The Wrong Woman

15. Dhruv

"Everything seems to look normal," Dr Greg said later in the day as he eyed the tests. That didn't make any sense. How could things be normal when Rani was anything but? She was saying things and acting in a way that told me everything was but normal.

I rubbed my forehead for what felt like the tenth time that day. "Are you sure, Doctor? She doesn't remember anything. It's kind of like she's a completely different person."

The man ran a hand over his balding head that caught the overhead white light. We both turned to look out the window to see Rani sitting outside, staring out into space; not on her phone as she usually would be. This whole thing was freaking me out.

"We don't know what's taken place—and the results say nothing has happened—and yet if she's forgotten events..." The doctor blew out a deep breath. "This is strange," he muttered. No kidding, I thought. I sat in front of his desk, clasping my hands tightly as if in reassurance that everything would be okay, since the doctor didn't seem to be able to do it. "We can assume that it's temporary memory loss—transient global amnesia of some kind. It's rare for someone her age, but considering we have nothing else to go on..."

"Then how do you know it's temporary?"

"If it was serious or permanent, the MRI scan would have found something. There's nothing of that sort here, so I believe it's a minor issue. Perhaps not an issue at all."

What did that mean? That her memories would come back?

They had to.

And even though our future together was becoming more and more unlikely, I wanted her to be herself again. If I was stressing out and freaking out about how changed she'd become, I could only imagine the fear she was going through.

Shit, I thought. How was Anish and Sandra going to take it? Should I even tell them that she really did lose her memory? Would Rani be able to cope under all that needless pressure? I sighed, thanked the doctor and went out. I placed my hand on her shoulder and instantly she jerked as if she had been electrocuted.

I ignored the looks of other patients sitting nearby and gestured for her to get up with my head. "Let's go."

She stood up but waited for me to move first, so I did. She walked beside me, scuttling like a tiny animal afraid of being eaten. I didn't say anything but my stomach hardened and I could feel the clogging in my throat tightening as we got into a rickshaw.

"What did the doctor say?" she whispered, initiating conversation.

"That you were fine. There was nothing serious he could find in the scan, which makes absolutely no sense but...he's the doctor. He did say that you seem to have temporary memory loss, though."

"Oh."

I hummed, watching the scenery go by. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to treat this situation. Hug her? I wanted to, God knew I did, but this Rani seemed so...different. And yes, that should make me want to hug her even more but it was like I didn't know her at all. I didn't want to be rejected by her again. That would only hurt more than being beside her every second of every day already did.

From the corner of my eyes I spied her shifting closer to the edge of the seat, looking as if she was ready to jump out of the rickshaw if need be. I scoffed under my breath and leaned back before scooting over myself, giving her the room she wanted. It seemed more and more like she was trying to avoid me rather than a change in personality like I had originally thought.

Guess I was wrong.

Rani hadn't changed a bit.