Feyza Duman
"Babe, your phone is ringing."
"I'm busy right now. Whoever it is can call back later." I laughed, about to go back to kissing right where we left off, but when the phone rang again and Atlas pulled back, I looked at him unhappily.
"I think you should check it. It might be important."
"It better be."
I slipped out of my boyfriend's arms and reached for the phone on the nightstand, barely catching it before the call ended.
"Duru, I'm in the middle of a romantic night. If it's not urgent…"
"It's Rüzgar."
"Rüzgar?" I covered the speaker with my hand and cursed, then uncovered it and continued. "Why are you calling from Duru's phone? Did something happen? Is Duru okay?"
"No, she's sick! I'm at her place. How soon can you get here?"
"I'll be there in ten minutes."
I hung up and jumped out of bed in a rush, heading for the closet without even bothering with the clothes on the floor.
"Feyza, what's wrong?"
"Duru got sick." While I was throwing on the first T-shirt and pants I could find, Atlas got up and started dressing too.
"I'll take you."
"That'd be great, babe. Thanks."
I grabbed my bag and ran down the stairs, trying to put my coat on at the same time. Atlas caught up and handed me my keys, and I looked at him gratefully. In my panic, neither the keys nor locking the door had even crossed my mind, obviously.
"Who's Rüzgar?" The moment he asked that unexpected question in the car, I blanked for a second, then forced myself to recover quickly.
"A friend from school."
He nodded and didn't say anything else, so neither did I.
Five minutes later, when we pulled up in front of the building, I had never been happier to be sitting so close to someone. Not only because I wanted to reach Duru as fast as possible, but also because I wanted the tension from that question to disappear.
"See you, sweetheart." I leaned in to kiss him goodbye, but he grabbed my arm and I turned to him tensely.
"Do you want me to wait? You might have to take her to the hospital."
What had I done to deserve a man like this?
"No need, go home, babe. Duru won't go to the hospital." I smiled, sealed my goodbye with a longer kiss, and got out of the car.
When I rang the bell, the door opened quickly. I stepped inside, taking my coat off while looking around. I expected Kerem to be here too, but only seeing Rüzgar felt strange. Still, I couldn't focus on that right then.
I kicked off my shoes and hurried to my friend, who was lying in bed. I sat on the edge and the moment my hand touched her forehead, I turned to Rüzgar in alarm. She was much worse than I'd thought, and from the look on Rüzgar's face, he agreed.
"You have to get her into the shower immediately. That's what the doctor said." I nodded and turned back to Duru.
"Duru. Wake up, honey." She opened her eyes a sliver, then shut them again, so this time I shook her arm. "Come on, babe, we need to bring your fever down."
She stared at me for a second or two, then said, "Feyza?" and her voice sounded even worse than her face looked.
"Yes, it's me sweetheart."
Instead of wasting time, I turned around. "I don't think she can stand, Rüzgar. Help me, let's take her to the bathroom."
When he picked Duru up, I went ahead and closed the toilet lid. "Sit her here."
He did, and I supported her so she wouldn't fall. Before I left, I called out to Rüzgar. "Can you change her sheets? They're in the bottom drawer of the dresser."
He nodded and closed the door behind him.
I quickly took off what Duru was wearing. With difficulty, I helped her stand and got her into the shower cabin. She was in no state to stay upright, so I had to sit her down on the floor. I turned on the water and set it to a lukewarm temperature, close to cool.
When I held the shower head over her, she flinched and tried to pull away, but I kept her in place with all my strength.
"It's so cold. I'm freezing."
"I know, honey. Just hang on a little longer."
"Please. Let's get out."
"Almost done, sweetheart." She was gripping my arm so tightly that I was more bothered by her pain than my own.
While I tried to make sure I'd run water over her enough, I couldn't help wondering what she'd done to get this sick. But what I wondered even more was why her so-called boyfriend wasn't here, and her friend was.
When I decided we'd waited long enough, I turned off the water. I grabbed the bathrobe hanging on the hook, got her up, and helped her put it on.
She looked like she could walk with support. When we returned to the bedroom, Rüzgar called from the doorway.
"I'm going to buy medicine. If you need anything else, call me. My number is saved in Duru's phone."
"Okay."
After he left, I immediately searched the drawers for something light that wouldn't make her fever worse and went back to her. I dressed her, laid her down again, and headed into the kitchen.
I filled a wide bowl with cold water, grabbed a few small hand towels, and returned to her.
She was mumbling to herself, sounding more like she was angry than anything. When I got closer and her words became clearer, I started laughing.
Even half-unconscious, she was cursing Kerem in a very unflattering way, which explained perfectly why Rüzgar was here instead of Kerem.
Because of my dad's urgent request to meet, I'd left the restaurant shortly after Duru went out for air, so I didn't know exactly what happened. I'd only gotten a message from Aylin near midnight saying they'd made up. But apparently they'd fought again.
I had never seen Duru argue with someone like this. Unlike Aylin and me, with our aggressive temperaments, my sweet friend was usually cheerful, accommodating, and smiling. I honestly wanted to know what he'd done to push her this far.
When the doorbell rang, I left the wet towel on her forehead and stood up.
Rüzgar couldn't possibly be back that fast, so it had to be someone else. But at two in the morning, there weren't many people who could show up at Duru's.