Chapter 219 Confusion
Anand's whole body was in pain. There were blood scabs in his eyes and he couldn't open them. His mouth tasted of blood and water.
The housemasters took him back to his dormitory and his arm was hastily bandaged.
Rajesh found this quack doctor from somewhere, and his technique was really bad.
Afterwards, he asked the warden to give Anand a proper beating to prevent any accidents from happening.
Rajesh did not act rashly. He had just been transferred to Arthur Road Jail and had a shallow foundation.
It would be almost impossible for Anand to be brought here quietly without being noticed by Mr. Sur without the support of the prison's top brass.
So he sent them away like ordinary prisoners, only giving Anand a reassuring look at the end.
Back in the dormitory, the housemasters poured a bucket of water on Anand.
Thousands of wounds screaming in pain made his body tremble uncontrollably.
The warden was afraid that Anand, who was covered in bruises, would attract the attention of other prison guards.
So they decided to give him a bath, but of course they wouldn't do it themselves, as there were plenty of slaves in the prison.
Anand was extremely dirty, and the man was reluctant to do so. Only after being beaten several times by the warden did he become diligent.
He used hot water and soap to wipe Anand's body, and the warm touch and pain continued to attack him.
This was Anand's first hot bath in prison, a hot bath with soap.
He was covered in wounds, many of which were severely infected, and he even had a high fever.
The lice bit him every night, and he had hundreds of sore wounds that were oozing pus and painful.
Not only did they suck his blood, they also reproduced in the warm and moist wounds. He could clearly feel the larvae wriggling.
After taking a hot shower, I felt much better.
But the high fever did not subside. He was panting, his heart was beating abnormally fast, and his breathing became rapid.
He even had hallucinations in his head, seeing the slums and his family and friends there.
Frieda, Jamal, Vinod, Sanjay, Luka, and Ron Baba.
In a trance, it seemed as if someone lifted him up with strong arms.
When Anand regained consciousness, he was already in the prison warden's office.
A senior prison official sat there. He was in his fifties, with gray hair and a closely trimmed moustache.
He was wearing golf clothes and looked like he had just come off a course.
He sat in an intricately carved, high-backed chair, somewhat like a bishop's chair, with several guards standing beside and behind him.
"God, I hate how my weekend is starting," he said, raising his ringed hand to check the time. "Someone's still here, but what's with him looking like that?"
He spoke English with perfect pronunciation, and must have received an elite education in a prestigious Indian school, perhaps even during the colonial era.
Several dorm supervisors were apprehensive, grateful for their earlier decision. This guy had just showered, otherwise no one would have suspected he was a corpse.
"Sir, you ordered us to punish him severely." The warden explained aggrievedly.
"Still alive?"
"certainly!"
"That's fine. Suffering a little isn't a bad thing."
There was a knock on the door, and in came two other prison officers, a plainclothes policeman, and Luca.
"Wow!" Luca yelled. "Wow, man, you look... terrible. What did you do to him?"
The officials and the police exchanged blank glances without saying a word.
"Sit down," ordered the prison officer in golf attire.
Anand turned a deaf ear to him and just stared at Luca blankly. He was worried that this was an illusion.
The focus of his vision slowly returned, and Anand saw his current appearance in Luca's eyes, approaching death.
"Dude," Luca said, helping Anand sit down. "You look like you were bitten by a dog. I don't mean to piss you off, but you look like someone killed you, buried you, and then dug you up."
"Why, why are you here?"
"The doctor is not available, so I have to do it for you. It's okay, I will get you out of this hellhole."
The officer behind heard it and immediately coughed, then looked at the policeman next to him, who understood.
"Fifty thousand," he said, "in dollars, of course."
"Fifty thousand?" Luca suddenly screamed. "Are you crazy? For fifty thousand dollars, I can buy five hundred people. That's ridiculous, man."
"Fifty thousand," the official repeated in a calm and authoritative tone. "I know someone is trying to snatch him away."
He was fearless, with his hands flat on the desk, his fingers moving up and down together as if he were dancing.
"Never mind, man. Look at this guy. What have you done to him? Huh? You ruined him, and now you want fifty thousand?"
"Someone is willing to use their connections to kill him and pay fifty thousand for his life. It's fair." The policeman was calm.
"Damn, who would mess with someone who lives in the slums?" Luca cursed.
The police said nothing and the officials just watched quietly.
"Okay, you're cruel," Luca sighed, "This is ridiculous. In half an hour, I'll gather the money and take him away."
"Wait a minute," Anand suddenly interrupted, and everyone turned to look at him. "There were two people in the dorm who helped me. They were sentenced to stay for an extra six months. I want them to go with me."
The police officer looked at the official questioningly, and the latter waved his hand dismissively and nodded in agreement. This little thing was not worth mentioning.
"There's another man," Anand panted, "Anil. He can't afford bail. It's not much, maybe a few thousand rupees. I want to help him get bail."
The two men looked puzzled. They couldn't understand why Anand cared about the life and death of such a poor little person.
These bugs never got into their eyes, there were too many of them.
The police and officials looked at Luca as if to say, this guy is crazy, if you are sure you want to pay this money.
"Hey, buddy, is there any more?" Luca leaned in and whispered, "I'm just asking because if we keep talking like this, we can probably get them a group discount."
Anand shook his head with great effort. He was weak and powerless. He was sweating and shaking.
Luca came over and reached out to gently hold his shoulder. "It's okay, man. I'll be back soon. Within half an hour, I promise."
There was a gleam in Anand's eyes, like a soul breaking free from a deep and dark place and regaining its freedom.
In just over ten minutes, not half an hour, Anand was sent out of the prison.
Across the street, there was an ambulance waiting there quietly.
Anand was carried over, and a familiar figure was waiting next to the ambulance.
"Ron Baba." His voice trembled.
"Anand, you..." Ron's eyes immediately turned red. He couldn't believe that the person in front of him was Anand.
His thin head looked particularly large. He weighed only about 40 kilograms, and his round, fleshy face was replaced by protruding cheekbones.
His eye sockets were sunken and bloodshot, his arms were wrapped in thick gauze, and his body was covered with deep bruises in the pattern of tortoise shells.
"Ron Baba, am I a good person?" he asked.
"Yes, you are a good person. You are the best person in the world."
"Why do good people have to suffer like this?" There were tears in his eyes and his lips trembled slightly. "A good person almost killed me."
"Listen to me, Anand," Ron grabbed his dry branch-like hand, "Freida and the children are waiting for you. Let's go to the hospital first, then take a shower and have a good sleep."
"But you are a doctor."
"yes."
"Can you help me with my wound?"
"OK."
"But I have lice."
"Don't worry, I've prepared a lot of medicine, top-notch medicine."
"Freida will dislike me."
"No, I promise. She can't wait to have a fight with you in bed."
"Then she'll have lice too."
The ambulance quietly drove off, heading straight for South Mumbai's most luxurious private hospital. The people Anand was trying to save were also following in the taxi behind, following in the distance.
When Anand woke up again, he was lying in the hospital, under a soft, almost-dropping white quilt, and without lice.
The singing of the starlings outside the window pierced the morning silence. The sun had fully appeared on the horizon, and its golden rays penetrated the foggy air and dispelled the dew.
The morning breeze blew by, and the wounds of all sizes on his body ached slightly.
Frieda went to prepare some hot water so that she could give his unkempt beard a good trim.
The door to the private ward was pushed open, and Anand looked away absentmindedly. He wasn't worried about outsiders coming in, as there were bodyguards guarding the door.
"I thought you weren't awake." It was Ron who came in.
"It's so quiet here that I can't sleep." Anand shook his head slightly.
In prison, he was used to hearing roars, screams, pleading, and sobbing, and the sound of bamboo sticks beating even helped him fall asleep.
"Next, don't think about anything and have a good rest."
"Who is it?" Anand looked at him.
"I got you into trouble, and they came after me." Ron sighed.
Anand said nothing, still looking at him.
"Although there is no evidence, the palace has been basically identified, and the mafia may also be involved."
"The Royal Palace." Anand had been there more than once. He never expected that the place that brought him extreme bliss and joy would also bring him extreme pain and torture.
"This matter won't end like this, I promise." Ron said seriously.
"Why was it Luca who was in jail that day?"
"I can't come forward. You know, someone is against me. Those guys in the prison are all fence-sitters. They don't mind making a killing on me."
Ron was not far from the prison at the time, and he had the money ready. Fifty thousand dollars was indeed ridiculously expensive, but if he went there, it would only be higher.
“I wasn’t the only one on Haines Road that night,” Anand began.
"What?"
“The night I was arrested, there were other people besides the police.”
"Who?" Ron sat up straight.
"That big guy, one of Hardhan's men."
"Johnny?" Ron shuddered slightly, his hair standing on end.
"It was too dark, I only saw a silhouette. He seemed to be passing by, very far away."
Johnny? Why Johnny? Ron's eyes flickered.
He had clearly called to ask, but Johnny didn't talk about Anand at all.
Was he involved in this matter, or was Hardhan involved?
Ron found that the whole situation was like a puzzle, and solving one problem would reveal another.
"Ron Baba."
"What?" He came back to his senses.
"Count me in."
A completely new expression appeared on Anand's face, an expression that did not belong to him at all, and a grayness bloomed in his pupils.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
