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Keshov and Agastya sat on the edge of their building's terrace, hanging their leg down in air, quietly observing the little dots illuminated in the dark coming from houses and traffic.

(Keshov Mukherjee, Junior scientist, IRC)

"Kya hua Sir, aap udos kyu hai?", Asked Keshov.

"Keshov.. aaj main hospital gaya tha apne research ke liye aur mujhe waha Shehnaaz dikhi..", Agastya said.

"Flora? Woh waapis kaise aa sokta hai Sir? Or milega bhi toh usko IRC mein rokhega, hospital mein kyu?", Keshov was taken aback.

"Pata nahi Keshov. Woh behosh thi aur uske paas ek aadmi baita tha. Woh usko Maya naam se bula raha tha aur usko..", Agastya paused

"Usko kya Sir?", Keshov asks out of curiosity.

"Usko apni patni bol raha tha..", Agastya speaks in depressed tone.

"Joisa aapne IRC ne usko Flora naam diya, aur aap usko Shehnaaz bulata hai waise uss aadmi ne bhi usko Maya naam diya hoga par woh usko apni patni kyu bolega?", Ponders Keshov.

"Pata nahi.. aur pata hai Shehnaaz ki poonch ki jagah pair the.", Says Agastya.

"Sir, aapko golat femi ho gaya hai.. Flora mermaid hai usko pair kaise aa sokta hai? Shayod wo uss aadmi ka biwi hi hai..", says Keshov.

"Mera dimaag bhi yahi bol raha hai Keshov. Par mera dil mujhe baar baar yahi keh raha hai ki woh meri Shehnaaz hi hai. Mera aur uska dil ka rishta hai aur mera dil usko Shehnaaz ke alawa aur kuch samajhta hi nahi hai..", expresses Agastya.

"Par Sir, yeh golat hai na. Woh kisi aor ka biwi hai. Aap apne dil ko sambhalo aur samjhao Sir.", Keshov suggests.

Agastya stares at Keshov with expressionless face for sometime and smiles subtly. A defeated smile.

"Tumhe bhi mere pe yakeen nahi hai na Keshov?", He asks feeling hurt.

"Noi sir. Aap pe yokeen hai par aapke dil ko chot loga hai isiliye aapko logicolly sochna chaiye. Aapne khudh dekha na ki uska tail nai hai pair hai, toh woh apni Flora nahi ho sokta hai.", Keshov tried explaining.

"Keshov, Shehnaaz ne mera chehra thik kiya hai, she knows magic. Logically bhi sochu toh kya woh apni tail pe magic karke pair nahi laa sakti kya?", Asks Agastya.

"Ho sokta hai sir, par uske paas yeh power hota toh woh aapke pass rehti pehle hi, apni duniya mein nai jaata sir. Aur Maya ka pati kyu jhoot bolega?", Keshov argues.

Agastya blankly stares at the little lights in the dark for sometime.

"Keshov, ek tarika hai pata lagane ka mere pass. Shehnaaz ka blood blue hai. Uske blood se confirm ho jayega..", says Agastya.

"Kya? Sir, Aap aisa kuch noi karenge. Uska pati aapko maar dalega. Aap koise uska blood check kor sokta hai?", Asks Keshov.

"Keshov, main hospital nakli beard aur moustache rakh ke gaya tha taaki mujhe koi pehechaan na sake. Ek baar phir jaaunga kal, dressed as a doctor aur uska blood test ka reason deke confirm karunga..", suggests Agastya.

"Boht risky hai sir. Aap phas sokta hai.", Keshov warns

"Shehnaaz ko maine IRC se escape karaya, uske duniya mein bhejne ke liye.. yeh risk toh uske saamne kuch nahi. Hain na?", Agastya smirks.

Keshov rolls his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't convince Agastya otherwise so he just let it be.
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Vikram was sitting with his legs crossed on the chair working on his laptop. When he feels some movement in Maya's finger. Pausing his works, he observes her hand for sometime and when he finds nothing, he resumes his work.

He looks up suddenly hearing a meek voice coming from Maya. Stunned to see her eyes open, he runs to her.

"Maya.. Maya.. tum thik ho gayi?", Vikram smiles from ear to ear with teary eyes, holding her hand and looking at her face.

She stared at him cluelessly.

"Aise kya dekh rahi ho? Main tumhara pati, Vikram hoon.", He grins and presses the remote button to call for the doctor immediately.

Vikram held her hand in his hand and kissed her knuckles, while Maya blankly observed him and pulled her hand to herself. The doctor walked in and checked her with his stethoscope, took blood pressure, temperature and other vitals.

"Mrs. Rajvanshi.. kaise feel kar rahi hai aap?", Asks the doctor.

She doesn't reply anything to him. The doctor repeats yet she doesn't answer. He snaps with his finger to check if her ears were working fine, to which she turns around confirming that it was indeed working fine. He checks her tongue and throat.

"Mr. Rajvanshi, humein lagta hai ki aapki wife ko koi bada sadma pahucha hai, woh humein sunn sakti hai par shayad unka brain humare instructions ko samajh nahi paa raha. Inke saare vitals thik hai, aur jaisa hum samajhte hai inke sarr pe koi chott bhi nahi lagi hai. Ya phir shayad inki bolneki shakti chali gayi hai. Hamein kuch scans karne honge. ", The doctor suggests.

"Nahi doctor, yeh bol sakti hai.. jab usko hosh aaya tab usne ullu bola.", Says Vikram.

"Huh? Ullu? Hmmm.. then in that case I am sure that she is in great shock. Hum scan karenge inko then will decide upon the treatment.", Suggests the doctor.

"I want to take her home after the scan. Bahut din reh liya yaha. Please arrange a nurse for her at home. You can inform me about the reports and treatment once it's available.", Vikram tells and the doctor nods.
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"Ma'am change karna hai. Aap khadi hongi?", Says the nurse but Maya was clueless and unresponsive towards her instruction. The nurse supports her to get down the bed but Maya simply collapses on the ground unable to stand on her feet. Maya shrieks in pain upon falling and Vikram runs inside to check.

Finding Maya lying on the ground, he was enraged. He immediately picks Maya up and places on the bed. Her hand had turned red due to falling.

"Meri Maya ko dard pahuchaane ka natija tum jaanti ho?", He yelled at the nurse.

"Sir, sorry. Maine koi galati nahi kiya. Woh Ma'am khudh gir gayi. Mujhe laga woh apne pairon pe khadi ho sakti hai.", The nurse fumbled in fear.

"Kya hua Mr. Rajvanshi?", Asked the doctor who came running hearing his loud angered tone.

"Fire this lady right now.", He said while unbuttoning and rolling up his shirt's sleeve. He then picked up Maya in bridal style and walked out of the room. The hospital was owned by Vikram himself hence the doctor helplessly nodded at the nurse as he had to fire her.

The nurse pleaded to excuse her mistake by following him but he paid no heed to her and placed Maya in the back seat of his car. He rolled down his sleeve and buttoned it before occupying the seat next to Maya. He looked at Maya, who was sadly looking at the sulking nurse.

"Tumhe uske liye bura lag raha hai? Usne tumhe chott pahuchaaya tha.", Maya looked at him still sad.

Vikram shook his head in disbelief. He called the doctor and told him to not fire the nurse. The nurse smiled and thanked him before saying sorry to him again.

Maya smiled when she saw the nurse smile. Vikram kissed Maya's knuckle and asked the driver to drive home.

Few hours later, Agastya sneaked into the private room where Maya was admitted only to find the bed empty. He returned back home disheartened after hearing the janitor being instructed to clean the room stating that the patient was discharged.

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To be continued.. ❤️❤️