The terror in her voice made his blood run cold. He never should have allowed this. He should have—Suddenly, Nimita was swimming away from the board. He saw Malini bob up and go under. He pushed panic aside and started to swim to her. Nimita was already there when he got there…and so was that lifeguard.
The guy grabbed Malini under her arms and swam her to shore. Malini immediately coughed up water.
“Malini. Malini. Are you okay?” Roshan came up behind Nimita.
Malini looked up at the lifeguard still over her and managed to smile sweetly at him. “Hey,” she said before coughing again. Then she winced in pain. “My wrist hurts.”
The lifeguard went to look at it, but Roshan shouldered him aside. “Let me see.” Roshan took Malini’s wrist gently. “I think it’s broken.”
Before he could look, she fainted. He picked his sister up like she weighed nothing and took her to his car. He was vaguely aware of Nimita behind him, dragging the surfboards to the car as he made Malini comfortable in the passenger seat. She was breathing but something was wrong. “We’re going to the ED,” he snapped before Nimita could say anything, and left her there in the parking lot.
Somehow, Nimita beat him there, already at the ED when he carried Malini, awake now but disoriented, through the doors. Nimita…and his parents. She must have called them on her way.
“Roshan. What happened?” His father stared in horror at Malini, dripping wet in a wet suit, holding her left wrist gingerly with her right hand.
“She was learning how to surf—”
“What?” his father exclaimed. “Why? Why was she surfing? How could you let this happen?”
“She wanted to learn how to surf. It’s a normal thing.” Roshan surprised himself as the words came out. “Can we get her through triage before you lay into me, please?” That led to stunned silence, at least for a few moments while Malini was taken in by a nurse.
He then turned to the forms that needed to be filled out. He said nothing while his parents laid into him for Malini’s injury. This was not the first time, and it would not be the last. He filled out forms while he waited for them to finish. He knew Nimita was nearby; he could feel her. Silently observing while his parents blamed him for allowing Malini to be injured.
How long would it take before he wasn’t painfully aware of her presence at all times?
“Uncle.” Nimita stepped forward. She was also still in a wetsuit, and her voice sounded shaken. “It was me who took her surfing, not Roshan.”
“Thank you for telling us, but ultimately, it was Roshan’s responsibility,” his father said.
Nimita flicked her gaze to him. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her.
“Roshan’s?” Nimita asked. “Not Malini’s herself?”
Roshan paused with the forms and looked at her. Malini, taking responsibility for herself? Why was this a novel idea?
His parents stared at her as if she were speaking a different language. They turned back to Roshan. “Can’t you get us back to see her? Aren’t you a doctor here?”
“Dad.” He drew into his doctor patience. “She’s being seen to. Let the doctors do their job. She’ll be fine, I promise. There are people with much more serious injuries than a broken wrist.”
His father’s mouth gaped open as if Roshan had just confessed to committing a felony. “But Malini—”
“Has a broken wrist. It happens.”
“Dr. Dave?” An ED nurse approached him. “I thought that was you and your family.” She smiled. “Come on back. I’ve got a space for you while we take her to X-ray, and then you can update your parents.”
It might have been mortifying to anyone else to be dressed down the way he’d just been by his parents. But Roshan was used to it. When Malini had gone under, his heart had nearly stopped. It was among his worst nightmares. It would be easy to blame Nimita.
But if he stopped and thought about it rationally, used his medical training, he knew that what he’d said to his parents was true. A broken wrist was fixable, and it could happen to anyone.
He glanced at Nimita, who smiled weakly at him before sitting down with his anxious parents. She might not know what it was like to have a sick sibling, but she was here now with his family, despite the awkwardness. Had defended him to his parents. And that wasn’t nothing
* * *
Nimita paced in the crowded ED waiting room. Guilt for taking Malini surfing in the first place warred with anger at Roshan’s parents for making him feel responsible, as well as heartache for Roshan for bearing the brunt of it all. No wonder he was so protective, he had his parents to answer to.
She offered to get Auntie and Uncle something to drink, but they were doing a great job of ignoring her. She clearly was not family, and she wondered if she should leave. She’d love to get out of this wetsuit, if nothing else. Her decision was shelved when her phone buzzed.
“Where the hell are you?” Reena’s panic was evident in her voice.
