9:55 PM, 2nd April, Snehalaya
Heavily breathing and panting with her kurta and hands drenched in blood she went to Jaya's office "Jaya...emergency, someone just shot a bullet at Shreekant, come with me immediately"
"What are you saying!" she exclaimed getting worried immediately. Both of them paced at a great speed to him and found him lying there.
"Jaya help me, try lifting his upper part of the body. Amna opened his shirt entirely and tied it around the wound waiting for the ambulance to come, "Why are they taking so long? Hold on Shreekant." His eyes were closing partially by now.
Around eight minutes later the ambulance arrived. He was immediately taken in a stretcher into the ambulance and Amna informed, "Jaya I am going with him, you stay here"
"But Amna..."
"You can't leave the orphanage like this, the children are sleeping"
"Okay, but inform me if you need any help"
Amna sat in the ambulance and went with Shreekant. "Connect high flow oxygen, BP monitor and pulse oximeter right now, I am a doctor, be quick", she commanded to one of the nurse who was present there.
She opened the shirt that she had wrapped around the wound, "There is no exit wound, the bullet is still stuck inside, Collect his blood immediately and give it to the blood bank as soon as we reach hospital for checking his blood group, he may require transfusion"
"Give me I.V cannulae, connect it to saline. How far is the hospital from here now?"
"Doctor, around 2 km"
"Shreekant are you listening? We are just about to reach", she held his palm tightly gripping it with hers while he softly moaned, "Anna... Anna... Don't leave me..."
As soon as they reached the hospital, he was transferred into another stretcher. As the stretcher passed the corridors of the hospital, she held his hand tightly until the doctor in-charge gestured her to leave his hand. She tried to loosen her hand from his tight grip by using the fingers of her other hand and finally he was taken to the emergency OT.
She filled the necessary admission details, informed the police giving her statement, and waited patiently near the OT praying silently for his wellbeing. It didn't take a long time for the news of the attempt to murder of Shreekant Mhatre, to spread like a wildfire amongst all the hospital staff.
Within an hour or so, media swam in huge numbers outside the hospital disrupting the normal movement of the people in and out of the hospital's main entrance. He was already being targeted in the media first for Anna's suicide and then for his unknown relationship with Amna and this news was like a cherry on the top for them.
A couple of minutes later, Amna saw the doctor who was handling Shreekant's case coming out from the OT and asked in agitated tone fisting her palm, "How is he now?...No complications right?"
"Ma'am he is stable now...The surgery was a success. As the first aid was given to him immediately and correctly, he didn't bleed that much but still, we have kept him under observation for six hours" She heaved a sigh of relief and thanked the doctor.
As she turned her vision, she saw the Mhatre family coming towards the OT area. She hid herself behind a pillar, standing alone in a confined corner of the hospital, avoiding any form of interaction with them. She thought it would be better for her to go away from their sight. As she was leaving the place, she heard them discuss the details of Shreekant's condition with the doctor.
As she paced to go out from the hospital's entrance, the media surrounded and lashed out at her and she became prey to the most ridiculous questions.
"Ma'am, what is your relation with Mr.Shreekant Mhatre? Were you there with him when this attack happened? Why were both of you in Lonavala?" One of the reporters shouted his question at her with judgmental eyes.
"He is just my acquaintance...nothing more", She was able to say these few words in a very low and nervous tone.
"Very recently, yours and Mhatre sir's photo were circulated in media, what do you think about it? Since how long have you been having an affair with him?" another journalist asked her.
"Did Mrs. Anna knew about this? Was this the reason for her suicide?
"Ma'am, are you not ashamed of having an affair with a married man and driving a woman to suicide? "
"Do you think you are fit to be a doctor?" All shots of disgusting questions kept on flying in the air to reach her ears.
She was trying very hard not to say anything by calming and composing herself but everything went in vain. She didn't know what to answer. Ultimately the media was driven away by the intervention of the police and some security guards and she rushed back into the hospital's waiting area.
She went to the washroom in the waiting area and cleaned her face and hands but her kurta was still slightly drenched in blood. After cleaning herself, she found a lone corner and thought to herself, "Anyone who stays near me, falls in some danger or the other. Why God? What is Shreekant's fault? Stop giving him more pain", she wept silently and fell asleep without her knowledge on the bench.
Amna woke up as the soaring morning rays of the sun irritated her shrunken face. She got up to find a few other people, staring at her as woke up from her deep slumber. Quickly reaching for the phone, she checked the time and wondered to herself, "Let me go and see Shreekant once, but if his family sees me there, again they will chide me. Leave it, I am going... I will see whatever happens later on. Why shouldn't I meet him?"
She went to the hospital reception area to inquire about the room in which he was in, secretly hoping that she doesn't come face to face with the Mhatre Family after the incredible interaction she had with them the day before.
"Excuse me, Madam, can you tell me the room where Mr. Shreekant Mhatre is admitted?"
The tall lady glanced up and said, "He is in VIP Ward, you can't meet him... There are strict orders from his family to allow no one except his family to meet him"
"Madam, please understand... I am not a stranger, I am also a doctor and I was the one who brought him to the hospital and filled up all the necessary formalities", she tried to convince the lady but she didn't seem to stir.
"I am sorry Madam, rules are rules, only family members allowed"
Hearing the lady, she said in a low tone, "I get your point but can you do one thing? Please pass a message to him as soon as he wakes up that Amna is waiting for him in the hospital waiting area"
"That can be done Madam", she replied and went on getting busy with another patient party. Just as she was about to go from the place, a middle-aged nurse came running near the reception and blurted to the lady who sat there, "VIP Patient No. 223 is getting out of control, despite his weakened condition he is trying to go out of the room saying he has to meet some Amna. I calmed him for the time being saying that I am going to call her, but where will I find her now?"
Amna heard the same and looked at the nurse, "I am Amna", she then turned towards the lady, "Now, can you allow me to go?" The lady hesitantly nodded yes and Amna followed the nurse to Shreekant's room.
As she reached the door of the VIP room, she saw two stout muscular men in black sunglasses and a black suit standing like a statue in front of the room. One of them stopped the nurse and asked, "Who is the girl behind you?" and the other one said, "Please show me your ID"
From the questions, they were asking, Amna understood that they were bodyguards. The nurse said in a stern tone, "The patient wants to meet her, and now will you please allow me", but the guards seemed adamant and said, "Only family members allowed", while glaring at Amna.
Seeing the situation the nurse hastily opened the door and spoke in a loud voice to Shreekant, "Sir, I brought the girl you told me about, but your own guards are not allowing me to get her in." As the door opened, Amna could see him sitting upright with his legs stretched and his right arm hung onto a sling with the shoulder being carefully bandaged.
She heard a voice from the room, "What are you people doing? Let her get in"
"But sir, It's an order from Mhatre sir to not allow anyone except family members, she can be a source of danger to you"
He groaned gritting his teeth, "She is not a danger, she is my... She is my family, now allow her otherwise the day I get discharged will be the last day for you in your job" On hearing Shreekant speaking like that, the guards finally agreed to let Amna go inside while he gestured the nurse to let him speak to her in private.
Amna walked into the room, "How are you feeling now?" She asked him while brushing her palm across his loose wrist.
"I am feeling okay now... Are you fine? You are not hurt anywhere right, there is blood on your dress" He asked in a worried manner trying to adjust himself on the bed.
"Oh... This is your blood, by the way, why are you asking me that? I mean... It's you who got hurt by the bullet. Don't try to move unnecessarily" She then shifted the pillow closer to him and helped him in adjusting.
He took a heavy breath and said, "That person didn't aim to shoot at me, you were his real aim, I just got in the way and injured myself"
"The person wanted to shoot me? Who told you to come in front of the bullet? Why did you put your life in danger? Did you see the person who attempted to shoot at me?"
"No, I didn't... Remember I was talking about a black car yesterday afternoon, it was a similar car. As the window of the car lowered I saw the man's gloved hand holding a gun, pointing towards you"
"Black car, No one except us knew that we were in the orphanage, that means the person was following us, but how is it possible, how was he tracking us?"
"Perhaps that person was waiting somewhere nearby Mhatre Niwas. As soon as he saw us going in the car, he might have followed us. It's all my fault, I shouldn't have taken you out from that place hastily. The person who tried to kill you might be the same masked man who must have seen the news and known that you are alive. Who the hell is he?" He said angrily slamming his fist against the bed.
Before the conversation could continue, the door of the room clicked open and they saw Anant Mhatre with two armed policemen and the doctor-in-charge by his side. As soon as he saw Amna he shouted, "Who the hell allowed this girl to come inside?"
"I ordered the guards to let her in", he replied bluntly.
"Madam, we need to take you under judicial custody right now. The Mhatre family has registered a complaint against you, they think that you may be the person behind the attack, please come with us. Another thing we need your statement regarding a fire that happened in Bangalore on 7th March. The person who died in that fire was the attendant in the forensic department of the hospital where you worked in, his phone records show the last person he called was you and your hospital management filed a missing complaint saying that you didn't come to work after 7th of March"
"The attendant died in a fire?", she asked trying to clarify.
"Yes, he did and we need your statement for that, please come with us to the station, we have doubts and suspicions regarding you"