It was a typical busy evening at Shushrusha Hospital. People who had near and dear ones admitted were tensely waiting for them to recover.
Suddenly the hospital environment changed for few moments as they saw a familiar gorgeous female walk in briskly. She looked much prettier than people had seen her on TV…
Some of them rushed to her with pens & whatever scraps of paper they could find… she simply smiled & brushed their need of her autograph.
One could find a sense of urgency and care that she had on her face.
She walked in to the counter where the counter girl gave her the direction to the ward…
As she got into the slow elevator of the hospital, she slowly put her hands together and prayed. The elevator door opened facing a long lobby with arrows marking VIP wards either way.
She looked at the ward map and took sharp left turn & tensely started walking down the aisle. She had hardly crossed few yards when a stick prohibited her from going further…
She looked at the policeman who held the stick. He simply waived her to the ward on her left.
As she entered the ward, she quickly recognised the tall frame of Inspector Sharma of Special Investigation Branch, CBI. The lady cop next to him quickly grabbed her designer handbag and started emptying contents on the table.
She put on her best professional smile that the world was crazy about & in her sweet intonated voice said, “Good Evening! Inspector”
Inspector Sharma turned around and smugly replied “We don’t want any news reporters here for the moment. Especially if it is ‘Alisha Fire’…” he added, “As such I’ve already been under pressure to get to bottom of this affair & I don’t want any noisy press people asking questions and putting words in the subject’s mouth…”
The lady cop turned towards him, “No hidden cameras or recorders, Sir” she said in her monotonous voice.
He looked at her & then turned back, “Welcome, Miss Alisha Fire” and looked sarcastically astonished, “What is Miss Alisha Fire doing here at this hour without her reporting gear and hidden camera?”
Alisha put her professional smile and attitude aside asked in a concerned voice “How is he?”
Inspector Sharma shook his head and gravely said, “To be honest, doctors are working hard to save him and I’m keeping my fingers crossed…”
He could see Alisha’s eyes turning moist & asked “Sir, may I see him?”
“I am surprised. A strong personality like you who is known as Alisha Fire can actually feel the pain & your eyes can be moist…. That’s not you, Alisha… C’mon, let the cat out of your bag… why are you here?”
Alisha sank in the chair next to her and he could see the concern in her eyes as well as she was desperate to see ‘The Subject’…
“What you know Inspector Sharma is my professional side. Do you know that I too am a human and have friends and relatives just as you do… can me not visit to see a special someone who is admitted here and who the doctors are trying to save from death?”
Even as Inspector Sharma opened his mouth to comment, the ward door opened & the doctor stepped in “Inspector Sharma. The operation is successful. One more time, we have been able to successfully remove more than 5 bullets from his body. He should be regaining consciousness any moment. What sort of criminal is he?”
“He is not a criminal” Alisha flared up and the doctor looked at her, his mouth agape. He never had expected the famous Alisha Fire to be there, “He is not a criminal” Alisha repeated in a softer tone.
Inspector Sharma nodded, “Yes doctor – He is not a criminal. He is the one who is hounded by criminals and unfortunately again even this time, I was late to reach out to help & protect him. When can I see him?”
“He should regain consciousness any moment however he is weak due to heavy loss of blood. We expect him to recover & send him home in about a month’s time provided no other complications occur.” doctor replied.
“Doctor … May I please see him” Alisha pleaded.
“You first need to tell me everything you know. Only then I’ll permit you to see him.” Inspector Sharma interrupted her.
“Inspector Sharma… Please be human.” she implored “I’ll tell you, rather we both will tell you everything, but, please let him recover. I promise I won’t say a word till you interrogate him.”
Inspector Sharma looked at her for a moment and thought and decided she was being honest, “Ok! But remember your promise…”
They all left with the doctor to see the patient…
They entered the ward and Alisha looked at ‘The Subject’ for a moment and sank to her knees. She was sobbing uncontrolled and could manage few gasps as she tried to speak.
“Chaits… Chaits! Please wake up.” she gasped choking between her tears, “You could have told me. I’d have come with you and at least saved you by presenting me as the target to those bullets… wake up, please…”
The lady cop gently helped Alisha to the chair next to his bed.
Chaitanya who was known as Chaits to his friends lay unconscious. He did not even know how many bullets had been fished out of his body.
Inspector Sharma looked at the doctor who just crossed his fingers and said “Any moment now, he should regain his consciousness…” then looked at Inspector Sharma “Just one request Inspector, please do not interrogate him now… He is in a critical condition.” Inspector Sharma nodded his approval. “He is absolutely weak and needs to recover before he speaks. I’ll personally inform you when he reaches that condition” doctor added.
They kept waiting and watching Alisha wipe the sweat of Chaitanya’s forehead in concern…
Few hours may have passed and the nurse broke the silence “I think he’s coming around doctor…”
Everyone peered at him with expectation. His fingers moved then his head turned and slowly he opened his eyes. He saw Alisha, her sobbing face full of concern. He tried to smile to reassure her but just managed to groan. The light was too blinding: He closed his eyes again.
After sometime, he tried again and saw Alisha, her soothing hand on his forehead. Then his eyes rolled on trying to understand where he was and realized he was in hospital.
He saw the nurse, the doctor and finally his eyes rested on Inspector Sharma who managed a stiff smile. He was not able to concentrate.
He rolled back his eyes and stared at the ceiling and saw Pinky peeping from the ceiling, her beautiful hair flowing, smiling at him… He tried to say something but she just put her fingers to her lips and gestured him to take rest.
He could see tears in Pinky’s eyes. She waived him Bye and disappeared into the ceiling. And he again slipped back into unconscious delirium thinking of all that had happened…
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