| A Fight Against Injustice:An AR FF | Chapter #13 | 9/05/16 | - Page 17

The loud ring of the alarm indicated that it was time to wake up. But the atmosphere seemed to be still surrounded by the darkness. The thick grey cloud surfaced the sky, hinting at a rainy day. They appeared all set to cry out their desperation to caress the earth's surface with their heavenly drops. No trace of light and yet the birds chirped, not caring about the upcoming heavy rain. Riddhima lifted herself from her bed and went to washroom to complete the morning routine.
Riddhima came out of the washroom wearing a track pant. She slipped her cell phone into her pant pocket and set out of her room. She walked out of the campus gate, greeting the watchman with a pleasant smile. Plugging in her earphone, she started jogging. It was Sunday. Thus there were very few people jogging or exercising. Most of them used the day to sleep like they never have and a few people chose to entertain themselves with any kind of entertainment available.
As she jogged, she thought about the last two days, which had been hectic for her. She had not met Rahul for the last three days and his behavior was forcing her to suspect him. She was certain that something is not right and Rahul was distracted. She wished to at least talk to him. But to her surprise every time she called him, he was either not reachable or was not answering her calls at all. As she jogged, she passed a basketball court. She remembered the inaugural day of the court years back, when she had just joined the hospital.
Riddhima entered the court and sat by the side, looking at the kids playing. She sat there for a few minutes when a boy from the group recognized her. "Riddhima didi!!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger in her direction. Before she could comprehend on what was happening, all the kids rushed to her and hugged her tightly, not letting her out of their embrace. When it became almost impossible to breathe for her, she gently pushed them out of the hug. She was overwhelmed with joy, by seeing the love she was being showered with. This is why she loved these kids. They were a bundle of joy.
"Didi, aap kab aayi? Aap hum sab se milne kyun nahin aayi? Aaj hi wapis aayi ho kya? Didi, aap baat kyun nahin kar rahi ho?" One by one each of them started firing questions at her. "Ab aap log mujhe bolne doge toh kuch baat karungi na?" She said and looked at each of them, smiling at them. "Toh aap ki questions ke jawaab. Yahan wapis aake ek mahina hone wala hai, next week ko. Mein aap logon se isliye milne nahin aayi kyunki mein kaam me bahut busy thi." She continued and seated one chubby boy beside her. After a bit more chatting, she was pulled into the game of basketball. She played along with her little buddies, enjoying herself with all her might. She could see the happiness among the kids on seeing her after a long time and she was content with it.

"Mind if I join?" they heard a sharp voice, from the other side of the court. They all turned to see whom it belonged to. Riddhima was surprised to find Armaan standing there, with his signature dimpled smile. She wasn't expecting any of the senior doctors of the hospital to be out of their rooms so early in the morning. It was an off day for the seniors. But unlike others, Armaan had chosen come out, into the fields for a morning jog perhaps. Armaan stepped forward and smiled at them. The kids looked from one to another, contemplating. Then they looked at their Riddhima di, who nodded at them. The boy holding the ball took a step ahead nearing Armaan and handed over the ball to him. Armaan took it and started with the dribbling. The boys started covering him from all the possible sides trying to prevent him. He went past all of them, escaping their defenses. Riddhima saw him advancing towards the hoop. He was fast and she knew she had to rush to stop him from scoring a basket. She ran towards the hoop, right when Armaan reached. Armaan jumped and shot the ball and simultaneously Riddhima made a jump, stretching out a hand, stopping the ball from passing through the hoop. All the boys cheered for Riddhima. Armaan smiled at them, enjoying the game. They continued playing with Armaan alone in a team against all of them. Armaan blocked Riddhima and managed to snatch the ball away and he tried passing through the kids. When he passed all the kids, he was blocked by Riddhima and thus it was almost impossible for him to score. Yet he had scored four baskets, while Riddhima's team was leading by seven. Soon the boys were all tired and sat beside the court. Armaan and Riddhima came and sat beside them too.

"Well played Dr. Gupta." Armaan said. "Bahut accha khelti hai aap" he exclaimed. "Thank you. You are a good player too, Dr. Mallik" Riddhima replied. "Aap dono ek dusre ko jante ho?" Dhruv asked them. "Haan. Hum dono ek dusre ko jante hai. Hum ek saath kaam karte hai." Armaan said pulling the boy and making him sit between him and Riddhima. "Aapne apna naam nahin bataya?" the boy asked, looking up at Armaan. "Mera naam hai Armaan. Armaan Mallik. Aur aapka?" Armaan asked, wrapping his left hand around Dhruv's shoulder. "Dhruv!! Jaldi ghar chal. Maa wait kar rahi hongi." another boy called out to him. Dhruv got up and hurried out of the court. When he was just out of the gates of the court, he turned and looked at Armaan and shouted "Mera naam Dhruv hai" and he ran off. After sometime one by one, all the boys hurried back to their homes, leaving the two doctors.

Riddhima got up and said "Mein bhi chalti hoon. It's been pleasure playing with you Dr. Mallik". Armaan too stood up. "Mein bhi chalta hoon aapke saath. It's late already. I've got a bit of work in the hospital and I need to get back into the work before late afternoon." and the two of them walked along towards their destination. Riddhima wished that he would talk something. The silence between the two felt awkward and she wanted him to break the silence. She looked at Armaan to see if he felt the same too. But she saw nothing of that sort in his face. He was preoccupied in some other thoughts to think about the silence that prevailed between them. So Riddhima just turned her thoughts towards something else, something very important, that had been hovering over her for a few days now. The other day she had tried contacting the engineer she had given the work. He seemed not reachable, how much ever she tried. She was unable to understand what had happened to him. She was furious that the guy, who had boasted about his skills and had given his word to arrive with the work done on the same day, hadn't shown up even after all these days. She made a note to call up his company and ask them. When she was done with her thinking they had reached their destination.

***

"Yeh kahan aa ke phas gaya mein? Yahan pe dhang se signal bhi nahin milta aur inn logon ne mujhe yahan bhej dala hai! Salon ko toh mein chodunga nahin." Rahul was muttering to himself, cursing whoever was responsible for his current state of being! He was searching frantically for the signal, so that he could inform Riddhima of his whereabouts. But it was next to impossible. He climbed the hilltop and walked around, holding his hand out, trying to get signal. It had been his daily routine to climb up the hill and do this grueling exercise of finding the signal! "Damn it!! Kya karu mein? Muskaan ko bhi ek call nahi ki meine. Yahan aane ke baad ek baar usse theek se baat nahi ki." He looked around, trying to locate the best location which could provide him with whatever he wanted. He noticed a tree far on the edge and walked towards it. On reaching it, he took a good look of it. He gasped when he saw that he could see no ground beneath the tree on the other side. He once thought of going back. But trained as a soldier, one part of his brain pushed him forward, nudging him. Finally he gave in to his better part of brain and climbed the tree. He twisted all his way up into the top most branches, which could withhold his weight. Balancing himself on the branch, he took out his cell phone. He felt as if he had touched the heavens when he saw his mobile connecting to the weakest signal ever!! He immediately dialed Riddhima's number. She didn't answer the call. He dialed again. This time she answered and he heard a distant voice from the other side. He could hear Riddhima's faint voice but he couldn't make out what she was talking. He was surprised when he didn't hear her shouting, tearing his eardrums off. And he couldn't understand why she was sounding so distant. "Riddhima... Kya hua hai yaar tujhe? Tum aise kyun baat kar rahi ho? Koi meeting me ho kya? Riddhima... yaar... zor se baat karo... Riddhi... Arrey yaar! Phone kat gayi? Usse baat hone se pehle hi kat gayi." he dialed her number again, climbing even more up on the branch, risking his life all the more! And this time he almost fell off the tree, upon hearing the shouts from the other side! He clutched hard on to the branch, hoping to save his dear life! "Riddhima, Riddhima... Riddhimaaa... Stop it yaar... mujhe baat karne doge? Haan... Ab suno. Dhyan se suno. Meine sunne ko kaha. Chup. Mein Lonavala se bahar hoon. Mujhe kahin aur bheja hai unn hospital walon ne, training ke liye. Aur yeh kaunsi jagah hai, mujhe nahin pata. Yahan pe signal nahin milta aur ab mein apni jaan ko haath me leke tumhe call kar raha hoon. Was trying to call ever since I was sent and now I just called up to tell you that not to worry about me. Okay? I'm alright here. Humare mission ko ek hafte ke liye rokna padega. Mein ek hafte baad aa raha hoon. I may not call you, so don't worry and I'll be alright. You take care okay?" he heard a positive reply from the other side and was relieved that finally he talked to his bestie. Mumbling a bye to her, he cut the call. Before the signals went weak again, he dialed another number and waited his lady love to answer. Once he was done talking to Muskaan, he slipped the mobile to his pocket and started descending the tree.

He walked back to his training camp. It was a beautiful place. The road leading to the camping place was decorated with lines of green and yellow leaved trees. As far as the eye could see, it was green everywhere. The mud, wet with the early morning's drizzle. He was mesmerized seeing the scenery. It was close to 11 in the morning, yet there was no sign of the sun. Rahul hadn't felt the sun rays ever since he had come to this place. At first he thought it was due to the clouds covering the sky in the rainy season. But once when he had talked to someone from the village, he had come to know that the place was always like this. The sun rays were never to be felt in this place. Very fewer times there will be yellow glowing lights from the horizon. He was amazed at the piece of information he had got. He drifted off from the main road and walked to the right side. He passed across the trees. He walked some more and reached for a beautiful location, which looked upon the range of mountains. He turned to his right and walked for a few minutes, to arrive at a lake. It was a pleasant place to be there. He went and stood beside the lake, looking into the waters, smiling at his own reflection.

Sitting there, dipping his leg in the chilled water, he went through the memories of last three days. He remembered how he had enjoyed on the day of Muskaan's arrival. He had spent his whole day with her and he could never get enough of it, though he didn't understand her odd behavior. He could say that she was hiding a big deal. There's something very important that has happened in her life in his absence and he was compelled to know what it was. So he had called up Muskaan's parents and asked them. But it was of no use, as they didn't know anything of that sort. He thought of asking her directly once he gets back to Lonavala. The gentle wind carried the smell of the wet mud. He sat there, enjoying the weather to the fullest. The chirping harmony of the birds brought peace to his heart. He felt content with himself, for some unknown reason. After sometime he stood up and walked back into the camping site. He caught up with his fellow ward boys and started with his routine work.

***

Riddhima was panting. She was out of breath and she could hardly stand. Yet again she started sprinting, cutting through the overly grown grass and bushes. She hurried all her way across the heavy jungle. On the far end she could see the vehicles passing, and she knew, she had made it to the road. She ran to the side of the road and stood there behind a broad tree. Peaking from time to time, waiting for a particular truck to arrive. She was sure she had made it here before the truck. She looked at her watch, counting how many minutes she had taken to run all her way up here and she was more than just satisfied with her speed. She heard a roaring sound from a distant and prepared herself holding out a long knife, sharp and shining in the faint lights that cut through the trees around. She was about to hurl the knife, but stopped in midway, realizing it wasn't the same truck that she was waiting for. She came back to her previous position and stood there, waiting. After two to three minutes, she heard the sound and readied herself again. When the truck was nearing, she made sure it was the same truck and then bent forward in a flash and hurled the knife, right to the tyre and saw it getting punctured. The truck went a few feet forward, tumbling with the punctured tyre and the driver put a brake and stopped the truck. The driver had failed to notice her throwing the knife at his direction. She had chosen a well hidden place behind the thick bush and a wide tree. She had also made sure that it would be easy for her to throw the knife and nothing came in between her view. Seeing the truck stopping she smiled a victorious smile and ran behind the truck. Making sure that the driver wasn't seeing, she opened the back door of the truck slowly, so as to not make any noise. She was shocked when she saw those faces in there. They were the kids from the orphanage. There were around 8 girls and three boys all tied with a thick rope and their mouth plastered. Taking one more glance at the driver who was busy examining the punctured tyre and the sharp knife stuck to it, she untied all of them and said to them hurriedly, removing the plasters. "Mein aap sab ko yahan se ley jaoongi. Bas aap log shor mat machana. Aur jaldi jaldi mere peeche chalo sab. Theek hai?" The kids all nodded their heads. Riddhima slowly got down the truck. She looked at the driver talking in to the phone, asking a mechanic to reach there immediately. Slowly she motioned towards all of them to move behind her. Bending and walking, she swiftly moved out of the driver's sight and the kids followed closely behind. She counted the kids, making sure all of them were out of the truck. She was about to lead them all out of the jungle, when a thought struck her. She stealthily moved towards the truck and closed the truck door and came back. She wanted to buy some time from the driver by not letting him know too soon that the kids were out of his hold. She started walking into the woods and the kids all followed her to wherever she was taking them all. Riddhima was surprised that none of them made any noise as such. She turned around and saw them all walking behind her in a small group. She could tell, they were happy on being saved, but she was still confused with their behavior. She made a mental note to talk to them once they were far out of the road. After about half an hour Riddhima stopped walking and the kids did too. She took a place beneath a tree to sit and the kids slumped on to the ground, tired. The kids started talking to themselves in a hushed tone. Riddhima was now relieved that there was nothing wrong with them. "Didi..." a small girl called out to Riddhima. "Haan bolo Prachi." Riddhima said moving near to Prachi. "Didi, mujhe bhook lagi hai." "Mujhe bhi." another girl said. When Riddhima looked at others, they nodded their heads implying the same. "Toh isliye aap sab itna chup the?Hmm.. abhi yahan pe kuch bhi nahi milega. Aadha ghanta aur chalenge toh ek chota sa village milega. Wahan kuch khane ke liye lete hai. Theek hai?" All the kids nodded positively except for Prachi. "Mein aur nahi chal sakti! Mera paer dukh rahi hai" she whined. "Bas thoda sa hi toh chalna hai. Aap ko khana chahiye ki nahi?" Riddhima asked her. When she nodded her head, Riddhima said "Toh aap ko chalna padega." "Nahi mujhse nahi hoga" the girl continued whining. It was not good to stay there for long, so she just lifted the girl up and started walking. All of them started walking with her. After about half an hour or so they reached an open field. They had reached the village and Riddhima lead them all into it.

***

Armaan was studying a case file when his mobile rang. He looked at the name flashing and his face hardened. Closing the file, he received the call. "Hello sir." "What? How's that possible? I mean... Riddhima was with me in the morning. It's impossible. Woh apne room gayi thi, wapis aane ke baad and meine usse baad me kahin bhi jate huvey nahi dekha. Nahi sir. Aisa ho hi nahi sakta. Theek hai. I'll just check out." and he cut the call.

He briskly moved out of his cabin. He came to the reception. The receptionist flashed a big dreamy smile and stared at him with all the fantasy in this world! "Oh god!! Where am I stuck?" he thought to himself. He waited for a few second thinking that the girl would come out of her dream land. But then it became too awkward for him and he snapped her out of her dream, by clearing his throat loudly. The receptionist lowered her head feeling extremely embarrassed on being caught in the act. "Umm... did Dr. Riddhima sign in for work today?" he asked the receptionist without a second's delay. He had to find her at any cost. He was in a hurry. "Ji? Dr. Riddhima? Nahi. It's an off day for her. Why sir?" she questioned him back. He found it of no importance to answer her. He just thanked her and walked towards the exit door of the hospital. "Uss Riddhima aur Dr. Armaan ke beech me kya chal raha hai? Inn dono ka kya masla hai? Kabhi woh aa kar puchti hai Dr. Armaan ke baare me aur aaj Dr. Armaan ne uske baare me pucha! Uss Riddhima ko toh mein..." before she could complete whatever she was about say, she got a call and she got back to work.

He went to his room. He was thinking if he should directly knock on her door or just jump into her balcony. "Mein knock karke hi dekhta hoon. Wohi theek rahega" he went to open his room's door, but stopped as something came to his mind. "Agar woh room me hai toh woh door open karegi aur mujhse zaroor puchegi ki kyun aaya hoon. Toh mein kya bolunga? No no... It's a bad idea Armaan... chal andar aur balcony se dekho..." he talked to himself and finally deciding on the balcony thing, he went to his balcony.

"Kya yaar... Why did she have to draw her curtains? I can't see anything at all... Damn... ab kya karun?" he thought a bit and then went back to his room. Taking his mobile, he searched for Riddhima's number. He dialed her number and waited her to receive the call. He heard her voice from the other side and he could tell that she sounded tired. Very tired for that matter. "Hello Dr. Riddhima, aap kahan ho? Actually aapko dhundhte huvey koi aaya tha." he lied. "Ji mein... mein bachon ke saath bahar aayi hoon." he heard her delayed reply and that confirmed that whatever he had heard was true. She was lying. "Oh okay." and he cut the call. He called up his boss. "Yes sir. The news is genuine. She's the one." "Sorry sir. I won't let this happen again. I'll take care of it sir." "No mistakes this time sir." he sat in a chair that was beside him and started massaging his forehead. "Yeh ladki... Kuch bhi karti rehti hai. Bhari padne wali hai yeh mujh par... Kuch toh karna padega..." and he sat there thinking.

***

"Thank you kaka. Aap nahi hote toh pata nahi mein kya karti inn bachon ka. Inhe wapis orphanage toh nahi le ja sakti. Thank you very much kaka." she said to an aged man who was standing there, smiling at her. "Salon pehle tumne mujhe madad ki thi. Toh mera itna karna toh banta hi hai na beta?" he said, looking at all the kids. "Toh kaka mein chalti hoon. Bahut late hogayi hai. Bye bachon. Take care all of you. Bye bye" she waved at the kids. She had just reached the gates when she heard the kids calling out for her. She turned around to see them all rushing towards her. At once she was engulfed in a tight hug by all of them. Now that all of them had eaten and had their fill, they all looked even happier and all of them were bursting with energy. "Didi... aap yahi raho. Hamare saath." Ansh said coming out of the hug. "Mein yaha rahoongi toh wahan mera kaam kaun karega? Hmm?" she asked him. "Please didi..." all of them sang out their pleas for her. Her heart melted seeing them requesting so sweetly. "Hmm... Mein yahan reh nahi sakti toh kya huva? Aa toh sakti hoon?" she said with mischief and immediately everyone cheered. Promising to visit them within next two days, she bid bye and started walking back to the hospital.

Riddhima was walking back. There was no transportation facility in the village and thus she had to rely on her legs to get back. She was deeply immersed in her thoughts. She was expecting something else in the truck. She had been expecting drugs in there but it was a strike to her when she saw the kids tied around. She had always thought that there was only smuggling of drugs in the organization. Today she found out that the organization was cheap enough to do this. She was boiling from inside.

***

Muskaan was walking around the garden. It was late at night. She couldn't sleep and thus she thought of taking a small walk in the garden. She was angry. Sole reason of her coming here was Rahul and now Rahul was sent away to god knows where. She felt like going home, to her parents. But it was impossible. Armaan would never let that happen. She realized how wrong she had been to agree for this. She sat on a bench, wrapping the shawl tightly around herself. She sat for a long time thinking about all her old days, which she spent with Rahul and her family. They were her most cherished memories.

The wind blew hard making her shawl fly away. She saw it flying, out of her sight. A tiny droplet of water hit her face and she stretched out both her arms, feeling the light rain. She stood up to enjoy the rain. She stood there, looking up, rejoicing the feel of rain drops sliding down her face and wetting her dress. She got back into her room once the rain started pouring down with full swing. Changing her wet cloths, lying down on her bed, she thought of what she could do to get back to her family. She was feeling sick without Rahul around. She felt unsafe and she wanted to flee out of this place. She knew she could always go and ask for Riddhima's help. But then Riddhima didn't know about her and Rahul's relationship. And she didn't want to disclose the matter to Riddhima. She knew Rahul wanted to tell her everything himself. Thinking about all the possibilities of getting out of this place, she didn't know when sleep took over the thoughts.

***

It was getting dark and thus Riddhima failed to notice someone following her closely behind. But the follower made a small mistake of stepping on a dry twig which made a sound loud enough to alert Riddhima. Riddhima reached for her knife, secured in her jacket. She turned at the direction where the sound had come from. It was dark and she had to squint to see anything. She walked forward in that direction. She parted the bushes and tried to find out what was the source of that sound. She took a step forward and was about to turn to her left when she felt someone kicking her from behind. She fell down, face first. She could hear the person approaching her. She lay there, without moving a muscle. Her attacker came close to her and bent down to see if she was unconscious. She took the opportunity to smack him hard on the face. She was pretty sure that the person was knocked out. But when she stood up, she was kicked hard again. She stumbled backwards with the force of the kick. Her stomach was aching and she found it difficult to stretch her body straight. None the less, she stood straight with much effort and without a further ado, she hurled the knife, right to his chest. The attacker was fast. He moved aside to let the knife fly by. But he was not fast enough to escape the stone that came right onto his forehead. He fell down, unconscious. Riddhima went towards him, but was careful around him. She wasn't sure if he was acting or if he was really unconscious. Once she was sure that he was not acting, she tried to take a good look at his face. She could not recognize him. He was a stranger. Then she searched through his pockets, to find some clues about him and his identity. But there was nothing. She thought a bit and took out her mobile. Unlocking it she took a picture of the guy and then resumed her walk. She would show this to Rahul. May be he would recognize the face.

***

Armaan was getting back from the hospital when he saw Riddhima walking in. He watched her closely and she looked worn out. He remembered what she had done in the morning and realized that it must have been a hard task for her. Once again thinking about how to stop her from going deep into the mission, he followed her. He came before his room and saw her standing in front of hers, opening the door. He was surprised that she hadn't even noticed his presence. He was standing so near. It was hard to miss! "Lagta hai thak gayi hai. Kisne kaha usse bachon ko bachane ke liye? Ek din aise bachate bachate khud doob jayegi. Isse pehle yeh ladki aur kuch nuksaan karti hai, kuch toh karke isse rokna hai" he thought to himself and entered his room. Ever since he had got the call from his boss, it had become his habit to think that "Isse rokne ke liye kuch toh karna hoga" He mumbled it to himself as if it were a slogan! All the nurses and other doctors were amused seeing him mumbling to himself. All day long he had done nothing but think of plans to stop her. And by the end of the day he felt like retarded pig. He could think no more and his brain was a fruit salad!

The first thing he did on entering the room was pouring a bucket full water on his head. He was frustrated to the extent of tearing his hairs off! He couldn't do this. No. "Nahi ho sakta yeh mujhse. Kisi ko bhi rok sakta hoon. Par Riddhima ko nahin. Usse hurt nahin kar sakta mein. Nahin ho raha yeh mujhse..."

***

Riddhima made it to her destination, with so much effort that her body was not ready to listen to her. She somehow gathered herself and walked into the building.She walked through the corridor, greeting her fellow doctors, all the way to her room. She opened the door and entered the room. Immediately she slid down the door. It was hard for her to even stand, after the hard kick she had received. She was in no shape to even glide across her room and reach her bed. The pain was increasing by each and every minute and it was tough for her to breathe. She felt suffocated all the more, when she forcefully tried to intake a large amount of air. Slowly darkness took over her and she fell down, unconscious.

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Hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter. Do let me know how the chapter has come out to be. I'll be waiting for the reviews :)

-SeyaCandyfloss