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Manik woke up to the most unimaginable scene in front of his eyes. His head felt heavy, his breaths laboured and his eyes drowsy. He found himself captured in a huge, blue and white painted room with a sofa in one corner of the room and some weird equipments on the other corner. He was bewildered and clueless of what had happened and where he was. The moment he felt the wires attached to his hand, the mask around his face and the numerous taping across his body, he knew he was in a hospital. He could not contemplate to exactly what must have happened as it was hard for him to even keep his eyes open.

Suddenly he felt a surge of pain pass through his body and he yelped in pain but it was hard to utter anything. Manik could not take the uneasy feeling and the pain so he started to battle with the numerous wires that captured him to the hospital bed. He tried to move but felt another jolt of pain and this time he shrieked. He noticed that his leg was fractured and his entire body was covered with bandages. He was getting impatient when suddenly the door flew open. A nurse entered in hurry and tried to stop Manik's struggle but he won't stop. The nurse gave him an injection and he rested back in relief .Immediately the nurse left to get the doctor.

"Doctor, Mr Malhotra has gained consciousness, he was in a lot of pain and was getting restless. I gave him a light dose of tranquilizers to help ease the pain a bit" the nurse explained the doctor the situation.

"Finally after so long ,let me just go and check if everything is fine and great that you gave him the medicine and also please inform his dad and his friend about it" the doctor instructed the nurse and she left his cabin.

Dr Aidrean took the lift and rushed for Manik's room. He entered the room and was satisfied to find his patient conscious. He left a bout of air in relief and noted a few things that were necessary, removed the air mask as Manik did not need it anymore and was happy to see the progress. He exited the room and found Mr Malhotra and Cabir standing outside the room. Both of them had an inquisitive look on their face, they could not muster a work but Dr Aidrean understood and he gave them an assuring smile and said "Mr Malhotra he is conscious and will soon be fine". Mr Malhotra gave a sigh of bliss and asked "when can we see him?"

"We have given him some sedatives to ease out his pain. He can wake up any minute and I think you should be inside for whenever he wakes up again, he should see you guys" Mr Malhotra nodded enthusiastically and entered the room followed by Cabir. The moment they saw him, a tear dropped from Mr Malhotra's eyes. Cabir saw it and gave him a tight hug. Both of them sat patiently in silence on the sofa waiting for Manik to wake up. 3 hours already passed but Manik did not wake which panicked both of them and Cabir decided to talk to the doctor and left the room.

The creek of the door woke Manik and he shuddered in pain and immediately Mr Malhotra was by his side. Manik could not open his eyes due to sedatives but he started murmuring "Cabir Cabir, brakes "

"Manik, son "Mr Malhotra tried to calm him but he started shaking his head side to side rapidly.

"No no no Cabir " He kept on repeating his rant .Mr Malhotra held his face to gain his attention and that is when Manik opened his eyes lazily to find his father .He tried to get up but was too weak to even move "Dad ,what happened ? I remember the brakes ,the brakes failed and and I pushed him out, Cabir, Cabir out .Is he fine?' Manik asked hurriedly with his almost inaudible voice.

"Yes, yes he is absolutely healthy and here with us. He has gone to call the doctor and I will answer all your questions, just wait for a while "Mr Malhotra answered patiently.

Manik rested peacefully knowing his friend was fine. In his sub conscious state all he could think about was this. Soon Cabir entered with the doctor, the doctor did a quick check up and asked Mr Malhotra and Cabir to talk to him at least for an hour and keep him awake. Dr Aidrean and Cabir helped Manik to a sitting position.

"I am Dr Aidrean, your doctor, could you answer a few question for me?" Manik nodded and Dr Aidrean continued "How are you feeling?"

"High " Manik responded with a slight smile and Dr Aidrean chuckled.

"At least you are not out of your wit .do you feel pain?"

"Yes, a lot, it's frustrating and I hate restraints "Manik whined like a child.

"You will be free soon, now that you are conscious. I will send in liquids, it will help you stay awake for another hour." Dr Aidrean smiled and left.

Manik turned his attention to his father and Cabir.

"Manik, I am so happy that you are fine" Cabir said

"So am I Cabir .Where are the others and above all where are we exactly?" Manik asked making confused faces.

"We are in London son "

"London, what am I doing here?" Manik asked hastily

"Manik , calm down let uncle and I explain it to you"

"I am all ears "

"You and Cabir had an accident "Mr Malhotra started slowly.

"You pushed me out when I was unconscious and I was taken away to safety but when you were getting out , the car we were in, blasted " Cabir continued and Manik started to remember the scene in his head.

"I was on call with you when your brakes failed so I reached you guys as soon as possible and took you to the hospital .Cabir was badly injured and you drifted to coma "Mr Malhotra took a long breath and continued "I had an intuition that this was not an accident but murder by someone in my rivalry, I was afraid that you guys might get attacked again so I made arrangements for your departure. I faked your death for everyone else and got the two of you to London for treatment and to keep you safe" Manik was gaping and had a lot of question about his friends and especially Nandini . He was worried for her , how must she be ?

"Nandini, where is she? Does she know? How is she and everybody else? Mukti, Alya and Dhruv" Manik asked

"Manik they don't know that we are alive .According to them we are dead"

"What? You mean Nandini thinks I am dead .What must she be going through? It is not necessary that it was a murder dad."

"No Manik , the case is on investigation and we recently got to know that a bomb was planted in your car and then was later removed which ceased the brakes and oil started to ooze out of the car"

Manik was shocked to know this and could not say anything.

"We do not yet know who did it but it is best for the people who know us to think we are dead for their safety more than us " Cabir explained .

"But I need to see her , she must have been broken and FAB5 must have been crushed" Manik placed his concerns.

" Manik, it would have been extremely hard for them but we cannot do anything" Manik looked down and stayed silent. He missed her and wanted to see her face , her eyes , her smile which was no less than any drug to him and tell her that he was fine and that she can smile. He missed his friends ,He could not even imagine the pain they must have gone through and he suddenly realised.

"How long has it been?"

"You were in come since the past three weeks" This came as another shock to him. He had been asleep for so long, no wonder the blast was a terrible one but he was satisfied that everybody he loved was safe.

"I am sorry dad I kept you waiting for so long "Manik apologized for his extended sleep.

"No son you don't know how happy I am today"

"Yes Manik, Uncle had been restless and worried for you, you always told us that your dad loved you a lot but we had never met him .This time I am sure he loves you more than anything" this made Manik smile.

Mr Malhotra and Cabir kept Manik occupied in talks and lame jokes. Manik was happy that Cabir and his dad bonded well. Although he was not happy about the fact that his loved ones thought that he was dead but he understood his dad's concern. He also understood when his dad had to stay away from him for his protection. He wanted the culprit to be caught soon so that he could return soon to Nandini and everybody else till then he decided to stay satisfied with whatever he had.