After ransacking the entire living room, I finally found it. A bunch of medicines kept in a transparent plastic box labelled 'Medicine.'
I opened the box and searched for some paracetamol. It had expired last May. I searched for alternatives and found that only some lozenges were not expired.
Taking no risk, I quickly boiled up some water and took some kitchen rags from the kitchen table. After warming the water enough, I took them to Siddharth's room and placed them on his bedside table.
When I entered inside his room, I found his clothes scattered all over the floor, and he had changed into his pyjamas and had mummified himself with the blanket. He kept squirming inside it, probably feeling uncomfortable with the sweat dripping. I took one of the rags and soaked it, squeezed it, and placed it on his forehead.
When Siddharth realised that there was a cloth over his forehead, he stopped moving in his blanket and opened his eyes, looking for me.
"Jui, you're here. Can you clean my mess, please?" Siddharth said deliriously.
"I'll clean up. Don't worry. Sleep and wait for me. I'll be back quickly. Don't move too much, ok?" I soothed him.
Siddharth nodded and closed his eyes as his eyelashes felt heavy for him to keep his eyes open.
I went to the kitchen and started looking for condiments and vegetables. Instead, I found nothing other than some instant noodles and leftover pizza in the refrigerator.
I searched for my benefactors in my phone. Instant delivery apps and their delivery men. I quickly ordered half a kilo of rice, a small packet of turmeric powder, and garam masala[1]. After searching the kitchen a bit more, I found some olive oil and some spices stashed away in small glass jars in the cabinet, so I didn't order them.
I then proceeded to buy some paracetamol, some digestives, some ORS sachets, and some bandaids that were expired.
I changed the address to Siddharth's PG and waited for the delivery men to ring the doorbell. I took the expired medicines and threw them in the dustbin and cleaned up Siddharth's room.
Then, I took the rag and again soaked it, squeezed it, and placed it on his forehead.
Suddenly, I heard the door getting unlocked using a key. Carefully, I peeked out from Siddharth's room to check who entered.
And lo and behold, it was the vice head, drenched and complaining about the rain.
"I swear, did the rain have no other plans today other than giving a downpour, and did my umbrella have no other time to break other than in the middle of the rain? Wait a minute, what are these? Women's shoes! Did Siddharth bring someone? Jaya?" Lalith started to look for the woman in question.
So, Siddharth's roommate was Lalith. No wonder why I never found him present in the apartment whenever I came here.
"It's me. Jasmine." I came out of Siddharth's room.
"Oh, Jasmine. Hi. What a pleasant surprise! What are you doing here?" Lalith said.
"Well, Siddharth is sick, so I came to drop him off and take care of him. Do you know where the thermometer is? I have been searching for it." I said.
"What! Sid is sick. I told him countless numbers of times last night to sit on the carpet. Wait, I do know where the thermometer is. I'll give it to you." Lalith said as he searched for the thermometer in the drawers of the living room table.
After finding it, he handed it to me. "There you go. Take it. We have almost nothing in this apartment for a sick person other than some tea."
"It's ok. I ordered some rice and spices to make some porridge." I said and opened the app to check the delivery man's location. He was five minutes away from delivering.
"The delivery man will be here soon. Could you take them for me?" I asked as I headed for Siddharth's room again.
"Sure." Lalith took a towel and started to wipe his wet hair. "Just let me know what's there in the order."
"Half a kilo of rice, a small packet of turmeric powder, and garam masala. Also, two paracetamol sheets, one digestive tablet sheet, three ORS sachets, and three Band-Aid rolls." I said while shaking the thermometer and placing it in Siddarth's right armpit.
"Ok." Lalith said as he headed for his room to change from the drenched clothes to much fresher and warmer clothes.
Siddharth's fever turned out to be 100.1 degrees Fahrenheit. I took his icy cold hands and started rubbing them to make them warm. Then, I looked for his socks, and after rubbing them for some time, I covered his feet with the socks I found.
The bell rang, and Lalith took the list of items and segregated them from each other. He put the medicines into the box and kept the rest on the kitchen table. After yet again soaking the rag, squeezing it, and placing it on his forehead, I left Siddharth's room and headed for the kitchen. Lalith was wearing baby blue coloured pyjamas and a cream-coloured sweater that suspiciously looked like he made it himself.
"Wanna help?" I asked as I took out the small pressure cooker I found while searching for spices.
"Sure." Lalith said and opened the newly bought rice packet, taking a small bowl to measure the amount to take.
[1] The masala gives the signature curry smell and taste that everyone talks about when it comes to Indian food. It's a mixture of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, green and black cardamom pods, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. These spices are typically roasted and then ground into a powder, which is then added to dishes. To season the oil, Indians use the spices used in garam masala and some mustard/coconut oil.