Chapter 19

Hey guys, next part for you, and it's a long one. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 19:

"Sir, may I please come inside?" Huda called out, knocking on Abhimanyu's door.

Abhimanyu looked up in surprise, the last time Huda had talked to him this politely had been, well, never.

"Of course, Lieutenant Huda, come in." He told him, curious to know what it was that Huda wanted. Priya walked in just after Huda, standing slightly behind him as if to lend him support. Huda stood at attention, waiting for Abhimanyu to give him permission to speak.

"Well go on," Abhimanyu said, becoming a bit impatient.

"Sir, Alekh just called to say that Ali has been shot in Ladakh. He has requested that I bring Pooja as soon as possible."

"Is Lieutenant Begh alright?" Abhimanyu asked, sounding concerned. He remembered Ali as a very polite and sincere boy, always dedicated to becoming a good officer.

"He's in a stable condition, Sir, but Alekh thinks it would be best if I brought Pooja."

Abhimanyu thought about the request, as much as he couldn't stand Huda, he had nothing against either Pooja or Ali. However, there was a doubt at the back of his mind.

"And how do I know that visiting Lieutenant Ali is the only thing you'll be doing?" He asked suspiciously, "The last time you were all in the same place at once, some people helped Captain Rajveer to escape from army custody."

Priya looked up suddenly at this but Huda's expression didn't change. "You know I didn't have anything to do with that, Sir." He told Abhimanyu.

"Still," Abhimanyu replied, "I just don't know if I can trust you enough to let you go."

"Sir," Priya spoke up, "If it would help then I'm willing to go with them to uh, make sure that there are no ulterior motives."

Abhimanyu looked at her curiously, for the past year Lieutenant Kapoor had been an excellent officer, always dedicated to her duty. It wasn't like her to be placing herself on the line for someone like this. It couldn't be that she…

"Are you sure, Lieutenant Kapoor?" he asked her, "If anything goes wrong then it will be your responsibility."

"I'm sure, Sir." Priya replied, praying that nothing was going to go wrong.

"Then you've got permission to be away for three days, please tell Lieutenant Begh that I hope he's feeling better soon."

**

"Thanks, Priya." Huda told her, once they were on their way to pick up Pooja, "You don't know how big a favour you've done me."

"I didn't do it for you, Huda." She told him, "I did it for Pooja, I know how much Ali means to her."

They had already been back to their quarters to pack their bags, and Priya had packed some clothes for Pooja as well. Now they were on their way to pick up Pooja from where she was training. She didn't know what had happened yet, as Huda hadn't wanted to tell her over the phone.

Once they arrived at the institute, Huda gave a letter to request Pooja's absence and was relieved that it was approved quickly. Then he asked them to call Pooja from her class.

Seeing both of them standing there, Pooja smiled as she walked out. "Arre wah, are you bunking work today? Want me to run away from class too?"

Then Pooja suddenly noticed the serious looks on their faces and her expression changed to one of fear. "There's something wrong, isn't there Huda?" she asked him. "I know there's something wrong, just tell me what it is, right now."

Walking over to her, Huda grabbed Pooja's shoulders and held them tightly. "You're going to have to be brave, Punjaben…" he told her, but couldn't continue because Pooja cut him off.

"It's not Ali is it?" And then seeing the look on his face, "No! Nothing can happen to Ali, nothing has happened! Tell me that nothing has happened to Ali, Huda!" she screamed at him, becoming hysterical. Priya stepped forward then, wanting to comfort Pooja, but unsure how.

"He's fine, Punjaben, he's alive." Huda reassured her, and Pooja broke into tears of relief, "Thank God…" she whispered, "Then?"

"Ali was shot, but he's out of danger now." Huda told her, "Alekh asked me to bring you."

Wiping her tears, Pooja nodded. "Can we leave right now?" she asked him.

**

Hours later they all arrived in Ladakh exhausted, they had driven practically without a break, stopping only for petrol. Huda knew that Pooja was trying to be brave, but she kept crying, unable to stop herself.

Finally they arrived at the army base and all showed their identification to the guard at the front. Once they were let in, Huda had to stop Pooja from running to reach the base hospital, but they went as fast as they could.

Once they reached the hospital and Pooja had found out Ali's room number, she started running, not caring about the nurses that she pushed past in the corridor. Finally finding Ali's room she flung the door open and reached his bedside, throwing her arms around him.

"Pooja?" Ali asked, sounding much weaker than he usually did, "You're here? I didn't want you to find out about this, I thought that you…"

"You didn't want me to know?" she asks him accusingly, "Here you are with a bullet wound and you're worried about my feelings? You should know by now that nobody can keep this Heer from her Ranjha!" Ali smiled, and stroked Pooja's hair with his good arm, as the other one was strapped to his chest. He had a bullet wound in his shoulder, the reason for alarm was that the bullet had not exited on impact and he had needed an operation to have it removed. "And I never would've even found out if our Qaidi hadn't called Huda!"

Ali looked over to his left to the young man who was sitting in the chair, "Alekhbhai, you shouldn't have worried Pooja like this…" Alekh just shrugged, not feeling sorry for doing it at all.

Right then Huda and Priya burst into the room, only slightly calmer than Pooja had been.

"Thank goodness you're fine!" Huda told Ali, coming over to hug him now that Pooja had stopped clinging to Ali and was sitting on the bed. Then suddenly he noticed Alekh sitting in the chair, "Alekh, what happened to you??" he asked him. Alekh's head was covered with a bandage, which had a blood stain on it.

"I'm fine," Alekh told him, "I was injured slightly when somebody threw a grenade, nothing major."

"Oh, so you guys have finally arrived." Yudi said cheerfully, walking into the room with two cups in his hands, "I can see I'm going to have to go get some more coffee now."

Yudi looked fine except he was limping slightly, his leg had been hurt due to the same grenade blast which had injured Alekh.

Suddenly Huda felt an immense wave of regret. He should've been here with them on the border, helping them. It wasn't fair that his friends were in danger here and he was safely working at a desk in Delhi.

"I wish I could've been here with you guys," Huda told them, feeling frustrated, "If I'd been here then…"

"Then you probably would've got injured too." Alekh informs him with a shrug.

Just then Yudi realises something, "Uh, Huda, Pooja, have you forgotten something?"

"What?" Huda asked confused, and then seeing Yudi nod in the direction of the door, turns to see Priya still standing there quietly. "I can't believe I forgot," he says, "Sorry, it's just that with you guys injured like this… anyway guys, this is Priya. Priya, this is Ali, Alekh and Yudi."

They all said hello to each other and then Alekh and Yudi went off to get some more chairs. For the next few hours they sat around chatting about what had been going on in their lives, everything that the others had missed out on. Priya mainly stayed quiet, letting the friends talk to each other but they occasionally involved her, telling her funny stories about their academy days. They only left when they saw that Ali was struggling to keep his eyes open, since he had some heavy pain medication in his system.

The next two days followed the same type of pattern. When they had all gotten up in the morning they would come to Ali's room and sit there for most of the day chatting. The only times this didn't happen was when they decided that Ali and Pooja should have some time alone and the rest of them went out. Ali's parents called every day to talk to him but they couldn't afford to come visit, so they were relieved that Pooja had come to see him.

On the last day, Huda finally got the opportunity to speak to Alekh alone, just a couple of hours before they were due to leave. Taking him outside of the hospital they went to sit a short distance away, making sure that nobody was within earshot. Huda noticed that as he and Alekh had left the hospital room, Priya had looked away, almost as if she didn't want to see. That way she wouldn't have to report anything.

"I saw them, Alekh." Huda tells him, and then recounts the whole story.

"They're safe there," Alekh replies, "They're with a friend of mine." He doesn't say anything else, but Huda doesn't care. He thinks that the less he knows, the less lies he has to tell.

"I want Phoolan to know that I've ended the engagement for real," Huda tells Alekh, "I don't want her sacrificing her own happiness for my sake. Who knows how long it will be before I can see her in person to tell her this, can you find some way to pass on the message?"

Alekh stares at him curiously, this serious young man is completely different to the Huda he knew a few months ago. "Why, Huda?" he asks him, "Why are you so eager to end it right now?"

"Because the sooner I do this, the sooner I can move on properly." Huda tells Alekh, "Naina deserves some happiness, and that happiness is with Captain Rajveer. And I, well I deserve some happiness too." Alekh pats Huda on the back, happy that he's made the decision.

"You know, I was never happy about you two getting engaged." He tells Huda.

"I know," Huda replied, "You always know the truth a long time before anybody else does."

"Actually," Alekh replied, "I just couldn't imagine Naina living with you and your buffaloes." They laugh at this, forgetting exactly how serious the matter is.

"You like that girl, don't you?" Alekh asks him, obviously referring to Priya.

"I don't know, yaar." Huda tells him, "I think I do. She's… different. Different from Naina, different from everybody. I think that I could like her a lot."

Alekh smiles, he's fairly sure that Huda is well on his way to falling head over heels in love.

"Well then," he tells him, "Consider your work done." Smiling, they walk back to the hospital.

A few hours later they say goodbye, needing to leave so that they can get back to Delhi on time. Pooja becomes tearful, and everybody leaves the room to allow her and Ali to say goodbye in privacy.

"We'll see you guys soon," Yudi informs him, "We get leave in a couple of months, so we can all catch up then."

They all hug each other goodbye, and even Priya wishes that they didn't have to go just yet, she's grown to like them so much in the past few days.

A few hours later in the car, Pooja is asleep in the back seat, exhausted after spending most of the night awake sitting beside Ali.

"You and your friends are really close, aren't you?" Priya asks Huda thoughtfully.

"They're like family to me." He tells her, "I would do anything for them. We'd all do anything for each other."

"I had friends among my batch mates, but never like that." Priya tells him, "We've mainly lost touch since we graduated."

"Maybe it was KMA that made us such good friends," Huda tells her, "Or maybe it was Captain Rajveer."

Priya looks at him questioningly, not quite able to understand his statement.

"Our Rajveer Sir taught us to always be there for each other." He explains to her, "He set a perfect example of friendship, despite the fact that Navin was already dead, he was still ready to give his life to prove his innocence. I any of us are excellent officers today, then most of the credit goes to Rajveer Sir."

Priya thinks about this, "You would do anything for Captain Rajveer too, wouldn't you?" she asks him.

"Yes," Huda tells her, "Without hesitation."

"Then his rescue…"

"Wasn't done by me." Huda tells her truthfully, "But if anybody had asked me to participate then I would've done so gladly."

Priya is surprised at his honesty, she realises that he must trust her a lot to admit something like that and feels honoured by it.

"You would do so much for him," she tells him quietly, "Even after he took Naina away from you."

"He didn't take Naina away from me." Huda tells her, no bitterness or sadness in his voice, "Naina was always his. It was me that took her away from him." He pauses and a smile comes to his face, "But now I've made it right again. Naina is free to be with the one she's meant to be with."

Priya has no idea about what this last sentence means, or why Huda seems so happy about it. But for the first time ever, she has begun to understand the bond between these friends. For the first time she questions whether if faced with the choice, could she pull the trigger? Can she put her duty before what is right, before… the truth?

**

Two days later…

Raj and Naina are at Anwar and Hanifa's house, as they've been invited over for dinner. The meal is finished and everybody is relaxing. Suddenly Anwar speaks up, "Raj, I forgot to tell you, but Alekh called me today."

"Oh really," Raj replies, trying to sound calm but knowing that there must be some reason, "What did he say?"

"Well he said that he's been seeing a bit of action lately up on the border, he and his friends got injured but they're all fine."

"That's good to know." Raj replies, reaching out to hold Naina's hand under the table, knowing that this news would shock her. "I just hope that Alekhbhai remains safe"

"Oh he said something else, what was it now," Anwar thinks about it, "He was talking about somebody that he said you would know, some Huda." Raj can feel Naina stiffen, her hand becoming rigid in hers.

"So what did he say about Hudabhai?" Raj asked, continuing to sound casual. "I haven't seen him in quite some time now."

"Well he was saying that this Huda has chosen to end his engagement, apparently he realised that the girl wasn't right for him. Anyway, Alekh was saying that he thought Huda had already found somebody else so it all turned out alright in the end."

This is the last news that Raj had ever expected to hear, and for a moment he can't respond. Recovering slightly he realises that he should make a comment. "Well that's really surprising," he tells Anwar, "I hadn't realised that he'd called off the engagement, thank you for letting me know."

Raj glances over at Naina, wondering how she's taking this news. After all she's just been informed that her fianc has broken off the engagement for real. Raj is surprised by the look in Naina's eyes. There is no sorrow, no anger and no disappointment. Instead he can only see a strange mixture of relief and… fear.

Raj couldn't have guessed what was going through Naina's mind at that moment. What Naina saw in Raj's eyes was concern for her, and hope. The same hope that she had been pretending to ignore for all these months, not able to admit that she felt it too. Naina knew that tonight she would have to make a decision. While she had been engaged to Huda she had been able to ignore it, but now it became necessary. Raj had no idea why she had agreed to become engaged to Huda in the first place, now, tonight, she had an idea that she wouldn't be able to conceal it anymore.

It was time for Naina Singh Ahluwalia to face her demons. It was time for her to tell him the truth.