7:25 AM, Hospital, Lonavala
As the policeman tried to approach Amna, Shreekant held her wrist tightly and said, "She is not going anywhere. The attack happened with me, so why is my family filing the FIR? Don't you think sir, I should be the one to file the complaint?"
The policeman looked at Anant while Shreekant continued, "I exactly know the reason why you are taking her, and regarding the fire and the missing complaint, she can record her statement here itself, am I right? As the victim of the attack, I request you to discard the baseless complaint filed by my family. The person who brought me immediately to the hospital was Amna, and you are saying that she tried to kill me", he chuckled while his eyes were still gleaming in anger.
The doctor interrupted, "Please don't disturb the patient too much, and about the girl you are blaming, she is the one who gave him proper first aid, and thanks to that, he didn't lose much blood. I don't know about other things but she is a very able doctor who had tried her best to save the patient's life"
He continued darting his brilliant brown eyes, "Now I think you are convinced, Amna tell them, why that man called you and also why you were missing?"
Amna understood his hint and said, "That day I went to meet the Head of Department casually, as I knew him from my college days but when I went there he was not present in his cabin. So I told the attendant to pass the message to him. He might have called to inform me about that but our call got disconnected. Regarding the missing complaint, I had an accident on my way to Belgaum and was admitted to a hospital for sixteen days with temporary loss of memory."
The great storyteller Amna tried to cook up some stories to persuade the policeman into believing her as there was no way that they could let the beans spill out, especially when they had already come this far.
"May I know why did you go to Belgaum? What kind of accident?" His questions made her gulp the lump forming in her mouth and she slowly muttered, "I went to meet Ratnaprabha Aunty of Sabarmati Orphanage as I knew her from before. I was hit by a car and fell into the river"
"When did you get your memory back? Why did you not inform your Hospital where you worked that you are fine?", his unending questions continued and Amna had no idea where she was taking her impromptu story and finally fumbled.
But fortunately, Shreekant came to her rescue, "She got her memory back just recently and was going to inform the authorities soon but then all these rumors and the attack happened. You can cross-check from the hospital in Belgaum"
Hearing the whole fake story they had just narrated Amna thought, "The story looks fine and everything is falling in place, I hope this man believes us" Her mind was sending constant prayers to the heavens.
"I hope you got your answer and I think there is no need for her going anywhere"
The policeman frowned and asked, "Did you see the person who shot you? I mean, we need your statement regarding the whole incident. Did you see anything suspicious?"
Amna was about to say something but Shreekant clasped her wrist tightly, "I have no idea who shot at me."
"Okay then, till we catch the culprit I request you to stay a little careful, we will take your leave then"
After the cops left Anant looked at him and said in low pitched voice clenching his teeth, "Stop your idiotic behavior, someone tried to kill you, return to Mhatre Niwas as soon as possible"
"I will return only if Amna comes along with me", he replied confidently.
Anant fisted his palm, trying to control his anger, "I can't let this girl enter a single step inside my house"
He groaned loudly leaning himself towards him, "Then I will also not come"
The doctor interrupted again and said, "Sir, please understand the patient is still weak. Although the injury was very minor and we can discharge him today by evening but he needs medical care for at least ten days. A caretaker needs to be by his side for all these days. Please be calm while talking to him."
Anant took a deep breath, "Did you listen to what the doctor said? Stop being so adamant, anyway I am not going to allow this girl inside our house."
He tried to negotiate with him, "Papa, you wouldn't believe me, but she is the only one right now whom I can trust blindly. I will not take her inside our house, but please allow her to stay with me in Outhouse. She is not just anyone, she is an able doctor"
Suddenly an idea came to Shreekant's mind, "Papa, anyway I need a caretaker with me for ten days... Atleast allow her to stay with me as my caretaker... Just for ten days"
Anant paused for a few minutes and finally blurted out, "Okay... I will allow her to stay in the Outhouse with you, but only for ten days, then she has to go permanently from there, you will never meet her again, do you agree?"
He nodded in agreement and with that he left from the ward giving Amna a disgusting glare, while the doctor checked Shreekant's vitals and informed, "Everything looks good, we will discharge you by 5 PM today" He glanced up at Amna, "Take good care of him" and finally went out.
After everyone left, Amna noticed that he had been holding her wrist for quite a long time and hinted him to let go of her. He understood and loosened his grip, "Sorry..."
She exhaled heavily, "What was I saying to the police? I blabbered out anything that came to my mind and you... Do you understand what you just agreed to? Now we have only ten days to catch the real culprit, how will we do that? After ten days I will have to go back..."
"Listen, I didn't have any other option, staying out was too dangerous for you. I already made a mistake by taking you out from my place and landed up here. Until the culprit is caught you have to stay 24 hours under my sight for these ten days, I can't let anything happen to you"
"But, Shreekant... We don't have any clue about the culprit, and now we have a time limit set for our efforts? I don't know what to say"
"A few days before, we had never thought that we will find Anna's sister, but we did find her right? I believe that we will be able to find the culprit in these ten days if we try our best"
She pressed her lips and nodded to his words thinking, "What best is he talking about? He will put himself again in danger to save me. Anna really had found a gem, the more I know about him the more I admire him. Okay I will believe in his belief"
She started walking away from his bed towards the door, "I will go to the orphanage and come in some time"
"Didn't I say that you have to stay by my side for 24 hours? You want to go to that place where someone attempted to shoot you, you shouldn't go away from my sight even for a second, do you get my point?", he literally yelled at her.
"But I need to change my clothes, it's all drenched in blood, and I am kind of stinking"
"In that case, call the orphanage manager, What was her name? Ah... Jaya and tell her to come here and give you your luggage but you shouldn't go out from here at any cost. We will directly go back to Mumbai from here, call her and ask"
She awkwardly smiled, "Okay... I will message her right now. I am not going anywhere, I am sitting on the couch, do tell me if you need anything"
"Can you give me my phone? I need to inform Ratna Aunty, in case the police asks her something..."
"Okay... one second", as she went to fetch him his phone placed on the table, her palm accidentally pressed the TV remote, and the news channel flashed in front of them.
Both of them saw the news segment where Amna was asked all sorts of strange questions by the media. She sensed the awkward silence in the room, and said, "I will switch it off" and hurriedly closed it.
"Ahh... The media was asking you very ridiculous questions, you must have been startled? Don't worry my father will issue a statement from our side and manage the condition, after all, he can't let a tarnish befall on his great name", a flash of annoyance erupted from his shrunken face.
"By evening all the news channels would be deviated to telecast some other nonsense. I still don't get what pleasure they get by poking in the personal lives of others and spewing such things defaming one's character. It's a normal thing for me, but for you..."
"Yes, I was a little shocked but you don't have to worry about that. Many things are happening which are totally out of my control. In the past few days, numerous unimaginable things have already happened. Compared to that this is nothing. It's media, after all, it's well-anticipated from them, A news is breaking news until the next breaking news comes" She chuckled while saying that.
A few minutes later she got a call from Jaya who informed her that she was waiting for her near the reception area, "Shreekant, Jaya has arrived, I will go and bring my bag"
"Do one thing, take one of the guards outside with you, actually call one of them, I will only instruct"
His behavior was getting stranger with every passing second and she sensed it but she was also feeling nice for some unknown reason.
Shreekant instructed one of the guards to go with Amna wherever she went, and he kept on following her to the reception area. After informing Jaya everything, she advised Amna to be extra careful and went away handing her bag to her.
Amna entered Shreekant's room with her bag and took some clothes out, " I will go and freshen up myself", and tried going out of the room.
"Where are you going?"
"I said just now, I am going to the washroom in the hospital's waiting room area, don't say that I have to take that bodyguard outside the washroom too", she asked nervously with a smile.
"No... I was saying, this is a VIP ward, the washroom is right in front of your eyes, so why are you going outside?"
"Ah... Are you comfortable if I use the washroom here? I mean... It's your room" Her hands were brushing against her neck and she was trying to avoid eye contact with him.
"Of course, I have no issues anyway, I am just lying down doing nothing"
"Okay... then, I will just be back in a few minutes", she hastily went inside the washroom. As she entered the washroom she closed her eyes tightly, "Why is everything so feeling strange when he is talking to me like that? This man's extra politeness is killing me, but why? Why do I always get butterflies in my tummy when he takes my side or defends me? Anyway, it's just ten days now, we will catch the culprit and all this will end." She shrugged off the unnecessary thoughts and continued with her work.
Around forty minutes later she came out of the washroom and saw Shreekant facing his back towards her. She tittered inwardly looking at him and announced in a loud voice, "I am back, tell me if you need anything"
He replied with his head still facing the opposite side, "Okay...". She saw a magazine lying on the table and started reading it as she sat on the couch.
After two hours or so, the nurse came to the room, bringing food for them. She went out after explaining to Amna the medicines prescribed to him by the doctor.
As the nurse went out she noticed him trying hard to hold the spoon in his left hand, "Wait... I will help you"
"You can call the nurse or attendant, I don't want to bother you unnecessarily"
"You are not bothering me, the bullet was meant to hit me, I was supposed to be lying on that bed", she snapped at him and proceeded to feed him.
As she fed him carefully he spoke, "Don't you see the irony of the situation, I am shot, lying in the hospital bed and no one from my family is even here", he said with a deep agony visible in his words.
"It's not like that, yesterday when I was here, everyone from your family came to see you, your father, Mrs.Mhatre, your brother Saket, and two other guys whom I don't know and one more girl who was around my age, probably she was your sister, they all were so worried about you. Even if you say that they don't like you but they all were very much concerned about you"
"I will believe if you say, wait... you said, two guys?"
He thought to himself, "One must be Mahesh, Mishka's husband, the other one must be Daksh... That means he came back from Bangalore, I hope when I meet him this time he is not as cold to me as before"
After feeding him, she helped him sleep comfortably in the bed and fetched his medicines. After she ate her own food, she switched off the lights in the room, lighting only the table lamp near her sofa, and continued reading the magazine to pass her time.
Soon he was asleep but even as she was reading, her peace of mind was long gone. She was feeling very restless because the entire ordeal was so weird at that point, with all the incidents that had happened in the past few days flashing in her mind and constantly disturbing her.
After around an hour or so, she could hear the soft moans of Shreekant. She scooted quickly near his bedside to find him wrapped up to one corner of the bed and shivering in cold. She quickly switched off the AC and noticed the serenity of his face shining under the dim light of the lamp suggesting the suffering and torment he was going through. It was broad daylight outside with all sorts of noises screeching but in that closed room with no sunlight, there was only silence.
She stood motionless looking and admiring the innocence in his sleepy eyes and the delicate rise and fall of his chest due to his swift breaths.
Her lips were tightly sealed but her eyes were saying everything. With every blink, they were unlocking the hidden feelings that she had started developing for him. She was lost in every breath he took, and each of her breath was screaming to tell her that she had started liking him. Each memory she had of him was a pleasant one, soothing her every ounce from all the pain and disturbance she had.
When a person starts liking or admiring someone, mostly it's because of their external appearance, status, and at last, character but she had started to fall for something much deeper, his pain. It was his pain that attracted her, it was his unconditional love for Anna that attracted her, and she had started falling for him.
"I have started understanding you, at least a little. Why do I feel as if my heart knows you for a long time? The care and concern that you show for me, gives me goosebumps sometimes, not only on my body but also in my heart. Your presence has begun making my life more fragrant than it was before. Wherever I traverse my eyes, I can only see how much you trust and respect me."
"You are just like a mirror, what's in your heart, the same plays on your lips. By staying near you, I can clearly see, what a heart of gold you possess. Your eyes only show love and now they are making me fall for you. You have saved me many times, I don't know whether I can repay you ever for that."
Just as she was staring blankly at him, she saw him trying to shift his position. Fearing that he might wake up and see her staring at him like a ghost she strode as fast as she could towards the sofa and grabbed the magazine.
Her fears came true as he actually got up from his sleep to drink some water. She pretended to be reading while he rolled his eyes around the room and called her, "Amna! What are you doing?"
"Nothing, I am just reading the magazine"
"If you are reading the magazine then, why are you holding it upside down?", she glanced down and realized that in the haste, she was holding the magazine upside down all this time.
She smiled gently, "I was lost in some other thoughts", and tried not to look at him directly while he went back to his sleep again.
She heaved a sigh of relief, "Amna control yourself, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? Are you actually...? No, this can't be...", she shook her head in a fit of a dilemma trying to convince herself.
After a few hours, a loud knock woke up Shreekant from his sleep while Amna went near the door to see one of the guards standing in front of her, "Madam, these are some clothes for sir."
She bent her head, took the packet from his hand, and went inside, "You will be getting discharged in an hour, why don't you go and change your clothes?"
He nodded with his sleepy eyes and took the clothes to go into the washroom. Minutes later he came out of the washroom wearing only his pant and holding the shirt in his hand, "Can you help me in wearing the shirt?"
She nodded and gradually walked towards him in slow steps and soon she was facing him. She then took the shirt from his hand, "You can sit down on your bed"
As she was helping him wear it she mumbled in a low voice, "How did you realize that you have fallen in love with my sister?"
He smiled gently, "I don't know, it just happens but why are you asking me this, do you like someone?"
She traversed her fingers through his collar, "I think so"
"Then don't wait, just tell that person how you feel, but only when all this gets over"
"I can't tell him, he is in love with someone else deeply"
"Then he must be a stupid, idiot, fool and the most unlucky person to leave a girl like you and love someone else"
She chuckled staring into his eyes, "He is not stupid, idiot, or a fool and the girl he loves is a thousand times, no... Infinity times better than me"
He furrowed his eyebrows, "You are very weird, I am hearing a person for the first time praising the lover of her love"
"Done", she moved away from him after making him wear the shirt, "Listen, will your bodyguards follow us everywhere for 10 days? It feels as if a black ghost is stalking me"
"Don't worry they are with us only till we reach Mhatre Niwas safely"
"Oh... Okay, That's a relief"
Instead of taking the main entrance of the hospital, they took the back one, in case the media again made an issue out of that.