Chapter 38

• As the clock struck midnight, Rakia woke up from thirst. She winced as she moved her sprained foot and forgot about it, so she slowly lowered her foot to the side of the bed. She thought of a way to get out of bed and walk to the kitchen. She ventured to use her fine foot to rest on, but her sore foot would only tread lightly on the floor. But when she tried, it hurt like hell. Rakia sighed in despair, but when she saw her cell phone on the nightstand, she thought to call Dashtan. She sent a message through the green app, and luckily, he wasn’t asleep yet. A few minutes later, Dashtan came and walked over to Rakia.
• “Hi, sorry to make you come here in the middle of the night. Can I get you a drink?” Rakia looked at Dashtan with a pleading face. Dashtan smiled and went to the kitchen to get some water for his wife. Not long after, Dashtan returned to Rakia’s room with a glass of drinking water. He took a seat by Rakia’s side while she was drinking. He gazed at her so intently that he was surprised to realize the outfit Rakia was wearing, a satin nightgown with spaghetti-sized straps around her shoulders. His wild mind immediately devised various simulations of what if he spent time with Rakia without a single thread.
• “Go to sleep; I’m going to sleep too.” Dashtan hurriedly got up after saying that. Rakia stared at Dashtan until the man was entirely out of her room and the door closed again. She got back under the covers and continued to sleep. The following day, she woke up a little later than usual. She had just risen from lying to sitting while not fully recovering consciousness; Dashtan entered with a walking aid in the form of an elbow stick. Dashtan tried not to focus too much on the clothes Rakia was wearing because it would only confuse him more.