“Good morning.”

The sad and nonchalant voice startled Anya, she recognized the voice but she didn’t say anything and her eyes remained closed. She didn’t even move her lips to say anything back. But inside she was raging with anger, she just didn’t want to react or maybe she was too tired to reply. Whatever the reason, she didn’t even care. The last night was brutal, the fighting, the violence and endless abuses that she had to endure were too much for her. She didn’t sign up for that! She had only heard about these things in news and she always wondered how could those educated and employed women ever take those abuses? Well, she now knew. She had unwillingly made her way into that unfortunate group of women who endured ill-treatment at the hands of their husbands. She was a smart, educated and an employed woman. Why did she ever suffer that mistreatment, she thought! It was just last night when it all happened, she pondered. She didn’t even get the time to contemplate what to do after the dust had settled. Her head rang, body ached and she was out of breath when she tried to remember what had happened before she slept last night. Did she even lie on the bed, or did she collapse on the floor? How long did she sleep? So many questions but she didn’t want the answers just now. She just wanted to lie down and not deal with her husband. Theirs was a perfect relationship, she remembered. How did they reach this ugly juncture was a question for which she didn’t have any answer and even then, what could be the reason for such a nasty fight between the two was astonishing for her.

“Open your eyes, talk to me! Please, I am really sorry! Talk to me, just once!”

The sad voice broke her chain of thoughts.

She couldn’t take it anymore. She wanted to be left alone, she didn’t want to deal with all that uneasiness just after waking up, she wanted to get back to sleep. She didn’t twitch; she didn’t even try to open her eyes or say that she didn’t want to talk. She just preyed that her husband think she is fast asleep and just leave her alone. She just needed to rest.

She did not know when she fell asleep again thinking about all that transpired. Everything was calm, there was no disturbance and she slept like a baby, for how long, neither did she remember nor did she wanted to know.

“How is she doctor?”

Anya recognized that voice, but the usual chirpiness she always loved in that voice was gone and there was just gloom in every syllable uttered.

“Mom!!!”, Anya tried to scream and open her eyes but she couldn’t!

“Same as before. We told you, she is in coma, she had a really bad concussion, I am really confused how could she trip and hurt her head so bad. You need to give a patient time in these cases, nothing can be said, her brain is functioning but she needs time to come out of this state. How long, even we as doctors can’t predict that.”

That must be the doctor, Anya thought.

“I did not trip, Ma. My husband shoved me!”, Anya tried to shout.

Not a muscle moved, she laid there on the hospital bed motionless. She just heard the voices around her. She couldn’t do anything. She heard her husband tell her mom how he heard her fall in the bedroom and she has been like that ever since.

“You cowardly lying piece of shit!”, Anya tried but the scream echoed in her head.

She thought about how long ago all that happened, she tried to think about that night but she was tired again. She was done. She slowly embraced the comfort of deep sleep; it helped her shield from the ocean of those sad voices transversing around her. All she could do was to hear them talk and then think about what happened. She slept again, thinking about all of that.

“Anya? Anya!”

“Wake up, please!”

“Anya!”

The voices were gloomy but distant, Anya did not wake up. She slept like a baby. The voices did not bother her. She was happy now. She felt safe in her deep sleep.

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