𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 | 𝟏𝟖+

2. "𝐀𝐊𝐇𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐈"

THIRD PERSON
Belgium -

Aastha's eyes opened, and she almost screamed as she sat up in bed. Her face was drenched in sweat, and she was breathing heavily. Just then, she sensed some people entering the room.

A person rushed over to Aastha and held her face in his hands, asking, "Aastha? Beta, are you okay? Huh?"

But Aastha seemed lost in another world. She had no awareness of how many people were around her or what they were saying. She was just breathing heavily, recalling that dark night that had shaken her to the core.

The person shook Aastha again and said, "Aastha, I'm saying something. Are you listening, beta?"

This time, Aastha came to her senses. She slowly turned her neck and, seeing the person in front of her, she directly leaned into his chest, saying anxiously, "Dad."

She tightened her grip on the person, who was none other than her father, Parag Sethi.

When Parag saw his daughter so distressed, his heart filled with fear. He immediately pulled Aastha back slightly, held her face in his hands, and asked worriedly, "What's the matter, Aastha? And why were you unconscious in your car? Are you okay or do you have any injuries?"

Aastha's face tensed up as the entire scene of that night replayed in her mind when suddenly gunfire erupted on deserted Road, and she got caught in the middle.
But out of nowhere, someone appeared and saved her. As she remembered that person, a strange feeling surged through her heart, something so unfamiliar that she couldn't understand why she was thinking so much about a stranger.

She took a deep breath and, holding Parag's hand, tried to calm his anxiety, saying, "Dad, as far as I can see, we're in a hospital. If I had been injured, the doctor would have told you first, right?"

Parag took a deep breath. He was extremely worried hearing that his daughter had been caught in gunfire.

He said, "But how could all this happen, and here of all places?"

Aastha replied, "That's what I don't understand, who those people were and why they were so intent on killing each other as if they were hungry for each other's lives."

Parag's face turned red with anger, "I will use every connection I have to find out who those people were. They could have hurt you, and I won't let them off easily."

Aastha immediately tried to calm Parag down, saying, "Dad, calm down. I'm completely fine."

"How can you be fine? Anything could have happened to you, Aastha. I won't take this lightly. How can there be a gunfight in openly here, and what the hell are the officials doing? So much happened last night, and anything could have happened to you. Oh god, my heart is panicking just thinking about it."

On this, Aastha was about to say something when a woman suddenly entered the ward, extremely anxious. She sat beside Aastha and immediately hugged her tightly, saying, "Aastha! You alright, beta?"

But Aastha didn't show much interest in the woman. She glanced at Parag, then forced a smile and gently pushed the woman away, saying, "I'm fine."

She averted her eyes from the woman. Meanwhile, the woman also looked at Aastha with strange eyes. It was clear from the way they looked at each other that they didn't get along well.

Meanwhile Parag was solely concerned about Aastha. He told her, "You rest, I'll be back in a moment."

Saying this, he started to leave, but Aastha grabbed his wrist and asked, "Dad, where are you going?"