Chapter: When Strength Trembles

The phone rang.

Sharp. Sudden. Wrong.

Veeresh answered it instinctively, his voice calm—until it wasn’t.

“Yes… yes, we’re coming.”

The phone slipped slightly in his hand as he turned.

Poornima was already standing.

“Veer?”
Her voice trembled. “What happened?”

His jaw tightened before he spoke.
“William met with an accident. He’s admitted in the hospital.”

For a second, the world stopped.

Poornima clutched her chest.
“Veer… William?” Her voice cracked. “We should leave. Now.”

“There’s no time,” he said firmly, already moving. “Everyone—get ready.”

No one asked questions. No one argued.

The drive to the hospital felt endless. Poornima sat silently, tears rolling down uncontrollably, hands clasped together like prayer itself lived in them.

“Nothing will happen,” she whispered again and again.
“My child is strong.”

Veeresh drove, eyes fixed on the road, heart somewhere far behind—running back through memories he never thought would hurt like this.

William.

The boy who had cracked the IAS exam with quiet determination.
The son who would call him for the smallest things—

“Papa, I handled a case today.”
“Papa, I’m confused about this decision.”
“Papa, did I do right?”

Not an officer.

Just his child.

At the hospital, chaos greeted them.

Doctors rushed. Nurses moved fast. The smell of antiseptic burned the air.

“William Sisodiya?” Veeresh asked, his voice rough.

“ICU,” someone replied.

Poornima broke down completely.

Rudraksh was already there.

His white coat stained with urgency, eyes focused, hands steady—but his face betrayed him.

“It’s serious,” Rudra said quietly. “But I’m here. I’m treating him.”

Poornima collapsed against Veeresh.

“My son…” she sobbed. “My William…”

Veeresh held her tightly, but his own strength was slipping.

He stepped closer to the ICU glass.

William lay there—still, fragile, machines breathing for him.

Veeresh’s chest ached.

“My son…” his voice broke for the first time.
“Please don’t leave us.”

His mind flashed back—

William standing with his result letter.
William hugging him silently.
William saying, “Papa, you’re my biggest strength.”

Veeresh rested his forehead against the glass.

“I never asked you for anything,” he whispered.
“But today… please fight.”

Poornima cried beside him, hands folded.

“God,” she pleaded,
“I’ve raised him with love. Please give him back to me.”

Outside the ICU, a family that had survived storms now stood trembling.

Because when the strongest pillar shakes—
even lions pray.