<< Niar >>
"Wonderful."
"Excuse me?" I asked inquiringly, having just opened the dorm door.
"You must be a magnet for disasters. Tell me, were you at Palm Café?"
I nodded my head in reply to Aster while taking off my shoes.
"Yes."
"Where is your room key? I will get you some clothes, and go directly to shower. We do not want to fill the dorm with gunpowder."
I took out my room key from the bag, and handed it to him with my fingertips so the gunpowder would not touch him.
I placed the bag on the floor, then put on my house slippers to climb the stairs for the purpose of showering.
I took off all that I was wearing and put it in a garbage bag, as it had all become ruined, and with the flow of hot water over my body I felt the stings of my wounds.
Aster knocked on the door to hand me my clothes. Minutes passed and I was done. I found Aster afterward waiting for me in the living room holding a first-aid kit, and upstairs the sound of Albert and Atheer arguing, perhaps?
"Give it to me, I will do that myself."
"Man, you will contaminate the bandages before you use them. I will take care of bandaging the wounds I see, and you can complete the rest."
I folded my sleeves with my fingertips until the cuff was above my elbow.
Atheer came down from upstairs with Albert, and yes... they were still arguing, in fact their hair looked disheveled from the arguing.
"Hey!"
I closed my mouth with my hand quickly.
"Look, your wrist is swollen and it seems your foot is as well."
Aster fell silent for a moment then called out.
"Atheer, bring me some ice packs from the fridge."
Atheer entered the room carrying the ice packs and threw himself onto the couch.
"Here, I will take one so that the swelling on my forehead might disappear."
he said annoyed while staring at Albert who sat next to me.
"Do not stare at me, man!"
"I am not staring at you? Find a solution for your stupid self! My body has become bruised and swollen because of you. Every day I try to wake up at a different time than you, but no! My face must smack into your room door, and you wake up half-asleep to me, so I find you crashing into me on the stairs and the edge digging into my stomach."
Atheer erupted with his complaint. Should I be grateful that Aster is the one who resides in the room next to mine?
And before Albert could utter an excuse, Aster had interrupted them.
"Stop it. I ordered safety guards for the dorm corners. I will divide them among you to install."
he said, having finished bandaging my wounds that I had not even realized he had started just to finish them.
"Extend your leg onto the couch so I can see it."
I raised my leg onto the couch. Had my foot always been this swollen?
"Niar... I am starting to suspect you lack feeling."
Albert said, pointing to my foot, less than a moment before I saw Atheer press on the swelling in it, until Aster pushed his hand away forcefully.
"What are you doing, idiot? Do you want me to hit your swollen forehead?"
"Oh come on, look at him. He did not even blink when I pressed it!"
I lowered my sleeves and stood up, pulling the ice pack and pressing it against my wrist.
"I will go to my room... thank you, Aster."
"Look at him, is he a zombie? With all this swelling, he walks as if without any affliction!"
Annoying...
I went up to my room, while the others started installing the safety guards. After some time, Aster knocked on my door and handed me some pieces, stressing the necessity of installing them in my room.
<< Joyce >>
Do you not miss me? Shall I narrate my side of today's events before he steals my place? I am starting to suspect the story is not about me.
I returned to the dorm without a single noteworthy scratch. That is surprising, right? That is because Niar took all the shrapnel for me. Do I like his reaction? Yes. Does his act itself annoy me? Yes.
I hate the fact that Niar always protects me at his own expense. When he did that, his body got injured. Did he pay attention to his injury? No. The first thing he did was check whether any harm had befallen me. Is it altruism? Or negligence?
I sent him a message after I showered, but he did not reply, and it seems he muted his phone. I went down to the living room and found Aysel and Lia had prepared tea.
"Your future mother-in-law loves you, girl," Lia said mockingly.
Her saying might sound strange, but it is what we say if someone happens to show up at a meal or dessert time.
"That is obvious, and how could she not love me!"
"Are you okay? You entered the dorm pale."
"I am fine, Aysel. I did not even get a single scratch!"
I shifted for a moment before continuing.
"Can you ask your brother about Niar's condition? I called him but he did not answer?"
"Wait a moment... hmm."
Minutes passed before he replied to her.
"Aster bandaged his wounds, then he went to sleep."
"Is he okay?"
"Did you not see him before you returned?... Apart from the bruises on his limbs and the scratches on his body, he is fine."
I relaxed my body onto the couch.
"I did not get a chance to check on him."
Lia stood up and brought some cake for us to eat with the tea.
"Have you two not noticed that you have not returned to your homes at all?"
"My dad will return next week from his mission. I will take a week off at home to spend time with him before he returns to work. So for now, I will not go back to sit alone at home. Albert is preparing for entrance exams, so he remains confined to his room."
"As for me, I asked Niar and he said he would not return during the break, so I did not return either."
"Are you his suitcase or what? If he does not return, go back alone."
"And who should I go back to, Lia? Rina is busy with her studies and does not return home, and my aunt and uncle spend all their time at work. If my brother were here, Niar and I would spend the time with him."
"First, who is Rina? Second, do you have siblings?"
"Rina is Niar's older sister, and yes, I have an older brother, but he decided to disappear from home eight years ago."
I said mockingly.
"Oh, are you serious? How did you endure his absence for eight years? I can barely handle being apart from my father on his trips. If his missions last more than a month, longing cuts through me and gnaws at my heart. So what about him being absent for years?!"
Aysel placed her tea cup and then said to Lia.
"I sometimes doubt you are foolish, Lia. The fact that he has been gone all this time means he is missing, you fool."
"And he is. He was on a trip with my dad, and his traces were lost after they separated. But it seems he is here."
"Hmm, here? Why do we not search for him?"
"Are you joking? How will we search for him among all these students?"
"Maybe he is in a place closer than you think, Joyce."
"Do not listen to her. I suspect she has started hallucinating and raving early."
Aysel said mockingly, when suddenly Lia threw the couch pillow at her.
"Do not mock me. I am serious."
"Serious? Go to sleep, girl."
"It is afternoon, so why sleep? Perhaps Joyce is the one most in need of sleep after what she went through today."
"I cannot deny that, but if I sleep now I will stay awake all night, so here I am keeping you company."
I continued chatting with the girls until midnight. Why did I stay up? Who sleeps early during breaks?
<< Aster >>
Make room for me, it is my turn to speak. If it happens that I die and find you have not published my parts, I swear by the One who created the heavens and the earth that I will come out to you as a ghost in your dreams.
Well, where do I start?
From the moment I saw Niar looking ashen? Or perhaps his indifferent behavior toward his wounds?
No, let us go to the moment my sister called me.
Was that after we installed the safety guards, or after my attempt to resolve the continuous dispute between Albert and Atheer?
It does not matter. When she called me, she inquired about Niar, and it seems this is a request from his older sister. I stood up at that moment to see whether he was awake or not. I knocked on the door, once, twice, three times. A little anxiety gripped me. I am used to him not replying quickly, but him being injured was worrying. I took the spare key and opened the door. At first glance, he was not there. I wandered inside the room searching for him... I did not find him. I headed toward the bed, empty of any trace of warmth, which indicates he had not approached it. And before I sat on it, I felt myself stepping on something. My heart leapt out of my chest when I realized that what I was stepping on was Niar's injured foot. For a moment, my face had paled from terror, and my voice could be heard throughout the dorm. Should I be grateful that I am not voice-calling Aysel?
What sane person sleeps under their bed? What is the point of the bed if you are going to sleep under it?
This is strange, right? But what is even stranger is that he did not wake up after I stomped on his foot!