#26

Vihaan was sitting on the hospital bed with his left hand cuffed with the bed. He was drinking orange juice with the other hand. Two Arclight commandoes were standing at the either corners of the room to keep an eye on him. A nurse came in with a clip pad in her hand. She came near to the bed.

"Mr. Bakshi, how are you feeling?"

He nodded.

"Better. Can you tell me what actually happened to me?"

"You fainted due to dehydration."

"Oh."

She kept the clip pad on the bed. She began to collect medicines and vaccines to put them on the cart which was kept by the bed. He had a sip of the juice.

He asked, "Am I going to be discharged now?"

"Once the doctor examines your report, you'll be discharged."

He finished his juice. He stretched his hand towards her. She took the glass and kept it on the cart. She began to push the cart towards the door and was about to leave when she was called by him.

"Excuse me", he called. She turned to him.

"I have to use the washroom."

She got her eyes on his cuffs.

He said, "They are not going to open it if I ask them to."

She looked at the commando who was standing on the right corner. The commando came near to the bed. He inserted the key into the slot and unlocked the cuff.

"Thank you."

Vihaan stepped off the bed and proceeded towards the washroom. He was about to open the door when he saw the commando was standing right behind him.

He said, "Are you to coming with me? Look, I am a straight guy."

The commando took a step back. Vihaan opened the door and entered the washroom. He closed the door and then put his arms his hips. It took him hardly ten seconds to hit on an idea when he saw a sliding window just behind the toilet commode which was already covered with the lid. He stepped on the seat, opened the door and put his left leg on the sill of the window. He held the slide with his one hand and pushed himself to get out of the washroom. He looked down. He was five floor above the ground. He looked up where the terrace was just two floors away from the point. He grabbed a drainage pipe and started climbing up. He held the parapet wall, jumped over it and landed on the terrace. He looked around to ensure not being seen by anyone. He got his on an antenna on the terrace. There was a wire attached to the antenna. The other end of wire was attached to an electric pole outside the premises of the hospital. There was an old metal bucket kept near the water tap along with a mop. Vihaan picked up the bucket and tore off its handle. The commando waiting outside the washroom looked at his watch. He tapped on the door.

"Vihaan."

He tapped the door again.

"Vihaan, answer me."

He turned to the other commando. Sameer entered the room.

"What happened?"

"He had gone to washroom. He hasn't come out yet."

"What!"

Vihaan hung the handle upon the wire of the antenna while standing on the wall and held both of its end with his hands. The commando kicked the door and broke its latch. Sameer opened the door and the same thing happened what he feared.

The second commando informed the other unit through his earpiece.

"Ground unit, answer me."

Three commandoes were standing outside the enforcement van which was parked inside the premises of the hospital.

The third commando replied, "Ground unit, we are listening."

The second commando came out of the room along with the first one and Sameer.

"Suspect has escaped the room. I repeat suspect has escaped. Cover all the exit points."

Vihaan looked down where the commandoes on the ground floor were splitting. He took a deep breath and jumped off the wall. He started sliding along the rope. He crossed the hospital premises. Sameer arrived at the terrace with the two fellow commandoes. He rushed to the antenna from where he saw Vihaan who had gone far beyond his reach.

"Ground unit, he has escaped the hospital. Chase him."

The enforcement van rushed out of the hospital. Vihaan was approaching towards a tall tree. He was about to cross the tree when he left the handle and started falling down. He held the branch of the tree which was planted inside a public garden. He crawled down from the tree and landed on the ground. He ran through the ground and jumped over the entrance gate where three bikes were parked outside. He started walking. He hid behind a parked bus when he spotted the enforcer van. As the van passed he resumed walking. He entered the market area. He kept his head low to avoid any chances of being identified. He willingly bumped into a man. He apologized him and walked ahead. He had the man's phone in his hand which he had stolen from him just a few seconds ago. He pressed the power button and rebooted the phone. He sent a text message to a contact while walking through a passage. He switched off the phone. He came out of the passage and broke the phone into two parts.

Rubina and Erik were sitting before a desk inside the office of the State Secretariat of Migration. The desk before them had a name plate, 'MARIE CANNE-Secretary of Migration Affairs'. Marie (in her mid thirties) opened the door and enter the office with some papers in her hand. She came to the table and looked at her wrist watch.

"Pardon me if I took too long."

She kept the papers before them.

She said,"These are the passenger details of him."

Erik picked up the papers and started turning over the pages. He stopped turning when he came across the photocopy of Perkins's passport.

Marie said, "We don't actually provide any details to anyone else. But because you told me that he is a suspected murderer I had to do so."

Rubina said, "Well, we are grateful for your time and cooperation."

Erik asked, "On which page can I find his boarding pass details?"