Irresistible

5. Girlfriend

Haseena was lying on bed just staring into the wall. She was still thinking about the harsh words she had thrown at Karishma. Her confession to Karishma and to herself about how Karishma's life mattered to her more than hers. Her being bothered about Karishma's anger towards her. Her being affected by Karishma's touch. She didn't know when sleep had engulfed her.

After a mere hour, Haseena's phone was ringing waking her up from her slumber. She composed herself and answered the call. She immediately got up, not bothering to change into her uniform, she left her home in a hurry.

..

Karishma Singh had reached her home late. She unlocked her home and was too tired to even lock her door. She slept in her uniform not having the strength to change.

Meanwhile outside, there were 8 people whose faces were covered with cloths. They all carried rods in their hands. They were banging the door so hardly. But Karishma was in no position to wake up. It was as if she was under the influence of some drug.

.....

Haseena rushed to Karishma's home in her Jeep driving as fast as she could. She was calling Karishma continuously to no heed. She wasn't picking up. The call she had received was regarding a robbery.

The address was what startled her.

"Karishma pick-up the call dammit." She whispered.

She reached Karishma's place and hurriedly parked her jeep. There were police jeeps already parked before hers. The gate to the apartment was ajar and dirty as if a lot of people had come and gone from the place. She walked inside the apartment and there were paramedics on the scene. Someone had bothered to inform police of the robbery..and murder. She slowly walked towards Karishma's flat. Hands shivering she opened the door and to her dismay it opened. It was not locked from inside or outside.

With her every step she prayed. She prayed to the gods above. Let Karishma Singh be unharmed. Please.

She turned to her left where she knew Karishma's bedroom was.

"Karishmaaaa." She shouted, rushing to the bed. Karishma was sprawled on the bed still in her khakis. Haseena sat near her and scooped Karishma in her hands.

"Karishma..Karishma uthiye." She said shaking her. She checked her for any wounds or blood but there were none. With shivering hands she placed her hand on her neck and her pulse was weak but it was there.

"Karishma." She exhaled in relief and engulfed her in a hug.

She scooped her in her arms and carried her outside to her jeep. The paramedics were still there and now the scene was being tapped before any public or media ambush could happen. Outside, there were two black bags. The paramedics saw Haseen carrying Karishma and they came forward with a stretcher.
"Inko hum lekar jayengey. Aap yahaan sambhaliye." She said holding Karishma in a more protective manner. She walked to her jeep and placed Karishma in the passenger seat and secured her with seat belt. She cupped Karishma's face and kissed her forehead and then placed her forehead against Karishma's.

"Please stay with me. Please."

She immediately drove her car to the Hospital.

..

The doctor examined Karishma in front of Haseena who had insisted on staying in the same room.

"It seems like she is under the influence of drugs. Couldn't be by syringe but definitely taken with food." He said examining Karishma's eyes under light. "And a strong dose too. She is lucky to be breathing right now." He said jotting down prescriptions and treatment on his pad.

"She'll be awake by morning." He said.

Haseena exhaled deeply. Tears were flowing from her eyes and she whispered a small prayer.

"Relax, your girlfriend will be fine." The doctor smiled and patted her shoulder for reassurance. Haseena's breath hitched hearing the word girlfriend. She wiped her tears. Weirdly, she felt elated that someone would mistake her to be Karishma's girlfriend. Oh how lucky that person would be she thought. If Karishma cared for her mere senior the way she did, how much she'd love and cherish the person who would be her better half.
She sat near Karishma on a chair but a nurse had come into the room with a patient's dress in her hand.

"Maddam aap zara bahar jayiye inke kapde badalne hai." The nurse informed her.

"Hum kar lengey aap jaiye." She said as if someone asking her to leave Karishma offended her. The nurse looked at her skeptically. "Aur aap inke?"

"Hum inke seni- girlfriend hai." She carried on with the lie and she was unable to believe that she SHO Haseena Mallik was lying for mere mirth.
"Theek hai yeh lijiye madam." The nurse handed over the cloth to Haseena and left.

Humne josh mein aakar kaam accept toh kar liya par hum yeh karengey kaise she said to unconscious Karishma.
She however managed to change the dress facing the opposite direction the whole time only turning when it was absolutely necessary.

"Aur yeh hogaya." She said proudly, making Karishma properly lie on the bed again. She sat back on the designated chair and started thinking about what could've caused Karishma to lose her consciousness. How did the very same robbers whom Karishma was investigating rob the house next to hers? Were they warning Karishma in some way? No this could not be a mere coincidence. She then remembered that she had not yet informed her team about Karishma. She called Pushpa ji who offered to come and take care of Karishma for the night but Haseena politely declined saying that she was already here and asked her to inform Santhosh and Cheetah.

She also called the SHO whose team had been called to the crime scene in place of MPT and asked them to handover the files once they were ready.

Haseena did not want to interfere into Karishma's case but that changed when someone had dared to drug Karishma Singh.

She made some more calls regarding the case and then dosed off sitting on the chair by the time it was already early morning.