Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel (33 page)

 

“Where?” the bored conductor asked, looking at the panting boys with disinterested
contempt. Neel wondered if he was related to the snooty salesgirl.

 

“Wherever the last stop is.” Aryan gasped, taking out his wallet. They made their way
to the front of the bus, and saw the tempo moving ahead of them.

They were soon out of the city and moving through the suburbs, the tempo still in front.
Neel and Aryan were sitting, but Nitin was hanging onto the leather strap, watching the
tempo anxiously.

“It‟s turning.” he said hoarsely. Sure enough, the tempo was getting off the main road.
They yelled for the bus to stop and clambered out again.

“She must live here.” Nitin
said, taking off down the side street where the tempo had
disappeared. The other two followed. Neel closed his eyes and focused his hearing. He took
the lead and turned left at an intersection with a brief, “They went this way.”

They were now inside a well kept colony. People stared out of their house at the three
running boys. Neel turned left at another two way and then stopped at the end of the road,
motioning to the others to stop as well. They walked slowly around the corner, and found
themselves standing in front of a row of neatly kept and expensive houses.

The tempo was coming back up the road, but without the two girls. Neel pointed mutely
at the last house. The girl named Parul was standing outside what had to be her house,
rummaging through her purse.

Neel grinned at Aryan. They had reached journey‟s end. The two gave each other a high
five as Nitin staredat Parul, who hadn‟t seen them yet.

 

“Showtime.” Aryan said, massaging Nitin‟s shoulder‟s vigorously. “Make us proud,
Romeo.”

Nitin looked at them gratefully
. “Thanks a lot, guys. I really owe you two.” Neel
grinned and stepped to one side, gesturing towards Parul. “Better take care of business first,
man.”

Nitin grinned as well, and then started walking towards Parul. Now that the chase was
over he felt confident. Talking to girls was a specialty of his. He was making his way towards
the house, rehearsing some opening lines and jokes. But then he stopped abruptly, staring.
Neel and Aryan watched in stunned silence as well.

A boy had walked over to Parul. She turned and smiled at him. They were talking,
standing far too close together. Then the boy reached out and held her hand. It was definitely
not a brotherly clasp, and it was all too easy to understand the scene enfolding before them.
The boy turned slightly, and his face was finally visible. It was the guy who had been sitting
directly behind their table at the food court when Parul had smiled in their direction.

A car came out of the house and down the road in their direction. Nitin recognized it as
the car that took picked up Parul from tuitions every day. Suddenly it slowed, and Parul‟s
friend from the mall stuck her head out of the window and stared at them in surprise.

“Did you follow us all the way from the mall?” s
he asked Nitin in amazement. She
twisted her head to see Parul still talking to the boy, then turned to look at Nitin. “That‟s
Nitin, Parul‟s boyfriend.” she told him. He was too dazedto be surprised. “He was with his
family at the food court, but he texted her that he wanted to meet her in private later. He
proposed to her in the tempo, and she accepted. Now they‟re going to the park together.
That‟s why she‟s sending me home.” She gazed at him pityingly for a moment. “I‟m sorry.”
she said sympathetically, leaning back inside the window. The car moved on down the road.

There was a long silence. Neel was still staring dazedly as Parul and the other Nitin
walked away, hand in hand.

 

He turned to stare at the other two, his emotions too deep for words. They stared back
sympathetically.

 

“I‟m sorry, man.” Aryan said, placing a hand around his shoulder.“I really didn‟t see
this coming.”

 

“You did all you could.” Neel added bracingly. “It just wasn‟t meant to be. You‟ll find
someone else, dude. You always do.”

They turned away from Parul‟s house and walked
slowly down the road, Neel and
Aryan keeping a respectfully somber silence. They looked at each other for a moment and
almost burst out laughing. But Nitin was still looking crushed. It would be some time before
they could make jokes about this incident. The crisp air stung their faces, and light sunlight
filtered through giant fluffy clouds. Despite feeling bad for Nitin, Neel could not hold back
his own happiness. There was a joyous pounding in his heart. He felt as though it had been
years since he had been out of doors. For the first time in several weeks he felt completely
alive.

The trip had been a bitter disappointment for Nitin. But not for Neel. It had served to
prove something vitally important to him that he had suspected already. He had run all over
the city for hours across heavy traffic, on foot and in all kinds of vehicles, but he had not felt
any symptoms of his condition once. He was finally cured.

* * *

 

“And then I didn‟t feel anything strange all day.” Neel finished and looked sideways at
Doctor Fahim, who stared dispassionately into the distance.

It was two days since the chase across the city with Nitin and Aryan. Neel had told
Doctor Fahim yesterday about the whole journey with barely suppressed excitement. But the
doctor had been less enthusiastic. Neel had insisted that he was much better now, as that day
had proved.

The weather
for the last few days had continued to be unusually pleasant, raising Neel‟s
spirits even more. Doctor Fahim had invited him for a stroll outside in the fresh breeze
instead of staying in the office, where they had been spending too much time these days. The
two now walked slowly down the lobby and out of the main building.

Neel continued talking. He knew Doctor Fahim would not be convinced easily. And it
was imperative that he should be, because Neel also had a request to make of him.

“I want to go after Mehta again, sir.” Neel said.
Doctor Fahim did not say anything, but
continued to walk in silence beside him. “I know I made mistakes last time. But I‟ve really
learned from it all. I won‟t underestimate him again.”

“You need to
concentrate on your health, Neel.” Doctor Fahim said finally. The two had
emerged from the building and were heading in the direction of the gym hall.“Your focus
should be on getting better.”

“But I
am
better.” Neel said earnestly. “I told you. I was travelling in a tempo. I was
walking around in traffic. There were cars and trucks all around me. We even passed by the
spot where I‟d had the accident. And I didn‟t feel scared or dizzy or anything.

“
Your mind was completely absorbed in the urgent and exciting matter concerning your
friends.” DoctorFahim said. “Often, distraction is the best way to avoid mental worries. But
that does not mean you are cured. Is it not possible that you are merely trying to convince
yourself that you are better, even though you are not sure yourself?” The piercing eyes
studied him shrewdly.

“But I
reallydo feel better now, sir.” Neel persisted. “I‟ve been feeling that way for a
while now. The first few days, I know it was pretty bad. But now the nightmares have
stopped. I can fall asleep now. I don‟t feel depressed all the time, or suic-, or angry or
anything.” Neel said, avoiding the word at the last moment.

“That is well.” Doctor Fahim said gravely as the two walked slowly towards the open
field. “But don‟t you think it might be too soon to be completely certain?”

“We don‟t have time, sir.” Neel said. “Mehta must know I was wounded and messed up
pretty bad. And he‟s still going to do whatever he‟s planning. I need to go after him and stop
him.”
“Only when you are ready.”

“I am ready.” Neel said, his voice rising with a slightlydesperate edge to it. “I‟m
completely fine now. I just want a chance. I want to prove that”

 

The loud squeal of tires broke through the silence of the area as a car appeared from
around the corner of the hall. It was heading directly for them at full speed.

Neel couldn‟t move. He couldn‟t even breathe. His legs were shaking so badly
that his
whole body was trembling. His hands had curled into fists, and his nails were digging into his
palms as his heart threatened to burst. All he could do was watch as the monster roared
towards him. He was flying off his cycle and into the air. He was watching his blood splatter
on the road. He was feeling crippling, unbearable pain…

Five feet away from them, the car stopped. Neel saw Arjun sitting in the driver seat and
watching him narrowly.

“This was just a test.” He heard
DoctorFahim‟s voice as though from a great distance.
“You were in a completely safe environment, and yet your response is evident. Do you still
think you are cured, Neel?…Neel?”

Arjun got out of the car and sprinted towards the young boy. Neel had dropped slowly to
the ground, his body completely rigid. The nightmare flashes of memory had been worse than
ever before, and his entire body was shaking.

“You‟re going to be fine, Neel.” He heard Arjun say as he was lifted off the ground. “It
was just a test. You‟re going to be fine.”

 

Half an hour later, Neel sat on a mattress in the giant hall, sucking on a solution of
glucose through a straw. Doctor Fahim and Arjun stood watching him.

“I am truly sorry, Neel.”
DoctorFahim said quietly. “But you were so completely
convinced that you had recovered. We had to make you see that there is still a long way to
go. PTSD is not a minor mental problem that can be shaken off in a few days. It can take
months, or even years. And even then there is no guarantee.” Neel did not say anything, but
continued to suck on his drink quietly, his eyes blank.

“This i
s just a temporary setback.” Arjun said abruptly. “I hated doing this to you, but
you needed a warning. There is room for improvement, but you are on the right path. You
just need to keep at it and practice hard, like all those exercises you learned with us.”

But it was not just like the exercises, and he was not going to be fine. He had been
deluding himself all along. Neel realized then, his mind too numb to even care at the moment,
that he was never going to be fine again.

CHAPTER 14: Broken

 

“This is very disappointing.” Mr. Rai said heavily, staring down at the table in front of
him.

Mr. Rai, General Bakshi and Doctor
Fahim sat in the doctor‟s office at Swan labs.
DoctorFahim had just finished telling the other two about Neel‟s response to their test the
day before.

“So there is no progress?” Mr. Rai asked.

“He‟s gotten worse.”
DoctorFahim said quietly. “This was the second time that he had
gotten overconfident in his abilities, and the attack hit him worse than ever. And now
whatever strength he once had to fighthas been crushed.”

There was a long silence in the room. General Bakshi was staring at the doctor, his face
unreadable. “What would you say are the chancesof recovery for the boy?”

 

“Very little.” DoctorFahim said quietly. “Due to a number of factors.” He studied the
other two men closely, waiting to tell them the gravest news of all.

The G
eneral sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Then he will have to be removed from
the project.” He stared broodingly ahead. “All that time and money wasted. We will have to
begin again. And find a way to deal with Dervin‟s involvement in this matter as well.”

“I‟m afraid that is not all, General.” Doctor Fahim said somberly.

 

His voice broughtthe other two men‟s out of their separate musings. They looked at him
with a feeling of foreboding as the General spoke. “What else can go wrong now?”

 

“I have been conducting some private researches into Neel‟s accident in the last few
days.” Doctor Fahim said.

 

“Why? We know what‟s wrong with him.”

“Not entirely.”
DoctorFahim said. “My tests were of a biological rather than
psychological nature. I examined the blood and skin samples we had collected the night Neel
was shot. I have also conducted some other tests on him in my office since.”

“Once again, doctor, you fall into the error of supposing we care about your
experiments.” The General growled. “Just tell us what you found.”

 

“There is a very significant lowering in secretion of Cortisolin Neel‟s body as a result of
the ingestion of the serum.” Doctor Fahim said quietly.

 

“And that means?” The Minister‟s brow was furrowed.

 

“Cortisol,” DoctorFahim said. “Is a hormone responsible for stress management in our
bodies. Low production of Cortisol isfound to be responsible for most PTSD cases.”
The two men sat frozen, staring at Doctor Fahim in shock.

 

“Which means that there is a physiological reason behindNeel‟s current condition.”
Doctor Fahim continued.

 

“This is a mistake.” The General muttered. He rose from his seat and began to move
around agitatedly. “This has gotto be a mistake.”

“M
y tests were conclusive.” DoctorFahim said. “It would explain why Neel did not feel
the effects of PTSD for some time after the accident. The effect of the hormone‟s reduced
secretionwas slow but steady.”

“Perhaps this is an isolated case.” The General said, his eyes urgent. “You yourself said
the effects on children are different from the effects on adults. Perhaps”

 

“Not like this, General.” Doctor Fahim said. He shook his head slowly and with an air of
finality. “Not like this.”

 

Suddenly the General glared at him. “This is your fault, Doctor Fahim! You were
supposed to make sure this serum was adapted for humans.”

“And I also told you that no experiment is considered complete until
its effects have
been tested in the real world.” DoctorFahim replied evenly. “Which is why the serum was
intended for a test subject first. I admit this is disastrous news, but I tried to warn you and Mr.
Rai from the start that this whole exercise was still part of anexperiment.”