The Black Flames

Chapter 12 - Grief

Kiara watched the world spiral out of her control. The sting in her chest was now accompanied by a splitting headache. Bile rose to her throat as her heart drummed against her ribcage.

Automne Care killed my father..

He made a miracle cure for cancer..

He died because of it.

"...Ved." Dan's voice reached her ears, but the only thing that made sense to her was a name at the end of the sentence.

A water bottle was shoved towards her mouth, and Kiara's lips parted on their own to let the elixir in. Coolness travelled down her throat and pulled her to reality. She wiped at her eyes and saw Dan crouching down at her feet.

"Kiara, are you okay?" Dan's voice reached her ears.

She didn't have the strength to speak. She took in a deep breath and looked at him. She slowly grabbed the water bottle from Dan's hands and gulped down some more.

Seeing her take back some control, Dan stood up. He pulled both fists up to his waist and let out a sigh of relief.

A few more moments passed before Dan spoke again,

"I am sorry."

Kiara looked up at him blankly. She gulped down the last few drops of water left in the bottle. Senses returned to her, and she looked around. The sun was on the other side of the mountains now.

She put her feet on the ground and sought a firm grasp. When she felt ready, she pushed herself out of the car.

She stood facing Dan and struggled to frame a sentence. Then she recalled his last words to her.

I am sorry.

Words came back to her as the lump in her throat returned,

"You don't need to be sorry, Officer," she told him, addressing him formally instead of his first name.

Dan stared at her, not letting his thoughts alter his expression.

"No..." he let out a sigh, "...Ms Sharma. I am genuinely sorry for your father's death. He was a good man," he told her, defeatedly.

Now that she could think, she picked on his cue.

"You knew my father? Personally?"

Her question was met with silence. Then Dan found his voice again,

"Yes, I..."

"Kiara!" Ved's voice reached her before he could.

Kiara turned around to see Ved sprinting towards her, Pritam at his heels. He was about a hundred metres away, a distance he seemed to cover in a single breath.

"Kiara, are you okay?"

She merely nodded and then looked at Pritam. Maybe Dan had sent him to call Ved when Kiara was a mess.

Beams of sweat glistened on Ved's forehead. Looked like he ran to her the moment Pritam told him. His eyes were fixated on her, seeking an assurance that she was actually alright. She could see that he struggled to find the right words to ask her if she was doing okay and if he could do something to make her feel okay.

Tears threatened her vision again, and she leapt to Ved, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. It took Ved a moment to act on it, to decide whether he needed her permission to hold her, to caress her as she sobbed in his embrace.

But then he let go.

As Kiara's sobs came to life, Ved held her tightly, not thinking anything, not saying a word.

She let out all her pain about her parents' divorce, her brother leaving her alone to deal with it, and her father's death. But the most potent pain of all was the fact that she never understood her father. She always doubted him, accused him of not being there for his family, and for Kiara, especially when she fought tooth and nail for him. She was mad at herself for hating him all these years.

She was angry at her father for letting her be mad at him, for not telling her the truth. But above all, for dying on her.

The sudden weight on her eyelids indicated she had let out all her pain. For now, at least. She felt lightheaded. The heaviness in her chest had subsided.

She opened her eyes and saw she was clutching at Ved's shirt with her fist. His shirt was soaked where her head was.

She pushed her head away from his chest and realised her hand was on his waist. But what surprised her more was that Ved was holding her firmly, too.

Okay...so we have moved past permissions, it seems. The thought calmed her some more.

She looked up at him and saw something strange in his eyes. They seemed moist.

The absence of the sun made it difficult to tell. She couldn't be sure if he was that worried to tear up because she was heartbroken.

Much unwilling, she broke his embrace. A sudden cold greeted her as she took a step away.

"Umm...sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"No, Kiara, please," was all Ved said to her. He still held her hand, his grasp reassuring.

Their silence was interrupted by Dan, who was talking to someone. Kiara and Ved turned to see who it was.

"No, Aarush, I asked for the other file!" Dan was talking on the phone, his pitch elevated, "Yes, please send it to me asap," he put the phone down and looked at Kiara.

That look made her recall their last conversation.

He was about to tell me something about my father!

"Ved, I will be back. I need to talk to Dan," Kiara told Ved. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and started to walk towards Dan to finish their conversation.

Dan followed her stroll towards him like a hawk. Something was off about him. Something had changed in the last three hours.

But what? Kiara wondered.

She reached Dan and asked him straight away.

"Officer, sorry about that," her gaze shifted to his feet for a second as she apologised, "So, you were telling me that you knew my father?"

Dan looked away for a moment, but Kiara caught his line of sight. He eyed Ved and then turned to her.

"Yes," Dan told her point blank, "I knew him."

Kiara waited for a few moments, expecting him to finish that sentence with something more. When he didn't, she decided to poke him further.

Why am I surrounded by people who just don't talk? She wondered.

"And you knew him how? How long had you known him?" she asked him.

He resumed the same pregnant pause before answering her,

"I had known him for the past three years. He was trying to save my father's life. My father...he suffered from lung cancer."

Not jumping to connect the dots, Kiara asked him,

"You mean my father was using his research to treat your father? Was he my father's patient?"

Dan looked around to see who else could be privy to their conversation. When he was sure no one was within earshot, he spoke,

"My father was patient zero, Ms Sharma."

"What do you mean?" Kiara asked, clutching the skin under her collarbone with her right hand. She knew he was about to reveal something big.

"He was the first patient...the first person to recover from lung cancer, courtesy of your father's research."

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