For Meera, the ordeal lasted rather briefly. A dull headache while talking to a producer while sipping on a mocktail escalated to convulsions in a matter of seconds. An usher walking by was able to break her fall. A few alert men rushed through a confused crowd to attend to her, but it would be a few minutes before a doctor arrived at the scene. Cyanide might not be as potent a poison as the spy movies make it out to be – death does not come in seconds, but it’s a mischievous element. As Meera’s unconscious body lay on the grounds of the Metro Cinema, the cyanide worked to block her cells from using oxygen. She had no recollection of being carried to a nearby army hospital, where the doctors who observed the symptoms consistent with cyanide poisoning, administered her antidote with admittedly low hopes of a full recovery. The only saving grace was that she had consumed a relatively low amount. As she fought death, the after-party at the Metro moved to the Wellington Gymkhana Club. Gregory Peck could finally make it, just in time.

But the news about the singer being poisoned at an award show spread quickly, first within the film circles, then Bombay, then India and beyond. Penaru was in the city and heard about it first. He visited the hospital to make sure it was indeed Meera. Once he was certain that it was not one of those tabloid rumours, he sent word out to Abhimanyu. His swift action allowed Abhimanyu to land in Bombay before Meera’s Kashi-bound family had even heard about what had happened. The prince felt like he had finally awakened from his drunken stupor.

He had thought about seeing Meera again a million times, dreaming about different circumstances. Perhaps they would bump into each other on the street. Or at a party. Maybe he would find it in him to reach out to her and request a meeting. Or she might come to Ranakpour to see him, even to chide him one last time. They could meet at the Orient Club, or at Lucky’s in Bandra. He once hallucinated about them going on a horse ride again into the woods of Jharer. Never in those million possibilities and scenarios he had ever imagined that he would see her looking like a pale ghost, lying on a hospital bed. Even in his daze, it took him less than a minute to comprehend and decide what had to be done next. Experts were consulted, and the Apte family was informed and convinced that even if she was out of the woods, the treatment could have a lasting impact on her core functions, and that she needed to be in better hands for a full recovery. Meera’s lifeless body was soon on an airplane on a familiar journey – the prince and the songstress were in New York again, albeit in reversed roles.

Chapter 24

Chapter 24