Chapter 84– "These Were Yours"
Trinity Hospital was quieter at night.
Cold white lights.
Empty hallways.
Machines humming softly somewhere far away.
And inside the lobby—
Section E entered like a storm trying to act calm.
Which failed immediately.
The receptionist looked terrified.
Mostly because Keifer Watson alone looked like he owned the building already.
Aries stepped forward politely.
"We're here to meet Dr. Care Patel."
Before the receptionist could answer—
a voice came from behind.
"…I knew it was you people."
Everyone turned instantly.
Care stood near the hallway entrance in her white coat.
Tired.
Sharp-eyed.
Calm.
And beside her—
Lyra.
Still holding files from emergency rounds.
The moment their eyes met Section E—
silence hit.
Because now both sides finally understood.
These weren't random classmates.
These weren't just people from JJ's "past."
These were her people.
Percy whispered first.
"…you're the ones who saved her."
Care's expression shifted slightly.
Not pride.
Not satisfaction.
Just quiet truth.
"Yes."
That single word shattered something inside the group.
Mica covered her mouth instantly.
Ella's eyes watered.
Freya looked down.
Aries stepped forward slowly.
"…she was really in Ahmedabad."
Lyra nodded softly.
"She collapsed at the airport."
Keifer hadn't moved.
Not once.
His eyes stayed locked on them.
Finally—
he asked the question everyone feared.
"…how bad was it?"
Silence.
Heavy.
Painful.
Care looked away briefly.
Then answered honestly.
"Bad enough that we thought we'd lose her."
Nobody breathed properly after that.
Percy sat down heavily on the waiting chair.
"…she was alone."
His voice broke slightly.
Lyra looked at him softly.
"She wasn't for long."
That sentence almost destroyed them more.
---
Meanwhile Yuri looked toward Lyra.
"And JJ lived with you all this time?"
Lyra nodded once.
"She healed with us."
Cin finally spoke quietly.
"…thank you."
The air shifted.
Because that wasn't easy for Section E to say.
Not when JJ had disappeared from them completely.
Not when another group became her safety instead.
But gratitude still won.
---
Care looked at all of them carefully now.
The brokenness.
The exhaustion.
The way every single one of them still revolved around JJ even after a year.
And suddenly—
she understood something clearly.
They deserved the truth.
Not partial truths.
Not careful lies.
The real thing.
Care slowly removed her ID card from around her neck.
Then turned.
"Go sit in private waiting area. I will come back there."
She walked away toward the private corridor.
Toward her cabin.
---
Nobody spoke while waiting.
Even Keifer looked tense now.
Like something important was approaching.
Five minutes later—
Care returned.
Holding a large box.
Old.
Carefully preserved.
And instantly—
Keifer froze.
Because he recognized it.
The ribbon.
The handwriting.
The corner folds.
JJ's letters.
---
The Girls Behind The Letters
Trinity Hospital was almost silent at night.
Emergency lights glowing softly.
Doctors moving occasionally through distant hallways.
Machines humming quietly somewhere far away.
---
And inside the private waiting area—
Section E sat facing two girls they had never met before tonight.
Yet somehow—
those girls knew JJ better than expected.
---
Care Patel.
Lyra Vale.
---
At first, nobody connected anything.
Because yes—everyone knew JJ wrote letters.
Stacks of them.
Endless ones.
Messy ones.
Emotional ones.
Chaotic ones.
---
But nobody had ever known to whom.
---
JJ used to hide the names.
Protect the envelopes.
Snatch papers away dramatically if anyone got too nosy.
And whenever Percy or Yuri asked—
she would simply say:
> "Secret people."
---
That was it.
No details.
No explanations.
Just JJ being JJ.
---
So now—
sitting in front of these two girls inside a hospital in Bangalore—
watching them look at JJ's letters like something precious—
the realization hit slowly.
Then all at once.
---
Percy blinked first.
"…wait."
His eyes widened.
"No way."
---
Aries looked between the letters and the girls.
Then suddenly understood too.
---
"You two…"
Pause.
"…you're the ones she used to write to?"
---
Silence.
---
Care and Lyra exchanged one small glance.
Then Lyra nodded softly.
---
And the entire room froze.
---
Because suddenly—
years of mystery clicked together.
---
The late-night writing.
The hidden envelopes.
The random smiling at papers.
The dramatic protection of letters like classified documents.
---
All of it finally made sense.
---
Even Keifer reacted.
His eyes shifted instantly toward the box beside Care.
The letters.
---
Of course he remembered them.
Too well.
---
JJ writing late at night.
Smiling at papers.
Protecting envelopes like treasure.
---
And him getting jealous over literal handwritten letters.
---
"Again?" he used to complain.
"You're smiling at papers more than me."
---
JJ would laugh every single time.
---
"They're important, Keifer."
---
And now—
after all this time—
he was finally meeting the people behind those letters.
---
The irony hurt beautifully.
---
The private waiting area had fallen into emotional silence after the truth about the letters.
Nobody really knew what to say anymore.
---
Because now the distance between both groups had disappeared.
---
They all loved the same person.
Just in different chapters of her life.
---
And then—
the doors opened.
---
Rhys Sharma walked in wearing dark blue scrubs, hair slightly messy, coffee in hand—
and immediately stopped.
---
"…why does it look like someone died in here?"
---
Nobody answered.
---
Rhys blinked slowly.
"…okay that's concerning."
---
Then Care looked at him.
"They know."
---
Pause.
Rhys processed that instantly.
Then his eyes moved toward Section E.
Toward Keifer.
Toward the letters.
---
"…oh."
---
He finally understood the atmosphere.
---
"The famous Section E," he muttered softly.
---
Percy looked offended immediately.
"We sound like a criminal organization when you say it like that."
Rhys sat down casually.
"From the stories JJ told us?"
Pause.
"…you kind of are."
---
That somehow eased the tension slightly.
A tiny bit.
---
Rhys leaned back in the chair.
Studying them carefully now.
Especially Keifer.
---
Because he knew that name.
Even before tonight.
---
JJ had written about him too.
Not directly sometimes.
But enough.
Always enough.
---
And honestly?
Rhys had imagined him differently.
Less broken.
---
"We Want To Meet Her"
Aries finally spoke quietly.
"…can we see JJ?"
---
The question changed the atmosphere again.
---
Lyra and Care exchanged a glance immediately.
A silent medical conversation passing between them.
---
Then Lyra spoke first.
Calm.
Professional.
Gentle.
---
"Not tonight."
---
Percy's expression dropped instantly.
"But—"
Lyra continued softly.
"She's emotionally unstable right now."
"And forcing too much at once can trigger severe neurological stress."
---
Everyone went silent.
---
Because hearing it medically made the situation terrifyingly real again.
---
Yuri frowned slightly.
"…her memories disappeared because of the disease?"
---
Lyra nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Pause.
"Her brain basically protected itself by disconnecting traumatic memory pathways."
---
Felix whispered quietly:
"…that sounds horrifying."
---
"It was," Care answered honestly.
---
Silence hit again.
---
Then Endrix finally asked the question nobody had dared say directly.
---
"How did she even survive?"
---
Because everyone knew the truth.
CJD was supposed to be untreatable.
Deadly.
Final.
---
And yet JJ was alive.
Walking.
Studying.
Laughing again.
---
Care slowly folded her arms.
Thinking carefully before answering.
---
"Partly medicine."
"Partly luck."
Pause.
"And partly… old Ayurvedic treatment techniques."
---
Everyone looked confused instantly.
---
Rhys leaned forward slightly.
"There's a treatment space in the mansion."
"Natural therapies."
"Brain recovery techniques."
"Controlled healing."
---
Aries blinked slowly.
"You're telling me ancient medicine helped save her?"
---
Rhys shrugged.
"We're doctors."
Pause.
"Not arrogant enough to think modern medicine knows everything."
---
That sentence stayed in the room heavily.
---
Lyra spoke again softly now.
---
"But understand this carefully."
Everyone looked at her immediately.
---
"She recovered physically."
Pause.
"But memory recovery is uncertain."
---
Keifer's jaw tightened slightly.
---
Lyra continued carefully:
"There's an equal chance her memories may return…"
"…or never return fully at all."
---
Nobody moved after that.
---
Because hearing it aloud made the fear real.
Permanent.
---
Percy looked down instantly.
Honey quietly held his hand.
---
Even Yuri lost his usual calm expression for a moment.
---
And Keifer—
he looked completely still.
Too still.
Like if he moved even slightly, something inside him would finally shatter.
---
"Tomorrow"
Care finally softened her tone slightly.
---
"You'll meet her tomorrow."
---
Everyone looked up immediately.
---
"But not tonight," she added firmly.
"She's exhausted already."
"And honestly?"
Care looked at all of them carefully.
"So are you."
---
Aries sighed quietly.
"She won't even remember us tomorrow either."
---
That hurt.
Everyone felt it.
---
Care's expression softened slightly.
"…maybe not consciously."
Pause.
"But some part of her still does."
---
That sentence gave them dangerous hope.
---
Then suddenly Percy groaned dramatically.
"…great."
Everyone looked at him.
---
"We can't even go back now."
Felix frowned.
"What do you mean?"
---
Percy pointed outside dramatically.
"It's literally almost morning."
---
Yuri checked the time.
"…3:47 AM."
---
Silence.
---
Then Rhys casually sipped his coffee and said:
---
"Then come to the mansion."
---
Everyone looked at him instantly.
---
Rhys shrugged.
"It's weekend anyway."
"Two-day holiday."
"And if all of you stay awake longer, Care's going to diagnose half of you with emotional stupidity."
---
Care deadpanned immediately:
"Already diagnosed."
---
Even Keifer looked slightly surprised.
---
Aries spoke carefully.
"…you're inviting us?"
---
Rhys looked confused.
"You're JJ's people."
Pause.
"Why wouldn't we?"
---
And somehow—
that single sentence erased the last wall between the two groups completely.