The room was eerily silent as Ishan entered. The officer, whose badge read Shardul Thakur, kindly offered him a coffee, which he politely declined. So, he sat in a chair with a bottle of water, waiting for Ravi.
It felt like hours, but maybe it only took 10 minutes. He could hear some shuffling and footsteps approaching the room, and he was very scared to see who would accompany him. The door opened, and in walked Hardik, along with another officer whom he didn't recognize, but he quickly glanced at the badge, 'M. Siraj'. Hmm, that seemed nice.
Ravi slowly shuffled into the room with his hands cuffed. He seemed normal, but something seemed off. There was clear uneasiness on his face due to his sudden change of environment, but Ishan wasn't convinced. He should have brought Rishabh or Dhruv with him. Or not! He could definitely handle himself! Last time, he could escape because Rishabh thankfully volunteered to talk to him, but this time he had to go in because how else was he going to prepare the notes? He liked it that way.
Hardik and the other officer were about to leave them, but then Ishan told them to uncuff him because he wanted to talk to him freely. Hardik looked at him with raised eyebrows, but Ishan silently told him it would be all right. Hardik wasn't happy, but he would deal with him later, Ishan thought. Finally, they both went to stand outside the room.
Ravi was someone you would see in your neighbourhood. His description perfectly reflected his appearance too. A young man in his mid-30s, a pujari, a father, a husband. But how did he end up here out of all places? There were a lot of questions spiralling in his head, so Ishan gently started his talk. "I know this must all be confusing and scary, but you have to be very honest with me and answer every question I ask with the utmost sincerity. Only then can I help you. We are with you, so please trust us."
Ishan still got that very unsettling feeling that worsened when Ravi started smiling, which turned really scary after a few moments.
"Are you all right, Mr. Jadeja? Do you want some water?" Ugh, wrong question, but he couldn't think straight now.
"Jaddu, you can call me that." He said that with a much better, calmer smile.
Still unsure, but he decided to think about it later. "So, Jaddu bhai, I hope I can call you that?" Jaddu nodded. "I will introduce myself first. So my name is Ishan Kishan, and I'm going to be your defence lawyer along with Adv. Rishabh, I guess you guys met earlier." Again, he nodded. "I have been handed over this case by Adv. Rohit Sharma, who is one of the most renowned Supreme Court defence lawyers, and I'm his junior. Just the background things, I believe you might have heard, but I just want to make sure you know all of it, right?"
Ishan continued, "Let's start from the beginning, shall we? Whatever the police have forced you to say is available in this file. This is not what I need. What I need is the story from the beginning. From the earliest memory of your life."
Ravi sighed as he slouched in the chair. He was silent for a whole minute before starting, "I was very active as a child. My mum used to always follow me around with a stick to pull me out of all troubles. My Nihu is exactly like me. I have always told Rivaba Janu that, but she never believed me. After all, everything changed that day."
Suddenly, Jaddu was sweating profusely and looking like he might pass out. Panicked, Ishan suddenly called out, "Hardik bhaiya, please come in quickly! Jaddu is not well!"
Hearing Ishan's screams, Hardik and Siraj rushed in. What they saw was a paralyzed Ravi just about to fall off the chair, but thanks to Ishan, he was barely hanging on. "I really don't know what happened, bhaiya, I swear! We were just talking, and suddenly he was unwell," Hardik managed to pick him up and slowly lie him down on the floor. After sprinkling some water on his face, Ravi was slowly coming back to his senses, but then he started screaming and crying, "Hare Krishna! Why am I here? Who are you all? Please let me go, my little Nihu and Rivaba Jaanu will be all alone in our home. I need to return now! Please let me go, I haven't done anything wrong!"
By that time, the doctor had arrived as Siraj called him when they heard the screams. The doctor injected some sedatives and he slowly calmed down.
"Siraj, please take him back to the cell. I have to talk to Ishan, privately."
Siraj nodded, and with the help of the doctor, they took Ravi and left the room.
"Ishu baby, are you all right?" Ishan was frozen to his place, taking in everything that was happening around him. What surprised him was that Harry bhaiya was being weirdly calm about everything here. What are they not telling everyone? Is this the reason there are some mismatches in the evidence? He didn't know what to do now.
"Let's go out to get some air, shall we?" Hardik pushed him out of the room to outside the building before he could say anything. They walked towards his SUV, and then Hardik continued,
"The room wasn't exactly soundproof, as we said it was."
Ishan sent a confused look. "Baby, I know I shouldn't be saying this, but you need to know some higher officials have a certain interest in this case. Some of the medical reports prepared by Dr. Rodrigues were edited before being presented in court."
"Does Shubman know about this? How is he saying yes to all this?"
"Not exactly. He doesn't know many of the insider things happening here. He is sadly being dragged into big trouble actually. I got to know all this the day before yesterday, after the trial."
"Bhaiya, then why are you telling me this instead of him? I am sure he is very talented at solving it! Well, that was the main reason we had to part ways too, you know that right, bhaiya?"
"I think only you can save him from this, Ishu! I am not sure of what is happening yet completely, but please believe me, okay? I will let you know some of the details tomorrow. I have to connect with someone from the headquarters."
"Yes, I trust you, Bhaiya! But I need some time to think about everything. I'll call you."
"No, we can meet at your place tomorrow afternoon. It is not safe to talk on the phone at this moment. Don't let anyone know about our meetings too, okay?"
"Yes, bhaiya," and then Ishan enters the car after hugging Hardik. It felt so good to finally be in his arms after so long that his eyes got a bit misty. After putting on his seatbelt, Hardik said, "I know you will make wise decisions only. Take care, Baby, I'll see you tomorrow." Ishan nodded and left the premises.
"Why is Harry bhai talking to that traitor? Hasn't he got enough of all his lies and deceit?" fumed Shubman.
"Yaa, I was thinking the same," quipped Shreyas.
"He had asked me to leave them for some private conversation; otherwise, I could have known what they were talking about," sighed Siraj. All three of them were standing at the window facing the car park where Hardik and Ishan were having a conversation. It was a bit far away, so they couldn't hear any of the conversations.
Hardik knew they were being watched, so he finally gave him a hug that he surely knew would irritate their watchers, but wasn't that fun? So, he stood there smiling to himself for a minute longer before going back into the building.
A/N: I am soo happy to see India continuing their winning streak! Jaddu is shining with both bat and ball, and Yashvi bby is smashing it too! I'm still not over Shubi's very unfortunate run out, but he was phenomenal too! So elegant and patient. I'm manifesting a double century for the next game! So until next time! Bye meine liebe ♥
