Tokyo City Hospital – ICU Wing | 2:02 AM, December 4th, 2005
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"Aewoon aewoon!!... Move aside!"
"Withdraw from the way! Hurry up! Hurry up!!"
The hospital corridors echoed with panicked cries. A metallic stretcher rolled in with brutal urgency, wheels squealing under pressure. The double doors of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) flung open.
"Get away from the entrance!"
"Where the hell is the doctor!?"
At the center of this chaos stood Mr. Ashirbad Singhania, Chief Manager of Sky and Shadow Corporation, sweat glistening on his furrowed forehead, his voice hoarse with desperation.
"Doctor!! What the hell is going on here? Who let this happen to my boss!? Call the MD right now!" he bellowed.
Within moments, the Medical Director of the hospital—a composed man in a white overcoat—stormed in.
"Rush him into the emergency bay! Begin resuscitation. Run vitals. Full neuro-check. Now!" barked the MD, his voice cutting through the panic like a scalpel.
But before the doctor could reach the surgical ward, an assistant came stumbling forward, breathless and trembling.
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"S-Sir... disaster happened!!"
The words sliced through the tense air like lightning.
Singhania turned, his eyes narrowing.
"You!? What are you screaming about now, Mr. Sharma?! Can't you see we're in the middle of—"
"Sir… let me speak… it's about… Mrs. Rajput."
Assistant Abhimanyu Sharma, the ever-loyal aide of Mr. Rajput, was pale as parchment. His lips quivered as he tried to summon the strength to continue.
"Mr. Sharma, are you trying to tell me… no, don't say it—"
A pause.
A breath.
Then a gasp from Mr. Singhania.
"Oh my God… today's the delivery date, isn't it!?"
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Suddenly, Mr. Singhania jolted into action.
"Sharma! Where is she?! Has she delivered yet?! And most importantly—
She should never know what happened here. Not now! Not in this condition!"
"Sir... that's the problem..." Sharma hesitated.
"What!?"
"She's... she's right here, sir. Just... in the ward adjacent to this one."
The air around them shattered like glass.
Before Mr. Singhania could process the impossibility of this coincidence, the thin partition door opened—
And there she was.
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Mrs. Triveni Rajput.
Her hair stuck to her temple, tears streaming down her pale cheeks, hospital gown still damp from labor. In her trembling arms, swaddled in soft linen, lay the child—their newborn daughter, Ameerah.
She looked around with glazed, wide eyes, then caught sight of Mr. Singhania.
"What happened... where is he? I want to see him... I want to show him our little Ameerah... please... please take me to him!"
Her voice cracked like glass under pressure.
"Aaahh! Aahhh! Aaaaahhh!!"
She wailed—not from the pain of childbirth, but from the unknown terror clawing at her chest.
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From the opposite end, a tall man pushed through the crowd.
"Manager! What's going on here!?"
"Why is bhabhi out of OT? What happened to Bhai!?"
It was Mr. Abhishek Singh Rajput, the younger brother of Mr. Rajput, his voice laced with fury and fear.
From another side, a woman's voice rose.
"Sister! Sister! What happened to jiju?! Where is my sister? And my little niece?"
It was Miss AbhiSingdha Chakrabarty, Mrs. Rajput's younger sister, tears already welling in her eyes.
The waiting room thundered with chaos.
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Then silence fell like a blade.
Doctor Mishra emerged from the ICU, his gloves bloody, his eyes tired.
"He's... out of danger now."
The words brought the briefest sigh of relief.
But he wasn't finished.
"However... he's now in a state of Persistent Vegetative State—a deep coma. He's alive... his heart beats... but he cannot respond to anything around him."
Gasps. The world fell out of balance.
"He may never wake up."
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The weight of those words crushed the room.
Mrs. Rajput stood frozen. Her feet wouldn't move. Her mind blurred. Ameerah's wails faded into the distance as if the child knew... her father may never hold her.
Her lips trembled.
Then—nothing.
Just blank silence.
The collapse of spirit.
She was on the verge of annihilation.
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"We must control this chaos. NOW!" barked Mr. Singhania.
"Mr. Sharma, Mr. Abhishek, Miss Chakrabarty—we are the guardians of this moment. If she breaks now, the whole empire might shatter. Pull yourselves together. We will save this family. No matter what it takes."
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To be continued…