Amends In Your Arms

SS: Lockdown (part 3)

Seconds after she heard the gunshot, Akshu got an alert on her phone...an alert that was sent to every single employee of the Birla Hospital. They were on lockdown, and there was an active shooter on the premises. Everyone was to stay where they were until further notice and blockade the doors to the best of their ability. As the children around her cried in fear, she helped all of them hide under the beds while placing as many trolleys and hurdles she could find in front of the door, resisting every urge to run outside and go find her Abhi. She called him over and over again, tears beginning to stream from her eyes. All she wanted was to make sure he was safe...make sure he was healthy...but then, she would see the innocent lives surrounding her and remind herself that she could not put them all at risk by opening the door. She watched the lights in the corridor flickering from the window of the room. People screamed outside as a few more gunshots were fired. Just then, another alert was sent from the security team- the police were on their way. Akshu prayed to her Kahnaji, begging him to protect her Abhi...begging him to do whatever it took to return him to her unharmed. 

Meanwhile, Abhi sat on a stool in one of the hospital's most concealed supply closets. A security guard had heard the screaming coming from his office moments before Asit had pulled out his gun, and he had entered right in time to take Abhi to shelter. Another guard had attempted to contain Asit, but he had managed to escape into the right wing before action could be taken against him. Abhi battled against his own instincts to stay inside. He knew Asit was after him and no one else...and now because of that, the entire hospital- every single patient, every single staff member was at risk. But, he knew that he had to follow the protocol and stay put until he got notice. Realizing that Akshu would have heard about the lockdown by now and would be terrified to the core, he finally took his phone out of his pocket for the first time since he had arrived earlier that morning. He saw over 30 missed calls from her and over 70 messages. And as he began scrolling through her texts, his heart began to sink. She was here...she was somewhere in the hospital while Asit was on the loose with a gun that could take the life of the the person he loved more than anyone else in the entire world. Abhi immediately got up from the stool and began dialing Akshu's number, desperate for her to pick up the phone. But, his calling kept dropping, the reception wavering in the closet. 

Right as he tossed his phone onto the ground, ready to break the door down and go look for his Akshu, he heard a ring. Every inch of his being hoped that it was Akshu...that she had messaged him to tell him that she was okay. But, when he looked at his screen, he felt the ground crumble beneath him....Asit had infiltrated the children's ward...the very ward that Akshu had told him she was waiting for him in...