**
Raj places Naina on the bed gently, smoothing her hair back before he bent down to remove her shoes. Going to the kitchen he filled a glass with water before sprinkling a little on her face, stopping the moment that her eyes opened.
Naina opened her eyes slowly as the water droplets hit her face and Raj put down the glass and reached out to take her hand.
She looked around, a bit confused, and then passed the other hand over her eye.
"We were just…" she said, trying to work out how she'd gotten to the bedroom.
"You fainted." Raj told her gently, "You've been tired lately, and I think that the shock was just too great. I've sent Aalekh to get Dr Shalini so that she can check you."
"I don't need to be checked," Naina said, sitting up now with his help. "It was just… seeing those photos… all this time…"
She wasn't even sure what she should be feeling at this moment, shock, or grief, or anger. The fact that all this time Dr Mishra had known that she was Naveen's sister and concealed the truth about herself. Naina felt a sudden hatred rise up in her towards the woman. Was this the reason why she had always felt uncomfortable around her, never trusted her? Even if Dr Mishra wasn't directly connected with her brother's death, it was clear that she had abandoned him when he needed her the most.
But the very fact that she had been with him the night that he was arrested…
Raj watched the emotions pass over Naina's face, understanding what it was that she was going through. Even he was torn as to what their next step should be. The part of him that was Naveen's best friend wanted to confront Dr Mishra, tell her that they knew everything and force her to explain herself. However the part of him that was an army officer was piecing together the puzzle in his head, working out that it may be best to keep quiet and simply watch for now. Because if Ritu Mishra had been in the academy at the time when Naveen was arrested, and now was here again at a time when they suspected there was a spy…
There was a knock at the door and Shalini hurried in with her doctor's bag, still dressed in her clothes from the ball. It was obvious that Aalekh had gone to fetch her directly from there. He came in after her, looking quite worried and stood near the entrance of the room wanting to make sure that Naina really was okay.
"Don't worry Aalekh," she told him, sitting up even straighter now, "I'm perfectly okay, you should go back and enjoy the rest of the ball with your friends."
"I'll be the judge of exactly how okay you are." Shalini told her sternly as she came into the room, "And no moving from where you are until I tell you that you're allowed to."
Naina smiled at her a little guiltily, as she had been about to get off the bed. She forced herself to sit patiently while her friend checked her pulse, her blood pressure and then looked at her thoughtfully.
"It could just be stress… your BP is a bit higher than normal." Shalini told her, "But I'd like to do a blood test anyway just in case."
"Of course," Naina told her, and held out her arm while Shalini took the blood.
"Now I suggest that you get some rest, Naina, and take it easy tomorrow." Shalini told her.
"It's a Sunday tomorrow, so I don't need to attend college." Naina told her, "I promise I'll take it easy."
"Just be careful not to exert yourself too much and definitely have all of your meals on time until we find out what's going on." Shalini told her, "I should have the blood test back by tomorrow afternoon and then we'll know whether there's anything wrong."
"Thanks Dr Shalini," Raj told her, "Sorry to make you leave the party but…"
"That's perfectly okay, I can understand that you were worried." Shalini told him warmly, "Just make sure that she goes to sleep now, and look after her well tomorrow." She told him, before gathering her things and leaving.
"Aalekh…" Naina called out to him as he turned to go, "Thank you for everything, you don't know how much you've done for me, I'll never forget this."
Aalekh crossed the room and came to sit on the bed beside her. "I didn't do anything special," he told her, "Just fulfilled my duty, and Neelu and Yudi helped too."
"Please thank both of them for me too," Naina told him, "I know I'll see Yudi tomorrow but I'm not sure when I met get to see Neelu again."
Aalekh nods, smiles at her and pats her hand gently. "You just rest, Naina." He tells her, "Feel better soon." And then he leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
Raj helps Naina to remove her jewellery before she changes from her sari into her night clothes.
They climb into bed after turning the light off and she rests her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.
"What do we do now?" she whispers to him, "Do we let her know that we know or…?"
"We'll talk to Abhimanyu about it in the morning." Raj tells her, "Whatever decision we make we have to make carefully. It might be better to watch and wait, to see…"
He doesn't finish the sentence but they both know it.
To see why Dr Ritu Mishra is really here in the academy.
**
The next day, Raj and Naina had both woken early, both of their minds were too busy to allow them to sleep, running through the different possibilities and actions that could be taken. Since it was their day off, they both dressed in casual clothes before leaving the room, locking it behind them and heading for Abhi's quarters.
Raj knocked on his door, relieved when his friend answered it quickly, already dressed and looking as if he had recently come out of the shower.
"Good morning," he greeted them both, "I heard from Shalini that you were a little unwell last night Naina, I hope you're feeling better now."
"I'm fine," she reassured him, "I think I was just a little overtired and…" she looked at Raj, indicating that he should continue from where she left off.
"Actually Abhi there's something important that we both need to talk to you about." Raj said.
"Sure," Abhi told him, opening the door wider and letting them in before shutting it. "Sit down."
He was worried at this, the fact that they'd come to see him about something together. It couldn't be…
"Last night Aalekh managed to get some photos from Major Nair's room for us," Raj told him, "I think you need to see them too."
Raj passed the envelope containing the photos, and as he looked through them his eyes widened.
"Dr Mishra was Naveen's girlfriend…" he whispered, his tone a mixture of shock and anger.
Because this woman…
He thinks of all the moments since he had arrived that she's tried to get close to him, convince him that she's in love with him and make him fall in love with her. Unbidden, Sherry's warning from long ago surfaces in his mind… that Dr Mishra had her eye on him for some reason… that she couldn't be trusted…
"She betrayed Naveen," he says emotionally, "And then somehow she had the guts to come back here again and… and…"
And do what, was the real question.
Raj and Abhi's eyes met, both of them thinking exactly the same thing. Could she be the spy that they had been searching for all this time? Could that be her reason for being at the academy and for having concealed the truth about herself all this time?
"She kept trying to get close to me," Abhi tells them in a disbelieving voice, "It always made me uncomfortable but I never thought it might be because…"
"She tried to get close to me as well," Raj admits with an uncomfortable glance at Naina, "Before Naina arrived."
"She didn't exactly give up after I arrived either." Naina adds, "She kept trying until I warned her to stop."
"You warned her to stop?" Raj asked her, feeling a mixture of both surprise and pride.
"It was on the night of the fresher's ball." Naina informed him, "I'd just had enough of it and couldn't take it anymore."
"And then I arrived… and she had a new target." Abhi mused. "But should we really be assuming all of this without knowing what the truth is?"
"I think that until we know otherwise, we have to assume the worst." Raj told him, "We'll keep a close watch on her without letting her know that we know the truth."
"And Aalekh?" Abhi asked, "Do we need to tell him…"
"Aalekh won't say anything," Naina told him, "Unless he knows it's alright to, but Yudi and Neelu were with him, I'm not sure if they know as well or not."
"I'll go and check with him now," Abhi told her, "I know that you're supposed to be resting, don't stress too much over all this, Raj and I will handle it."
"There's honestly nothing wrong with me," Naina told him, a bit fed up with constantly being told to rest. "I was just a bit tired, I'm fine now."
"Still… let Abhi talk to Aalekh about it." Raj told her, "Whether you're fine or not we'll know in the afternoon, and before then you have doctor's orders to rest."
"But…" Naina began to say stubbornly.
"But nothing," Raj told her, "It's just a matter of one day and it's not going to cause you any harm to just rest."
They were interrupted by Abhi laughing, a grin on his face.
"Well if you two want to, you can stay here and continue to argue about this while I go and talk to Aalekh, or you can go back to your own room to argue." He informed them, and Raj and Naina both sheepishly grinned at him.
"We'll go back to our own room to argue." Raj told him, obviously joking and the two of them left for their own quarters, Naina still quibbling slightly about the fact everybody kept telling her to rest.
The smile on Abhi's face quickly disappeared as he thought about the truth that they had just discovered. Dr Mishra was dangerous, possibly more dangerous than any of them could imagine. Their next moves were definitely going to have to be planned carefully.
Searching for Aalekh, he checked the mess and the library as well as his quarters before finally heading outside where he found the cadets playing basketball, Huda, Pooja and Ali on one team and Sherry, Aalekh and Yudi on another.
They all looked so carefree, passing the ball to one another and laughing and teasing as they played. They had no idea of the amount of danger facing them, of the threat that lurked so close by to him…
He couldn't resist allowing himself a moment to watch Sherry, her hair pulled back from her face in a ponytail, an air of cheerfulness about her as she called out to Yudi to pass her the ball. It was so seldom these days that he saw her this happy or carefree. She looked so different to how she had the night before, when she had been wearing make up with her hair styled. Yet strangely he liked her better this way, natural and simple.
Telling himself to get a grip, he approached the cadets, who paused their game as they saw him coming over.
"Would you like to join us, Sir?" Ali asked him politely.
"The teams would be uneven then." Abhi told him, "You guys enjoy yourselves, I just need to borrow Aalekh for a minute."
"Thank god… some time to recharge." Pooja said, relieved, and going to the side flopped down on the grass.
Nodding, Aalekh followed Abhimanyu a short distance away while Sherry watched them curiously.
"I just wanted to check whether Yudi or his sister knew what was in the photos?" Abhi asked Aalekh, keeping his voice low so that nobody else would hear.
"No… they kept watch outside the room while I found them." Aalekh said, "I'm the only one that knows."
"Good, I know that you can be trusted not to tell anyone else." Abhi told him, clapping Aalekh on the shoulder in a proud way. "It's better if not too many people know at the moment… and if you see anything out of the ordinary, be sure to tell either myself or Captain Rajveer."
"I understand, Sir." Aalekh told him, "I know how to keep a secret." He also knew, that he was being trusted to help keep an eye on Dr Ritu.
"Enjoy your day off then." Abhi told him, letting Aalekh know that he was dismissed and could rejoin his friends.
As Aalekh wandered back over, sitting on the ground with the rest of them, Sherry turned to him.
"What was that about?" she asked him.
"Go and ask Sir yourself." Aalekh told her, "I'm sure he'll tell you."
Shrugging, Sherry got up, dusting the grass off her pants and followed him.
"Sir!" she called out as she approached Abhi, and turning around he smiled at her. These days it seemed to be that she was always avoiding him and he was running after her.
"Yes Sherry?" he asked, "What is it?"
"I was wondering what you were talking to Aalekh about." She said in a very straightforward way. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me."
Abhi thought about it for a moment, it was best that not too many people knew and yet… Sherry had never trusted Dr Mishra, had always known that there was something wrong with her. It might be best if she knew the truth so that there was at least one more trustworthy person to keep an eye on Ritu.
Quickly he told her everything that had happened the night before, watching as the anger grew on her face.
"That bitch…" Sherry swore, "Trapping Naina's brother wasn't enough… she had to come back here again and try something else. If she could've then she would've ruined your life as well."
"Don't do or say anything that will reveal that we know." Abhi told her, "We just need to keep a watch on her for now."
"Don't worry… you can trust me." Sherry told him, still seething with anger.
"And so you can tell me now that you told me so." Abhi said humourously, "You've been warning me about her from the beginning."
"And aren't you glad that you listened to me?" Sherry asked him, "Imagine if you'd fallen in love with her."
"No… there was no chance of that happening." Abhi replies, a frown on his face.
Because he suspects that no matter what, he still would've…
"Uh, I'll go back to my friends now… Sir." Sherry tells him, stressing on the last word. "I don't want them to suspect anything."
"Good idea." He told her, "Go and have fun."
She nods, a serious look on her face and sprints back to join the others.
He watches as they begin to play again, Huda easily dodging around Yudi until Yudi and Aalekh team up to grab him in order to get the ball.
May they always remain this happy, may they never know the pain of losing a friend as he has with losing Naveen…
Turning his back on them, he walked towards the main building.
"We won't fail you, my friend." He muttered under his breath.
Naveen would get justice, no matter how long it took.
**
Raj and Naina had been bickering good naturedly all day about her health, attempting to distract themselves from the problem at hand.
Raj had already notified Colonel Shakti of their suspicions, who had agreed with Raj and Abhi that the best thing to do would be to wait and watch due to a lack of evidence. Abhi had informed them that Aalekh and Sherry both knew about Dr Mishra and would be keeping an eye on her before he himself left to do some covert surveillance.
Now the time had come for Naina's blood results to be ready and they had both been called to Shalini's office. While Naina kept insisting that there was nothing wrong with her, Raj couldn't help but be nervous. Usually she was in the best of health, but lately she had been getting these dizzy spells. What if something was wrong? What if it was serious?
He couldn't lose her, if he did…
He imagined life without Naina and the thought was so terrible that he banished it from his mind. Before her, his life had been in darkness, and if she was to be taken from him…
No, it wasn't serious…. He told himself, probably just a result of over tiredness and too much stress.
They knocked on the door of Shalini's room before walking inside, taking a seat in the two chairs in front of her desk.
"Right on time," she told them, "The results have already arrived and I've checked them."
"It's not anything serious is it?" Raj asked her worried, "I mean… Naina is fine isn't she?"
"Well Captain… I'm afraid to say that it actually is quite serious." Shalini told him, "These next few months will be critical for Naina."
Turning pale, Raj grabbed Naina's hand, squeezing it tightly. This couldn't be happening, it couldn't be…
"What is it, Shalini?" he asked her, "Whatever it is, just let me know what needs to be done, just as long as Naina is alright."
"I'm afraid that you've already done whatever you could do, Captain." She informed him seriously, "Everything depends on Naina now."
"But what is it, Shalini?" Naina asked her, "Is it very serious?" Raj's grip on her hand was tight, she could tell that he was afraid. Hearing Shalini's words, she had begun to get nervous too.
Seeing the nervousness on both of their faces, Shalini decided she should take pity on them and her face broke into a grin.
"I can't believe neither of you have figured it out by now." She told them, "You especially, Naina, you are training to be a doctor."
Naina frowned, trying to figure out what Shalini was saying, and then…
Oh…
She looked up, shock written on her face as she realised what it was, and when Shalini nodded at her, looked down, a small smile spreading on her face.
She couldn't believe she hadn't realised.
"Would somebody please tell me what's going on?" Raj demanded, frustrated by the fact that nobody seemed to want to tell him.
"Well Captain, it's very simple." Shalini told him, a smile spreading across her face.
……
"You're going to become a father."
**
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