THE HEIST

Karan

"Boo."

"Am I supposed to be scared by that Karan?" I asked, matter-of-factly, even though I almost punched the guy. "What the hell are you doing here, anyway? Especially with all that make-up?? Moreover, you managed to make my date which was going rather well, awkward!" I exclaimed.

"People are looking for me, bro. Some really dangerous people." He said, making a stern face. I became serious too, even more than I was before and asked: "What did you manage to do this time?" "Nothing, as usual" He winked at me. "Well if you say it is indeed nothing, then I better get going, eh? As you can see," pointing at the damsel - "I'm quite busy myself."

Karan grabbed my arm hard and said sternly, "If you really do love this girl, bro, it is in your best interest to come with me." I thought about it but then decided otherwise. "No, Karan, it'll be rude to leave her like that! I mean, just look at her. She must've already decided on the dish and is waiting for me to come back so that we could move forward with the date! So no, Karan- whatever it is, it can wait. I'll catch you later." I said, leaving Karan behind me.

Walking back to the table, I went into a state of nostalgia. I started to think about the first time I met Karan.

It was the summer of 1999, in Bangalore. I always liked walking in this part of the town... It was never noisy nor did it have many houses which would have a problem with a huge guy walking around in a white hoodie at this late hour.

Out of nowhere, this Hayabusa zooms past me at about 200 miles per hour, almost tripping me with the sheer force by which it cut the wind. I shouted, "WATCH OUT FOR THE SPEED BUMP" but I was a second too late. The bike and its owner, both were having a flying session together. The rider crash landed and bounced his way into someone's garden across the road, while his bike made the garden owner's swimming pool, its parking stand.

I ran towards the biker and saw his sorry state. He was bleeding profusely from his mouth, while his right hand was laid in a very unnatural position, twisted in a way which would soon give me nightmares. I tried to wake him up from the slumber he had passed into to no avail. I then looked at the small family which woke up because of the noise and the father who was walking towards me with a baseball bat in his hand, thinking I was a party to this which had transpired. "I was just having a stroll, uncle, I really don't know who this guy is!" I shouted, trying to save myself from the baseball bat first. But uncle was having none of it and started briskly walking towards us.

Wasting no time, I pulled my phone out and called 112. "1-1-2, Mai aapki kya seva kar sakta hoon?"(1-1-2, how can I help you?) Said the calm voice from the other side "I'm near Agara lake... uh... uh... near the temples! And a guy has met with an accident here! He is bleeding crazily and isn't responding to me at all! Can you please send someone with an Ambulance here soon?" I panickingly asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but the nearest hospital, Apollo Spectra seems to not have ambulances. The fastest an ambulance could reach you is anywhere between an hour and two, as the ambulance Union is on a strike."

"That's too long! I know where Apollo spectra is, I'll take him there myself" I said and cut the call.

Blood was pouring out from his shoulder too, and a bone was sticking out. Knowing that there was a very important artery there, I picked him up slowly like a sack, started jogging towards the hospital which was more than five kilometres away and hoped that I would make it in time.