After leaving the Inspector’s office, I went to a nearby park. I needed to think this through. One thing I had not mentioned to anyone was that I was not interested in Justice but revenge. I didn't know how, but I'll get it. I didn't have anything else to look forward to anyways.

I decided the best thing to do was travel to Trivandrum as soon as possible and get more information. My mind kept saying that place will have more clues to what happened here.

I already knew everything that happened when Priya and I were in college. So that left what happened last year as the significant blank in my memory. Maybe if I go there, it might help with my recovery as well.

I decided to not delay any further and booked a train for tonight. It should be an overnight trip, and I would reach there by tomorrow morning.

I went home and packed my stuff and went to the railway station. I got a ticket for the train and waited at the station.

While waiting, the only thing I could think about was the last time when I sat here with Priya before she boarded her train. And how I had almost proposed to her.

If only I had done that. Someone had once said that the two saddest words in English were If and But. How true.

The train arrived, and I boarded it. I was finally on my way to Trivandrum, looking for answers.

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The trip went smoothly, and I was in Trivandrum by the next day.

Trivandrum was a coastal city with good beaches and lovely places to hang out.

But I was not here for any of that. I had a clear goal for my trip. Though I didn't have a clear idea of how to go about my task yet. I first checked into a local hotel near the hospital where Priya did her one year practice. After I got fresh, I headed directly to the hospital to get more information.

Once I reached there, I realised the best way to about would be to meet someone senior and talk directly.

I found out that the most senior person at the hospital was the Hospital Director. I spoke to his secretary and got an appointment with him. After I identified myself as Priya’s boyfriend, she was a lot more accommodating.

"Hi, Jacob. The Director’s calendar is currently full. But I can squeeze in 15 mins for you after 2 hours. You can wait or come back.”

"It's ok. I'll wait here.“

I decided to wait outside the Director’s office as I still didn’t have a clear plan.

After some time I saw the Director enter his office. Soon various people entered his office one after another. They all looked serious, and a bit worried. It looked like the Director ran his ship with an iron fist.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After waiting for some time, I finally got my chance to meet the Director.

As soon as I entered his office, he welcomed me to have a seat.

"Mr Jacob. My assistant told me about you. I'm really sorry about what happened to your girlfriend. Though I didn't know her personally, I’m still really sorry to hear about what happened.”

"Thanks for your concern. I was wondering if you could help me a bit.”

"Sure. Anything I can do. What do you want?”

"I was wondering if you could tell me if Priya ever got into trouble with anyone while she was here.”

"Look, Jacob. This is a medical hospital. Everyone is very busy here with work. They don't have time to find trouble with one another. And in case of any complaints, they get flagged to me directly. And I can confidently say we haven't had any issues in a long time.”

"I was wondering if there were any informal ones.”

"Unfortunately, we don't have any such news. And even if there was, I don't think it is right for us to point our finger towards an innocent person without concrete evidence of any crime. I'm sure the police is already working on this. In fact, we had a Police constable here looking into this yesterday. I’m sure he will find out if there was anything noteworthy. Don’t worry.”

After a brief pause, he continued.

“As far as we are concerned, the incident happened in Mysore and has nothing to do with our hospital. I also hope you understand. Please don't go around asking random questions as even a simple rumour can cause damage to our reputation, and I won't allow it.”

"Can I talk to her friends at least?”

“I don't think temporary doctors have much time here to make many friends. If she did, we are not sure who that might even be. So there would be no one specific who can help you. And most likely, even if she did have friends, they might have already left after completing their temporary post.”

It felt like this was a dead end. I still decided to be courteous to the Director for his time.

"Ok. Thanks for your help. I just wanted to check personally.”

Director got up with a polite smile to send me off.

"Your welcome. Now, as my assistant might have already explained, I have a very tight schedule, and I will have to move to the next meeting. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”

I left the Director’s office. I understood some of his arguments. But at the same time, I kept feeling that was I missing something. Something about the entire meeting seemed off for some reason. Maybe I was getting paranoid again.

I returned to the hotel, trying to figure out my next steps.

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Hospital Director’s POV

I waited till Jacob left my office. As soon as he stepped out, the fake courtesy smile left my face.

Fuck! This was not how it was supposed to go. No one was supposed to come looking here. I thought I had already talked care of everything with my deal with the Police constable. Where did this guy come from? I need to make sure I know everything that he finds out.

I called my secretary to the office.

"Cancel all my meetings for the day. I have something urgent that has come up.”

"Ok, Sir.”

"Also, let me know where this Jacob goes within the campus and who he talks to. I want to ensure that he does not get any wrong ideas or cause any problems to the hospital’s reputation. That's all.”

After the secretary left, I decided to call my sister.

I tried to make my voice as calm as possible before speaking.

"Hi, Ramya. How are you? Any news from him yet?"

"I’m good. And no. I haven’t heard from him yet. He has not even come to take his stuff.”

"It’s ok. He might have gone wandering somewhere. You know how he can be at times.”

“Ok.”

“One another thing. In case if anyone comes looking for him, do let me know. And just tell them that you haven’t met him in a long time.”

Finally, there was a bit of worry in Ramya’s voice.

"Sure."

"But is everything ok?”

"Yeah."

"Everything is fine. Just a little misunderstanding. That’s all.”

I ended the call. Everything was definitely not fine. Where the hell is he? I need to find him soon before this issue escalates.

I tried calling his number again and got the same not reachable response.

Where the hell are you, Rahul? And what have you got into?