Segment #17
The only solace for Sam was that Veronica was also there. He had told her that he came to Maldives because he didn’t want her to face Abhay alone after everything she had been through, which was true, but he also didn’t want to face Abhay alone. He needed her to be his strength. The truth about his shared parentage with Abhay was gnawing at his chest. He wondered if their whole life was a lie. And if it was whose life was a greater lie, his or Abhay’s.
It was only Veronica’s presence that kept Sam sane. But his predisposition to depression, like his adoptive mother, kept pulling him into a dark state of mind.
It was how Veronica found Sam sitting in the hospital corridor in such brooding manner. His smile had looked bright when she found him outside the Velana International Airport. But now, he looked exactly the opposite. Before landing, she was torn between her grief for her sister and her brother-in-law, and her turmoil at the possibility of seeing her ex-husband again, this time with his current girlfriend. But the moment she had seen Sam she was giddy with happiness. That didn’t make her grief any less. She was only happy because she had someone who cared for her, and who had offered her his hand to walk this difficult path together.
Looking at Sam, it looked like he was fighting a battle too. Veronica sat beside him and held his hand, he wrapped his arm around her.
“Are you okay?” Veronica asked.
“I don’t know,” Sam murmured. “Saikat, Shweta. They have been my friends for so long. I am still shocked about the accident.”
“They are still alive, they are with us. I am praying to God for my sister…” Veronica’s voice chocked and she broke down, “I am thankful you didn’t let me come alone. I can’t see them like this. To top that, I saw Abhay again, with Jiya, and this hospital keeps reminding of my baby.”
Veronica sobbed in his arms and Sam held her close as if promising her silently to never let go. She sat straight and looked into his eyes.
“Thank you Sam, I didn’t expect—“
“I came for you, Nica. But there is another reason why I was sent here.”
Sam couldn’t hold it in anymore. The more she thanked him, the guiltier he felt for hiding another truth from her. He didn't want to break her heart again by hiding something.
Veronica was stumped. Sam's downcast eyes brought out her old insecurities and fears.
“What is it, Sam?” she asked, “Is there anything you are not telling me? And what do you mean by ‘sent here’? ”
“Abhinav Naanu, he sent me to work for the Mehtas, again. Abhay Mehta.”
“Sam! And you accepted!”
“He put me in a moral dilemma, Nica. I couldn’t refuse Naanu.”
Veronica felt suffocated. She was getting pulled to the very past that she wanted to leave behind.
There was a scream and a commotion outside the ICU. Sam and Veronica ran to look. Somebody had got in and tampered with Saikat and Shweta’s oxygen supply. The protective side Sam resurfaced and he ran after the man. The man, who was pretending to be a doctor, had gone inside the ICU when no one was looking. This was what Abhinav Naanu had feared. But if Vikrant Chhada’s men could tamper Shweta’s oxygen supply then it could mean that… Nica was also in danger, apart from Abhay. Who else was in danger?
The man escaped. Sam returned back huffing, with sweat all over his face. The doctor’s couldn’t save Shweta and Saikat. Their condition was already delicate, and intentionally tampering with their oxygen supply was like the final straw. The local police was already outside the ICU investigating the murder. The police was questioning Abhay again since he was seen arguing with Saikat at the hotel. They also asked Sam to describe the man he was running behind for making a sketch.
In another corner of the hospital, Jiya texted the Panther: “Thank you <3”
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