The Remaining Story

《Chapter 2》

He woke up with a strong, salty taste in his mouth. Blood, he realised. After a little struggle he managed to wipe the blood off his eyelids and open his eyes.
After looking around for a few seconds, he remembered that he had hit something before getting knocked out. Whatever little colour was remaining on his face and whetever little sanity he possessed, vanished when he rushed to the front of his car and saw what he had hit.

He blinked repeatedly to somehow transform the image he was seeing. It wasn't a tree or a lamp post, it was a human.
A woman, he noticed.

He shuddered when his gaze travelled down her body. Her legs were surrounded in a pool of blood. She was lying still, no movement, no moaning, no whimpering. Probably dead.
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Aarav got out of his car and ran towards Shehzad's vehicle.
"What the f**k!", he cursed under his breath. A woman was lying on the backseat with blood all over the seat and Shehzad was in the driver's seat, shirt soaked in blood and staring ahead with a blank expression.

Grabbing him by his shirt, Aarav pulled him out and shoved him on the passenger's seat.

"Hello. Aarav here. There's an emergency. Keep a stretcher ready outside your hospital", he disconnected the call, speeding towards the nearest hospital he could take them too.

"Mahesh, pick up my car from Hill Road and drive it back to my apartment", he disconnected the second call and stopped at the entrance of the clinic.

Motioning the nurse to bring the stretcher over, he assisted her in taking out the woman. "Start the treatment immediately", he yelled. "Don't wait for me to sign any document."
He didn't even enquire whether she was alive or dead.
She had to be alive, he hoped desperately.

Grabbing Shehzad by his arm again, he marched into the clinic and pushed him at the first nurse that he saw. "Take care of him!", he ordered and turned to the receptionist.
"Where's Dr Mehra? I need to speak to him", he spoke impatiently.
"He's at home. We have been instructed not disturb him at this time", she answered.
"Dial his number. NOW", he leaned close to her face, "You will regret if he finds out you didnt let me speak to him".
"Okay, just a second", she dialed the number and handed the phone, completely intimidated by him.

"Aarav here, Mr Mehra. There has been an unfortunate accident which brought me and Shehzad to your hospital. Nobody except the staff and you know about this and if anyone finds out, the source will without doubt, be someone from this hospital. I'm sure you will take necessary measures and not disappoint us. Am I clear?", he spoke without a pause.
"Thanks", he replied and handed back the receiver to the receptionist who was gaping at the conversation she heard.
That battered man in blood stained clothes was Shehzad. The Shehzad!

Her eyes were still wide and her jaw was still dropped in surprise, when the phone rang.
"Yes, Dr Mehra?",she replied after a few seconds. He had called to take 'necessary measures' to make sure the news of the new mess Shehzad had created remained inside the walls of the hospital.
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Exhausted and shocked, Shehzad sat on the hospital bed while a nurse cleaned his cuts and dressed them.

"You look worser than shit", Aarav remarked, entering the room.
'And I feel ten times more shity-er and what I've done is the shitty-est shit ever, he thought but had no energy to say.

"Mr Aarav! The patient needs blood. Immediately!", a nurse gushed, running into the room.

"Then give her blood. Didn't I tell you to do whatever is needed?", Aarav shouted angrily.

"She's O negative. We're running out on that group in our bank. You'll have to make arrangements for it within thirty minutes. The patient might not survive, otherwise", she said, fear evident in her voice and on her face.

Aarav sighed and rubbed his face with his hands in exasperation, muttering a string of curses for the millionth time in the night. Where could he get blood from, at 1am in the night. There was no way he could get in touch with any other hospital without raising suspicion. Even a spark of suspicion would be enough to get police and media's attention to this case and that was something Shehzad couldn't afford.

"Im O negative. Take it from me", Shehzad spoke for the first time in the night, breaking Aarav from his thoughts.
"That's not advisable. You have lost a lot of blood yourself and you're too weak", his nurse chided.

"Are you taking it or shall I do it on my own? ", he replied arrogantly, just like the normal Shehzad would do.

"Take it from him. I don't care if he dries up and dies. It's the least he can do for that poor girl.", Aarav spoke, glaring at him. Shehzad quietly looked away knowing too well that arguing with an angry Aarav was like waving a red cloth at a mad bull.

Shehzad stared at the plate of biscuits and a glass of juice that the nurse had left for him. His mind was clear and he had finally registered the events of the night. His wife betraying him, him acting in anger like he always did and putting a girl on the verge of death. The pain of bertayl had torn him apart and the guilt of almost killing an innocent tore all the torn pieces again. He looked around the room in search of something to numb him again. Shehad doesn't feel bad, he doesnt feel miserable. He didn't allow himself to feel those emotions since a very long time.

"She'll survive", Aarav's voice broke him from his thoughts.
He walked in with a bag covered with blood spots. Her bag, Shehzad guessed.
"How did you know where I was?", he asked Aarav curiously.
"I had a tracking app installed in your phone. Knowing your way of dealing with problems, I knew that app would make things easier for me. And boy, was i right!", he replied while emptying all the contents of her bag on the bed in an attempt to find something to identify her.

He picked up her cellphone and whistled in surprise when it opened without a password.
"You are so dead!", he passed the phone to Shehzad and his eyes widened.

"She's a foreigner", Shehzad concluded after opening random apps in the phone. Everything in the phone was in Arabic.
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Standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, Shehzad looked at his reflection in perplexity. His face showed clear signs of pain, bertayl and hurt. But they couldn't diminish the guilt of almost killing an innocent. He quickly looked away and washed his face and arms.
"She has arrived", Aarav called out from the other side of the door and Shehzad sighed. Every minute detail was set up against him. The only text message in English they found on the girl's phone was from Riya, who wasn't just any Riya. She was the daughter of a famous lawyer in the city and a very ruthless one herself.
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