The Appointment

Cold white light. Sterile silence. Steel table center frame. Glass cabinets lined with evidence trays.

INSPECTOR KABIR (42), leather jacket, untucked shirt, notepad in pocket, enters with casual confidence.

DR. SAIRA (38), lab coat over formal clothes, composed and guarded, stands by the table with a file.

Waah, Dr. Saira. Aapke room mein aate hi

lagta hai main zinda hoon ya evidence.

Dono ka difference yahin decide hota hai.

Kabir smirks, pulls out his notepad.

Routine evidence review hai. Bas do minute.

Haan. Routine.

Aaj kal routine bhi suspicious hota hai.

She places a file on the steel table but doesn’t open it.

Kabir clocks that.

File kholne ke liye bulaaya hai ya

mood kharab karne ke liye?

Saira slides a DEATH CERTIFICATE across the table.

Pehle ye dekh lijiye.

Kabir picks it up, scans it.

Death certificate? Yeh evidence review mein

kya kar raha hai?

Kabhi-kabhi paperwork hi asli body hota hai.

Kabir looks at her, amused but alert.

Aap aaj poetry mein kyun bol rahi ho?

Kyunki seedha bolne ka waqt nahi hai.

Kabir flips open the file. Notices correction fluid, inconsistent entries.

Yeh report alter hui hai.

Kisne kiya?

Jisne sach likh nahi sakta tha.

Doctor, main joke mode mein aaya tha.

Aap mujhe cover-up mode mein le ja rahi ho.

Cover-up har baar crime chhupane ke liye nahi hota.

Kabhi-kabhi kisi ko zinda rakhne ke liye hota hai.

Kabir leans on the steel table, tension rising.

Seedha bolo.

Body kaun thi?

Saira hesitates. Then turns the death certificate toward him.

Kabir reads the name.

His face changes.

Arjun?

A long beat.

Haan.

Kabir stares, unable to breathe for a second.

Nahi.

Mere bhai ka naam yahan kaise?

Kyunki jo body “unidentified male” thi,

woh Arjun thi.

Kabir steps back, stunned.

Tumne report mein naam kyun badla?

Maine nahi badla.

Maine sirf usko aisa rehne diya

jaisa kisi aur ne chaha.

Kisne?

Jo nahi chahta tha ki tum sach tak pahunchho.

Kabir’s grip tightens on the certificate.

Tumhe kaise pata tha?

Kyunki postmortem mein main thi.

Aur signature... maine pehle bhi dekha hai.

Kabir processes this, anger and grief colliding.

Arjun ki maut accidental nahi thi.

Nahi.

Aur agar identity file mein aa jaati,

toh chain tum tak bhi aa jaati.

Silence.

Only the hum of fluorescent lights.

Kabir looks at the cabinet, the tray, the report—everything suddenly a clue.

Tum mujhe bachaa rahi thi?

Shayad.

Ya shayad khud ko.

Kabir folds the certificate carefully, like it’s fragile glass.

Routine review khatam.

Ab appointment personal hai.

Saira meets his eyes. For the first time, her guard cracks.

Toh aap ready ho?

Kabir slips the notepad back into his pocket.

Nahi.

Par ab jaana bhi nahi hai.

They stand in the cold white light, united by fear and a new, dangerous truth.