Atharv was the first person she met when she woke up in the hospital, having lost her memories of 20 years. Her brain remembered how to brush her teeth, but not the people who taught her. In spite of several weeks passing in isolation, she received no visitors, and the officials had trouble identifying her without verification documents. People believed she was a criminal or a ghost. Even the hospital staff could not find any clue about who admitted her.
Once, a nurse who went into the room for her quality time with her boyfriend was shocked to find Manya lying on the bed, with the devices authorised to an official patient and there was no documentation of any personnel assigned to her. The rumour of her being a ghost spread like wildfire. The residents shivered whenever assisting their seniors in her room.
"You seriously don't have any idea about who you are?" a cleaner lady said. Manya shook her head. "In my 30 years of working here, I have never seen a girl so quiet after spending weeks. Are you by any chance mute?" Manya denied it.
The best part of her day was relaxing on the hospital rooftop; checking out the view of the highway and people hustling to survive. "They all look like me, but nothing feels mine."
"Thankfully!" A nurse stopped beside her and gasped for air. "Come. Everyone is looking for. You. He came."
Manya had no desire to go to her. She stayed in her position to see all directions. Nurse grabbed her arm. "Someone… claiming to be your relative." With no second to waste, Manya rushed away. "Slow down! Or you'll fall!"
She hurried to meet the person who might be her closest before she forgot everything. Several doctors, nurses and cops were gathered near her room. "Here she is," a nurse said.
Amid the crowd, she spotted a man with a smile and wet eyes. Her pace slowed down. The first word she spoke to another human since being found in room number 127 was. "Mamu?"
Atharv had no difficulty in convincing the government officials of their familial connection. He showed multiple pictures of Manya with her parents and himself, providing undeniable proof of their shared past. At that moment, she knew she could trust him with her soul, unlike those attention-seeking nurses.
Knowing about her parent's death made her feel sad and full of regret for the first few days. She figured dying in the plane crash with her parents would've been better than picturing life without them.
Being with Atharv made her doubt the need for sleep. Both enjoyed different sorts of food and ice creams flavours she hadn't known existed. Now she was relieved for not dying with her parents or Atharv would have been completely alone.
Regardless of her own emotional turmoil and the hospital setting, she prioritised helping Atharv find the love she saw in movies. She found her situation amusing—waking up in a world she couldn't remember. Yet, her priority was finding a match for Atharv, who only cared about. "When will they refill the vending machine?"
On multiple occasions, she would leave him alone in a room with a nurse, head over heels for him and all the essential luxuries (chocolates, romantic music, etc.). What have I become? But each time she came back from her floor visit, he would be all by himself, snacking on sweets and surfing through the TV.
"You won't get killed after talking to them."
"Look who's talking, who didn't utter a word for 2 entire months."
She snatched chips from his hand. "You'll die alone, like this."
"If you think about it logically."
"Just shut up!"
When she was getting discharged, her brows furrowed over saddened staff, especially the female doctors and nurses. And not a single grief was meant for her. She only received smiles and a few sweets, while Atharv got multiple affectionate hugs and cheek kisses.
"How? I have never seen you talk to them," Manya said.
"Have you ever seen me after 9 pm?"
"How could I? By that time, I fell asl—" Her face lit up with a grin.
Founding out that Atharv was a cop shocked her existence. Every piece of entertainment content she consumed lacked a chilled-out cop who split his time between her niece and his secretive office. He introduced her to Lord Krishna, a divine entity within the Hindu religion.
"But how can someone who I can't see or touch could be my friend?"
"Friends aren't ones who you only hang out with or play life with, but the ones whom presence alone can calm you down."
"Well, this temple provides such affect, but it's restricted to only this place. What about when I leave this place?"
"You remember once I stopped by to buy a scarf for you? And you—"
"Yes, I walked quite a distance into believing you were next to me, and didn't talk to you for a few days to make me talk into the air."
"That's how it is it with Krishna. Unlike me, he doesn't need any physical presence for his believers to believe in him."
"But—"
"Just believe him to be everywhere. He knows all, sees all, and hears all."
"Sees all? Even while I am bathing?" Stress overcame her.
Atharv snickered. "Even when you blame the farts on me. Manya, divine beings don't see flesh, as we do. They see souls. Every living entity experiences several lives in different forms. But what remains common is the soul."
"It sounds cool. How can one become a God or a divine being?" she said.
"Becoming a divine being isn't important. What matters is living a life in the form you were assigned, by being true to yourself, and if you are fortunate. You'll become one."
"How do you know?"
His lips curved into a smile.
***
Several hours had passed since Dhruv had left, and his phone was switched off, making her more and more concerned. And she doesn't know the place he was supposed to be at.
Atharv offered her a coffee, and she drank it all at once. "Did you put something in the coffee? Why is my head behaving heavy?" Manya said.
"Yes, I mixed in sleeping formula in it," he said. "He'll be fine. Go to your room and rest."
A half-hour power nap later. She checked her phone and found no call or text from Dhruv. She dashed down the stairs and pounded on Atharv's door.
"Yes, milady?" Atharv said.
"Can't you track his location?" she said.
"And you were against stalking," he said. Manya gave him a stern gaze. "I can."
"Then hurry!"
He went back indoors and emerged in just thirty seconds. Sooner than she expected.
"Found his car by a cafe in Connaught Place. But there's no sign of him."
"It's obvious he should be inside, and he always forgets to charge his phone."
"No, I mean, there's no sign of him in the entire state."
"Entire state? Is this one of your clever jokes?"
He denied. Manya knew all too well about Atharv's hacking abilities, so she couldn't take his statement lightly.
"But he went to see his sister." Manya recalled Dhruv's remarks about how his sister resembled his father. "What if she? His father, but…"
"What's going on?"
She shared all her knowledge about Dhruv and his family with Atharv. It took him a couple of moments to understand the situation. "Get in the car and wait for me," he said.
Manya rushed to the car, her heart on the verge of bursting.
"What if they had forced him back home? I can never see him again?"
Her phone rang, which displayed Dhruv's name.
"Dhruv, are you okay? Where are you? I have called you a thousand times. You idiot! Why haven't you replied?! Was it your phone's battery? Say something dammit!"
She heard a sinister chuckle.
"I struggled to grasp the truth when he shared it with me. A connection with insects," a male voice said, but it wasn't Dhruv's. "Yet, it is true. Your voice held the power to rouse his consciousness anew."
"Who is it? Where's Dhruv?!" She heard a few screams. It was Dhruv. "Stop! Please. I beg you. Please, don't hurt him!"
"A cry of a human girl, alluring."
The screams roared again. "Please, please stop!" Tears poured from her eyes.
With every second of her agony, his laughter grew. Atharv still hadn't arrived and, knowing that he would prevent her from going into danger, she leaped into the driver's seat and pressed the accelerator.
"Mortal, still present?"
"Who are you? Why are you doing this?"
"Who am I? I am Kri. A presence whose single step shall alter the fate of this nation."
Between the sound of screams, she heard Dhruv, "Manya, do-don't try to find me."
"Dhruv! Where are you?"
"Persistent. Inflicting suffering upon my kind does not provide significant satisfaction." She received a notification. A location. "Who shall emerge victorious? Your swiftness or his unyielding endurance."