Slowly Manu opened his eyes.
"Where am I? What is this light hitting my eyes?" Manu thought.
Manu was lying on a bed. A white light was glowing above him. He moved his head to look around and saw Srini sitting on a chair, his head bowed on the bed as if asleep.
"What is going on? Why is Srini here?" Manu wondered in confusion.
Manu began to remember bits of what he had done to Tarun and his group, but he couldn't recall everything—only a few things.
"How did I do that? What is happening to me?" Manu thought.
As Manu was in his thoughts , Srini opened his eyes.
When he saw Manu sitting on the bed, he hugged him and began to cry.
"Sob… sob… I thought I would never see you again," Srini said, holding Manu.
"I'm okay. But what is this place? Why am I here?" Manu asked, tapping Srini on the back.
The room looked like a hall with many beds, but the special thing was that only one light burned above their heads; the rest of the room was dim.
"Tha—" Srini was cut off.
Knock, knock.
They looked toward the sound. A figure began to appear, wearing a white coat and round glasses. He was old, with a few white hairs, curly hair, wrinkles around his face, and a thin body. He carried a stethoscope.
The man came and stood in front of Manu and Srini.
"Manu, this is the doctor," Srini said, pointing.
"Hi. I am Sajjan. How are you?" the doctor said.
"What happened? Why am I in the hospital? Srini, say why I am here," Manu asked.
"No need to worry. You were unconscious for a day due to tiredness," Dr. Sajjan said with a smile.
"Now I need to do some checks on your condition, so can you step outside?" Dr. Sajjan asked Srini.
"Ya, I will be back in a while," Srini said and left the room.
"Now, can I ask you why you did it?" Dr. Sajjan asked, his eyes suspicious.
"What did I do? I didn't do anything," Manu said, confused.
"Look, I don't like to drag conversations but I am getting paid—so I'll say it directly: you have only twenty days," Dr. Sajjan said, standing from the chair and starting to leave.
"Wait—what are you saying? What is twenty days? What do you mean?" Manu asked.
"I know power is everything in this world, and some will be desperate for power; they will go to any extent to get it. You were the same, you tried to gain it in a short time. But you forgot one thing: if you gain power quickly, it will bring danger along with it, the danger might lead to death too" Dr. Sajjan said, turning his back and then looking at Manu.
Manu was filled with confusion; he could not understand anything.
"Wait—" Manu tried to ask, but he was cut off.
"Okay, it's my mistake—you don't know about it," Dr. Sajjan said.
"You have only twenty days to enjoy your life," Dr. Sajjan added, then sat down on chair.
"What? Why only twenty days? What will happen after that?" Manu asked.
"You will die," Dr. Sajjan said.