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' Sir , sir '

He shook a bit before opening his eyes slowly, within the next few seconds he jolted up to sit properly and wiped his palm over his face a numerous times.

' sir this perimeter is also done '

S- anything ?

' no sir ...sir don't take me wrong , you don't look well . It's been 2 days since you went home or had any sleep . We'll take it from here , you '

S- shut up , Dr.Trivedi couldn't make it till the highways in any direction that day because we didn't let him. So finding a man who's been hiding somewhere in this very own city seems so impossible right ! Stop your rubbish and bring me the footage of next check post .

' sorry ... sir , ok'

He hurried saying this , shivaay immediately got down from the jeep and washed his face ,splashing cold water hard on his face . That's when his mobile kept in the pocket started vibrating, he picked the phone casually but as soon as he noticed the caller id, his hand began to shiver . He dropped the water bottle on the ground and took a few seconds to work on the green option .

Om - hello ...shivaay ? Hello...hello shivaay are you there ? Shivaay I just visited her , she's sleeping.

He let out a huge sigh of relief and stood holding his head with the other hand . This struggle he was going through seemed heavy, beyond death it felt .

Om - shivaay ?

S- yeah

Om - where are you ? You left without leaving a word , what are you doing shivaay?

S- I will find him.

Om - Shivaay are you sick ! Staying out without food, without sleep is not going to help you . Go home first , I'm in contact with every team . I'll let you know if , hello ...hello shivaay ?

Om shook his head and stomped the floor in frustration when he heard only a long beep noise on the line . He couldn't tell the entire truth because he knew it would only make him worse . Whatever medical resources they had couldn't help much . Antibiotics and sedatives gave relief for sometime but , temporary support is what doctors there could do as they themselves weren't sure of this virus . It reacted differently with each different victims , and even the symptoms everyone had were extremely different . This became a big challenge for them. The minister had even offered help by bringing the best medical resources from every part of the nation , people were working day and night to come up with a solution but they couldn't.

Leena started having symptoms , her temperature would rise huge, along with continuous dizziness and fatigue. Annika's condition got only worse from time to time , when shivaay brought her to the ward , everyone thought she was already dead . With much difficulty and long procedure , the officials were able to revive her heart back . From then, she has been kept under continuous monitoring but all they could do was reduce her pain for a while. From time to time , her body just started falling out . She couldn't help herself .

Shivaay on the other side was hell bent on finding Tej and bringing an end to everyone's suffer . He didn't know day and night , all he could think of was getting Tej and finding the cure . Not completely recovered from the incident he himself was facing a tough time , still , he couldn't give up after witnessing her in that state.

That's why he chose to not see her until he knew how to stop this , bluntly speaking, he didn't have the courage to witness and take something that hurting once again.

He was afraid .

'Sir , a truck has passed this station on that day . '

S- what ! Got to see the numbers ?

'We couldn't confirm that in the footage sir , it wasn't clear but the truck resembles the other one exactly '

S- get in then , inform the other crew . Track all the signals in that station and get the current location of the container . Quick !

He was intimidated, though he wasn't a devotional person he suddenly started sending silent prayers .

She crushed her eyes tightly before opening them , annika gathered and made herself to something small to scoot under the dark . Light made her feel uncomfortable, she became sensitive and started searching for dark corners in the room.

Her hands wouldn't just stop shivering , she could hardly grip the glass and take a sip of water . Still, she tried . It's always the one thing she does . She tries . It's not the first time life has put her under difficulties , she had come across many such kind, the only difference now is , she can't get herself to do anything . Her whole self is falling. She didn't have strength to stand and fight .

A sudden fear engulfed her , and that pained more than anything right now .

S - this building has a godown right ?

'Yes sir '

S - ask the black squad to surround the building , others come with me .

He made further more instructions before buckling up with the kit , and moved inside making least of any noise .

They chose to wait infront of the shutter until the black team confirms a clear circle around. As much as his juniors insisted , shivaay didn't give a damn and just removed his patch swing so that he could handle the pistol at ease . Sedative with dosage levels practised only on animals were kept ready , he didn't want to take any risk this day .

He had even cleary instructed that he wanted them alive at any cost , because something even more dangerous than them is making thing worse here . Stopping that is more crucial considering the situation . Tej is wanted , alive .

' sergeant 7 reporting, north and west , clear . Over.'

S - what about the others ?

' east direction , clear '

' south , clear '

Shivaay signalled to start , for the crew members joined together and broke the shutter with iron rods before getting to lift it up open .

S- hold your positions !

He shouted instructing the crew after spotting a numerous people inside , engaged in their own work . One from there ran towards them ,fearing on this big police gang at their doorstep .

' sir , what happened sir ? Why are you ...?'

Shivaay kicked the ground twice thrice in defeat , he lost his cool big this time . Failure , yet again.

' what business is happening here ?'

Someone from the group enquired the man .

' export ...business '

He seemed too nervous when he answered.

S- damn it damn it damn it !!

Shivaay started punching his own thigh in frustration. The wound started to bleed yet again, people around him tried stopping him but he just pushed everyone who came infront. He sat with a thud , holding his head . Sudden flashes of her came running before his sight , her condition, it was beyond anything he can take now . Shivaay wiped his face hard and stood up . No time for this, he knew .

Making fast steps , he inspected the entire area throughly. A big vehicle was kept covered with a sheet at the last corner of the godown. He enquired about it .

' it's under ...repair sir '

S- show me .

' it's nothing sir , we don't even use it anymore actually , we'

Shivaay didn't wait for him to complete , he ran and dragged the sheet off to see the truck hidden in there . His eyes grew big on seeing the number plate, it's the same one which Tej used . He jumped ahead and caught the man's collar at once.

S- where's he ? Where the Doctor !!!

' sir ...which who sir ? I don't '

Shivaay slapped him hard immediately for the man had blood stains at the corner of his lips already .

S- dare you lie now ! Where is Tej Trivedi , why do you have the truck here , where is he !!

He roared to question and once again slapped the person who looked so much scared now . Shivaay chose to be hard on him and pulled off the safety lock before pressing the pistol at his head .

' sir sir sir !! Please sir , I'll I'll tell you ! Sir please don't '

Shivaay didn't release him though , he just pressed that thing more on him in demand of an immediate answer.

' sir , I don't know any Tej '

S- this isn't happening .

He shot him , on his right leg .

' ahhh ! '

Everyone were thrilled when shivaay did that .

S- are you going to tell me now or not !

The man fell down on the floor , he was in a pool of blood by now .

' sir please....'

Shivaay shook his head and aimed for his other leg but before anything , he heard him shout .

' I stole the truck ! '

S- what ? Don't you dare try to fool me !

'No ....it's true , It was just... left on the road ,none around, with... the key '

He narrated with much of struggle . Shivaay kept thinking for while when suddenly his mobile rang , it was rudra .

S - get the details, location, time , everything.

' sir but we have to take him to the hospital'

The officer stopped talking when shivaay just pointed his fiery eyes at him instead of saying anything .

' o ok sir '

His mobile rang once again, he instructed the others about something and then attended the call .

S- what is it Rudra ?

R - senior , the girls ...

S- what happened to them , just spit it out Rudra !

R - no nothing their ok , it's just that they're very stubborn today . They're very adamant to meet angel . I can't convince them at all senior , riya is crying already .

Shivaay kept quite for a while , even he didn't know what to do . Big thing that they both even held up these many days without her , little children they were .

S- Rudra ...do one thing , put them on , I I'll talk to

R- senior senior , angel is calling !!

S- what, really ?

R- yes .

S- con call Rudra.

R- but senior , she

S- do it .

R- ok.

A- hello

Shivaay closed his eyes slowly and sat down on the ground when he heard her low whisper .

R- yeah , how are you feeling? Sorry I couldn't come today.

A- Rithi and Riya , how...how are they?

Annika couldn't even talk properly, so she chose not to reply rather just convey what she wanted to . Shivaay here got this point very clear , he sat there seeing nothing but his own bleeding hand .

R- yes they're fine , they wanted to talk to you actually. They've been missing you very much .

There was complete silence for a while . He had to look at his phone to make sure she was still in line.

R- hello ?

A- are they close ?

R- you're going to talk to them ?

A- hmm

R- are you

A- yes

She replied before be could complete , Rudra didn't wait after that . He quickly ran downstairs towards the garden where the girls were found playing .

R- rithi , riya your sister's on the line .

Rithi- oohoo!!

Riya- caught you !

Rithi - annika's on the line riya .

Riya - still , I caught you don't forget it ok .

She took the mobile from Rudra.

Rithi- I came first ,why did you give it to her !!

Rudra was mouth tied , when she complained .

R- ugh...I didn't she

Riya- hello annika , annika how are you, no where are you! It's been weeks annika , aren't you too much . You didn't even come to the sports meet, I'm so angry at you . You know what happened ? Rithi fell down during the race , and

Rithi - atleast put the speaker on riya ! Don't be so selfish .

She tried snatching the mobile and both started to fight .

Riya - you dumb , I'm talking about you only . Rithi wait, Rithi don't!

Rithi - I can talk for myself , give me the phone once .

Riya - Rithi !

Shivaay who was listening to all this just chuckled a bit , he couldn't smile , couldn't cry . He felt emotional.

R- hey hey ok ok ,guys! Wait .

Rudra shook his head in horror when the girls quarrelled , he then somehow collected the mobile from them and switched the speaker on .

R - hmm, go ahead now .

Rithi - annika when I was running, you know that Arvind right, he suddenly

A- don't waste my time Rithi , I heard you wanted to talk . If this is it , I'm hanging up .

Rithi /Riya - annika wait !

Rudra's reactions changed on hearing annika's rude words . Yes , she spoke as usual not wanting to show anything to her sisters ,still ,why this Rudeness everytime , he didn't like it. Even shivaay seemed irked on hearing this. Their sad face said it all , they didn't feel good . They were super excited to talk with her after so many days and getting such a response just didn't move good with them .

Riya- annika ...are you very busy?

Rithi - when will you come back , when will we go home annika ?

Shivaay bit his lips and face palmed himself on hearing her innocent plea .

Riya - yes annika , come back soon .

A- riya , are you going to the classes regularly ? Karate , what about the music class rithi ?

Rithi - yes annika .

Riya - annika I asked you something.

A- can't you be a little understanding Riya, yes I am busy , stop torturing me. You girls are so much trouble these days , I can't just be worrying about you all the time .I'm thinking of putting you both in a boarding school this year.

Riya- what !

Riya - no!

A- yes I am .

Rithi - anika sorry , we won't dodge you hereafter ok , cool ?

Riya - wait , we didn't do anything wrong Rithi . Don't give up easily .

A- see , you have such a big mouth riya .

Riya - annika , we just asked when we could go home if that's a big mistake for you then that's your problem not our's.

Rithi - Riya , are you mad ? Don't talk to her like that then she

Riya- she's too much , I'm telling you .

Rithi - what if she puts us in hostel ?

Riya - fine , let her do whatever she wants . We can take care of ourselves annika .

She shouted and passed the phone to rudra before dragging Rithi along with her , away .

R- hey Rithi , riya wait...uhh , they went . You shouldn't have

A- can you please do me a help ?

R- hmm sure

A- I'll send you some ...account details . Withdraw money for the fee , and ...the school name...I'll send you everything . Entrance ...exam , ask them to prepare well . Just be with them until they get enrolled in the boarding school, then you can

Shivaay couldn't take it anymore, he pushed the mobile away from his ear and smashed his eyes with his fingers to wipe those tears then and there .

R- angel please! I know why you're doing this . Senior is out there searching for your father , I'm sure we'll overcome this . So stop thinking of anything and take care , please !

A- visit them once in a...mo month , if possible. Ask shivaay to see them , time to time too. They will ,...they'll feel nice .

R- listen to me once , you can

She shouted immediately to stop him.

A- will you do it ,or should I speak to someone else Rudra!

R- ok .

The beep noise was heard soon .

R- senior why is she like this ?

S- I'll talk to you afterwards.

He hung up and bent down holding his head , he couldn't process anything at all . He was hell scared now , after hearing everything she said he was terrified . He kept shaking his body front and back , anxiously. Soon someone came and patted his shoulder from behind .

' we got the details sir , shall we ?'

Shivaay shook his head fast and got up to stand within a second, quickly.

S - I'll join you in an hour .

' ok sir '

Om - what about the commissioner?

' we are keeping him under sedation continuously but it's too much risk . Body can't take too much of anything , we have to do something . If not ...'

Om took in a gulp when the doctor explained the odds .

Om - the medical crew which came this morning , arrange a meeting with them ASAP .

' ok , I'll tell them '

Om saw shivaay coming upstairs then , he asked the person to wait and marched towards him quickly.

Om- shivaay , what happened to your hand ? Not again shivaay.

S- where is she ?

Om was numb for a while .

S- Om!

Om - you , you want to meet her ?

S- yes .

Om - shivaay she seems very tired . It's not the right time .

S- seeing won't do any harm Om , take me to her !

As they kept talking the doctor's sudden panicked voice caught their attention.

' what, she fainted again ? Ok wait , don't send anyone in yet . I'm coming '

S- what is it ?

' the girl , she fainted .'

Om - who Leena?

' no the doctor'

S- annika ?

' yeah annika '

Shivaay and Om ran behind the doctor at once . He was bewildered when they ended up in the control room .

S- what are we doing here! Take me to her ward .

' not just yet , people are suiting up but before anything we must make sure we don't get exposed to the virus. Wait '

Om - what , we all were in contact with her for past few days. You yourself checked us and said it couldn't be air borne right?

'I did , but it's a new virus . We couldn't just declare anything blindly yet . Precautions are must '

S- she has fainted there and what are you do

Shivaay stopped breathing for a minute when he noticed the monitor which the doctor switched on just now . Room 76 , the footage had annika's live record going on . She was lying on her stomach, on the ground . Shivaay's heart started beating fast suddenly and his skin turned so chill in no time .

He thought she was doing ok with the help of treatment given but it didn't seem so. She seemed to have lost so much weight , all she looked was all as weak and thin . So small . His breathing rate changed for his chest , the lung region started pricking him with ache.

' annika, Dr.Annika'

The doctor tried calling her through the intercom . Shivaay froze when he saw her moving slowly. She crawled to move on the floor very slowly .

' annika ...'

A- hmm

She barely responded .

' annika you want anything ? '

A- hmm

Only when they saw the video where she was found shaking her head , they understood. Annika couldn't speak , she was worn out completely. Keeping her eyes open seemed so difficult. There she lied on the floor like a crushed piece of waste .

Shivaay had tears already , the sight was unbearable for him. He can only imagine how much she would have struggled while talking to the girls just sometime ago , she hardly could even speak a word now.

S- what are you even doing! Aren't you going to help ?

' don't get emotional officer , everyone is in danger . Fatigue is one of the symptoms, so she has to fight it alone . Without knowing anything about this disease, we can do nothing '

Shivaay didn't hear anything only, all his focus was completely locked on the monitor where he saw her struggling to pick the glass of water . She already dropped it twice , and the floor were she lied was wet. She didn't move , she couldn't move and just remained their crawling slowly to get herself off the water . Shivaay's heart almost just stopped when he saw all this , it ached him. He glared at the doctor hard before working on the switch system to bring down the self locking system of ward number - 76.

'What are you doing, you can't '

Shivaay just gave him one nice slap before running out .

S - annika

He came running inside, she blinked slowly and looked up towards the doorway through which he came in .

A- nnn..no

He carried her at once and helped her settle on the bed , fetching some water in a glass , he pressed it to her lips and she emptied it slowly sip by sip .

Shivaay couldn't stop his tears after seeing her in real , like this . Eyes buried inside , surrounded with dark circles . Dry rough lips, and pale skin . She looked too much in pain , he felt stabbed .

Annika took some support from the wall and dragged herself away from him to sit quiet afar .

A- go

S- annika

A- stop torturing will you . I can take care of myself !

He shivered a bit when she suddenly screamed over her voice, the tone resembled a squeal of ripped throat . Shivaay got angry but he controlled himself .

S- annika it's not the time to

A- enough shivaay , don't take advantage of my condition and dream of anything ! Nothing has changed between us , we are just strangers . Remember that .

Shivaay cringed on hearing her statements, he was enraged . He jumped against and grabbed her hair tight . She gritted her teeth and didn't dare to meet his red eyes.

S- what do you think of yourself annika ! How can you just spit hatred on everyone around you so easily , first your sisters , you even realize and think of their mind state for once ? No ! You just screamed at them and now you got me . Hmm... there no good in talking all this , because I know , before and even now ...you are still the same . You will never change.

She frowned when he spoke about the girls ,while shivaay's eyes had nothing but just burning anger for her. Annika then somehow moved away and got rid of his hold . He turned and marched straight towards the door , but stopped by there to take one glance of her before leaving .

S- you know what ? You just don't deserve love and people annika .

Shivaay announced this with much of disgust on his face , annika looked unbothered .

' The main drawback in this case is , the virus mutates variantly. We can't note down any particular characteristics because, if keeps changing '.

Shivaay and Om sat in the conference hall listening to what everyone had to say, the meet included all the medical staffs who had come from every part of the country. When he completed and sat down , another lady stood up .

' as far as we have evaluated , it's not air borne . Blood infusion is what which supports this virus spread , but as he mentioned mutation happens so fast here , we can't conclude with anything . '

' The medication we're using is to bring down the symptoms, like the dosages given for chicken pox , like that '

Shivaay hit the table with his palm and stood up immediately making the doctor stop whatever he was saying.

S- enough of all these lectures , where is the cure ! We brought you all for cure, not for just experimenting and evaluating.

' Sir you don't understand, it's completely a foreign material inside the body and it reacts differently in each one of them . We can't clarify anything until and unless we get the sample of parent virus .'

Om - means ?

' from were it all began '

He was going to continue but shivaay interrupted him soon .

S- one minute doctor , you said it reacts differently in each one right ?

' yes '

S- different symptoms is fine but how did annika hold for so many days after getting infected while the others started having trouble within just a few hours ?

' exactly , that's why we conducted separate test cases with her blood sample alone. Yes , Dr.Annika has some antibodies which is fighting against this new cell in her body , she just has it , naturally. It helped in pushing the time of impact but couldn't completely save her .'

Shivaay looked fully intimidated ,he thought for a few seconds and realized something soon .

S- Om, Om you remember the injection ?Tej injected particularly on annika's spine at the lab .

Om - hmm ?

S- that procedure is usually done for big surgeries , like caesarean, transplant...what if ...what if he knew already ?... Yes , now I get it .

He declared with a much of confidence, Om looked confused though.

Om - what is it ?

S- Om veer is a complete product of microbiology , cell generation but still the first atom or cell used to build him was real , it was of our veer's and annika is Veer's sister so obviously their DNA's would match . She has a part of him in her and vice versa . He knew , Tej knew all this from the beginning. That's why he wanted to check and make sure . He was going for annika's bone marrow in that lab , marrow is the first place where blood cells are being generated. Remember once he even tried to kidnap the twins , so he always knew that all the siblings were connected with each other . And if annika's cells, naturally has some potential to fight this virus

He stopped there and looked at Om with a serious reaction . Om read his thoughts clearly and completed the sentence.

Om - the twins might have something in them too .

How was it ?

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