[ City Hospital Café – A Rainy Evening]
The air smells like antiseptic and warm coffee. Sid sits at a corner table, alone, stirring his tea absentmindedly. His eyes are tired, hollow — like he hasn't slept properly in weeks.
He flips through a small sketchbook — page after page of unseen eyes, half-smiles, rain, and one recurring shadowed silhouette: Chaya.
Across the café, someone walks in — drenched slightly from the rain, brushing off his hoodie.
It's Agastya.
He freezes.
Agastya (surprised):
"Sid…?"
Sid looks up, startled — eyes blinking in delay.
Sid:
"Agastya? What the hell… you here?"
They hug quickly, but Agastya doesn't miss the tremble in Sid's hand, or how tightly he holds on.
Agastya (softly):
"You okay?"
Sid (dodging):
"Yeah yeah, just… came for some test reports. Long day. You?"
Agastya:
"A friend's appointment. Coincidence I bumped into you."
He sits across Sid, still eyeing him.
Sid quickly closes the sketchbook and tucks it into his bag.
Agastya:
"You look… off. You sure you're fine?"
Sid (forcing a smile):
"Just low energy. Maybe rain's making me extra nostalgic."
Agastya leans forward, his eyes narrowing — a rare seriousness.
Agastya:
"Don't give me that, Sid. I've seen you through your darkest days… and this — this silence — it's something else. What's going on?"
Sid hesitates. His fingers twitch against the edge of his cup.
Then suddenly—
a tray crashes nearby.
A splash of red juice spreads on the floor.
Sid freezes.
His eyes widen — hands shaking slightly.
His breathing quickens.
Agastya rushes up and grabs Sid's wrist gently.
Agastya (concerned):
"Sid? Hey — look at me. You okay? You're trembling."
Sid looks away, voice barely a whisper.
Sid:
"It's… nothing. Just…
I can't stand the sight of blood…"
Agastya's expression shifts.
Agastya (softly):
"Hemophobia?"
Sid nods, eyes still distant.
Sid:
"Been living with it for years. But it's not just that…
There's something worse I'm not ready to talk about yet."
Agastya places a firm hand on his shoulder.
Agastya:
"Whatever it is, you don't have to carry it alone. I've been there too, remember? We lost… and we bled. But surviving doesn't mean staying silent."
Sid's eyes glisten — the weight pressing down slightly less.
[ Hospital Café Balcony – Rain Drizzling Lightly]
Sid takes a deep breath, his voice low and heavy.
Sid (finally opening up):
"Agastya… there's something I've been meaning to tell you. It's about… Chaya and—"
CRASH!!
A spine-chilling metallic thud echoes from outside — the unmistakable sound of something — someone — falling from a height.
Both of them freeze.
People start screaming downstairs.
Sid and Agastya exchange a look — panic instantly kicking in.
They rush out of the café, down the emergency stairs.
[ Hospital Courtyard]
Rain pelts the ground. A small crowd gathers. Nurses rush out.
There, on the pavement near the edge of the old hospital wing, a figure lies motionless — blood slowly mixing with rainwater.
Vrinda.
Her long dupatta tangled, one shoe missing — her body limp but still faintly breathing.
Agastya (shouting):
"VRINDA!!"
Sid:
"No… no no no—"
They both push past the crowd.
Agastya drops to his knees beside her, hands trembling.
Agastya:
"Call a doctor! Now! She's still breathing!"
Sid (in shock):
"She… why would she—? How did she even—?"
Vrinda's lips move faintly.
Agastya leans close, his ear near her lips.
A faint whisper escapes:
"They're watching… it's not over… she's… back…"
And she slips unconscious.
Agastya looks at Sid, shaken.
Agastya:
"She was trying to tell us something… about someone… someone she saw."
Sid's heart races.
Sid (to himself):
"She's back…?
No.
It can't be Chaya…
Or… is it?"
[Hospital Rooftop – Just After the Fall]
A distant scream still echoed in Sid's ears. That sound — like something snapping, not just in the air, but inside him.
He stood frozen near the emergency ward, the sharp scent of antiseptic mixing with rain-soaked concrete. His heart pounded, sweat mixing with the drizzle.
Agastya rushed over, breathless.
Agastya:
"Sid! Are you okay? You saw her fall?"
Sid (barely nodding, voice low):
"I was just about to speak… and then that sound—"
(he pauses, clutches his temple)
"It felt like something I've heard before… but I can't place it."
Agastya (gently):
"She's critical. They've taken her in for emergency surgery."
Sid didn't respond immediately. He looked pale, lost — as if the world around him had blurred.
A tremor ran through his fingers.
Agastya:
"Hey—sit down. Breathe. What's happening to you?"
Sid (quietly):
"I don't know… I don't know why it's hitting me like this."
(pause)
"It's not just the fall. It's like… something deep inside me woke up again."
Agastya watched him closely. Sid's chest was heaving.
His voice, when it came again, was broken:
Sid (muttering):
"I've felt this before…
this same chill… this helplessness.
But I can't remember where. I just know I couldn't do anything then either."
Silence fell.
Agastya could see it — Sid wasn't just reacting to the fall. He was breaking under the weight of something buried.
Agastya (softly):
"Sid… what happened to you?"
Sid (almost a whisper):
"I wish I knew."
And with that, he slumped onto the bench, hands in his hair, heart pounding, unable to shake the feeling that whatever happened tonight… had opened the door to something much darker from his past.
[Hospital – Late Evening]
Sid sits outside the ICU. His eyes are sunken, hands trembling slightly. He hasn't spoken much since Vrinda's fall.
Inside the glass, Vrinda lies still… machines beeping rhythmically.
[Camera pans to the entrance of the hospital]
Chaya, wearing a hoodie and scarf, cautiously walks in. Her eyes scan the corridor nervously. The weight of memories is heavy in her steps.
She sees Vrinda through the glass.
Tears well up instantly.
Chaya (whispers):
"I'm so sorry, Vrinda..."
She takes one step closer—
—and freezes.
Sid.
Just outside the door. Standing still. His back to her.
Chaya's breath catches. Her legs want to move forward, but her heart says no.
She turns sharply and rushes down the hallway.
But someone else sees her.
Agastya, arriving with coffee for Sid, notices a figure darting past. Familiar. Almost haunting.
He catches a glimpse of her side profile—his heart stops.
Agastya (softly):
"No... it can't be."
Without a second thought, he starts following her.
Hospital corridors blur as Chaya weaves through people and exits the back gate.
Agastya runs after her—but by the time he reaches the exit—
She's gone.
Agastya (panting):
"Why was she here?
Did she… do something to Vrinda?"
He stares into the night, shaken.
But he doesn't tell Sid.
Not now. Not when Sid is already drowning in his own storm.q
[Empty alley behind the hospital – Night]
Chaya leans against the cold wall, her breath ragged, heart pounding like a war drum. She slides down to the ground, hugging her knees.
Chaya (to herself, whispering shakily):
"I shouldn't have come...
But I had to see her... I had to know if she was okay."
Tears stream down her face.
She thinks of Vrinda. Her laughter. Her kindness. That night.
And then—Sid.
Just the sight of him hit like lightning.
Chaya (voice cracking):
"He can't see me like this…
Not until I know what really happened. Not until I find the truth."
She looks down at the tiny pendant around her neck—a rusted little paper crane he once folded and turned into a charm. She never took it off.
Chaya (clutching it tightly):
"I'm not running forever, Sid...
But not now.
Not while the past is still chasing us."
Suddenly, a shadow moves across the alley.
Chaya looks up, startled—but it's just a dog. Still, she doesn't feel safe.
She stands, pulls her hoodie tighter, and walks away—fading into the fog.
Unaware… that Agastya had seen her.
Unaware… that the truth she's avoiding is slowly circling back.