Arjun

"Dr. Arjun, The Chief Minister is waiting in the conference room for you." A nurse who's working here part-time from a hospital in Sri Lanka informed me.

After knowing Sakhi's medical history, I started questioning myself if I did the right thing by saving her. So to deviate my mind from that rabbit hole, I started working on the cases for tomorrow after meeting the patients I performed surgeries on.

"Thanks for the message Jenny, I will join them, "I said to her closing my laptop and leaving my paperwork in the middle.

I walked out of my room and I climbed up 3 floors to reach the meeting, I walked in with a smile on my face to greet Uncle J,  who's the chief minister of the state, as it's been so long since I met him, I gave him a quiet hello looking at detectives assigned to Sakhi's case, Latha, and few other people in the room.

I didn't want anyone to know about my personal connection with Uncle J, but much to my dismay, Amaya jumped into my arms away from Uncle J and crushed me into a hug.

 Everyone in the room is staring at us with confusion in their eyes.

"Did you eat lunch? I know you didn't so I grabbed you some on the way back after meeting Janu and Uncle J." She blabbered without giving me a chance to answer her.

"She requested Sruthi to pack some extras for you. You are really lucky to have someone like her." Uncle J said looking at us which led to more confusion.

Latha looked at me and Amaya in shock at how we knew the Chief Minister of the state personally.

"Sadly, I am stuck with her. Did you find something on Sakhi? " I asked him sitting in a chair and pulling Amaya with me to keep her quiet.

"How do you know her Arjun? Janu told me that she met Sakhi in a cafe, " He asked me.

"I met her at the AMG Hospital and the Busy Beans Cafe along with Janu. She works at both places according to my knowledge." I told him a brief version of my story.

"The story sticks sir, she did work in both places, she also used to work in a Call center, we investigated all the places but there was nothing suspicious there. We have the details of her from the last 3 years, everything before that is redacted from the database by the central government. I contacted my friends from the CBI to get her information but it seems no one except high-level officials has access to her file." Detective Ram, the one I spoke to last night informed Uncle J with a frown on his face.

Why is everything about her so complicated?

"I need an answer sooner rather than later, I have to answer my people and catch the murderers who did this to her in my state. I can't go to press with the results you are telling me, Ram. There has to be some or the other way to know her details and to get a reason on why she was targetted in a bus full of people. " Uncle J said with authority screaming in his voice.

I really appreciate his efforts for this state, He is the most responsible and the best leader ever.

"I will talk to the Prime Minister and get you all the details you need, I want you to find the people who did this to her before she wakes up and I don't care what it takes.." He announced the last part.

"You will never be able to get Sakhi's details, No politician, not even the prime minister can get them to you." Said a new voice coming from the door making us look at him.

The new man in the room looked in his 60s, He looked small and but his voice and face has this powerful aura around him. His whole personality screams authority.

Uncle J's security details took their guns out and pointed at him, and so did the detectives, but there was no fear evident in his face. He looks calm and pleasant like he was in a park, with kids playing around him.

"Shyam lower your guns. Who are you and what do you know about the girl?" Uncle asked him calmly.

Everyone lowered their guns, but still held them tight in case of an emergency.

"I am General of the Indian Army, Prithivi Raj Kumar, and I need you to send all your guards, police, and hospital staff out of the room. "He said showing us his card, as the words left his mouth Uncle signaled everyone to leave.

What's happening here, why is the highest-ranking official of the Indian Army here for Sakhi?

Is she a terrorist?

All kinds of bad thoughts started clouding our minds, I wanted to know what was going on here before I lose my mind.

"I am not going anywhere and your card doesn't work on me. My brother saved her and he deserves to know the answer." Amaya voiced out before I could tell them that I was not leaving the room.

"You don't have the clearance to know this stuff. It would be better if you leave or I will have to drag you out." Said another man who came in with the general, who was standing still till now.

"Touch me and I will break your hands." Amaya glared at him getting off her chair ready for a fight.

"Captain Chaudary, I need Ms. Amaya and Mr.Arjun to be in the room," General replied silencing the man behind him as everyone else left the room.

How does he know our names?

"General, they don't have the clearance to know this." He mumbled earning glares from everyone in the room.

"I get to decide that and If you talk without my permission next time you will be facing serious penalties," General commanded sitting on a chair opposite us beside Uncle J.

"How do you know our information?" My sister asked him with confusion in her voice.

"You underestimate me, Ms.Amaya, CTO of United Inc, I know everything about you. Just because your husband, Mr.Jameson Browne has the ability to hide his personal details about his Indian wife and 5 kids doesn't mean I don't know about them. And you Mr.Arjun, or should I say Harvard's most famous quarterback AJ or trauma surgeon converted to Cardio-Thoracic Surgeon, who's on an exile in India working at his brother-in-law's hospital." He said to us with a smirk, while Amaya's and my mouths were wide open in shock.

What he said is true, You can never get details about Amaya or the kids on the internet. She likes her privacy more and she wants to be more than the richest man's wife. And about me, I am not in an exile, I came here of my own will.

"That's creepy and not at all interesting. It would be better if you kept the information to yourself." She mumbled looking at him.

"I just did my background check on the people who helped Sakhi and I value people's privacy. And Thank you Arjun for saving Sakhi." He said looking at me and I could see that he was really thankful for saving her.

Is she his daughter? I had the itch to pull my phone out and get his details like he got mine.

"Can you tell us about Sakhi? We have to catch the people who did this to her. She must be someone important to you if you came all the way here." Uncle asked General getting to the point.

"Sakhi is part of a secret government agency, she has been working with me for the last 10 years acting as an undercover agent, infiltrating schools and colleges." He said calmly like it was no big deal.

She has been working since 16 according to him and her medical history and her life was ruined after she started working for them. 

What has he been doing to her?

"That's a way of saying that you took an advantage of a 16-year-old, who can't fend for herself. Do you see the state she is in, and what she has gone through and you tell me that she has been doing that for the last 10 years?"Amaya scoffed at the General earning glares from him and the captain.

"Not everyone has a billionaire husband, Mrs.Browne, we need to work in order to make money. Keep in mind that everyone is not as privileged as you are. Sakhi did it to provide a roof and food for her family, and to save her dying father. I would say that she was well compensated by the government for her services looking that her father is still alive and breathing."Captain Chaudhary answered her and I knew if given the chance Amaya would snap his head in seconds.

I held her hand, calming her down, and replied to this arrogant know-it-all person before me.

"I would keep my mouth shut if I were you, Captain. Her name is Amaya, not Mrs. Browne, it's because of prejudiced people like you our grandfather didn't give us last names, we were taught to make our names in the world. And it would be better if you treat her with respect or leave the room."

That's true, no one in our family has a last name, My name is Arjun, there is nothing else to it other than the Dr title I earned for myself.

The Captain looked shocked by my words and looked at his boss to back him up, but instead, he got a shocker for his own life.

"Please wait outside the room till I order you to come back, Captain," General said to him and he left stomping.

"I am sorry about him.  I know what we did with Sakhi was wrong, I regret bringing her into the cruel world. But at that time we didn't have an option. There was an illegal drug ring selling counterfeit LSD to college kids, which caused 4000+ deaths in a span of 5 months, there was no way to get them out. I know that she volunteered to feed her family but she was the only one who survived the training. She helped us save thousands of lives within a year. " He said with tears in his eyes for her.

"At what cost, did you see how many times she overdosed? That was a 16-year-old girl General, the minimum to age join the army is 18. she didn't know anything and you took advantage of her helplessness." Amaya voiced out again feeling Sakhi's pain with tears in her eyes.

Amaya is an empath, she takes everything to heart and hospitals bring the most empathetic person out of her, That's one of the reasons she adopted 3 kids overnight, seeing them all alone, she couldn't bear that and I believe she saw herself in her kids. And once again when she saw Janu not having anyone for her at the hospital, she wanted to take her home too.

"If she has people, Where is her family and why are they not here for her?" Uncle J asked him the only logical question.

"They used to live here 10 years ago, but they moved after her father recovered. They don't know anything about her work life, and she wanted to keep it that way." He said to Uncle J.

After listening to that I felt more love towards my parents, I am 29 and my mom is ready to move here if I say yes.

"But her last mission was to uncover an organ trafficking ring, who were based in a reputable hospital. They used to steal organs from healthy people and sell them on the dark web. We sent Sakhi to the college the hospital was affiliated with to uncover the truth and get us some real evidence."

"When we were knee-deep into the mission, Sakhi found that their leader Lucas also controlled Women and child trafficking rings, she wanted to end the whole thing instead of just one. She helped us end the whole ring, but not their leader, he faked a bomb blast in the end and escaped, Sakhi tried to catch him but somehow he managed to run away."

"After a few months, people started attacking Sakhi out of nowhere, and in one of those battles, she lost her hearing and almost died. When we looked into these sudden attacks on her and we found that a hit was placed on her death for a million dollars in the dark web." He said to us wiping off the tears on his face.

"I did everything in my power to keep her hidden, I moved her to a secured state, and asked her to continue studying and become a doctor in the meantime. She is like my daughter and I didn't mean to hurt her." He ended up narrating the story of Sakhi.

Amaya was in tears, and Uncle J had a sorrowful look on his face.

I felt sad for her pain but I was more proud of her, the way she didn't quit, the way she rose from all her difficult times, and the way she took care of her family despite being 16, I was more inspired by her story.

"How do we end all this?" That was Uncle J's question.

"I honestly don't know. I am helpless in this situation, we have been looking into Lucas to erase that hit, but can't find him. The man you found won't give us any information because he is just a goon for hire." The general sighed away all his worries.

"I wish I could put an end to her suffering." He mumbled trying to gather up the courage to speak up.

Is suffering part of human existence?

Maybe it is, The first noble truth of Buddhism roughly translates to"Life is Suffering"

We suffer, we feel pain and we rise up from the pain. That's a part of life and all of Sakhi's sufferings made her stronger and more powerful. If anyone can get through this without any scratch it will be Sakhi and I believe that she can, I have faith in her.

"I will help her to safety and make sure no one dares to harm her, on three conditions," Amaya announced all of sudden making everyone in the room look at her.

"I am pretty sure she is tired of running away from all this and if you agree with me she won't have to. She can live happily like all this never happened. I will hire people to erase the threat, I will provide her with a 24/7 security detail." Amaya said with a determined look on her face, scaring me that she has some weird fickle thoughts going on.

What's going on in her mind? Why is she doing this? And most importantly what are her conditions?

"I will do anything if you help me keep her safe, I don't have enough financial resources like you do to help her." The General said to us.

Amaya calmly held my hand under the table and said

"The main condition is that Sakhi has to marry Arjun after her recovery, end all her ties with the Indian Army, and  start working for Global where I can keep an eye on her."

Did she really say that Sakhi has to marry Arjun as in me? or does Amaya know any other Arjun to get Sakhi married to?

"Do you understand what you are saying, Amaya? You want some stranger to marry our Arjun? " Uncle J asked in confusion while I was frozen at her previous statement.

"Yes, Uncle! I would really like that to happen. Arjun doesn't have anyone in his life and I strongly believe that she could be the one." She said confidently looking at me, while I was processing her previous statement.

"What about him? Does he have any say in this?" Uncle J asked looking at me which brought me out of my frozen state.

I immediately took my hand out of her hold, not able to fathom what I just heard and feeling anger at how she had just given away my future for some stranger.

"Can you excuse use General? We need to talk about this in private?" I asked him politely and he left the room glancing at Amaya.

"What the heck is wrong with you Ammu? Why would you say that without asking me?" I yelled at her for the first time in my life.

"My sisternal instincts say that she is the one for you and I trust in them when it comes to you." She said and I scoffed at her ridiculous answer.

"It's not a joke Amaya, and there is no such thing as sisternal instinct," I yelled at her in frustration.

Is my life a joke to her?

"I don't care Arjun, you are marrying her if she says yes." She gave me an ultimatum and that was the last string of my calmness which was cut because of her words.

"What about me Amaya? Does my opinion matter to you? You can't take decisions about my life, And what is your obsession with saving people in hospitals?"

"Just because you were helpless and alone after your parents died and when Jameson left you in a hospital doesn't mean you go save everyone who is in similar situations. Stop being selfish and think about others for Godsake, You bought Lena, Alex and Danny weren't they enough, now you want to buy Sakhi by marrying her off to me. This is outrageous Amaya and you are not a saint, so quit acting like one." I poured out my frustration on her.

I hated how easily she assumed that I was willing to marry Sakhi, I came here to get a grip on my life and she wanted to take it away with her crazy obsession.

I felt overwhelmed at the day I've had thus far and put out my frustration on her.

After a long pause, Amaya opened her mouth and I regretted everything I'd said to her.

"Sakhi is the only one who bought out the human that you lost on the way to becoming a doctor, and I wanted to get my old brother back. And yes, I am a selfish person because I wanted you to have someone by your side here. I also know that no one can protect Sakhi better than you, She lost so much in her life and I believed that you could be the reason for her happiness.  I just wanted you guys to be happy together." She answered brushing her tears off.

All the guilt in the world hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw her tears because of me. The tears I vowed would never be the reason for.

"I know what I lost in my life Arjun, you don't have to remind me. And If you ever say that I bought my kids I will kill you. They are in my life because I love them not because I wanted to feel like a saint." She said and walked away from the room leaving me with the words that I said to her out of anger haunting me.

Amaya is the pillar of strength in my life. I always thought that I could do anything for her. But today I am disappointed in myself, She asked me to do one thing for the first time in her life which was to make me happy and I hurt her.

I will marry Sakhi because I know my sister can never be wrong when it comes to me.

Okay... That was the end. 

Did anyone expect Amaya to be the reason for their marriage? Let's see how Sakhi reacts to this proposal.

I am sorry for the break so far,  just settling in for my last year of college and not trying to think about the real world which is waiting for me.

Hope you are having good times unlike me.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

Love,

Sneha