“Captain Kaul is with me, sir.”
“Commander Ul Haq, Can SFF afford another failed mission? Or ousting these clandestine strikes? Consider it spoils of war.”
“Atharv… Captain Kaul, you know it. Bhaskara, Jasbir and Yadav are gone. But Chaturvedi is there. She is alive…”
“They are all dead, Doctor.”
“She is alive! She was alive when I left! Captain Kaul knows it, this, I have this… She is alive!”
“And then she passed away. They are going to return the dead bodies respectfully. Let’s end it at that.”
“Atharva do something…”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Aamir Haider did this, Atharva! See these? He sent these? He sent these papers! He instructed them about us! He was there on call with them all throughout! Believe me, Atharva…”
“I believe you.”
“Then do something! She will die! Atharva, do something…”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Samar!”
He straightened.
“Samar…”
He turned.
Amaal was at her window, staring at him like he was a wild animal. He was.
“Wait, I am coming out…”
“No,” he stepped up and pushed her shutters. “I will go.”
“No!” She slammed her hands on the closing shutters. He froze.
Her face pushed out of the window — “No,” she whispered. “Samar.” Her voice was low, lower than even a whisper. But he could still hear it. Her eyes were close to his. So close that the two appeared as one big blue. That’s when he snapped out. And realised that he was centimetres away from her nose.
Samar took a step back but she caught his elbow, half hanging out of the window.
“Amaal!” He gripped her bicep, holding her from falling off. “Get in.”
“Come here.”
He stepped back up, closer to her face, closer to her. The scent of lilies hit his nostrils. Was it her or the flowers she had grown?
“Slow, calm down.”
He blinked, thinking what she meant. And then her palm rested on his chest. He realised that his heart was thudding at a dangerous pace only when her hand touched the surface of his chest. She patted there. “Slow. Relax.” She kept patting, slowly, her hand beating a rhythm like his heart, but slower, her eyes holding his.
The hits of his heart that he was feeling on the inside of his chest went slower and slower, lower and calmer, until they went completely quiet. His breath returned to normal.
Amaal nodded at him, her eyes firm. “Don’t turn away.”
He couldn’t, even if he wanted to. He couldn’t look away from her eyes.
