Hey guys, thank you for your votes and comments.
Continuing from the last part,
The long street was noisy with a never ending flow of cars, and the hustle and bustle of city walkers. The sun shone brightly in the lane that Karan disappeared through just a few minutes ago.
Monami decided to follow. She got out of the car.
It’s dangerous. But she will be careful. Karan is an academic. Now he is chasing after a mentally unstable killer. She can’t let him go alone.
A thought came to her mind as she passed through the crowd -
Even though he keeps saying the physical work should be left to the police, every time when he is face to face with the suspects, or saw someone in danger, he would rush to help. He knocked Saurabh unconscious with a stick, ran over to rescue the boy held captive by Reshma. And this.
Arrogant, but firm in his beliefs.
Karan, please stay safe.
She was about go into the lane, when a few officers appeared. Monami was relieved. One of the taller officers blocked Monami: “Stay here.” Then he and three other officers hurried into the narrow lane.
Monami anxiously looked in. Behind her, a lot of pedestrians were gathering. It’s too far away for Monami to see exactly what was happening. The police officers were blocking her view. She can vaguely work out there’s lot of movements, and then she heard a ‘dong’ sound, like something has fallen on to the ground.
“Don’t move. Don’t move. Put down your knife.” She heard the police shout out.
Monami’s heart tightened. She saw Karan’s face for a split second. Then more police officers rushed past her. Her views were completely blocked.
“We got him. We got him.” Someone yelled out.
“Stay down!”
“Someone is injured. Please send an ambulance.” Someone else said.
Monami ran towards the officers and tried to squeeze past them to get to Karan: “Excuse me. Excuse me… main Professor Shergill ki assistant hoon..”
“Professor ko bhi chot lagi hain.” Someone said.
This was not good news. She pushed through even harder. People started to make way. She saw four or five officers holding on a man with blood shot eyes. He was still struggling to break free as the officers walked him towards the street to the police car. Monami quickly stood to the side to let them pass. She recognised him from the photos emailed to them by the police. That’s Deboy.
She hurried forward to find an officer lying on the ground. He has been stabbed in the stomach. There was a pool of blood beside him. He looked very pale. He was still conscious, breathing heavily and obviously in pain. Karan stood next to him. There’s blood smeared on his face and suit. A few officers were standing around him.
Monami’s heart ached as she saw blood dripping down to the ground from Karan’s sleeves.
“What happened to you? tum theek toh ho?” She asked anxiously. She wants to hold his hand, but she is afraid she might accidentally touch the wound. She looked closer. There was a knife wound from his left shoulder that extended to his chest.
She looked at the officer lying on the floor. His wounds are much more serious.
“I am ok. It’s just a flesh wound.” Karan said to her.
When Karan entered the lane, there was another policeman who was going towards Deboy from the opposite direction. The police officer thought he looked suspicious too. The two of them tried to stop Deboy. The policeman was stabbed in the stomach, and Karan has a deep cut on his arm. Fortunately, more officers appeared at the right moment.
The medics arrived with stretcher. They attended to the officer on the ground first. Then one of them asked Karan: “Kya aapko bhi stretcher chahiye?” Karan looked at her arrogantly: “Of course not.”
Monami didn't see what actually happened, but she can imagine how dangerous it must have been. She looked at his arm again. She asked gently: “Is it very painful?”
Karan looked at her pale face. He started walking towards the main street: “Not really. Let’s go.”
Monami followed suspiciously. There was still blood coming from his wound. Even though he can still walk freely but the wound was probably quite a deep one.
This man….
She walked up to him and said: “You are so brave.”
Karan smiled back at her: “Of course.”
Monami laughed. She whispered in his ears: “So… does it hurt?”
Karan paused. He decided not to reply this time.
Two medics walked up to him. The ambulance was just behind them. Karan followed them to the vehicle. Then he turned round to say to Monami: “Tum mere sath mat aao.”
Monami was stunned: “kyon?”
Karan said calmly: “That goes without saying. India me Deboy first unorganised psychopath h aur pehla case h jo humne encounter kiya hain. Aur yeh Zinda bhi Hain. So I need you to follow up with his psychological assessment.”
———————-
Monami stood by the pavement. A police car stopped in front of her. An officer opened the passenger door for her: “We’ll give you a ride to the station.”
She nodded and git into the car. Then she took out her phone to call Faizi. “Faizi, Karan was injured….haan… on the way to the hospital. Ok. Main wahan par aa jaungi..once I finish what I need to do.”
Faizi will look after him. She felt better now.
On the ambulance -
Karan was lying down on a stretcher. His eyes were closed.
Just seeing the scars on his body made her cry. How could he let her follow him to the hospital? She will bury him with her tears.
As he was thinking of Monami, the medical staff was taking off his jacket to examine the wound.
“It’s quite serious.” said one of the medics. “Tumhe stretcher use karna chahiye tha.”
Karan swept them a look.
“You must lie down flat from now on. Don’t move anymore.” He said to Karan. He cut away his shirt. Some of the dry blood was stuck to the fabric. When the medic was peeling it off, Karan can’t help but frown.
Oh…
Monami, it’s actually very painful.
——————
In the interrogation room. Deboy was cuffed onto a chair. He has a gloomy look on his face, and his eyes were re dull.
Two officers were facing him. Monami and a few others, including some doctors from the mental health institutes were listening in the next room separated by dark non see through glass.
“Tum logon ka katl kyon kar rahe ho?” asked the officer.
Deboy looked confused: “Maine logon ka katl kyon kiya? Mujhe badla lena hain.”
The two officers looked at each other: “kyon?”
Deboy said quietly: “Mera bhai. Woh.... He has been assassinated.”
“Who assassinated him?”
“Agents. Woh American agents hain.. Indian k disguise me. Woh log US code bhejna chah rahe the. It was very loud. I discovered them.”
The two officers didn't know what to say. They mover on to the next question: “Why did you stab the women in their private parts?”
Deboy paused. He was not speaking.
Then gradually, his face became red. He started to scream and yell. The two officers were startled by his behaviour. They asked him to stop. But Deboy was getting more and more agitated. He tried to struggle and break free…
—————
When Monami left the room, she saw a forty year old man sitting quietly with his head down. He looked worried. His hands were grabbing the hair on his head.
Besides him sat a woman in her thirties. She waa scolding him in a low voice: “Dekha kya ho gya. Woh logon ka khoon kar raha hain. Main toh phle se hi janti thi tumhara Bhai kuch nahi h bas ek jeeti jagti panoti hain. Kaha tha maine.. usse akela chhod do.. Par nahi.. tumne kaha tumhe uska dhyan rakhba chahiye.”
The man looked out and retaliated: “chup kro tum! Agar maine usse pichle kuch mahino k liye akela nahi chhoda hora.. toh uski condition kabhi itni nahi bigadti.”
“Tumhara matlab kya hain? Yeh sab meri galti hai ?” The woman argued with him.
—————-
Monami’s heart was saddened by the family’s story.
It was actually a simple one.
A normal family that has a child with mental illness. It gradually put stress on their financial situation. When his parents were still around, there were three people took turned to look after Deboy - dad, mom, elder brother. They could still cope.
After the parents passed away, Deboy became the sole responsibility of the elder brother. A thirty year old man, spending almost all his earnings on his brother. No girl would come near him.
Finally, he found a girlfriend. The bride’s only condition was not to live with the younger brother in the same house. He thought about it, and decided, after all the years of sacrificing, he will do something for himself.
But what about his brother? Private hospitals are too expensive, and he doesn’t qualify for longterm public hospital care. Also, he was afraid the brother might be mistreated in the hospital. His wife was not keen to send him to the hospital either. But for a different reason. She was afraid the hospital would charge extra fees which they would have to be responsible for. That’s a lifelong burden!
The problem dragged on. In the first few months after the wedding, the elder brother would sneak out to see Deboy. Lately, his pregnant wife demanded more attention, so he had not seen Deboy for two months. His wife had a hidden agenda for keeping him to close to her. She secretly hoped that he would leave the brother alone and not have any contact with him anymore.
So Deboy was alone in the house for a few months. The brother he was waiting for never turned up. His mental state worsened and his world collapsed.
My brother was dead. He thought to himself. I have to take revenge.
———————
When Monami left the station to go to the hospital, it’s past 6:00pm.
The last rays of the afternoon sun casts a golden glow on the tall buildings. The windows were bright and reflexive in the light. Monami was feeling a little lethargic. Perhaps it’s because she hasn’t slept all night? Or perhaps she was still thinking about the case?
She received a call from Faizi earlier.
“The doctors asked him to stay in the hospital for a week.” Faizi said. “But woh insist ki ar raha hain ki woh ghar jaana chahta hai..”
She took out the front door keys. Just before she unlocked the door, she thought of something. She took her phone out and called the Police Team Leader: “Officer, kya aapko Deboy k Ghar ya dono crime scenes par kuch bhi unusual dikha ya Mila?”
The officer replied: “Nahi, na hi koi blood se likhe codes, na hi koi English ya kisi language me likhe words . Kuch bhi nahi.. we didn’t find anything unusual.”
Monami hung up and felt much better. Two cases. No more messages. “He must be dead.
She walked into the apartment. There was light in the lounge, but it was empty. Karan was not there. Then she heard some sound coming from his bedroom.
She removed her shoes and walked into the master bedroom. Two men turned to look at her.
Karan has changed into his black pyjamas, lying straight in bed. There were a few more pillows than usual under his head and upper back. His face was pale. He stared at her with his bright black eyes.
Faizi stood to the corner of the bed. He smiled at Monami and asked : “How’s work?”
Monami smiled back: “Good.” She walked to the bed and looked at Karan. But she was asking Faizi: “Yeh kaisa hain?”
“Minor injury.” Faizi said “jyada nahi bs kareeb twenty stitches.”
Monami frowned. Karan frowned too.
“Thanks, big mouth. Ab tu Jaa sakta hain..” He said faintly, “Darwaza band karke jaana and don’t disturb us. Thank you.”
Monami glanced at him, then turned to say to Faizi: “Tum jante ho yeh kaisa hain... Let’s have dinner together.”
Faizi was not one bit bothered by his best friend’s abandonment: “Nahi, I will get going. Humara Zara sa bhi intention nahi h yahan rehne ka and tum logon ko smooch krte dekhne ka. Par haan....”
He looked at Karan: “Tum zyada idhar udhar moce kare toh tumhari wounds aur jyada serious ho jayegi.. stitches khul sakte hain. So now please, janab aap apne doctor ne jo jara woh sab follow kijiye mga for one month and do rest. Monami tum please iska dhyan rakhna taaki yeh koi aur stupidity na kare..”
Karan looked at him coldly. Monami replied quickly: “Of course.”
After Faizi left, Monami asked Karan: “So, Doctor k kya orders hain?”
Karan slowly answered her: “Less fish. Aur kya ho sakta hain..”
Monami laughed: “Oh… that would be hard for you.”
There were two opposing views to eating fish when recovering from stab wounds. One school of thought is that it might cause infection. But others think that it’s full of vitamins and proteins so it will help muscle recovery. Perhaps Faizi was trying to hassle him by saying he can’t have fish.
Karan didn't want to talk about this anymore. He said to her: “Come and sit by me.”
Monami shook her head: “Let me take a shower first.” How can she sit on his bed with the same clothes that she wore to Deboy’s house?
Karan: “Then give me a kiss first?”
Monami: “Nahi. Tum wahi ruko.. hilna mat.. main abhi aati hoon..”
He watched her as she walked into the bathroom.
Karan gave a sigh.
His mobility was affected, so he can’t walk up to kiss her whenever he wants. But what’s worse is…
Not strenuous exercise for a week….Shit!
*****
Well this case is over..but bechara Karan kya socha tha.. kitne sapne the iske iss case khtm hone k baad but sab Pani mil gye..
So sadd...
Koi na ab itna intezar ho gya toh thoda aur sahi
Till the next one
Ta-ta
Signing off
Kriya