BALI 100 KM (Book 1) ✔

Chapter 57

Miss Sakhi's departure left Bandu in deep thoughts, and as such, he failed to notice another visitor standing in front of him. It was the only person who never failed to startle him.

"I am sure you are having some lovely romantic thoughts right now after such a pretty woman came to meet you," he said and chuckled, embarrassing Bandu further.

"No, no, it's nothing like that, Mr. Rajput," he was quick to deny it and forced a smile, but her perfume still lingered in the air, and it muddled his brains.

Mr. Rajput sat down on the chair vacated by Miss Sakhi and took stock of the surrounding.

"How are you feeling now, Bandu?" he inquired on a serious note.

"Much better now. At least I can now move my injured shoulder slightly without much pain. I guess the pain killers are doing their work," Bandu replied, "Does it still hurt too much." Bandu asked, pointing to Mr. Rajput's forehead.

"Oh, this...nothing to worry...it's healing quickly. The doctor nonetheless insists on dressing it every day, so, had shown up and also wanted to see you," he stressed and smiled but got serious again. "You had a close call, my friend. I was terrified for you that day. I felt helpless at not protecting both of you," he confessed sadly.

"You did more than protect me, Mr. Rajput. You saved my life. Hadn't you diverted the direction of the gun, I would surely have been dead. I really have no words other than a thank you to express my gratitude."

"I also wanted to ask you to forgive me...," Bandu said hesitatingly.

"Forgive you for what, Bandu?" Mr. Rajput asked, surprised.

"For suspecting your intentions towards me," he said with guilt and looked at Mr. Rajput, whose expression dulled at that comment, "I mistook you to be Miss Sakhi's brother, so when I passed this information to Comm. Seth, he told me that she did not have any siblings, and he cautioned me against you," Bandu explained.

"You should have asked me about it in that case. The real misunderstanding came about because we shared the second names. I don't blame you for that." He said, smiling once again, and Bandu felt light again.

"I would have asked you about it had we met again. But after our brief interaction at the hospital in Goriyon, you, sort of, disappeared altogether. Then you turned up at the shop recently and left abruptly without even saying goodbye. Where were you all this time?" Bandu implored.

I was called back to duty, leaving my sister under the care of a friend and his family. When I returned, the special team had taken over your case. I learned about the attack on you and came to the shop that day to talk to you, but recognized the police constable in disguise and left since I didn't want to fall under their scanner," Mr. Rajput disclosed.

"But...How did you reach me in the kidnapper's hideout?!" he asked in earnest curiosity. "I had no hope that even the police would reach me there. The goons very cleverly fooled me out of the bus before the scheduled stop and kidnapped me," his face flushed with shame, putting a grin on Mr. Rajput.

"I came to know of Miss Sakhi's kidnapping and that you were the ransom for her release. I hoped to reach the police station in time to stop you from going. I had an idea,"

"What was that?"

"To switch me with you, but...blast the traffic...I was late. To my dismay, you boarded the bus when I reached and decided to follow you instead of in my bike,"

"But...I did not see you when I got off the bus,"

"I was following at a distance to keep myself hidden from the kidnappers," he replied to that, "I followed you until the terrain went downhill and bumpy. Knowing how dangerous such terrains could be in the dark, I decided to follow on foot. It was quite a distance to their hideout and feared I had lost you," he mentioned.

"I am glad that you could not stop me. I would not have allowed you to take my place anyways,"

"Well I came anyhow, didn't I? I have received tough training in the army to face any situation. I have never been complacent on any of my missions, but this time I was. You can say to err, is human, which I made too, as a result, was caught off guard and received a bump on my head. But I was not one to give up easily and fought them till they overpowered me," he narrated, 

"Well, no damage done in the end," he concluded.

"Your presence of mind saved the day. Thank you once again. How is your sister? Why is she still in the hospital?" Bandu asked and heard a deep sigh at that question.

"My sister is paralyzed from neck down. She is my only sibling and younger than me. We have no one but each other in this world," he said softly, "She is still in a vulnerable stage as her spinal injuries are still in the healing process. A heartless betrayal was the cause of her misery. Her so-called boyfriend only befriended her to get hold of Miss Sakhi's research," His fist clenched, drawing out the veins in his arms.

"Why did you not have him arrested before this time?" Bandu wondered.

"Because Bandu, I did not know his identity until that fateful day when he shot at you," he replied.

"Oh, your sister did not mention to you about him before her accident then,"

"Right, The police called me one day to inform me that my sister has had a fatal accident and is in a critical stage. I took leave and came down here to find her half dead. She was not able to talk. It was only after six months that she could recognize me and speak coherently. She told me everything. I was distraught hearing her story. I wanted revenge for her and decided to teach him a lesson he would never forget. I was furious," he said with anguish.