Colliding heart 2

4

I opened my eyes it was 9 in the morning “ you are finally awake , wake up and get changed I will complete all the formalities “ saying this Austin left . It was finally time to leave the hospital , I have been here for 4 months but with Austin being there for me it wasn’t that difficult , everyone here has been quite helpful and supportive , people usually have bad memories in a hospital but I had some of the most amazing and memorable days of my life in this hospital . I was ready , all the things have been packed by Austin and we were ready to leave , before that we thanked all the doctors and concerned people who have been taking care of me . I got out of the hospital Austin was waiting for me in the car I got inside and we left “ where are we going ? “, I asked “ you will know when we get there “ he never answers me directly . As we were heading forward the route looked familiar , it was the way to my house . 

He stops the car in front of my home , “ you still remember this this , right ? “ he said smiling “ come on get off the car “ it was still the same , except that it had not been taken care of for a while therefore it was covered in dust , the flowers and grass in the front garden were dried brown . We walked to the front door that rectangular wooden name plate was still there it had mom and dad’s name inscribed on it in beautiful calligraphy , I still remember it was the first thing to be hung up when I first moved to that house with my parents , I had hung it myself . Austin handed over the keys to me , I inserted the keys and the door opened with a click , we went in . Unexpectedly the house was clean without any dust from inside “ did you get it cleaned ? “ I asked turning towards Austin who was behind me “ yes a few days ago I asked someone to get it cleaned so that you get it cleaned but didn’t have enough time to get it cleaned from the outside too“ . I looked through the room and it brought back my memories , there was mom’s precious sofa set if anyone dared to make it dirty or anything she would kill that person it always has to be spotless , the chrysanthemum’s flower pot was also empty if mom would have been here she would have never left it empty , there was the wall with all our photo frames filled with happy memories , I opened the door of my room and went in , all my medals were hung on the wall my books and pens were arranged properly on my study table , I turned to my closet , it still had all of my sticky notes on it I opened it most my clothes were kept in order , there was a black cloth lying unfolded so picked it up and realized it was the same black dress that mom and dad got me for my birthday it was the prettiest I had ever seen I hugged it for a while and then folded it and put it back and closed the closet , I turned back , my teddy bear was kept on the bed there was a box behind the bed I , I bend over and pulled it outside it was the video game which dad got me when I won a competition that video game was a headache for mom because dad and I played it together all the time and wouldn’t listen to her many times we both got scolded by her but still we never stopped playing it I wish those happy days could be back but I also know that it’s impossible , I pushed the box back inside . Then I went to mom and dad’s bedroom it still looked the same , with everything in it’s place . I came back to the living room where Austin was waiting for me I went up to him ,

“ What happened ? you look pathetic ? is something not right tin the house ? “ he asked 

“ No it’s not like that , everything is fine . This house looks exactly the way as before except…”

“ Except what ? “

“ Except that it feels so empty now . Looking at anything is reminding me of mom and dad , the happy times we spend here , I just miss them so much , I don’t want to be alone “ I looked down , tears started rolling down my face . Austin held me closer and hugged me tightly “ it’s ok , everything will be fine , you just need some more time . I know you are very brave “ . I hugged him back tightly and closed my eyes , this is the warmth I have been waiting for such a long time .

We both unpacked our clothes and other things , Austin was staying in the guest room so I helped him unpack and adjust things . I went to the kitchen , the fridge has all the lists and notes that mom put there by the magnets , I opened it , it was already full with a lot of stuffs “ Austin have you bring all the things in the refrigerator ? “ I called him because he was still in the guest room . He came out of the room “ yes I had brought them yesterday , we may have to cook on our own for some days “ he said “ but I can’t cook “ I looked down feeling quite embarrassed . He started laughing “ It’s alright you don’t have to feel ashamed , I will cook for you and also you have not recovered completely so the only thing you have to do is rest leave all the other things to me “ . But still you have already done enough for me , I don’t want to bother you with anything else . It is always you who is doing everything I can’t do anything for me “ I didn’t want to be a burden for him “ if you want to do something for me then rest well , eat well and take your medicines on time so that you get better soon and could do everything on your own without my help . And just for your information I have become really good at cooking you won’t regret allowing me to cook , also I know all your favourite dishes and know the kind of food you are allowed or not allowed to eat so I am the best for this , anyway knowing about your appetite and taste I can’t trust that you would not eat any trash “ he tapped my head “ hey , I am not a foodie and I don’t eat a lot of junk food “ I have to defend myself “ oh really ? then who was the girl that was crying in the hospital that the food there wasn’t good enough and that she wanted tacos ? “ he said looking at me directly “ I didn’t cry , I just missed them a little and the hospital food was really pathetic “ and this is the disadvantage of him knowing me too well , he just smiled me in a sarcastic manner he knew that I knew he was right , 

“ alright , go and have some rest and I will cook something for you “ but I didn’t go

“ can’t I help you with something ? , I feel useless with you doing all the work “

“ fine , wash these vegetables for me “ he said . 

“ sure ! “ I was excited that atleast I could help him with something . 

I washed all the vegetables and fishes and sat there watching him cook . Now I I understand that when he said he has become a good cook he wasn’t lying , his knife skills were excellent , all the pieces that he had cut were of equal and perfect size , his work was so flawless he didn’t spill anything not even a drop of oil or any leftover from vegetables could be seen . The fish sandwich was ready and the kitchen didn’t looked as if it had been used unlike me ( anyone can just walk into the the

kitchen and tell what I must have made because traces of every ingredient that were used could be seen ) . “ alright your fish sandwich is ready come on lets eat together “ . We both went to the dinning table . I took the first bite and it was unexpectedly superbly delicious , it melted in my mouth “ you are an amazing cook , I haven’t had such delicious food for a long time “ I looked happily at him , he started laughing “ as long as you are happy . Also I will be cooking for you everyday so you have a lot of time to enjoy it “ . 

It was already evening , we both were removing the old and dried plants from the garden because the things inside the house have been settled and now only garden was left , also because I loved my garden , the flowers there and everything “ I told you that we can call the Gardner tomorrow to do all these and he would do it in a much less time , there is no need for us do to it our self , it’s so tiring “ Austin said , “ and I also told you that I love my garden a lot and I would love to do it myself , but I don’t remember asking you to help me so if anyone wants to go inside , they are free to do so “ I looked at him teasing him . “ Sometimes I just don’t understand you “ he sighed and continued with his work . Finally after 1.5 hrs of hard work we came inside , we were both exhausted . I took out 2 cans of coke from the fridge and gave one of them to Austin and one for myself , we both sat there on the couch relieving ourselves from the tiredness and then we watched t.v. for a while and were chatting till we realized that it was already 9:30 p.m. and we have not even stated making the dinner . Fortunately Austin was pretty fast in his work , I helped him to wash and cut the vegetables and our dinner was ready within 1 hour . Although it was just the two of us in the house , we always had something to talk about , we never had that awkward silence between us our talks were always full of happiness and laughter even while having dinner . We had our dinner , went for a small walk then came back home Austin reminded me to take medicines . 

“ if you feel unwell or anything just call me , okay ? “ he told me 

“ yes yes I know , you are already saying this the 3rd time , go and sleep you must be tired . Good night“ 

“ good night “

We went to our respective rooms . I switched off the light of my room and went to bed . I lied there on the bed looking towards the ceiling , I was very satisfied and happy , this house no longer seemed to be empty , I no longer felt lonely , this house has never been so lively after the departure of mom and dad I had never thought that just one person could make such a difference not only he made me love my life but also his presence removed that void from my home maybe that’s what people call falling for someone . Now I want nothing else except him , not less not more just him and me together for the rest of our lives . I closed my eyes and was soon asleep .

The next day I woke up , I could see the sunlight coming from my window . I was till in my bed when I heard some sounds of utensils coming from kitchen is Austin already awake ? I thought to myself , I finally managed to drag myself out of the bed and went to the living room . As expected I saw Austin in the kitchen , cooking something he noticed  me “ good morning , I am preparing the breakfast till then go and freshen up “ , I walked towards him with my half opened eyes and slow steps “ why do you get up so early in the morning ? and how are you so enthusiastic in this early morning ? “ I asked him . He turned towards me and flickered me “ that’s because I am not lazy as you . It’s not that early look at the watch it’s already 7 “ he looked at him with confusion “ what ? it’s only 7 ? no wonder I felt like I woke up early . Since I am already I will just go and take a bath “ I sighed and went back dragging myself . After taking a bath I came out to the living room where the breakfast was ready and served in the table and Austin was waiting for , I walked up to him 

“ you don’t have to wait for me , you can start with yours “ I said 

“ yes I wanted to but then I remembered someone has said that ‘ eating with someone special makes the food tastier ‘ “ he said making a grand gesture , 

“ and who exactly has said that ? “

“ ME ! “ he is so full of himself , we both laughed on his stupidity and ate the breakfast .

Most of our day usually went by watching television , playing video games , gardening or talking sometimes Austin has to go for some work and I am left alone at home . We would go to shopping together on weekends to get groceries and other things for house , it was so much better than going alone now I have someone to share the weight of the heavy bags , with the opinion of two people it was easy making decision on what to buy and I get to know about some new flavors and things that I haven’t tried before . Most of the times I took Austin with me whenever I went to buy clothes , he picked up clothes for me  , I advised me whether something was good or not when I tried them , and same goes with me I helped him pick some clothes . Some days went by really well but with the time passing we both started getting bored most of the time we would just sit there on the couch and do nothing . One day it was around 3 in the afternoon it was really hot outside we both were sitting in the living room on the couch drinking lemonade and it occurred tome that the backyard has not been for a long time and was filled with trash , so I turned to Austin and said “ why don’t we turn the backyard into a small basketball court ? “ he looked excited “ well that’s an amazing idea why didn’t I think of it . The backyard is quite big and has been left unnoticed for a while . Let’s do this , tomorrow I will call someone to clean it up and then we can have it renovated and converted into a basketball court . it will be so much fun “ . So we both agreed to this suggestion without any hesitation and the next day Austin called some people who helped us with the cleaning and moving stuff , it was a tiring and time consuming thing to do because the backyard hasn’t been cleaned for more than an year and had a lot of things in it . It took us an entire day to clean it up . Austin has already hired some professionals who would make that place a basketball court so the next day around 8 in the morning 2 people came to our house , they explained us the whole procedure and their idea of how they would be doing everything they also asked us if we had any specific requirements to how we want it to look like , but we told them that they had free hand on how they want things done and we don’t have any specifications to make . They started the work from the next day , although there was a lot of noise coming from there we managed with it some how , they would start their work from 7:30 in the morning to 8 at night . They were pretty fast with their work , they completed it within just 10 days ( much less than I expected ) . Finally , it was Friday we went to the backyard they were still doing doing some finishing work therefore we didn’t get in , and within half an hour they came to us “ your basketball court is complete , please have a look and see if you are satisfied , feel free to tell us if there is anything that you would like to add or remove or alter “ we went there and were startled from the perfection of their work it was amazing , they completely transformed our backyard we both were more than satisfied , we thanked them for their hard work and then they left . it was already very late so we decided that today we would go and buy a basketball and some sports wear since we both haven’t played in a while and will play together in the evening tomorrow. The next day we both were very excited , we both had a great interest in basketball but haven’t played it for years so I was also quite nervous not sure that whether I will be able to play like before or not , while I was again lost in these thoughts , Austin calls me from outside of my room “ Carol come on it’s already 6 p.m. you have been in your room for half an hour now , we agreed to play at 5:30  “ well that’s not entirely my fault , considering the fact that he knows me so well he should have seen that coming , anyway I didn’t want to make him wait any longer so quickly changed and went out . Standing there on our small court with Austin holding the ball , this scenario brought back many memories “ do you still remember the time when we played basket ball ? “ I asked him , “ yes definitely and that’s what I was thinking just now , we first met each other on a basketball court , this is not just a sport for me , it has been an important part of my life “ we both stood there for a minute in complete silence , 

then finally Austin said “ okay , enough with the past lets start quickly “ , 

“ why quickly ? you want to be defeated so badly ? “ I said 

“ well just so you know miss I was one of the best players in school so you will be the one who will be defeated not me , but considering the fact that we have known each other for a long time , if you request me I can go a little easy on you “

“ we will see who has to go easy on who in the end “

We first started with some warm up keeping in mind that I had not recovered completely and I was not allowed to do too tiring and energy consuming exercises , also we didn’t want to get too exhausted on the first day itself and get aching legs the next morning . We had such a great time , that we didn’t even realize that 2 hrs have already passed and we unwillingly have to stop and went in . “ wasn’t it great ! I had so much fun “ I said all excited

“ yes indeed it was , it was much better than I had thought it didn’t felt just like the old times . I totally loved it . “ we were both very happy .

Although we both were completely exhausted , the tiredness was nothing compared to the satisfaction we had after playing after such a long time . It was such an amazing day .