Unfazed

53. Please Tell Me This Is A Nightmare? (Harsh)

(GIF: Harsh, throughout this chapter. PS - Hit that little star if you think Johnny Depp is hilarious, up there)

"You WHAT?" I almost shouted.

"Harsh..." said Dee, in a tone of warning.

"No!" I snapped, "I need to know this."

"Okay.. Let me explain what little I know", said Dee, while Dev looked around uncomfortably. "The play was going rather well, or so I thought, until the part of the song came in, where I only had to lip sync to the lyrics while climbing the stepsof the tower. They had been rickety from the start; but since we had only one really quick rehearsal with them, I was a little unsure from the beginning."

"When it collapsed though, the tower.. Someone was smart enough to draw the curtains immediately. The audience didn't exactly see what happened", she explained – her voice soothing, as she tried to make me understand.

"One second. I had seen YOU run into the console from where the curtains of the stage were controlled – minutes before this happened. How did you KNOW?" I barked at Deven. Could he have?

"I was getting to that... Papa's surgery had been a success the previous day and he was tired, but okay. Hence, on the morning of the play, before the practice began, I casually called Arjun to ask if everything is going well. He was the one who told me that there was something wrong with the construct of the tower and that Meena had been put in-charge of that final piece. From what I could gather, something was fishy but he didn't give me anything concrete to worry about. A few hours later, he called me at 5:30 in the evening from backstage from a borrowed phone to tell me that someone had removed the supporting beams from the platform where you were supposed to stand, Dee. He had noticed it while arranging the props behind the second curtain while you had already begun with the play," said Dev. To an untrained ear, there would have been no change in his voice – but I knew remorse in Sanghvi's voice when I heard it. This time, was unlike any other I had ever heard.

"So.. you came.. All the way from the hospital on the other side of town.. Just for this?" Dee asked, her voice full of disbelief. Dev was quiet for a bit – but eventually, he said, "I had gotten you into trouble once before – I wasn't about to let it happen again."

Wait – was he.. embarrassed?

"As soon as you got to the auditorium, I saw you rush to the console – and the next thing we heard in the audience, was a loud crash. Five minutes later, two teachers came on stage and said that there has been an unfortunate accident due to which, the rest of the play could not be performed – or something like that", I injected to bring them back to a part of the story I didn't know.

"I got to the console just in time to watch left side of the tower quake. Arjun had run after me – so I told him to stay and explain it to the teachers when they got there. Then, I ran because in seconds, the tower collapsed inwards and Dee fell from seven feet above the ground", Deven explained.

"Hey – one minute – I remember. I would have fallen onto the ground, but somehow, I managed to land on a single sofa thing that was under me. And YOU pushed that there," accused Dee and Deven almost smiled. "I couldn't think of what else to do", he confessed, "but once you had bounced on the sofa, I could catch you because you were in shock but not fatally injured."

"Wait.. So YOU broke her fall and prevented her spine from being permanently injured?!?!" I asked, not able to believe my own words any more than what I was hearing now. Dev awkwardly nodded and said – no.. asked – "I guess?"

"Oh God" I mumbled, unable to meet anyone's eyes. I had been wrong. So wrong. I didn't give him a chance to explain himself – I chose to trust Meena over him, despite knowing him for years. He saved Dee – TWICE, for heavens' sake. And I had it wrong the entire time.

"When I fell, it was barely a few seconds. But once you landed me on the ground, the paranoia and the pain took over", Dee said to Dev. "But then you told me to 'Hang in there' and promised to come back for me. I waited for what seemed like forever – but the next thing I knew, I was being lifted from amidst all the pieces of the tower but a crowd of people. You... never came."

"I'm so sorry, Dee – I wanted to. But, my driver came looking for me because Vish had called him – Papa's vitals had begun dropping and we needed to shift hospitals. Plus, I saw the crowd that had gathered around you – so I knew someone would take care of you. You weren't dead – which was what I had originally feared, falling like that. And I couldn't be more grateful. But.. I had to go. I'm so sorry! I know I'm late... but please try to forgive me?"

"No! NO! Please – you saved me. The rest of that night was a blur for me – but I do know this – I remember your face. And how you're the one that got to me first before all the others. I mean – back when you were still Fatso," said Dee.

Just then, his phone rang and signalled the arrival of his cab at our gate. Just as he got up, answering the phone, I felt a sense of undeniable dread wash over me. Finishing the call, he looked at both of us and said, "Guys – I've managed to convince him to wait for five minutes – so we really need to wrap this up. I'll tell you my bit – the rest y'all figure it out: We moved Papa to another hospital the next day, but they couldn't do much – so we decided to take him abroad for the treatment. All this happened super-fast and the board exams were also very close. So I took my books with me and studied there – while school agreed to grant me a few weeks of leave after the December holidays. Once the boards were over, you were still undergoing physiotherapy and treatment Dee – that's what I got to hear. But between Papa's issue and you not being well and our boards – we never got to talk and I thought he was ignoring me. When I came back and called him, he said he didn't want to talk to me and the idiot that I was, I gave up trying. To Harsh, it looked like I betrayed him again – and I was... a mess. I'll be honest. But – I'm really glad I got to tell you this, and I'm super, super sorry." He finished.

Surprising me, Dee got up from the bed, went forward and hugged him. "Shhh – I get you Fatso. Stop blabbering", she said to him and even though it was a friendly gesture, Deven took remarkably taken aback. "By the way – unlike this morning, that was a real one", she said, when she let go of him.