Sitara slowly bandaged Sidhanth's hand while her heart was thumping against the rib cage, feeling his gaze. From the time she felt his touch on her, all Sitara could feel was tension and goosebumps. When she stood up to treat his wounds on the temporal region, she felt bothered. She had done this procedure on a lot of people, but treating Sidhanth was the difficult thing she had ever done.
"Aunty, it's all done. If you want, you can take him to the hospital for redoing it," Sitara told Sujata, who is not at all ready to leave Sidhanth from her side. Hearing the word hospital, Sidhanth started to get hyper, but Sitara calmed him down. When she looked into his eyes, it didn't reflect the innocence which she had seen in most of the mentally challenged patients; His eyes were sharp and clear like he knows what he is doing. This thought disturbed Sitara somewhere.
"Mr. Maheshwari, I am sorry to ask this, but what is the relationship you have with this boy?" Sonali asked, pulling Sitara away from Sidhanth.
"He is Sidhanth, elder son of Ram and Sujata and the real heir of our family. Sidhanth Maheshwari, the light of our house." The wetness in Durga Prasad's voice made the Maheshwari Family turn teary-eyed. Then he explained in crisp about the past of their second son's life, which baffled Sitara. The story, Sidhanth's current state, and his arrival somewhere it doesn't add up. Sitara's trance broke up when she felt someone holding her hand.
Sujata took Sitara's hand in hers and cried, thanking her. She still can't believe that her son, her brightness, her heart, her Sidhanth is right in front of her eyes. If not for Sitara, the ward boys would have taken him away from her again.
"Thank you, Sitara. If not for you, my son would have gone away from me. Thank you so much," Sujata kissed Sitara's forehead and hugged her while Sitara's eyes roamed around her living area where people are charged with different kinds of expression; except one.
"Uncle, Aunty, you should bring Sidhanth tomorrow to the hospital. They left him just because on my say, and I don't know for how long we can keep him outside the facility?" Sitara said, looking at Ram and Sujata.
"Bhaisa, I have never asked anything for myself because you and Jiji took care of everyone, but today I am asking you just one thing. Please, let my Sidhanth stay with us. I know he took the wrong decision to walk away from us, from his family, but now he needs us more than anything. Please let him stay with us." Sujata cried, folding her hands in front of Durga Prasad.
"Sujata, he is our son, and no one has the right to chase him away this time. I will see who has the guts to point their finger at our son," Annapurna said, looking at Durga Prasad, which sent everyone in the area the message that her words are the final verdict.
Sidhanth opened his eyes once he was sure that his mother is out of his room and sat upon the bed. The calmness and innocence that was reflecting on his face a few minutes back got replaced by coldness and rigidity. He took out the cell phone he hid under the carpet and called someone.
"Hello!"
"Hello, Boss."
"Smith, what is the status of Dr. Rosholi?" Sidhanth asked as he rolled up his sleeves and walked towards his worktable, which is placed right beside his walk-in closet. He clicked a button behind the table lamp.
"Sir, she is a psychiatrist with 7 years of expertise—"
"I am not here to hear her biodata, Smith. Cut the crap and take her on our side before Sitara reach her. I hope you sent out my fake medical file to that Doc," Sidhanth said as he opened the closet door and walked inside. In the end, there was a steel door that has a scanner, and he turned the mute button on.
"Voice Recognition."
"Agent Dev aka Killer Strike,"
"Voice Recognition accessed." The door opened, and Sidhanth walked inside. The room has a wooden wall finish with a table decorated with a computer and a two wall-mounted T.Vs' showing the surveillance of Saraswathi Colony and Maheshwari Mansion. He unmuted the call and kept it on his ear.
"Are you there, Smith?"
"Yes, Boss. Dr. Rosholi will get all the details we wanted her to see. Sir, why you want to meet Dr. Rosholi when we have Dr. Samshad?" Smith asked, which made Sidhanth grit his teeth.
"Tell me one thing, Smith. Have you ever used your teeny tiny brain for a second? Sitara said she will hand me to Dr. Rosholi and my family kind of trust this Sitara all thanks to you, so I have to redesign my whole fucking plan and get myself fake treated by Dr. Rosholi," He screamed into the phone, making Smith shiver in fear.
"I am sorry, Boss, but what can I do when your family loves Sitara?"
"Shut up, Smith. First, get that Dr. Rosholi on our side and then attend my call. If at all you mess up something, I will hunt you and will bury 6 feet under," Sidhanth cut the call and went over the surveillance video from the time he left the colony with his family. His eyebrows furrowed as he watched Revathi putting something on the floor near the Durga Devi Statue. After a few seconds, he saw Sitara coming towards the statue, and she stumbled, holding her right leg. He clicked on that particular camera.
Sonali came towards Sitara and made her sit on the swing. Her feet dripped with blood, and Sidhanth realized that Revathi had put glass pieces there to hurt Sitara.
"So, soon to be Mrs. Lakshman Maheshwari has beef with Sitara. Interesting!!!" Sidhanth lit up with a smirk as his eyes fixated on Sitara's pain-filled face.
Rosholi looked up from her case file as she heard firm knocks on her door. Closing the file, she gave permission to the person to enter. The door opened, revealing Dr. Sitara, her colleague cum junior. This little girl is a wonder in her life book. She does her work with perfection at the same time, pursuing something she always wanted. At a very young age, Sitara accomplished a lot of things, and the reason behind her goals and determination is obviously her family.
"Sitara, come inside. What happened to your feet?"
"Nothing, Mam. I just stepped on some glass pieces, that's why I came for a check-up. Also, I have another reason. I came to talk about one of your patients, Sidhanth Maheshwari, who was shifted from Hyderabad," Sitara answered, sitting in front of Rosholi.
"Oh, Yeah. Sidhanth Maheshwari. I was reading his case file only, but what is your relationship with this guy?" Rosholi asked, opening the closed file.
"Mam, it's complicated. You know Revathi, right? He is her brother-in-law—" and Sitara explained to her the events of yesterday. Rosholi heard her calmly and removed her glasses once Sitara finished.
"Sitara, to be honest, I don't know why Sidhanth is being transferred here. His records popped out of nowhere. And look at his charts; right from his vitals, blood works, and neurology reports, everything shows that he has no mental instability, except his psychiatry report. I think there is something this Sidhanth Maheshwari is hiding," Sitara went into thoughts when she remembered his hazel brown eyes piercing through hers.
"Mam, I have a question? Can someone manipulate their emotions? Because half of the time, our face mirrors our thought process, but with Sidhanth, I didn't find anything that kind of,"
"Sitara, it's all possible with a little practice. In our modern era, we can change a person into a robot just by the administration drugs within a few days. But in the ancient era, people try to control your emotions, making you go through either your deepest fear or your anguish. When you overcome these emotions, you get control of your emotions and can manipulate it. But it takes a lot of time. Usually, the people in the military, secret agency, etc., use the ancient method to train their cadets because it's their job requirement. All these things only to mask your facial expressions, but your eyes; your eyes can never lie, Sitara. Whatever the emotion is, your eyes will reflect them just like that. That's why we, the psychiatrist, can differentiate among a normal person, a mentally challenged person, and a normal person acting like a mentally challenged one." Rosholi's words took Sitara back towards those clear and deep eyes of Sidhanth.
"Mam, without the knowledge of the Maheshwari Family, can you please share Sidhanth Maheshwari's weekly reports?"
"Sure, Sitara. Everything is ok, right?" Rosholi asked as she saw uncertainty in her eyes.
"I don't know Mam, but my instinct is saying that something is not right with this guy, and I don't want my family to get hurt because of him," Sitara said, and she walked out thinking about this new storm that entered her life.