Together Forever

Unexpected encounter

Vikram sat in his room, scratching his dog, Casper's tummy. He was busy on the phone with Colonel Abhay.

"Yes Sir, the op is going fine. Me and Dhruv are regularly going to the hospital. We are gathering all the evidence required. Dhruv is staying with my house till the mission is complete. My parents are also happy to have him around. Apparently, he is more fun than me."

Abhay chuckled "That's quite true. Even now when you are on leave, you are still focussed on your work. It's a wonder your family even puts up with you."

"Whatever I do, it can't bring back the soldiers we lost because of my mistake." Vikram's voice lost its zeal as he remembered the explosion. The horrifying scene would haunt him forever.

A knock on the door cut the conversation short. It was Dhruv.

Dhruv placed a package on the table. "The item you had asked for has arrived." He checked out the sunglass. "It's designed very nicely. No one can tell that there is a camera hidden inside. I just need to connect the feed to my laptop, and we are good to go."

"Good. Next time we visit the hospital, you can stay in the car and access the camera. You give me instructions via the phone earpiece. We will take Virat along with us."

As they were drawing up the plan for the operation, Vikram's parents were having breakfast with their younger son, Virat. Virat was exact opposite of Vikram – talkative, extrovert, brat, and a womaniser. He suffered from the Successful Sibling syndrome. His parent's constant praise about Vikram's achievements had increased Virat's dislike towards his brother. And since that fateful day of the explosion involving Vikram, their attention had been solely focussed on nursing him back to normal. Dhruv had unknowingly added more fuel to the fire by endearing himself to Vasudha.

Vasudha was full of praise for Dhruv, how he accompanies her wherever she goes, unlike the other guys in the house. Narayan rolled his eyes as he replied "He is an Army officer, and you are using him as a personal driver. Wait till his Boss, Abhay hears about this."

Vikram who arrived at the dining table for breakfast, along with Dhruv, said "Maybe he is accompanying mother only to check out the girls."

Dhruv retorted "Not fair. When I come with you, everyone looks at you and no one notices me. That's why I prefer going with Aunty."

Vikram teased him "Yeah yeah, I heard about how you were smitten by some girl. Mom is all excited about playing match maker for you."

Vasudha looked wistful "I liked both the girls actually."

"Mom, he can't marry two girls." said Vikram

"Cha, I didn't mean that."

Narayan interjected "She wants to get you married to one, I think."

Vikram resolutely shook his head as he answered "Absolutely not happening, Dad. I already told you I am not getting married. I am not interested in love, marriage at all. I only want to serve my country. So you can plan for Virat's marriage, if you want."

Virat smiled like a Cheshire cat, before his mother's stern look made the smile disappear.

She tried pleading with Vikram "Cmon, how is a marriage going to hinder your work? We won't  be around for long and we can't leave you like this. You need someone to take care of you."

Vikram stood up frustrated with their lack of understanding. "I don't need a maid or a nurse in the name of marriage. I can take care of myself. Just pestering me on this topic again."

Narayan patted Vasudha's shoulders as tears welled up in her eyes.

Dhruv looking uncomfortable at this exchange, went with Vikram to get ready for the hospital. They then headed down to the hospital with Virat.

Once inside the hospital, Vikram left Virat in the reception while Dhruv stayed behind in the car and guided him through the phone. It was not easy to do surveillance without raising anyone's suspicion. Vikram managed to slip into a restricted area, but was stopped in a while by a guard. Even as he was trying to convince that he was lost, a doctor walked in who recognised Vikram.

He reprimanded the guard "Hey, let him go. He is one of the patients here."

"But Sir, he has seen all this. We will be in trouble."

Dismissing the guard's  concerns , he escorted Vikram to the reception, where Virat was searching for him.

Once out of earshot, Vikram enquired Dhruv on phone "Did you get the evidence we needed?"

"Yes, most of it. We will still need more. We need to find another way."

With Virat complaining that he was too hungry, they had to make a stop at the nearby burger place. Just as Vikram sat down, Dhruv noticed a familiar person enter. A million-dollar smile lit up his face, as Sannidhi walked up to him.

"Hey Hi, how's your mother now?" she enquired

"Oh, that was my friend, Vikram's mom." answered Dhruv pointing to Vikram.

Even as Dhruv introduced Sannidhi to them, Virat's interest was piqued looking at Sannidhi. Just then Saanvi entered, carrying some papers.

Sannidhi gestured to Saanvi to sit in Vikram's table as she went to the counter to place an order, with Dhruv and Virat tailing her. Saanvi sat down with a groan in front of Vikram.

Trying to civil to him, she held out her hand, smiling "Hi, I am Saanvi."

Vikram did not shake her hand or return her smile. "I am Vikram" came the curt reply.

Saanvi, feeling insulted at his slight, withdrew her hand.

No more being nice to this guy.

Sannidhi was excitedly boasting to the guys as they returned with the food.

"Oh, my sister just got a new job an IT Security specialist in a big company. Earlier she was working as Network Admin. After completing ton of technical courses, finally she got her dream job. We just picked up her offer letter and I brought her here to treat her."

Dhruv looked interested as he asked Saanvi "Have you ever hacked into any company's network?"

She answered "No, I am supposed to keep the hackers out. But yes, I have the theoretical knowledge on how to do it.'

Virat chuckled "Dude, it is like asking the Security guy whether they can rob a bank. If they can keep the bad guys out, they can also let them in."

Hearing this, Vikram realised that they had a great opportunity to extract the evidence they needed. In his excitement, He kept his coke can on top of Saanvi's offer letter which was on the table.

She screamed "Hey!" which made him knock it down in his haste. The drink fell all over the offer letter.

Saanvi desperately tried to wipe the drink from the letter, to no avail. The document was ruined.

She angrily turned on Vikram, almost ready to strike him, when Dhruv intervened.

"Listen, it was a genuine mistake. He did not mean to."

"What do you mean by mistake. The offer letter was right in front of his eyes, and still." She heatedly confronted Vikram "You have any idea how important those papers are? Are you so blinded by money?"

Vikram flinched "Yes, you are right. I am blinded, but not by money, by a mistake so huge that I lost not only my eyesight, but also my best friend."

His words hit her like a tidal wave, as she realised that she had always seen him with sunglasses. She hadn't even noticed the white cane near him. She had been so blinded by her anger towards him, that she had assumed the worst of him.

Even before she could react to him, Vikram picked up the cane and walked away from her.

He had tried to not make it obvious about his disability. He hated it when people showed sympathy. He didn't deserve this sympathy. So many people had died while he lived. That was the worst punishment he could have got.

As he walked out, it began raining heavily. The drops falling on his face, brought back the memories of that eventful day. The explosion, the blood splattered on him, and just as he was losing his consciousness, the last thing he saw were the lifeless eyes of his friend, Suraj.