Avneil FF: The Red Thread of Fate (Updated Ch 3 Pg5) - Page 2

Chapter 2 - Fire and Rain

Near Police Station, Andheri

The sky looked ominous with dark blue clouds hovering over Mumbai City. There was a palpable chillness in the air which wrapped ACP Neil Khanna in a pleasant anticipation of rain. Neil always loved Mumbai rains, it reminded him of something ethereal. Neil, a tall chiseled man with a loosened tie and rolled up sleeves, ran his hand through his disheveled hair inhaling the deep feel of wet earth.

It is already raining somewhere.

The land, behind police station where people used to abandon old vehicles, had become a den for all illegal activities and at night it teemed with hooligans. Their vandalism had started spilling onto nearby roads at night making it impossible for Women to walk peacefully. Neil and his team were clearing up the place since afternoon and the looming rain made Neil stay longer with the team.

I would love to get wet even on the pretext of work.

Ther were already wrapping up today's activity and the JCB they brought in to tow away the abandoned vehicles were taking an excruciatingly slow reverse. A horn and a sudden screeching sound pierced the otherwise monotonous surroundings and Neil turned around to see a racing SUV about to ram against one of their Jeeps.

As an aghast Neil looked on, the driver of the SUV tried to stop the crash with handbrake and the SUV skidded dangerously towards the JCB. The SUV crashed against the JCB. In a matter of time, the JCB's arm hit the powerline and cut off powerline which started emitting sparks all over the place.

As his instinctive reflex kicked in, Neil ran towards the SUV signaling his aid, DD to run towards the JCB driver. From the side window, he could not make out the condition of the driver who lay unconscious behind the airbag.

Without wasting time, Neil picked up a sharp stone, broke the windows and unlocked the jammed door from inside. Neil opened the door and gently pulled the sleeves of the woman who lay facing the other side. As the sparks fell all around him, an unconscious Avni fell into his hands and the world came to a standstill for ACP Neil Khanna.

Have I seen her before?

Neil saw Avni for the first time amidst the stars, the sparks. The pearl white oval face, paler than usual, almond eyes and a peach shawl which becomingly covered her face and her hair, Neil had never seen anything more enamoring than this face. That moment, his world shrank into Avni's pristine face for a moment. He saw his entire world in his arms shining brighter than the sparks falling around him. And at that exact moment, it started raining, drenching him and making him admire the extraordinary illusion of Fire and Rain encircling him.

Have I seen her before?

DD's shouting from a distance awakened him from his reverie

"Sir, the powerline..."

Neil looked up to see the power line slowly falling towards the direction of the SUV. Panic brought him back to reality and he pulled Avni to the side, picked her up and walked towards a clear patch on the opposite side. All this while he could not lift his eyes from the mysterious woman, who crash-landed in his heart without her even knowing it.

The thunderous sky opened the floodgates and drenched them completely by the time he put her down under the temporary shelter and the moment his hand support left her head, a small steady stream of blood combined with rain started oozing out of the right side of it.

The airbag didn't work properly. She might have hit the steering.

Neil cupped her head applying pressure to stop the blood flow and shouted at DD to hurry. An ambulance with blaring sirens and glaring flashlights arrived and Neil promptly placed the Avni on the stretcher. As the nurses took over the care, Neil took few steps backward and felt the heaviness tightening around his heart.

What if she does not make it? What if the injury is lethal?

He stood among the crowd wordlessly watching the medical procedures and he only moved when they lifted the stretcher to take Avni to the Ambulance.

"Let me help you"

Neil was not sure, why he said that especially when the ambulance already had two attendees to lift the stretcher. Neil helped them to gently put the stretcher on the ambulance. Reluctant to leave the ambulance, he signaled DD that he was going with the Ambulance and DD looked on with a raised eyebrow.

While they cut through the city traffic like butter, Neil was trying to cope with the sudden rise of his emotions. The wetness, the adrenalin rush, and the effect of the angel face which lay near him transported him to a different world altogether, Unable to take in the heaviness of the emotions, he looked for distractions. He looked at her.

Avni's hand, delicate and pale, drenched in rain and blood, dropped slightly to the side and Neil gently tucked it in. Without thinking, he slid his index finger into her open palm. Avni fingers moved a little and as if taking a cue from his gesture she took hold of it and never let it go till they reached the hospital.

Khanna Hospital, Andheri

Neil held her hand till they reached the ICU and reluctantly let it go as they rolled Avni's stretcher inside emergency. Neil sat down on one of the visitor's bench and mused about the strange evening which brought so many of his enshrouded feelings to the surface. The person inside the ICU was a stranger yet he has the strangest, yet the strongest of the feelings towards her.

"Neil...yaar"

Ali cried out from the other end of the corridor disturbing the otherwise silent mood of the floor. Neil looked up to see a certain doctor with curly hair and grey eyes happily waving at him. Under different circumstances, Neil would have returned the greetings with double the happiness but now he stood up and just looked at his friend trotting towards him.

"What happened yaar?" Ali seemed to sense the dullness of Neils mood and toned down his manner as well.

Mr. Ali Sheikh was the Neurological specialist of Khanna Hospitals and Neils best friend since childhood. He had finished his MD from London and helping Neil's father Dr. Prakash Khanna, Chairman of Khanna Hospitals. Neil, Ali, and DD shared Neil's Batchelor pad and they shared a common set of friends. On top of that, Ali was the nicest person Neil had ever seen on earth and most handsome too. He might have been called in for the emergency.

Neil greeted him with an uncommon sideways hug. Ali slightly patted his shoulders and asked Neil.

"I need to go for an emergency. Are you alright? Do you know the patient?"

"I do" Neil replied absentmindedly.

"Ok" Ali rushed to the ICU leaving a perplexed Neil behind.

***

Ali entered the ICU cautiously. Treating a stranger was easy but dealing with an acquaintance would always be difficult. From the look of Neil, Ali deduced the patient would be someone very close to the Khanna's. He observed the nurses and the duty doctor around the operation table. Things seemed to be under control and everyone was keeping calm. Ali inhaled and walked towards the table keen to see the patient who shook Mr. Neil Khanna so badly.

A girl!

Ali adjusted the overhead light towards Avni's face and was pleasantly wondering the connection between this cherubic girl and Neil. Ali gently tapped her chin to see her response level before proceeding with the review of the wound. The duty doctor nodded as he adjusted the glucose bottle and Ali got down to work.

Once done, Ali removed his gloves and washed his hands pondering if this girl was a relative of Khanna's. If yes, he would have seen her. Ali could not recollect the face among Neil's collegemates or colleges as well.

Who is she?

As he turned to exit, the tray which contained the belongings of the girl and a particular shiny object caught his eye, a blue pendant of chrystals shined brightly. Thinking it might be of importance, he placed it in his pocket to handover it to Neil. He instructed the nurse to seal the remaining items and hand it over to Neil.

Ali came out to assure Neil that the Girl was now stable and she just needed to be in the observation for another four hours before moving her to the room.

"Just a few minor stitches on the forehead. She is good. By the way who is this girl?"

"No one" Neil replied with an unneeded certainty.

"Just another accident case Ali. DD will be on the way to take statements."

To lighten the mood and to take himself out of that awkward situation Neil changed the topic.

"She crashed onto a bloody damn JCB yaar. A rockstar SUV she got..That was a real piece man. Lexus RX. You should have seen it break. Real shit man"

"Imported?" Ali, the luxury-car-enthusiast, was all ears.

"Yeah! Let's have Coffee".

And thus Mr. Neil Khanna, ACP, Andheri, Mumbai Police and Dr. Ali Sheikh, Neurological Surgeon, Khanna Hospital, Andheri turned into two teen boys haplessly in love with cars and went to the nearby Cafe to have Coffe and an endless detailed discussion about their love, Cars.

Originally posted by: AgnesFan

Ali and Prakash are doctors . Ali is too handsome for doctor😆

Love at first sight 😳 I am waiting to know Avni's reaction as she gains conscience . Fire and rain was good

Originally posted by: sweta2005

Lovely part waiting for next

Originally posted by: paayaal

She crash-landed into his heart

Ali and Prakash ji r doctors...awesome!!!

Boys I tell u...from mooning over a girl to going ga ga over cars in space of a second...kutch nahi ho sakta inkey system ka😆😆

Avni had wanted to avoid Vidyutz eyes...but stealing his SUV and then crashing it spectacularly behind a police station was Not the way to go...ACP Neil Khanna...the girl will need more than your heart...r u ready for it?

Awesome!! Please update soon...😃

Originally posted by: Ashi3

Awesome! This is just awesome! I love thrillers!! ❤️

Sassy Avni. 😎 I love it! Woah! So Avni almost had an encounter with Vidyut. And even managed to escape in his own vehicle. Cool!

Wait! Did you mention police station? Can I expect Neil to make an entry in the next chapter? 😛 Is he an ACP in your story?

Can you please update the next chapter soon? Pretty please!! 😳