The hidden truth.
The door to THE cabin is ajar, standing infront of the door are two boys, whose eyes are fixed inside the cabin. Both of them seem to be in their mid twenties and both display a pale face, that mirrors Zoya's, as all of their eyes display an otherworldly kind of horror, as if they have just seen a ghost. Nihal remembers these two guys from Ashray, they are also Vasudha's friends. But the realization that all of them are seeing inside with the same horror just increases Nihal's heartbeat. He immediately turns behind him out of instinct and finds Vasudha slowly walking towards them with a face filled with guilt. She feels guilty for making her friends go through so much pain. Nihal, however, doesn't waste a millisecond.
"Vasudha, I want you to go and wait inside my chamber, please?" He urges, feeling desperate all of a sudden.
"I will. I just need ten minutes. I just need a closure. All of them are here Nihal. They were my everything for such a long time. If I made them go through this situation, they should atleast see that I am safe and unharmed. They are worried. I am begging you to give me this ten minutes, please." Vasudha pleads.
"I would have loved to give you that chance, but trust me this is not the right time Vasudha. Danuj isn't here. If he ever finds out what took place today, you have no idea what can happen. I told you back then, I can show the good side of him but even I find it frightening to confront the evil inside of him. He loses his mind. He has seen so much that his emotions split into two halves, giving birth to this monster that everyone is scared of. Just listen to me for this once, I...." Nihal fails to complete his words as another male voice interrupts him from behind.
" And you.. you will be able to keep it a secret for another decade or even more than that." Abhirup's voice booms from behind. Turning around Nihal comes face to face with one of the guys. He is tall like him, has short dark hair. His hazel eyes look directly into his. He is brave, that much Nihal understands.
"What secret are you talking about?" Nihal asks, having this unnecessary gut feeling that after today things are gonna change drastically.
"The secret that you and your precious friend did that horrible thing to Abhay da." Abhirup answers through gritted teeth.
"Abhay who? Who are you talking about? The patient inside isn't...." Nihal fails to complete his sentence once again as he hears her utter a word that kicks him right into his stomach.
"Dada....?!" Vasudha's trembling voice utters. Abhirup finally meets her eyes and his heart breaks to tell her what he just saw inside that cabin but he knows that he has to.
"Sudha.. You need to see this." Abhirup urges her to follow him but not before glaring at Nihal, who stands at his spot for another one minute. Frozen.
"Who is Abhay? The guy inside the cabin is Amit, Amit Nandy. That's what the data says, that's what Dan calls him. What's happening?"
He thinks to himself.
Vasudha's legs slowly move towards the cabin Abhirup is taking her. The closer she gets to the cabin the more her mind drifts off to the old and treasured memories of her family, of her brother.
How he would fight for the bigger piece of fish at the beginning but end up feeding her the same happily. How she would need to wake him by splashing water on his face most of the days but still he would braid her hair before she left for her school. How, even in his most grumpy mood, he would manage to give her that one strained but genuine smile or how whenever she felt sad about anything he would stand infront of her patting her head, silently assuring her that they will fight against everything together. He has been the strongest pillar of her life after their mother passed away. He is the one person who stood against anything and everything that's wrong without thinking twice, she learnt it from him. He always taught her,
"If you need to fight to achieve something necessary for the people who are really in need, don't waste your time thinking on it Sudha, just do it. That would leave you with a satisfying experience. There are so many people out there Sudha, they don't get enough food, a proper place to stay, necessary clothing. And we get to eat, sleep and live our daily lives like nothing is happening around us. If all of us behave this way, there will be nothing left for those underprivileged people. You can not help hundreds of people at once but you can always begin with one. I believe that 'one' has the power to turn into 'one thousand' if you keep on doing it."
Abhayendra Roy was like a walking idol for her. A person who always placed others before him. Who would have happily chosen death over someone else's suffering. She has always been a proud sister.
Her feet pauses right infront of the cabin as she gulps while slowly raising her head to look at what is lying right infront of her eyes. And she sees him, Abhay, her brother, lying on a clean white bed, without any movements. It doesn't take her another second to understand that he is sick and is probably in coma. Her face remains expressionless as she forcefully gulps down the tears that are threatening to pour out of her eyes. Her legs start moving towards the bed, very, very slowly, suddenly nothing around her is visible anymore, not even the machines that are relentlessly releasing the beeping sound. She only sees him, lying on the bed. He has lost weight, his skin looks pale and dry, his hair has been trimmed to the shortest length possible. He would've hated it if only he had his usual consciousness. His light brown eyes are open, they look just like hers and are fixed at the ceiling. He probably doesn't even sense her standing right beside him.
Her hand slowly moves towards his heart as she places it on his chest. She feels his heart beating rapidly. She again fights back a sob, that burns her throat. Inhaling sharply she turns her head towards his face and looks into his eyes.
"L-long time no see Abhayendra Roy. You can be grounded for this. I hope you already know that." Her lips tremble as her breathing becomes heavier.
"I think you've slept a lot. It's time to wake up dada and trust me I have grown old enough to splash water on your face. So stop this and wake up as early as possible. We'll go back to home, I'll cook for you and baba. And this time whatever you want. Don't you wanna smell the "smell of home" this time. It's the longest you've stayed outside. Also, people at Ashroy miss you a lot. We had to fight a lot to keep them safe and together. You were nowhere to be found. Most of all, I.... I need you to wake up. I need my intolerable brother back. Please wake up dada." Her voice cracks but she still fights the tears.
On the other hand, Nihal stands at the wall opposite to the bed. His eyes fixed at Vasudha as he listens to every single word she utters. His eyes turn glassy as a weird pain settles inside his chest.
"How could he do this to her? How could Danuj hide such a huge truth from Vasudha? How could he hide it from him out of all people?" He thinks to himself. Then another voice startles him.
"Do you have any answers for this Mr. Deshpande?" Mihir's asks clenching his jaw. Nihal remains silent, he feels ashamed. His eyes remain fixed at Vasudha.
"What has gotten into you sir? Don't act as if you had no idea about what happened to Abhay da? And if you don't explain easily we have other ways to get the answers from you." Abhirup says controlling his anger as Nihal finally looks at him, still under a trance, he remains silent. That's when Zoya's eyes fall on him and she remembers the phone call she overheard. She remembers him asking about what is Danuj hiding from him. Does that mean this guy actually doesn't know the man he is supposedly treating? Does he not know Abhay's true identity?
"Seems like he has been fooled by his own friend. I pity you Dr. Deshpande." She says looking unapologetically at him. That's when Nihal begins.
"Amit Nandy, that's what our records tell me. He has a sister named Su...." He stops, as if he just got to connect the dots and his eyes widen at the realization.
"What name?" Abhirup asks.
"S-Sudha.. it's Sudha Nandy. Oh God!" Nihal says as he rakes his fingers through his hair.
"Whatever,we'll take him back to some place else. Give us his treatment details." Zoya says.
"No, no, no.. don't do that. He is showing symptoms, good ones, for the last few weeks. Look at him now, his eyes are open. Mostly they stay closed, but they started openning sometimes just like today, perhaps because of reflexes, you were breaking the lock, it might have made some sound, who knows he might have opened his eyes due to the impact. He is still under this vegetative state, but I never lost hope,I see him trying every day. He needs to be under regular supervision and.." Nihal gets interpreted.
"And trust me I can do that." Ganika's voice booms from the entrance.
"It's not like that. I have been doing it for so many months, I know his symptoms like the back of my hand, I can help him. Please, please let me do that much." Nihal pleads.
"I think after what your friend has done to him, we'll rather go to the police than trust anyone of you anymore. So we are taking him, there is no place for arguments." Zoya says and Nihal hangs his head down in defeat. They are right after all.
That's when Sudha's back straightens.
"Zoya, take everyone outside for some minutes." She says.
"But Sudha, losing so much time here might make this even more difficult for us." Zoya says when Sudha raises her hand to stop her from saying anymore as her eyes remain fixed to Nihal's.
"I need some time alone Zoya, I need some time alone with both of my brothers." She says confidently, surprising all of them but mostly Nihal. Who eventually fails to control the drop of tear that freely trails down his cheek at the realization that she meant him.
_________________________________________
If you like my story feel free to Vote, Comment, Follow and Share.
Love, Puja. 💜