Haven't proof read, please point out errors if any. Will help me quickly rectify.

• • •

Chapter 75 : Crisis

Ruhaani's gaze shifted from her husband to the other men standing beside him. Devashish's two companions had arrived about five minutes earlier, each on their own bike. Aadarsh and Devashish had exited the car and crossed the road to the small tea stall, which seemed to specialize more in selling cigarettes than tea.

Just before getting off the car, Aadarsh had glanced at her, a silent directive to ask her to stay in the vehicle. She had agreed. For some reason, she didn't get a good feeling about those other men.

She was reconsidering the advice she had once given to Aadarsh, to make Devashish his friend.

Devashish was not what she had judged him to be. With every passing minute spent with him, she became increasingly convinced that there was something terribly abnormal about the man. Initially, she had assumed him to be someone nice, sincere, and kind, albeit with a big flare of arrogance. However, her opinion had shifted. The way he handled the situation made her uneasy. She wouldn't want a person like that around herself or her family. Perhaps that's why Aadarsh didn't consider Devashish as his friend.

Aadarsh's frustration was palpable. She observed the repeated shaking of his head, the way he kicked the tiny pebbles scattered near the bench outside the tea stall. His gaze bore into the other men, punctuated by heated arguments. Finally, he pointed his finger emphatically, delivering what appeared to be a stern warning.

Devashish raised his hands as though surrendering and agreeing to whatever he was being asked to adhere to. How she hoped she could hear them too!

In the next minute, Aadarsh was crossing the road while the other men stayed behind still discussing something passionately.

He swung open the car door to the back seat, slipping in beside her before shutting it firmly.

"What happened?" she inquired, her hand anxiously clutching the side of her black kurti.

"Here's what we are going to do. You are going to stay in the car. Devashish will be with you. The other two men will enter the factory premises by climbing some wall or gate that is not under use and secluded. They'll go in first to assess the situation. We don't expect more than five men to be there. They'll give me the update and then I will go in. And we'll bring back Pari."

Ruhaani's thoughts raced, consumed by a torrent of worries. What if they couldn't locate Pari? What if the number of men exceeded their expectations? What if they were armed with dangerous weapons? What if something befell him? God no!

In the grip of fear, her hand clasped onto his, her heart gripped tightly by terror. "I'm scared," she confessed, her voice trembling with apprehension. Their gazes finally met, void of anger, disappointment, hurt or mistrust.

He tenderly brushed the side of her face. "I know, Ruh. I am sorry for putting you through this. But right now, I really need you to be strong..."

"How?" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. Her daughter had been taken, her husband was venturing into danger. How could she muster strength when she felt herself crumbling?

"Ruhaani ..."

"Please, make everything okay, Aadarsh. Please," she pleaded, her voice quavering.

"I will," he assured, masking his own fear. "Keep your phone with you. I'll call as soon as I have Pari and bring her back to you. Alright?" His words offered a glimmer of hope amidst the uncertainty.

She nodded, stifling her tears.

A pause ensued, filled with hesitation and the uneasy anticipation of what lay ahead.

"I'm sorry, Ruhaani. I failed to fulfil the one commitment I made to you before our marriage—to be a good father," he confessed, his voice heavy with shame.

Slowly, she lifted her gaze to meet his, seeing the pain and guilt etched in his eyes.

"I'll make it right," he vowed, as if convincing himself as much as her. He turned to leave the car.

"Aadarsh,"

He slowly glanced back at her. He noticed a momentary debate on her face.

"Please, don't get hurt," she pleaded, her heart heavy with worry.

He nodded solemnly, swiftly exiting the car.

Sending up a silent prayer for his daughter's safety, he vowed to set things right. Hopefully, the plan would succeed.

Ruhaani watched him mount one of the bikes and ride off, the other two men trailing closely behind on the next bike, while Devashish returned to the car.

It was going to be long night.

***

The dark night sky, intensified the worry and fear in his heart as he took each step. Lucifer, one of Devashish's team had confirmed that there were six people other than Bappi Gautam himself. That made seven of them.

The duo had already taken down the two men who were guarding the front door, for the time being. That left five of them.

"I don't see anyone yet," Aadarsh whispered. A spy camera had been fixed to his shirt so that Devashish could know what was happening. He had a transparent advanced speaker attached to his ear, so that he could hear them. Hopefully they wouldn't be able to spot it on him. "Did they find Pari?" he whispered again, referring to the two men who were already on the site somewhere.

"Not yet. They're looking. They've covered the east and west wing. Which makes it likely that Pari is wherever that annoying bastard is. And don't say anything now. They might be in the shadows. They must not get a hint that you've a team."

Aadarsh sighed, shifting the duffel bag in his hand. Just as Devashish had predicted earlier that day, Bappi Gautam had called them again, demanding that Aadarsh carry twenty lakhs in cash. To arrange that much cash after banking hours had taken another thirty minutes.

By stroke of luck, Devashish had a habit of stashing cash in different places for emergencies and Abhi had arranged for the other half from their different bank accounts just in case the need propped up. Any other day, Aadarsh would have fumed at Devashish for storing so much cash. To have that much cash found on him could not only put him behind bars, but it could also lead the income tax detectives to make his boss a target. Not a trouble he was willing to put up with.

He heard a loud jarring sound a metallic gate opening and stiffened. Seemingly Devashish heard that voice too, gauging by the next words he heard. "Luci, KK, there's some movement where Aadarsh is. Guys be alert . Luci, I want you to give cover to Aadarsh. Track his GPS and be there. KK, continue to look for Pari."

Devashish pressed a button on his watch and turned to Ruhaani, who was still seated in the back seat of the car, but looked more spooked than she had been when Pari had gone missing.

"I need you to take the wheel. I am going in too."

Ruhaani's eyes widened. "Why? Aadarsh said that..."

"I know. But I am not getting a good feeling about this. You can be safe on your own, right?" It seemed more of a rhetorical question, as he went on to unzip his bag, took out a Bluetooth device and then asked for her phone.

Ruhaani reluctantly handed it to him. He quickly connected it to the device. "Through this you can see and hear all of us. But better not speak until spoken to. I don't want Aadarsh to go into Hulk mode, for leaving his wife alone in middle of nowhere, at least not when he is dealing with a kidnapper. But I really think you can handle yourself."

Ruhaani blinked. She didn't want to defy what Aadarsh had told her. He would have thought it through. Aadarsh always did. However, she was equally sure that he would put her before himself. At the moment, if he needed Devashish there, she was willing to go against what he had told her to do.

"I have saved Chubby's number on your phone. If anything goes wrong," he paused noticing the fear in her eyes and the gulp of nervousness moving down her throat, "nothing will. But in the worst case, call him for help. And again, for worst case scenario," he removed a gun from the bag and loaded it.

"The safety lock opens like this." He quickly demonstrated. "And then you trigger. I hope you know that much." He glanced at her to make sure she was following.

He tossed the gun into the passenger seat next to him. "Remember that's in worst case. Your first-go should be that pocket knife or pepper spray." He pointed to the two things on her lap.

"How will you keep in touch?" she asked absorbing all the instructions he was issuing.

He held up two airpods, then held up his wrist showing his smart watch and then proceeded to plug one airpod into his ear. Then to check it he, pressed the button on his watch to enable the microphone and spoke close to his watch, "Luci, did you get to Aadarsh?"

"I am doing my best to move in the pitch darkness, as fast as I can without attracting attention. Maybe give me a graceful minute?" Came the voice on both their devices.

"You could hear that, right?" Devashish asked her after he muted the microphone. She nodded in affirmation.

He then picked up the black backpack from the back seat that was placed next to her. "Come to the front. We'll need you to drive to that gate we passed, when we came here. It's just straight down from here."

Ruhaani nodded. About half an hour back, they had slowly driven their car into the isolated lane that had endless trees on one side and a factory compound wall on the other, Devashish had showed her the gate of the factory from where Luci and KK had entered. When Devashish got off the car, she did too. He held the door for her while she got into the driver's seat.

"Okay?" He asked inspecting her with a careful look.

She nodded, with uncertainty. She really didn't want to be left alone in an isolated lane with a dead end. However, she consoled herself reminding herself that at least she'd be in the car, safe. It gave her the slightest sense of being protected.

"Lock the car, and open to no one except us. No one, Ruhaani. Not any lady, not a beggar, not a child, not anybody pleading for help or dying. No one. Understood?"

Ruhaani nodded, once again.

"If something comes up call me, actually call Chubby. Only if it's an emergency speak into the comms. Clear?"

"Yes."

He nodded, wearing the backpack. He was about to shut the car's door when Ruhaani held it. He gazed up at her confused.

"Thank you."

"You can thank me when we get Pari and your husband safely out of there." Having said that he shut the door and disappeared into the night shadows.

Ruhaani took a deep breath, shifting her gaze back to the iPad that was streaming the live video from the camera attached to Aadarsh's shirt button. It was mostly dark, but now that faint blue light was growing larger indicating that he was getting closer to the light source.

Her phone rang, indicating it was Abhi. She took a deep breath and rejected the call. She was too terrified to even say a word. She texted him that she'll call back when she had any update on the situation. What a horrible mess they were in! Even in her wildest dreams she never could have thought they'd be in a dire situation such as this.

She had always thought life with Aadarsh would always be secure, ordinary at best. So much for wanting security.

***

Aadarsh carefully assessed the three men quietly. One of the men frisked him, luckily he missed the knife tucked under his shirt's sleeve as his hands were raised. Devashish's idea of hiding it there had worked.

However his relief was short lived when one of them pulled his wrists down and held them together. The other guy tied his wrists together with zip-ties. He tried to appear calm but there was a freaking storm in his head. Even if he had a knife tucked in, he couldn't really use it. He casually looked up and around. He really hoped that Luci and KK were around. It was finally proving to be a good idea to take them along.

They then used a device to scan the bag. Aadarsh eyed the strap of the bag that lay on the floor on the side. The tracking chip was embedded in the strap. They missed it since the device never hovered over the strap.

They were lousy, Aadarsh could judge. Perhaps because they weren't paid well. Aadarsh pondered whether he could offer them a substantial sum to win them over. Yet, he hesitated. They might have ties to Bappi Gautam or be ensnared in some other way. He had to stick to the plan until he ensured Pari's safety. No risks could be taken.

The man who seemed to be in charge made a call, and moments later, he spoke again, "He's clean, Sir." He blinked and glanced down at the bag, then gestured to the other man to unzip it. "Yes, sir, it's cash." He answered, gesturing the man to zip it back. "Yes, sir."

"Chotu, lead the way. Himesh, if he tries to do anything smart shoot him on the spot." The man spoke staring at Aadarsh.

Aadarsh returned the glare, tempted to mock the man and expose his bluff. But he held back. There was no chance they would take action against him, even if he attempted to outsmart them, as they knew their boss desired him alive.

The man picked up the bag of cash. They began walking towards what seemed to be a cemented tank. Suddenly two more lights went on at either sides of the tank. Aadarsh's eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, once he got accustomed to the bright lights.

The spot they were at was surrounded by a open square shaped building. There was a door to the far left, it seemed to be a storage unit. He then looked to the right. Those looked like what could have been the administration offices when the factory was functional. One of the two rooms had the light on.

He looked ahead at the building. That was the building KK was probably scanning at the moment. It loomed ominously in the darkness. His heart raced at the thought of where they might be holding Pari captive. Hopefully not in those dark rooms; his little girl was terrified of darkness.

The creak of a wooden door opening snapped his gaze to the right. Two men emerged from the room, one of them with a noticeable limp in his gait. That was his enemy, he knew, from Devashish's description.

His jaw clenched tighter as the man's face became illuminated. Yes, that was the face on the cctv camera footage from the mall where Pari had been taken. In that moment, he felt an overwhelming urge to strangle the man with his bare hands. The man smirked, his mouth stained with tobacco.

"Look who's here," he sneered.

A question formed on Aadarsh's lips, ready to demand Pari's whereabouts. But he caught himself just in time, remembering Devashish's warning. He couldn't reveal how worried he was about Pari. She was his weakness, but he didn't have to show it.

"Look, I don't know why you think I was involved in your brother's death. But what I know is, you are wrong." Aadarsh spoke. The two men standing behind him grabbed his forearms tighter as though anticipating him to drive his tied hands into their boss's face. How he wished he could. When he was done here, he would sure as hell want to land a few punches on the man.

The man advanced, his gaze scrutinizing Aadarsh with a mix of analysis and unmistakable anger. With a contemptuous gesture, he spat a mouthful of whatever was in his mouth right next to Aadarsh's shoe, dirtying it with splashes. Aadarsh's eyes narrowed in fury as he looked up from his shoe to meet the man's gaze.

"I must say, I would have believed your lie had I not done my homework. It works out really good for you, doesn't it? Helps you make money in wrong ways, while keeping all that respect?"

"I am not lying." Aadarsh repeated.

Punch.

Aadarsh didn't see that punch coming. His jaw hurt at the impact, as his right cheek was met with the man's angry fist. Aadarsh seethed in anger. As an instinct he tried to move his arms to hit the man back but was reminded that his arms were restrained and wrists tied together.

"Admit it," The man spoke, his hand grabbing Aadarsh's jaw tightly, his angry eyes meeting Aadarsh's dark as black hole eyes.

"Your brother died of heart attack for God's sake." Aadarsh argued.

Another punch, this time hard enough to make his nose bleed.

Ruhaani yelped, closing her eyes. This was not going right. Where were the other men? The spy camera provided a very daunting image of the kidnapper. It gave her the chills. Aadarsh had very smartly raised his tied fists to the button where the spy camera was fixed to let them know that his hands were tied. There had be no communication from anyone over the comms. Where were the rest of the men?

"Get his daughter," Bappi Gautam ordered the man standing behind him.

Ruhaani stared at the screen that displayed a grainy but effective footage. Pari. Her heart felt like someone was squeezed over it tight. Tears welled in her eyes.

Aadarsh blinked and then gulped as his eyes followed the man who walked back to inverted tun cask. His eyes widened in horror. He would have never imagined they would have kept her there. The man opened the lid and Pari lay there.

"What did you do to her?" Aadarsh asked, trying to break free of the restrain to reach her but failing miserably.

"Nothing yet, but now it would be fun to watch you see what I do to her." The man spoke, he then turned to one of the man who was video recording the whole spectacle, his focus on Aadarsh instead of the perpetrator.

"She's a child leaver her out of this." Aadarsh spoke, trying his best to not say anything offensive to trigger the bastard. This plan was not working.

They needed to be more offensive than defensive, just as Devashish had suggested.

However, there was no way KK or Luci could get to Pari. That only meant... he had to comply, to keep Pari safe. If only his hands were not tied, he could try to take the man out.

His eyes widened as Bappi Gautam pulled a knife out.

"You know my brother had a scar here," he drew a finger across his cheek. "They said it was the accident that caused it. One tiny one here too," he drew his finger over his eyebrow upwards.

Aadarsh's gaze went over to the man who held Pari. His heart shuddered, tears wetting his eyes. She was in this because of him. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve a father who got her into this.

"She would have made a pretty girl. But now she won't. Because her father is a stubborn ass, who doesn't give a damn." The man spoke, eyeing the edge of the knife. "Sucks to be a step daughter I guess." The man shrugged.

"We should have picked the sister, she's a hot chick." The guy who held Pari spoke with an evil smile.

"Yes, you were right! All of this could have been so much more fun for all of us." Bappi Gautam spoke, "but this stupid Chotu, couldn't even get his research right."

"Dada, her school document said he was her father. Even Instagram said he was father."

"Shut up idiot!" The kidnapper chastised his henchman.

"Don't touch her." Aadarsh almost pleaded.

"Aye," Bappi Gautam turned to look at his man holding her. "Didn't you hear him? Don't touch her."

The man laughed and tossed her forward like she was not a small girl but a sack of rice.

"No." Aadarsh screamed, as Pari landed on the hard muddy floor. "Are you fucking crazy? If she gets as much as a scratch on her, no one will ever be able to find your body!" he shouted at the man. His gaze dropped to Pari. He hoped she wasn't hurt.

"There it is!" Bappi Gautam cheered. "The true face of this bastard. Threatening people, killing people for what? Money? Now you'll see what it is to be on the receiving side." Having said that he walked towards the spot where Pari lay.

"Don't..." Aadarsh struggled, but managed to take a step forward, but the two men restraining him gained back control and held him back. "Leave me, I will pay you ten times of what this man is paying you."

"Aah, what a snob! Did you guys see?" Bappi Gautam turned to the men. "This is how these rich bastards take away the life of our family and then show us the money."

"Don't worry Dada, we'll set a good example of what happens to such people." One of the men restraining Aadarsh spoke.

"Yes, Dada. An eye for an eye, will only teach these rich snobs what it is to be blind."

"She's a child. Do whatever you want to me but don't touch her. Please." Aadarsh begged.

Bappi Gautam glared at him. "You killed my brother. Did you realize that you were snatching someone from their family? I will show you exactly what it feels when your loved one is snatched from you." Saying that Bappi knelt down taking the knife closer to Pari's face.

"Not in this life time bastard!" Devashish stood behind him, pulling him back by his hair. Then he quickly kicked the knife out of his hand and pulled him back up.

It all happened too quickly. One of the men holding back Aadarsh lurched forward to help their boss. Aadarsh immediately turned to the other and drove both his fists together into his face, causing him to stumble back. The man who was recoding jumped forward dropping the camera in his hand towards Aadarsh but was intercepted by KK, who looped his muscular arm around him, like he had to put no effort.

Devashish and Bappi Gautam engaged in a proper hand to hand combat. However the man who had brought Pari had picked up the discarded knife and crawled closer to Pari, looking at Aadarsh threateningly. "Take one step, and this knife will cut her." He warned.

"Not a chance, fucker. Have you even cut a potato in your life?" Luci spoke kneeing the man on his face causing him to fall back.

Aadarsh wasted no time to move forward.

"Guys, a little help here," a yelp followed.

Aadarsh turned his head to the source of the sound. Bappi Gautam had managed to hold Devashish's neck against the wall of the cement tank.

A gunshot rang, and almost immediately Bappi Gautam staggered and fell crying in pain.

"Good thing he won't leap anymore." KK deadpanned, lowering his gun.

"I thought, I made it very clear that this was a no-guns mission." Devashish remarked rubbing his palm on his neck that was held in a chokehold.

"And then you called for help. You couldn't seriously take that man down?" KK spoke, disappointedly looking at Devashish, while three men lay on the floor behind him wailing in pain.

"Jee, if I left this situation to you both, you guys would have blown..."

"DV," Aadarsh yelled, as he eyed the pool of blood around Pari's head, his hand trembling midway in the air. "She's bleeding."

Devashish dashed forward and knelt on the floor on the other side. He slid his hand under Pari's head. He pulled out a rock. Aadarsh looked at the rock that had Pari's blood and then at Devashish.

Devashish swiftly pressed the button on his watch to activate the microphone and spoke urgently, "Chubby, locate the nearest hospital with a neurosurgeon in attending. The girl has a cracked skull. Ruhaani, I need you to drive to the gate now."

"Aadarsh," Devashish looked up at him but Aadarsh was in a state of freeze. "Aadarsh," he screamed this time to get him out of that state of shock. "Get yourself together, she'll be fine."

KK quickly stepped forward, using his strength to lift Pari up, while Luci applied pressure to her head to prevent bleeding. Together, they began jogging toward the gate. Meanwhile, Aadarsh remained frozen, his blood-stained hands trembling as he stared at them.

"Aadarsh, she needs you. Come on," Devashish spoke, helping Aadarsh on his feet. They had hardly moved towards the direction that KK had gone down, when a knife struck Aadarsh on the back and he groaned in pain, stumbling forward.

"Fuck!" Devashish cried, extending his arm towards Aadarsh to prevent his fall. Holding him, he immediately drove the knife out of his back, causing Aadarsh to wail again. The knife had struck him near his shoulder blade. It didn't seem like a major injury at the moment. It had probably left a muscle tear. "You'll live," Devashish muttered, turning around angrily, "But his fucker won't. Go. I will deal with this, Aadarsh."

Aadarsh groaned in pain but pressed forward, his sole focus was on reaching Pari. Nothing else mattered to him at that moment.

***

Lucifer had drove them to the hospital while KK had stayed back to help Devashish in dealing with the goons. Chubby had provided them with directions to the hospital and had also made a pre-emptive call to help the hospital prepare. He instructed them on exactly what to tell the doctors on admission—that Pari had slipped, fallen, and hurt herself while playing.

Ruhaani slumped on the metal chair outside the room they had taken Pari into. She was asked to stay out. Nothing made sense anymore. She was angry at Aadarsh. This was all his fault.

She had been listening the kidnapper on the comms, it seemed like he was genuinely convinced that Aadarsh was involved in his brother's death. Suddenly it felt like she didn't know Aadarsh at all. Was there a side of Aadarsh she was not aware of? Was there a apart of him that could kill someone for his own benefit?

Aadarsh stood just outside the double doors, consumed by guilt. This was on him. He had been right there and yet couldn't prevent Pari from being hurt. His own pain, despite its torturous intensity, was forgotten as he gazed through the circular glass window into the room. Pari deserved better, a better father.

"Bhabhs!"

Aadarsh slowly turned to find his brother dash down the corridor towards Ruhaani, Ashvi trailing behind him.

"Abhi," Ruhaani finally spoke, looking at his brother, with tears in her eyes.

She hadn't spoken a word to him. She hadn't even looked at him through the drive to the hospital. They had simply tried their best to minimize her bleeding. Ruhaani had just been staring at Pari, making prayers for her to be okay.

He watched as she rose from the chair and embraced Abhi, seeking comfort in his arms. She hugged him tightly, finding solace in his embrace, despite the fact that he, the person she had considered her safe haven, had been just within arm's reach. The scene he witnessed was like salt on his many open wounds at the moment.

He felt the weight of losing her trust, perhaps even losing her altogether. Slowly, he turned back to the door, swallowing the emotional pain as tears welled up in his eyes.

"Aadarsh," it was Devashish's voice this time. "What did the doctor say?" He asked reaching his side.

"They've taken her in, haven't said anything yet. They said it looked bad. She was still bleeding." He answered slowly. His gaze shifted quietly back to Ruhaani, who was silently breaking down in Abhi's arms. He longed to be there for her, to reassure and comfort her. Yet, he knew all she would feel was repulsion and anger if he even tried to stand before her.

The door opened drawing the attention of everyone.

"How long has she been passed out? Was she talking and responding properly after the fall?" The doctor who had emerged asked impatiently.

"She'd been sedated. Chloroform is my best guess." Devashish spoke up. The doctor looked at him puzzled, his eyes widening.

"I was told she fell while playing and hurt herself." The doctor spoke irritated. "Is this some sort of joke? I need to know what exactly happened. What has she been exposed to? Is this a police case?"

"It's not your headache, doctor," another man in a white coat interjected, rushing toward them with an aura of authority. "The reason provided was for hospital records. This is a high-profile case; all information will be on a need-to-know basis, and this case will be handled with utmost confidentiality. Mr. Devashish, I'll take it from here. We'll need her past medical records, any allergies, vaccinations received—everything.""

"I have already sent it to the email you gave me." Devashish spoke.

The doctor nodded. He quickly made a call asking for the all the records received on the email to be brought to him in physical form to the OT.

"Dr Shetty, what's the status on the kid." The senior doctor then asked.

"She's lost a lot of blood. Her heart rate is going low. We're trying to stabilize her. But we need her to be responsive to figure out if there's any damage to her brain." The doctor replied.

The senior doctor nodded and was about to walk in after Dr. Shetty, when Devashish spoke to halt him, "Dr Bedi, we need another doctor. Aadarsh has a wound that may need stitches."

Dr Bedi looked at him pointedly, "what is the source of the wound?"

"A knife, but no one has to know. He was mugged." Devashish spoke giving him a look that communicated more than his words.

"There's only so much I can do. I am treating nothing beyond this. I run a hospital for God sake. If this gets out, not only do I lose my medical license, I lose this hospital too."

"Understood. But you owe me. So just sail us out of this situation with your best medical expertise." Devashish uttered.

A man in scrubs ran up to them. "Here are the records you requested, Dr Bedi,"

"This is my assistant— Dr Suraj. He'll be your point of contact for everything. I have explained the situation to him." Dr Bedi told Devashish. He then turned to Dr Suraj, "Take this man to the next room, and fix him up. I believe he needs some stitches."

"What happened to you Bhaiya?" Ashvi spoke.

Aadarsh turned around, his eyes briefly settling on Ashvi's worried face then moving on to Abhi's disappointed face and eventually settling on Ruhaani's crestfallen face. "It's nothing." He mumbled walking with Dr Suraj to the next room.

Devashish followed him leaving the others behind, after giving them an observant look.

"It's a deep wound. You have a grade two tear from the depth." Dr Suraj spoke after long minutes of inspecting Aadarsh as he sat on the hospital bed. A nasty two inch scar ran parallel to his shoulder blade, oozing out of blood.

"What was the weapon?"

"A knife," Devashish, who stood with his arms folded by the door, answered.

"What kind of metal? And Dirty, I presume? There's a chance of serious infection if that weapon was made of ...or coated in something toxic. The tear is pretty close to his lung and heart. Had it been a few more inches in, it would've pierced his heart wall."

"Jee, thanks for the information. I couldn't make that out." Devashish muttered, only to get a look of annoyance from the doctor.

"Please lay down," Doctor Suraj told Aadarsh "Any known allergies, specifically to any medication?"

"None." Aadarsh answered, clenching his jaw muscles as a sharp pain twisted in his back as he tried to get up.

"Stay down, please. Please limit the use of your left arm and back muscles. We don't want to strain the muscle further. I will have my team here to stitch you up." Having said that the doctor walked out.

Devashish settled on the stool on the side. He pressed the button of his watch and spoke into it, "KK, what's the update?"

"Everything is in control. I have all of them taped and tied here." KK replied, Aadarsh who still had the comms in his hear heard that and slowly turned to look at Devashish.

"Good. I will take care of the bastard personally. But now I want you to scan that place for two things. One, the sedative they used on Pari. See if you find an injection, napkin or bottle of presumably chloroform. We need to know what chemical caused her sedation." Devashish spoke.

"It's chloroform. We saw it in the CCTV footage." KK responded.

"No guesses. We need to be sure. It will help the doctors if they know exactly what was used. And next, I need you to pull the knife out of that bastard's leg and tell me what metal it is, Aadarsh's doctor needs that information."

"It's not lead for sure." KK muttered, "I will check."

"Good," Devashish replied and then spoke again, "Chubby, I want you to run a background check on all the doctors treating the Sehgals. Get their weak points too, might come in handy if they get too smug. Luci, I need you to find the policemen in charge in the vicinity of the factory, mall and hospital. This can't get out. We need to be prepared to hush it if it gets to any police station."

After issuing all his orders to contain the situation, Devashish looked at Aadarsh. The man seemed lost.

"She'll be okay," Devashish tried to reassure, "I had cracked my skull too as a kid, and look how fine I turned out!"

Aadarsh didn't glare at him or roll his eyes in response. He kept staring at the wall. That was bad.

"Aadarsh,"

"Leave me alone." Aadarsh said quietly.

Devashish sighed and got up to leave. "Follow the doctors' advice, your family needs you...to be healthy... to take care of them" Having said that he walked out of the room.

Just as he walked out, a nurse approached with a clipboard in her hand. She was about to enter the room Aadarsh was in when Devashish stopped her. "I will be taking care of formalities." He extended his hand to get the form.

"Are you family?"

Devashish sighed. "No. They are." He pointed towards the other three Sehgals. "But I am the one in charge here. I would like it if you don't trouble the family or the patient . He has had enough to deal with anyway. Papers?" he demanded.

The nurse looked evidently pissed. "Sir, it's protocol..."

"Go complain to Dr Bedi about that." Devashish said referring to the senior doctor who owned the hospital, as he plucked the clipboard and pen out of her hand. She threw him another pissed look before walking away.

Devashish settled on the chair and filled out the details. Aadarsh had a very peculiar habit of keeping his family's medical records in the digital format on cloud. Devashish believed it had something to do with how his mom died. The habit was being particularly useful in the present situation. He was able to pull up, his medical history and quickly fill the form, just s he had access to Pari's medical records.

Once he was done filling the form, he walked up to Ruhaani. "You need to sign this form." He said.

Abhi threw him a look of annoyance and took the clipboard instead. He skimmed through the papers.

"He needs surgical sutures for a deep wound?" Abhi asked confused.

"Yeah, that's medical for—they want to stitch him up because a knife tore into his muscle."

"A knife? When? How?" Ruhaani asked, looking shocked.

"When we were getting out. That fucker threw the knife at Aadarsh's back. It tore into Aadarsh's rhomboid muscle. Thankfully not strong enough to reach his heart. So they'll stitch him up, give medicines to prevent infections and then put a tape or a support brace to help him heal it. Need to sign up for that." Devashish spoke, pointing to the paper attached to the clipboard.

"It says he can sign it himself." Abhi muttered, pressing the clipboard to Devashish's chest.

Ruhaani plucked the clipboard out of Abhi's hand and pen from Devashish's while the two glared at each other. She wrote her name as the representative and then signed where either the patient or his caretaker could sign.

"You're one hell of an ungrateful brother." Devashish muttered.

"Oh God, not again. You and Bhai have a really twisted view of what's right and wrong. We are in this because of you both and your twisted sense of business and morality. Pari is unconscious in there and that's because Aadarsh Sehgal cares about nothing but getting rich and you enable him."

"Shut the hell up. He's your brother. And he's in there hurt too...physically and emotionally. Keep the tantrums for later."

"Abhi's not wrong. Bhaiya got us into this situation to begin with." Ashvi spoke. "God knows how many things he hides."

Devashish looked at them dumbfounded. He glanced at Ruhaani. "Do you also have something to add to that?" He asked angrily.

Ruhaani handed him the clipboard, not as much as meeting his eyes.

"Say if you do, or take a stand as his wife and defend him. Cause that's the least he deserves." Devashish spoke, his anger growing by the minute. This is why he didn't like Aadarsh's family, because they were a bunch of ungrateful hypocrites.

"My daughter is in there unconscious for nothing she did." Ruhaani spoke up her red-rimmed eyes finally meeting Devashish's angry ones.

"His daughter is in there too. You were seeing everything that was happening there. Aadarsh's hands were literally and figuratively tied." He argued.

"What happened to that man's brother?" she demanded.

"Aadarsh had nothing to do with that."

Abhi scoffed, "yeah right!"

"You know what actually happened? Why Aadarsh got involved with that MLA who had a beef with Harry, the man who died? Because your dad was a fucking addict." Devashish spat.

Abhi's jaw clenched as his fingers roles into a fist. He threateningly took a step ahead. "Don't you dare. You have no right to..."

"But I will. I should. Because you people don't deserve Aadarsh. The same man who has built a fort around you all to keep you all from seeing the harsh world. Have you ever thought why your brother hates your father so much that he doesn't even want to see your father's face?"

"Devashish, that's enough." Ruhaani spoke up.

Devashish looked at her getting a sense that she knew. "Please let me. Even you don't know the whole truth. That's because Aadarsh always hides the battles he fights... the battle he is forced to fight for you all."

"Oh, please. We don't force him to do anything for us. He just likes to be the parent instead of the brother." Ashvi spoke up irritated.

"Yeah, right. He is a fucking idiot for that. Cause what does he get in return? A sister who is a slut. A brother who very conveniently dumps the responsibility of his decisions and choices on his brother."

Bam. Devashish received a punch on his face.

"Shut up and get lost!" Abhi shouted, grabbing Devashish by his shirt. "Never again talk about my father or my sister, cause the next time I am not stopping at punch." Abhi angrily pushed the man away.

Devashish chuckled. "You're on another level of delulu man!" He titled his head looking at Ashvi who stood beyond Abhi. "Aadarsh doesn't know of your secrets yet, because I would hate to break his heart by telling him that his sister who treats like his first daughter, is a... " he gestures zipping his mouth. "Apparently, can't use the word for you, might get another punch."

"I said shut..."

Abhi had barely begun to speak but his words were cut-off by Devashish's, "I have proofs, if you'd like to see. Your sister would have gone viral for all the embarrassing reasons, if I didn't care for Aadarsh enough to save her reputation before it was ruined and hide it from Aadarsh. You are the set of most selfish siblings I have ever seen." Devashish muttered, stepping back.

He then shifted his gaze to Ruhaani. "Aadarsh had nothing to do with that kidnapper's brother's death. It was me. That man who died, who you suddenly care for more than your own husband, was a bloody rapist who got away with his crime. That's why the MLA wanted him dead. And he wanted Aadarsh to help him with that, because Aadarsh owed him, because guess who saved Senior Sehgal from going to jail and ruining his kids view of a decent family?" Devashish tossed a mocking look at Abhi.

He then continued, "I happened to be at the right place at the right time. Because Aadarsh is all barks and no bite. And I am all—no barks only bite. I..."

He was interrupted as the double doors suddenly swung open. Doctor Shetty emerged out of the room, his expression filled with urgency as he approached them. The others all turned to him.

"I need your help," Doctor Shetty implored, his voice steady but urgent. "We're running low on blood for the transfusion. We need to match her blood type quickly. Can I ask each of you to come with me to have your blood drawn for testing?"

"Is she okay?" Ruhaani asked, a fear running down her spine.

"Has she ever had trouble in stopping any bleeding before? Her records were clean. But just to be sure..."

"No... she's got hurt before and it heals like normal." Ruhaani spoke.

"Okay, we need to hurry up. We may need more blood, and we are running out, we need a match."

"Sure, you can take our blood, but please ensure Pari is fine," Abhi spoke.

"Give me the details of what exactly is your requirement, I will have someone search in nearby hospitals and blood banks in the meanwhile." Devashish offered, handing him his phone.

The doctor quickly typed the requirement on his phone and then led the Sehgals to a room down the corridor, a nurse tagging along with him. He quickly sent the details to Chubby and asked him to search for it, following their trail.

He took a deep breath, wondering if he had said too much. Aadarsh wouldn't be pleased; in fact, he would likely be furious if he found out how he had spoken to his family.

'To hell with what Aadarsh thought about it,' Devashish thought to himself. Perhaps it would lead to his siblings being more honest with Aadarsh and see what he did for them. But the family drama was the least of his worries, the look on that doctor's panic stricken face meant the situation was way more serious than he had analysed it to be and that meant Aadarsh was in for the darkest night of his life.

• — • — •

A lot happened there. Looking forward to read your thoughts and perspective.

Don't forget to vote ☆ on the chapters.

—Anami!♡