“Sana? Sana?” The female classmate Shehnaaz had towed across the entire Little Mirror Lake was in shock. She
screamed Shehnaaz’s name in horror, but didn’t dare return to the water. They were the last ones to reach the
shore. The classmates who arrived first heard her screams and quickly ran over. Parth, who had been waiting
anxiously on the shore, was the fastest. He shot like an arrow to the shallow end of the shore and bent over to retrieve Shehnaaz from the water.
He picked her up against his chest and stepped out of the lake.
“Lil Sis, Lil Sis? Are you ok? Don’t scare us!” Little Temptress was about to burst into tears and leapt over to take Shehnaaz from Parth. Green Tea Sharma and Lady Singh also ran over to help, and the three of them carried Shehnaaz to the only long stone bench in the straw hut on the shore.
Lady Singh sat on one end of the bench and cradled Shehnaaz’s head on her lap. She stuck her hand out to feel her breath and sighed in relief, “She’s still breathing, she probably passed out from exhaustion.”
The classmate Shehnaaz rescued muffled her mouth with joy, then starting crying with fear. They were all raised like royalty, and had never encountered such exhausting escapes for their lives. They had barely survived and couldn’t speak, but sat silently in the straw hut by the shore
to shelter from the rain and prayed someone would quickly come save them. They could hear the gunshots across the lake and see a helicopter circling in the sky, but they dared not shout for attention. Who knew how many criminals there were? And where they hid? They had just narrowly avoided the fate of becoming hostages, and did not want to attract
the wolves instead of their saviours…
The classmate hugged her knees as she sat by the straw hut door, her muffled sobbing infectious. Everyone’s eyes turned red but they could only use the back of their hands to wipe the tears. Parth half knelt in front of the stone bench and buried his face in Shehnaaz’s hand. His tears were streaming and wet her palm. Shehnaaz’s fingers twitched, she quietly moaned, “…Uncle Sid…”
Parth heard it and excitedly looked up at her to call her name, “Sana? Sana? Are you awake?”
Shehnaaz opened her eyes and only saw Parth’s concerned expression.
“…Sana, you passed out before you reached the shore and almost drowned, Class Rep saved you.” Little Temptress explained gently, not forgetting to get bonus points for Parth.
Parth recalled powerful arms carrying out her out of the water. She stared at Parth, her eyes softening.
Nothing better than rescuing her could move her lonely heart. Shehnaaz looked at Parth and her lips curved
into a smile as she quietly said, “I’m ok, just a bit tired. Don’t worry.”
“Don’t talk anymore if you’re tired, take a rest.” Lady Singh unknotted her seaweed-like long hair, so she could rest comfortably.
Shehnaaz agreed and closed her eyes. She was exhausted and needed a good rest.
…
Sidharth’s Humvee had just exited the highway. In front of them were the military vehicles of the garrison troops that had been deployed as support.
Harsh waited until the vehicles entered the area before he turned onto
the mountain road.
Deepak had been searching for signs of Shehnaaz’s and Little Rao’s locations on his electronic devices the entire time and suddenly looked up to point in a direction, “Little Rao should be nearby! He’s very close!”
Sidharth didn’t speak for a second and turned to look out the window. The night was a cloak of darkness and the
heavy rain left streaks on the glass. Outside the window, the world was a blur. Inside the Humvee, it was eerily quiet.
Everyone had the same thought, how would Mr. Shukla decide: to stop the car to save Little Rao first, or to leave him be and rush directly to Shehnaaz’s aid… In terms of of importance, Shehnaaz was higher up than Little Rao?
“Stop the car, find Little Rao.” Sidharth nodded calmly and quietly adjusted his uniform. Harsh looked at Rohit and silently hit the brakes. Deepak also glanced up at Sidharth, but couldn’t detect a sliver of change in his expression. Rohit dared not look at Sidharth’s face at all. He knew exactly how important Shehnaaz was to Sidharth, but he still decided to save
his own soldier first…
Rohit felt a conflict of emotions and his feelings of guilt increased. The car halted to a stop and he was the first
to exit and brave the rain. Rohit’s Bluetooth headset also had instant communication capabilities. Deepak’s
voice traveled through headset and guided him to Little Rao’s location. The probe in Rohit’s hand quickly beeped and in five seconds he was able to find Little Rao passed out in a ditch besides the road.
“Little Rao?” Rohit patted his cheek and felt the warmth on his face and the faint breathing from his nose.
He sighed in great relief. He carried Little Rao out of the ditch and onto his shoulders to return to the military vehicle. The Humvee was spacious inside and had three rows of seating.
The trunk was also equipped with additional seats and added one more row to make seating for 12 people.
Sidharth and Deepak were in the third row, and the second row was empty. Rohit took the unconscious Little Rao to the Humvee, while Sidharth and Deepak moved to the second seat to allow the third row to collapse, creating a makeshift cot. Little Rao laid on the cot without moving and breathed weakly.
“Take the first aid kit!” Harsh turned and flung it at Rohit, before slamming on the gas and continuing to drive forward.
Rohit took out medication from the first aid kid and immediately cleaned and dressed Little Rao’s wounds, then
injected him with anti fever and anti-inflammatory medication. He also realigned his broken arm and fixed it to a temporary plastic board. Every Special Ops soldier underwent first aid training, so it was not a challenge for the exceptionally talented Rohit.
Harsh stepped on the accelerator and the Humvee roared into the thick curtain of rain, towards the entrance of the villa. With the aid of medication, Little Rao was able to wake quickly. He opened his eyes to saw Sidharth and reflexively stood to salute him.
Sidharth waved his hand in dismissal, “You’re injured, that’s unnecessary.”
“Yes, Chief!” Little Rao flushed with emotion, half his face was swollen like a steamed bun and one eye was almost sunken in.
Rohit tidied the first aid kit to carry it and looked at Little Rao questioningly, “What about Shehnaaz? Where is she?”
Little Rao quickly explained, “I was about to report to Chief!”
He panted as he explained the situation from start to end.
As he finished, they had arrived to the totally secured entrance of the villa. The police set up blockades at the
entrance to ensure vehicles could only enter and not leave.
The incoming vehicles must have permits issued by the C City Police Headquarters or garrison. Sidharth
remained in the car, his gaze shifting to the window. The darkened glass reflected his despairingly beautiful face, frigid enough to cause palpitations. His inky eyes were
darker than the rainy night sky as he sat silently like a mountain in the Humvee. Harsh dug through the glovebox on his left side for a long time before producing a permit issued by the garrison for the policeman guarding the entrance.
The police glanced at him then looked inside the vehicle, “Who are you people? Out of the car!”
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I hope you enjoy reading it.
Love you all.