"Na jaane kaisi hai yeh zindagi,
pal mein sab kuch badal deti hai aur humein fasaa deti hai"

~ Kabir ~

Mumbai, India

I walked out of the room as the doctors entered, who wanted to check up on her vitals. Thank god that I had pressed the emergency switch as she was too weak at the moment.

I sent a message to Aryan asking him to tell everyone that Meher was awake. Now that Meher is awake, she would look for answers. Answers for the questions that we ourselves had not been able to get.

We were too close to our goal, we just wanted a name but before that could happen, this incident occurred.

My phone pinged again and I saw Aryan's name flashing on the Whatsapp notification.

The work's done now. Sahil has been transferred to the hospital in Chicago. Dr. Crawford will take care of the rest.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Sahil was alive and breathing, just not in consciousness. He was in Coma, with no idea of when he would be waking up. Sahil had hit the back of his head somehow, maybe during getting out of the car and that caused internal bleeding which took a long operation to get treated.

He had no other injuries, except for a few scratches here and there. It was Meher who got badly injured in that accident.

Thankfully, the police contacted me first because I was the last person to talk to Sahil. Meher's phone was completely crushed, but Sahil's was working.

It took money and power to declare Sahil dead, even though he was alive just for his security. If certain people even had a whim of his survival, they would come back again. So it was necessary to keep him under wraps, to give the impression to everyone that he was dead.

And to do that, Aryan just made a few calls to the media house to cover the news very efficiently, to give the impression that it was a tragic accident and all of us were pretty shocked by it.

But keeping Sahil here meant bringing more trouble. William Carter, the CEO of Millenium and Co, Meher's boss and a very close acquaintance of mine helped with issuing Sahil's emergency visa and shifted him to the US on that very night of the accident itself.

But the problem didn't end there. We could never let Meher know that Sahil was possibly alive and is present in some corner of the world. She was reckless. Even if we asked her not to find him for his safety, she would do the complete opposite thing as there was no trust between us.

And with this incident, Meher had put herself at risk as well. Sahil and Meher were together before the accident, which can arouse suspicion of them working together. There was a possibility that she might get attacked again just to close the mouth of the last person who saw that it wasn't an accident but a planned murder.

I had to protect her. There was not a single time I or any of the twins were leaving her alone.

Her life being in potential danger was supposed to be a secret to the entire world, except for Aryan and me. Telling Arya about it was a risk, she wouldn't think twice to act upon it on her own, endangering everyone along the process.

Aryan didn't want the context of the situation. He did not demand any answer as to why all of this was happening. He just clearly followed the given instructions and helped me out.

"Bhai," Aryan's voice echoed from the end of the corridor as he walked towards me. He was still dressed in the same clothes as before and I figured that he hadn't gone that far from the hospital.

"You did not go?" I asked as he was near, shaking his head while taking a seat beside me.

"Something came up," he answered, leaning on the metallic chair and sighing as he stretched his body. "Case review— had to sit in the car and do it urgently," he added further.

I nodded and silently stared at the door leading to Meher's ward.

"How's she?" He asked me. An audible sigh escaped my lips and from the side eye, I could feel my brother's eyes throwing a question.

"Not good," I stated the truth. "She saw the news on the TV. Screamed her lungs out."

"Hmm," Aryan nodded as tried to grasp the situation. "Any sane person would have the same reaction as her," his voice had lowered as I noticed him eyeing the door gloomily as if a lot of things were going inside of her head.

"Sahil was a really close friend of hers from college," He explained to me. I knew the reason, but it was good to hear someone share the thing about that person, something that I could personally relate to.

"I figured," I admitted. "She's fiercely protective of him."

And to that, Aryan chuckled. "She's that with everybody. Meher is fiercely protective of the people she loves."

I watched Aryan when he spoke about Meher. He looked up to her, there was so much care in his words that made me realise that she didn't have to try to make them like her.

The brain works in the most twisted way. It would never listen to your heart. I resented Meher for what she did in the past, she was in fact, guilty for it as well, but I could never forgive her because I still was reeling from the after effects of that one incident.

I may not be able to let go of the hate now. But I am not angry anymore.

I could envision myself letting go of that hate and might as well become friends with her.

"I think I should go in," he said as the doctors came out.

"I will follow you," I let him go first and stayed behind to speak to the doctors.

"Is she okay?" I couldn't help myself to ask that question. She had screamed her guts out, which might have hurt her a lot, considering that she had broken ribs.

"Please make sure that she doesn't scream again as screaming leads to a lot of air intake, she needs to take short and calm breaths," the doctor advised. "It puts a lot of pressure on her lungs and her ribs. From the position of her fracture, her screaming might even puncture her lungs."

"Yes, I will make sure that it doesn't happen again," he complied and then made his way to the door.

As I twisted the knob to enter, Aryan's voice stopped me.

"Why did you do that?" I heard Aryan ask her calmly. From what I could see, Meher was sitting and staring at her front while Aryan was standing at the periphery.

"It was difficult. I had a feeling, but still, it was difficult," she answered. Her voice wasn't that of anger anymore. There was such stillness in the calm tone of her voice, it was vaguely terrifying.

"I should have been there for him," she continued speaking, "he was hurting but he never told me. I knew it but I never did anything for him. I was busy handling my own grief that despite knowing that he was suffering from the same grief, I did not help him. He was closer to Abhi and Tara than I was," she explained to him, smiling sadly. "I became a part of them later, like a foreign but they— they were always there for each other."

"You know it's not your fault right?" Meher hummed, answering Aryan's question.

"I know," she said. "But I got selfish with my emotions. Every time we spoke, I dropped all my worries on him, spoke my heart out, cried multiple times and he just listened, accepting every word. He never told me how he felt, really. And when I finally asked him how he was feeling, he died. People come and go," I watched her wipe a tear that trickled down her eye. "Sahil's time was over but he did not die in peace and that is what is hurting me the most. You know, he could never confess to Tara that he loved her. It is difficult to live with the fact that I did nothing for Sahil, the most cherished person of Abhi. I feel so sorry," And then, she started crying.

Aryan went to her, gently pulling her head to him and cradling her, letting her cry. I watched her shed tears while my brother calmly let her do that, to make her feel that he was there for her.

I saw how beautiful their friendship was, how much they valued each other's efforts, and how much they loved each other.

Some relationships were beyond love and family. There was friendship, a true one which would bring a sense of belonging.

I closed the door, letting the two friends have their time together while I made my way out of the hospital, hoping to go to my best friend.

* * *

When I walked into the premises of Rai Tech, I was amazed at the world Maan had created for himself. It wasn't my first time but every time I saw this place, it reminded me that Maan had not taken the wrong decision back then.

Fighting with your family full of doctors and not wanting to join the hospital that his family owned.

He built this all by himself and rightfully, he was extremely proud of it.

I nodded at Asha, who was his secretary who happened to be downstairs. "Is he busy?" I asked her as she fell into step with me.

"He is in a meeting with a few investors, he will be done in thirty minutes," she informed me.

"So why are you not in?" She looked at me sheepishly and I pressed my lips, moving forward to press the button for the elevator.

She must have broken something again.

I sighed, thinking over why we kept the two best friends as our secretaries. They were very qualified, even overqualified for the job, but they were clumsy.

Asha broke things, most of the time it was Maan's precious antique collection which fell into prey whereas, Aanchal could fall anywhere, sometimes breaking a thing or two.

Who knows that one day they might actually set a building on fire?

The lift slid open and I stepped in, pressing for the last floor.

The lift stopped somewhere on the tenth floor, as the door slid open again, I saw Maan stepping in. As he saw me, his lips quirked up giving me a pat on my back.

"What is it?" Maan stood beside me facing forward, his hand tucked in his pocket.

I was beyond offended. "Can't I come to see you?"

Maan snorted, bobbing his head up and down. "You can," he stifled his laugh, "but only when you have to say something."

"You haven't called recently," I pointed out, "Is everything okay?"

Maan looked at me in surprise, giving an impressed look. It was always him nagging me but today seemed like the tables had turned.

"This is not Kabir," Maan commented. The lift dinged open and he stepped out, followed by me. We walked in quiet steps to his cabin. As we entered the cabin, I removed my coat and dropped it on the recliner.

While I sat on the recliner, he went over to his usual chair.

"Talk about it Kabir," he told me softly, his eyes flashing with a warm smile. He was always like that, annoying but always there protecting me, helping and healing me.

Maybe I was used to his company or maybe I was highly dependent on him. It was both I guess.

"Meher had it the hard way," I told him. Maan sat up straight the moment I said those words. He narrowed his eyes inching forward to look at me but then went back to regain his posture. "You're sympathising with Meher?" He snorted. "Did the sun rise from the west?"

"Yes, I am sympathising with her," I admitted. "Is that wrong?"

I watched Maan stifle his laugh and I shook my head looking at his snide response.

"Is it that bad, sympathising with her?" Maan just kept on looking at me in amusement, I wasn't sure what was going on in that devil's mind.

"It's just new," he started off with nonchalance. "That you are being affectionate for Meher Mathur."

My eyes shot up at him in surprise as I was taken aback by his observation.

When I was about to say something, he stopped me as he spoke instead. "Don't even try to deny it, Kabir. Meher Mathur came into your life like a calm sea, raged a storm and left. But she came back again, this time unannounced like a storm and then just got lost in the oblivion and became the calm sea. But this time when she came, your feelings for her were unclear. You always look like you're angry at her and detest her, but that doesn't seem like it. You're confused about what you're feeling."

I sighed. "Is this your way of telling me that I am falling in love with her?"

Maan tutted, as he played with the paper weight that was on the desk. "It's not love, dummy. But you've stopped hating her."

I gulped. Whatever Maan was trying to say, I couldn't get it inside of my head. Letting go of hate wasn't that easy. Then how did he say that I had let go of those feelings?

I felt a void. The only thing that kept me linked to her was the hate. How was I going to act after this?

I was falling short of words. And I was slowly having mental turmoil.

But then I realised. Maan avoided the topic and made it about me. I knew him better than he knew himself. I looked at him as he watched me with a challenge looming in his eyes and I smirked upon the realisation.

Though what he had told me might be true, something was really up with him.

"I am not a fool," I answered, the smile on his face faltered for a moment before he regained his composure. "You're not that good at masking your tricks."

The smile completely withered away from his face and what I saw next completely broke my heart.

His vulnerability. His face still held that vulnerability after so many years and I figured that all was not well for him. When our eyes met, I gave him a small nod to let him know that I understood how he was feeling and that I was there with him.

Maybe loneliness also brought us together.

Maybe there was more to this friendship. We were each other's companions.

I loved him. I loved my best friend.

And it hurt like bitch that I wasn't emotionally available for him.

Maybe Maan was right. I had let go of the hate. Or maybe I had let go of the bitterness I held for her for these past years.

How long was I going to keep on being bitter about things in the past when I had people to cherish in the present?

While my thoughts were on wildfire, my phone vibrated inside my pocket. When I fished out my phone, I saw Aryan's name flashing on the screen.

I looked up from the phone and saw Maan staring at me and I mouthed for two minutes as I left the cabin to attend his call.

"Yes Aryan, is everything alright?" I asked immediately as he was in the hospital guarding Meher.

"It's me," her weak trembling voice wasn't that hard to recognise, but it was a surprise that she had called me, from Aryan's phone, considering the outburst she had from this morning.

"I'm listening," I indicated her to go on, the confusion settling inside of me at her sudden call.

What more was left to hear?

I heard her breathe, and as the line on her side was quiet, there was a tiny anticipation of what was coming.

The silence was awfully disturbing to the point that my foot automatically started tapping on the floor. My hand which held the phone was getting sweaty all of a sudden and all sorts of bad thoughts were looming in my head.

I just hoped that she was safe and she didn't know the secret. I just hoped that Aryan didn't blabber everything to her.

I hated it when I didn't have an idea of something. It made me angsty. I waited for her to speak but my patience was also wearing down.

"Let's do this," she said all of a sudden and for a second, I couldn't figure out what she had said.

"What?"

"I said, let's get married," she rephrased her words, her voice held so much conviction that I couldn't breathe.

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

And that's the end of this chapter. I was quite lazy in uploading this one because I was in my hometown and I was having too much fun. I had written a lot and then had too much fun, so I put a stop to my writing spree.

Meher said yes to the marriage. Wow, I love the sound of that. Kabir's emotions are changing and Meher's is changing for the worse. The tables are slowly turning. And things are getting serious.

And yeah I fooled you guys! Sahil is not dead. Because god forbid I can't kill any more people. But he is not going to make an appearance for sure. The plan was either to kill him or to send him to Coma so I was contemplating till the last of what I should do but this was it.

College is starting this Tuesday. Updates might get slower but I will squeeze some time for sure.

How are you guys? How's life?

Please VOTE, SHARE and COMMENT. Comment a heart if you enjoyed reading this chapter.

With Love,

Akii.