Amazon Best Selling Novel “Malabar A Flame” in Lima World Library
23. Naked truth
Sara went to Rajan’s room.
Mary has approved her nursing Rajan till he is on his own.
When he saw Sara unexpectedly carrying a lungi, towel and
cream, he looked at her in askance
“You should change after a bath and wear lungi,” Sara
urged.
He was elated. It was her presence that he sought rather
than her nursing.
“How can I take bath with one hand immobilized? After
three weeks this plaster will be taken off. Then I will take a
bath,” he told her.
“ I did not speak about taking a bath in a pool or a pond.
Just swab the whole body. It’s the work mother entrusted to
me. Just get up now.” she replied
Sara helped him walk to the bath. Rajan felt shy. May
be more shy than anyone, He unbuttoned his shirt and she
pulled it up from his back. But he had to remove his pants He
stood still and felt like a bucket of ice falling up on his head as
she helped him to unbutton and pull the pants off.
“So do you feel pain when this is pulled off?,” she asked
him with a tinge of sarcasm..
Both the doctor and the nurse are too familiar with
human limbs, naked bodies, but for both this contact seemed
different altogether. Why is it so? Rajan brooded. Te same
thought occurred to her also.
After thrusting a kiss on timid Rajan’s cheek she said:
“Now my boy. You should obey what I say”.
Rajan was numb for a while. The first warm kiss spread
like a white silk cloth hemmed with frosty flowers spread in
the mind. His eyes swelled with a sense of elation. But he
was left with only his underwear. It was shocking to be with a
strange girl in his birthday suite.
Bewilderment? Knew nothing.
“Let this also be removed?” Sara asked.
Startled, Rajan moved backward. He frowned. More
anxious. Is she deliberately trying to see my nakedness? She
stood in front like a wall.
By seeing Rajan standing aghast, she burst into laughter.
Rajan looked at her with fancy rather than embarrassment.
How elegant that smile! How enchanting those lips and
teeth? First time seeing her broad smile in such close quarters.
He removed the underwear on his own while she tucked a
loin cloth around his waist
She poured cold and hot water together to the bucket.
Mixed the soap in the water and stirred to foam. Something
foaming up in Rajan’s mind also. But it burst off as soon as
she started swabbing his body.
She immersed the towel in the mix and started working onhis body first he head, ear, nose and downwards. Her nimble
hand slithered down. Touch of care and concern gurgled and
gushed down first in drops growing to rivulets and grew to a
full blown river. Suddenly he wanted to hug her and throw a
kiss on her warm lips. But he resisted his best. “Oh God, save
me from this temptation, “ he prayed to himself.
He closed his eyes and let Sarah explore the nakedness
of his raw self. She stood very close to him. Sometimes he
could feel the warmth of her breath crawling on his body. It
was heavenly. He has not felt anything like this in his whole
life. Her fingers clawed up his torso, stirring the bristles of
his breast like a pecking bird or a hose sparrow. But he stood
there in reverie and let her finish the job.
After pinching on his cheek she queried: “What, my
little baby, were you sleeping?”. Suddenly he woke up from
his dream land, lifted her hand and kissed itin a passionate
acknowledgement of thanks.
She asked sarcastically: Were you dreaming like a baby or
an Alice in Wonderland? What did you dream of?”.
Rajan liked the question.
“Yes, of course. I dreamt of a damsel who seemed to tell
me that if I tied and anklet on her hand, she would be mine.
For always to take care of me. And swab me like this and
bath me like this for ever and ever”. There was no immediate
response from her. But he was sure her face lit up.
He told her that lungi did not suffice. It has a tendency
to slip down and he would be left with nothing in front
of strangers. She agreed. From his bag, she took a new
underwear that she helped him to draw up Then she found
a pair of new trousers and helped to put up. And a new
starched and ironed white half- shirt. She combed his hair
and dashed a little bit of Cuticura powder on the back of his
neck and that brought him back as a dashing young man but
for his one arm in a sling.
Rajan shut his eyes for a moment and tried to dream up
Sarah as his permanent aide. Would she or won’t she? He
decided to ask him before he was out of her house.
“How is it going?” he was roused from his reverie. It was
Mary who brought in tray with two cups of fresh tea to the
room.
“Amma, just look at him? Is he not about to become his
own old self?” Sarah asked her mother She took a cup to
Rajan. He promptly took it by his right hand and started
sipping. “The problem is that I am giving a lot of trouble to
you people. How can I repay for all these help?”
Mary could not replay as Diana came to the room carrying
a bottle of uncorked whine and tw glasses which she wanted
to share with Rajan. No one l\else touched while or any kind
of alcohol in the hose. But she was disappointed in seeing
Rajan sipping his tea. In disgust, Diana uncorked the bottled
and poured a glassful and started drinking. While is a delicacy
that she made a habit of taking even while a high school
student. A habit handed down to her by her parents.
Whether Danny joined her not was none of her problem.
She poured another fill and smiled at Rajan and broke away
to Danny’s room. She. There he was trying to fill up some form. He was unmindful of her drinking. Nor could he do
anything about it. Was it not social drinking? But Diana was
angry that he did not mind her butting in. She threw her hand
bag on the cot with a bang.