Chapter 16

Part 16 updated on 06/06/2021

[MEMBERSONLY] [NOCOPY]

"Main apne desh ko... Dhokha... Nahi..." Samrat couldn't utter further as anger overpowered him and he gritted his teeth.

-

Everyone's eyes filled with tears merged with pride.

Virat looked at him agape for a few seconds. Then he closed his fists helplessly thinking of all that his brother had to go through.

-

"Phir?"

"They are kicking me again and again thinking in vain that I will give in." Samrat smiled.

"Waqt mein thoda aur aage jao. Kahan ho tum?"

Samrat's face contorted in pain. But a scream refused to come out of his mouth.

Everyone's eyes were glued to him. Mansi whimpered seeing him but couldn't do anything.

"Kya ho raha hai?" Vineet asked calmly.

"I'm being beaten with a hammer."

Everyone's breath stuck in their throats.

Mansi closed her eyes and covered her ears in a desperate attempt to unsee or unhear everything as if it will make everything alright for her son.

"What is going on now?"

"They are asking me for the last time if I will do as I was told."

"Tumne kya jawab diya?"

"Dhokha...nahi..." Samrat couldn't complete as he screamed loudly.

AAAAAAA

"What's happening?"

"I'm feeling a strange sensation in my mind. I can taste blood in my mouth again. It seems I'm dying. But I can't make out of the surroundings anymore. What's going on."

Samrat's whole body fell numb.

Vineet realised that this is all he can tell as he had lost his mind then.

-

"Abhi tak mujhe yakeen bharosa believe nahi ho raha hai ki hamare Samrat ne itna kuch jhela hai." Said Sonali as a tear escaped her eyes.

"But he remained a true patriot till the very end," Bhavani smiled in between her tears.

"He has never run away from his duty," Ninad smiled proudly.

"Samrat Dada theek kab tak ho jayenge?" Sai looked at Vineet with hope.

Vineet saw a distant Virat and smiled at Sai, "bahut jald. I know..."

"Mujhe aapse baat karni hai" Virat interrupted and stood up for Dr Vineet to follow him. Vineet had seen this coming and he stood up too, "chaliye."

"Lekin kahan..."

"Abhi aate hain," Virat replied to Bhavani before she could complete her question and left.

---

"Agar Samrat ke sath ye sab kuch un logon ki vajah se ho raha hai to... To mujhe dekhte hi Samrat ne mera gala..." Virat couldn't complete.

"Sirf tumhare sath nahi."

Vineet's statement didn't shock Virat, "I know. Pakhi bhi..."

"No. He did nothing to Patralekha. It was her own guilt playing games with her mind. I am talking about myself" This statement from Vineet shocked him completely, "aapke saath? Kab? Kyun? I mean..."

"When I first met him. I pretended that I knew him but I was puzzled too. But when I saw you later, I understood everything."

Virat waited patiently for him to continue further.

"Just think for a second. You and I have the same body structure and height. And same kind of hair. When you went into his room in the asylum, that was dark. Right?" Virat nodded at this. Vineet continued, "in the same way when I entered the room, it was dark too. He misunderstood both of us for someone else. The guy who used to pressurise him for betraying his country. He mistook both of us for him. Perhaps he also had the same body structure as the both of us."

Reality dawned on Virat as he remembered all the times when Samrat was not aggressive. That was the only time he attacked him. But then another question popped up in his head.

"Then why did he behave in that way when he first saw Pakhi?" He narrowed his eyes to understand.

"Are you sure it was because of her?"

"Matlab?"

"Matlab ye, ki aapne mujhe bataya tha ki jis waqt Samrat ghar mein dakhil hua Patralekha ke haath mein aarti ki thaal thi."

Virat nodded.

"Samrat was perhaps reminded of that torture he was subjected to torture through fire."

Now every piece was falling in the right place and the picture was getting clear.

"Any more questions?" Vineet asked knowing fully well that he had.

"How shall we make him alright now?" Virat looked straight into his eyes.

"Easy. Make him feel at home."

"But how? He is here at his home. We are taking good care of him. We don't leave him alone except when he is sleeping. Even then, Mansi Bua keeps checking on him time to time. What else can we do?"

"Not like that. What do you think he would've wanted during that painful period?"

Virat thought for a few seconds but couldn't understand.

"He would've wanted that no one makes him do things against his country. That everything becomes fine. He would be dying to hear someone say something good about his country. To say that he's not alone. That he will be there with him and serve his motherland."

Virat scrunched his brows as realisation struck him, "is this why he became calm when Mansi Bua sang a patriotic song for him? And we thought he became calm because it was his childhood favourite song."

"That's correct." Vineet said, "Now it all depends on you and your family. Call on his love for india. Be with him. Talk about patriotism and other things. Give rise to his feelings for his motherland. 

---

Everyone in the family found a mission to make him alright. They used to play Dil Diya hai Jaan bhi denge in the morning to wake him up. Virat would tell him his on duty stories. A few of his friends made during training period were called at home to remind him of those good old days. They became frequent visitors to an orphanage where children's lives were getting on track due to them. Samrat had started smiling more often. He had started feeling more at home day by day as the surroundings aligned with his personality.

"Now it's time for me to leave." Vineet looked at all the grateful faces around him.

"Thankyou so much," Bhavani smiled at Vineet and he looked around.

"Are you talking to me?"Vineet asked dramatically.

Bhavani made faces but then smiled again, "ha. Aapse hi baat kar rahi hu. Apne hamare Samrat ko ek nayi zindagi di hai. Mansi ki khushi ka to thikana hi nahi hai." Bhavani looked at Mansi who was singing dil Diya hai Jaan bhi denge to her son who was listening intently like an obedient Student.

"Welcome. Par maine to aapse pehle hi kaha tha, I'm the best." Vineet smiled and started for the door.

Virat suddenly ran after him and before he could turn the knob of his car door, grabbed his hand, "just one last question. If you had met Samrat first, you could've done all this earlier. Why did you do all that for me and Pakhi?"

"Mr Chahvan, mujhe apne kaam ke badle paisa milta hai, lekin main paison ke liye kaam nahi karta. Isliye karta hu kyunki mujhe logo ke pairon ke bandhan kholna aur unhe khulkar jhoomte dekhna achchha lagta hai." Vineet smiled and left Virat to contemplate on his words.

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I know, I'm super late. So late that you might have forgotten the story completely Extremely sorry 😔 I had lost inspiration before.

So here is the next part. Hope you like it. I will update the epilogue soon