Sugar Rush! (✓)

IB (1)

Mumbai, 1:45 am

The only place he could go at the moment was City Hospital, he knew he would find her there. 

Starting the police jeep, he drove towards the hospital & reached within ten minutes. Parking the jeep, he got out of the car & quickly moved towards the hospital building. 

The receptionist guided him towards the cabin where the doctor was supposed to treat him, nodding at her, he moved towards the doctor's cabin. 

General Ward - The board read on the door of the cabin he was guided to. 

Breathing softly, he pushed the door gently & moved inside, only to find the doctor engrossed in some reports that seemed to be really bothersome to her apparently. He cleared his throat in order to gain her attention & was quite successful at that too.  

Avni looked up at him only to find him, his shirt to be precise soaked in blood, both his & the criminal's that he had apparently caught. Avni was a different case, but if anyone had seen him at that moment, that would have definitely got frightened at how he looked- blood was oozing out of his arm & there was a deep stab on the back of his left shoulder. 

Sighing both in concern & annoyance, she got up from her seat & walked towards him. 

A- Welcome, ACP Khanna! I was just thinking that its been a month & you've not come to visit me! Warna toh aap ek mahine mein do-teen baar haath-pair tudwa hi lete hain! -she expressed her displeasure as she made him sit on the bench. 

Before he could answer with words, a small smile found home on his face listening to what she just said. He had literally imagined her saying this on his way to the hospital. It was his go to place, rather she was his go to place whenever things went utterly & completely wrong. Although he'd never admit it but the only reason he visited the hospital was to see her! Being an ACP, he definitely knew how to first aid his wounds & could have come to see a doctor in the morning but the thing was, Avni had night shifts & he didn't want to get treated by any other doctors! 

N-  Its not easy being a cop, you see! -he commented while she rolled her eyes at his sarcastic voice. 

Slowly, she took his shirt off which he himself had unbuttoned. Inhaling slowly, she reached up to the hem of his vest & took it off in a swift motion, making sure not to hurt him. He looked around as she dressed his wound slowly & effectively. 

A- Who did you arrest today? -she asked as she cleaned the wound at his arm.

N- Closed a murder case. The accused had killed his own family for some property. Just harsh world things! -he murmured absent mindedly as he closed his eyes, leaving his body for her to treat & heart for her to soothe!

A- People seriously have gotten so materialistic these days! All they care about is money & power! -she said while he just hummed in response. And that was enough clue for her to understand that he was really exhausted, both physically & emotionally. 

This is one of the major tolls that uniform people have to face. No matter how exhausted or worked up you're, you gotta be there to serve your people whenever they need you. And, both of them understood this through their personal experience. 

Neil's cope up strategy was escaping, even just for a while, but being with his doctor, who was also his neighbour since childhood, helped him keep himself sane. The memory of her brewing fresh coffee for him whenever he came home late at nights was still afresh in his mind. He also very vividly remembered him making noodles for her when she used to stay up for late night studies. 

A- The wounds are dressed! Tumhara shirt toh khrab hogya hai, I'll get you some clothes  aur phir canteen mein chal kar kuch khaa lo! -she said drawing him out of his reverie. 

N- Tum bna do na, coffee! I need it really bad! -he said as he got up from the bench. 

A- Jo hukum, mere aaka! -she sighed dramatically before going out to get him spare clothes while he just laughed. 

Getting dressed, he goes to the canteen where Avni had already been sitting, beating the coffee for the both of them.  

N- Tum pta nhi aisa kya daalti ho iss coffee mein that it just sucks up all my worries, for a while at least. -he said while seating across her. 

Avni smiled at his compliment, but it wasn't her usual smile, the one that reached her eyes. And, it didn't took more than a second for Neil to realise this. 

N- What's wrong? What are you thinking about? 

A- I had a case today....a..a girl was raped. She was just.....20, Neil! You know, more than physical torture, there was mental & emotional trauma. She...she was not even crying. Her parents....they were so scared & naive! Her mother was just crying inconsolably & her father...Neil, it broke my heart to see him trying make her daughter talk to him, he was wiping his & his wife's tears & was constantly trying to talk to her daughter....that she at least speaks a word! But....she was like a living corpse! No emotions in her eyes! It..it just feels inhuman! 

N- Avni, can you please tell me who are the officers who are looking into this case? I'll myself look into it & make sure that those bastards are not just behind the bars, but are tortured to death! -he said with gritted teeth. 

A- I'll let you know! -she nodded as she got up to fetch the milk for them. 

Even though the discussion had ended, Avni was still silent, lost somewhere. Though Neil was bothered as much as she was, if not more, but he didn't want her to be dispirited & discouraged about it. He had to get the optimistic Avni out, it was important for his own sanity, for god's sake!

N- Avni, I promise you we'll catch them. And, about the girl, why don't we pay her a visit at her house? You can talk to her & may be, make her feel better. Hm? -he said while placed his palm on top of hers. 

A- Do you think she'll ever be the person she was before all this? 

N(sighing)- Probably not! She won't be the same, so we should make sure that we do our bit to make her stronger than before. Avni, we can't choose what happens with us or what life gives us, but we can definitely choose how we react to it. No? -he said calmly, just as he always did whenever she was in distraught. 

Avni smiled a little while looking at him. 

A- Let's go to see her tomorrow, okay? -she asked while he nodded in response. 

This was how their relationship was, this was what they were. Whenever, one was down, the other one was always by the side to hold them & lift them. The intimacy of understanding each other even without words, this was what they had. 

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Neil picked Avni up from her place in the morning & they headed to the girl's residence they had talked about last night.

A- Acha hua tum uniform pehen kar nahi aaye, she would have been scared. 

N- Hmm! Also, I didn't want her parents to be scared of me! 

A- Hmm! 

N- Acha suno! Main, woh Meera ki case file dekh rha tha, I got to know that she is a medical student, toh tum jab usse baat kro toh try to covince her to continue her studies! We must get her out of all this. 

A- Okay. -she nodded as they smiled a small smile to each other. 

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