A motorbike rider dressed in full leather outfit and helmet, rammed through the opening in the barricade towards the stage, and shot at Pratap Chaudhary with a revolver.
ACP Ajay Singh Rathore chased the bike rider on his motorbike, hell bent on cat...
Ammu wrapped her arms around Saroj's waist and buried her face in her saree pallu. Somehow it felt like a safe place, just like when she would hide under Vasu Maa's saree pallu, all those years ago.
"Maasi how do you cope with this, day in day out? Where do you get all the strength from?" Amrita choked.
"I sincerely don't know beti. I pray... sometimes it helps. But each one to his or her own. You must find that strength within yourself somehow." She continued to pat her head gently.
Saroj looked at Shyam and Sonali who were both looking close to tears too.
"Shyam Beta, how are you feeling? Are you OK? It must have been terrible to see your friend getting shot like that. It must have been dangerous even for you." She extended her other hand and cupped his cheek gently.
"It was terrible, I would never forget that moment in my life. I was behind Ajay and Nitin so nothing happened to me but seeing them both go down like that..." Shyam shivered slightly and Sonali hugged him tightly from the side.
"You know I always used to lament the fact that I have only one son, but then Ajay came into our lives and now all of you. I am so lucky to have such wonderful kids." Saroj looked lovingly at all of them, as Sonali got up and hugged her from behind.
"This one, she is so mature for her age, really. She knew about these two since the wedding but she kept it all inside her." Saroj pulled Sonali's cheek affectionately.
Just then a team of doctors walked towards them.
Saroj rushed towards them and asked anxiously.
"How are my sons doctor?"
"They both are your sons?" One of the younger doctors asked in surprise.
The Senior Doctor, Kothari was observing her keenly.
Just then Anita and Mukesh returned and Anita greeted Dr Kothari respectfully.
'Please Come in here', he led everyone into a doctors surgery room next door, and put up the X rays against the illuminated board.
He looked at the patient charts in his hand and addressed Saroj.
"Mrs Saxena, the patient Nitin Varma is quite stable now after the operation. We have removed the bullet but he has lost a lot of blood. He will be kept under observation for few more hours. The Doctors will let you know later in the night, if it is OK for you all to see him."
"The other patient Ajay... " Amrita's breath hitched as she listened with thundering heart.
"His vitals have finally started showing stability, so we will be able to operate him by tonight. As you can see here, the bullet has struck at a very delicate part and a weird angle near his spinal cord, between C2 and C3 and he had quite a bit of swelling too. I understand the bullet hit him on a rebound from handcuffs of another victim,' Dr Kothari referred to his notes again and continued. 'Now the swelling had come down and we can operate him. It is a delicate and long operation because most critical nerves reside there. So we will take every precaution to see that it is carried out as safely and successfully. Unfortunately you can't see him till the operation is completed." Dr Kothari explained.
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