving like a pervert! Come on! You can do this!”

Taking a deep breath, I turned around and started to work right away.

Wetting a towel in the warm water, I began wiping off the dirt from all over his body, keeping a professional outlook. This time, it was easier as I kept my eyes on his wound instead. Once he was clean and the water had turned muddy, I threw it away and applied the disinfectant on him to get rid of any germs that could cause an infection.

I went back to the living room and opened the suitcase that had my clothes in them and found a loose pajama bottom in grey that looked like it could fit him. It didn’t. The material looked like it was stretched thin and it only reached to half-way below his knees.

Then I took care of his bruises, applying ointment where I could and using a cold press on areas that were turning black. Finally, the larger wounds. I frowned.

Was it just me or did they not look as severe as I had initially thought?

But still, they were deeper wounds. Thankfully, neither of them needed stitches, so I disinfected the areas, applied some ointment and bandaged up. And finally, I took a closer look at my patient.

Dark brown hair that fell to his forehead, an angular face, a perfectly pointed nose and sweet, sweet lips that were very much kissable. When I had opened his eyes to do an inspection to see if he was responsive, the iris had been a vibrant green, like the fresh leaves in the forest.

He was tall, over six feet and very well built. I would say he was probably a gym trainer or something from the bulge of his muscles, but I couldn’t be too sure. A lot people liked to work out to stay fit. His skin was a light olive color that was evenly distributed all over, telling me it was his natural skin colour.

I pulled the covers over him and moved a few strands of hair off his forehead, before moving back from the bed and letting him rest.

Who was he? And how did he get into this condition? I guess it’ll be a while since I found out.

*

Finally, after what felt like forever, I filled the bathtub with water and threw in a lavender bath bomb and waited until it dissolved before hopping in. The water was nice and steaming and I submerged myself up to my neck and leaned back my head, closing my eyes and letting myself think.

What had gone wrong?

Why had everything gone wrong?

Was it all really my fault?

As for my boss, I knew this day would come sooner or later. He had been touchy-feely with all his female colleagues’ right from the start and recently, his presence had been more uncomfortable than before.

He would stand closer to me than necessary, not caring about personal space at all. He would also touch me inappropriately sometimes, while discussing a patient’s medical history and make up excuses that it was a mistake. He had also offered to take me home at night multiple times, after a shift. But thankfully, I had had the courage to decline his offers every single time.

But then my mind wandered to Rahul, my arranged fiancé.

Fair skinned with dark hair that fell across his forehead and eyes a light brown, he was a charming man. I had met him for the first time when my parents had announced our engagement to each other and at first, he had seemed like a gentleman.

We would text each other and we had tried to get to know each other better by going on dates on the weekends. He had opened the car door for me, held doors open to let me pass through first and never let me pay on a date. Everything seemed perfect. Which was probably why I had ignored his occasional snooty comments on women’s clothing or looking down on others because of their skin colour.

I had made time for him even when I had tests after tests; emergency cases that needed urgent attendance or even when I was so tired, I could’ve fallen asleep standing up. I had gone to a couple of his boring office parties where I had been treated like nothing but an arm-candy. I had brought him homemade lunches or pickles whenever my mother had asked me to. That was when I had noticed the little inappropriate thing he did around women. Winks and flirting and dirty jokes that I hadn't found funny.

But I had just kept my mouth shut and stayed put, thinking about my parents and how stopping Rahul could affect my father’s business negatively. But I guess by staying quiet, I had given shown him the way he could mistreat me. When he used to come to my apartment for lunch on weekends, once in a while, he would always make those same dirty jokes and flirt with Ashwini. I hadn't thought much of it since that was how he was. But clearly, I had forgotten to read in between the lines…to the point where I had found them in bed together.

Everything that has happened has happened for a reason. Everything that is happening is happening for a reason. Everything that will occur in the future will occur for a reason.

My mother used to tell me this as a child, whenever I would have a bad experience. She used to tell me it was a quote from the holy book Gita and that I should believe in these words until the very end.

I guess it was true for me in certain aspects. If I hadn't reached home unannounced yesterday, I would have never found out the truth and would have ended up marrying a cheater.

But what about emotions? What about my feelings? Did the holy books forget that we are people, made of emotions just as we are made of blood and flesh?

When I opened my eyes, they were hazy with tears. A couple drops rolled down my cheeks and I wiped them away angrily, almost getting soap water into my eyes.

“Stupid girl!” I scolded myself, sniffling. “Why are you crying? Crying means giving up, remember? And I’m not giving up! So what if I got send to the middle of nowhere? It’s only one year. It’ll pass by in no time at all.”

The water had almost run cold, so I got out of the shower and dried off. There was no point in thinking about things that I had no control over and even though that was easier said than done, I knew I had no other choice.

All my life I had been the girl who never broke any rules; never got into trouble, never argued or talked back to my parents. I had accepted everything that I was told as fate, believing that everything happened for a reason. But what I hadn't realized until today was that I had lost a part of myself every time I was groomed into becoming a person I wasn’t, all because my parents kept telling me, that if I didn’t do things their way, I might never get married.

And look where that got me?

“Enough is enough.” I told my reflection in the bathroom mirror. “I don’t care if I have in spend the rest of my life on this mountain; from now onwards, I’m listening to my heart.”

I got dressed into my comfortable pajamas and left my hair in the messy bun that I had made on top of my head before my bath and walked out of the bathroom to find the man still unconscious. Checking on his pulse and his temperature, I found out that he was sweating, but that could possibly be his body trying to ward off an infection. Should I give him antibiotics?

I shook my head, deciding against it. I would need some blood tests to give him any meds, especially since I had no idea of his medical history. I had done what I could for tonight and now, all I could do was wait for sunrise. Decision made, I headed straight to the kitchen to fish for the instant ramen that Tiffany had bought for me.

I found it inside the pantry almost immediately, since it was the only thing inside.

“Thank you, Tiffany!” I said out loud, taking out both pack and going over to the stove to start boiling the water.

Before I could comprehend what was happening, a hand wrapped around my neck from behind in a choking grip and I was pulled back into a muscular chest.

“Who are you?” Came a rough voice.