A Victory which Matters (Dedicated to 27 and 45)

Part 15

When Rahane woke up, he saw that he was slumped against the wall in the lobby of a hospital. His arm felt as good as new.

He stood up, wondering where Rohit was.

"Hello!" said the shrill voice in his ear again.

"Hello," said Rahane politely. "Is Rohit all right?"

"He will be. But there's your deal."

The tiny figure grew in size till he was towering over Rahane.

"Well, what do I have to do?" asked Rahane, trying to hide his apprehension.

"Ha! You'll let Rohit replace you again, for the second Test."

There was visible relief on Jinks' face; evidently he had been expecting something much worse. After the recent events, who played in a particular match hardly seemed to matter.

"Of course. Let him play," said Rahane.

The devil looked slightly disappointed that he had not managed to do much harm to his victim.

"Right," he said, and vanished.

Only then did Rahane realise that he hadn't asked him where Rohit was.

It was a completely unknown hospital.

Rahane started walking down the corridor. A young nurse stopped him.

"Sir, would you like to see your friend now?" she asked.

"Yes, sure--where's he?"

Within moments, Jinks was standing beside Rohit's bed.

Rohit was still unconscious.

Before Rahane could begin to feel miserable again, the blessed nurse said, "He's all right--just sleeping. He only needs rest now."

Only after he heard this did Rahane realise how worried and scared he had been till then.

Of course Rohit was sleeping.

'For a change', as Jaddu would say.

Jinks smiled and touched Rohit's arm, feeling a sudden affection for his lazy idiotic friend.

"Rohit...thanks for saving me out there," he whispered, though he knew Rohit couldn't hear him. "It wasn't nice being so distant with you for so many days. I'm sorry--I hope you'll forgive me."

Rahane wished Rohit was awake, so that he could know if Rohit had stopped being angry with him or not.

He sat down at the edge of the bed and rested his head against the bedstead, suddenly feeling tired.

Within moments, he was fast asleep too.