In Vellore’s recovery room, Lenin wakes from anesthesia puffy and nauseated but neurologically intact. Mariamma, relieved to hear him speak her name, tends to him closely on the ward—feeding, cleaning, and learning bedside tasks—reflecting that this intimate care is the essence of medicine. A Manorama article casts Lenin as a “Naxalite Priest” whose tumor drove his militancy, publicity Digby hoped might soften police response.

Ten days later, after observing surgery, Mariamma returns to find Lenin up and walking. In the courtyard, he describes months as a fugitive living in the forest canopy, taught by a tribal elder to climb using a friction knot, and how the jungle loosened his fixation on single identities. The conversation shows Lenin’s sharpened insight and rekindles their bond.

Over a simple meal and ice cream sent by Matron, they remember their Mahabalipuram “Royal Meels” and speak of returning. Lenin then shares the news: he will be handed to the Kerala police the next day and taken to Trivandrum jail. Mariamma is frightened and angry about what might have been, yet she affirms she won’t let him go.

In the morning, DSP Mathew arrives with two constables. A hostile look passes between him and Lenin before Lenin is handcuffed without protest. When the DSP orders leg irons, Matron intervenes decisively, citing Lenin’s recent brain surgery and shaming the officers into restraint.

At the van, Matron supplies a pillow, blankets, and water, then blesses Lenin. Mariamma embraces him and walks beside him to the doors. He departs under guard for Trivandrum jail, leaving her with a coded promise to meet again and a shared hope for a future beyond captivity.