26 months after that accident I woke up from a coma and everything around me looked too different and I realized that I am in a hospital. I was wearing a hospital gown and no one was around me. I couldn't see anyone and I didn't know what happened and so I started to scream. That's when some people started to calm me down, and inject some medicine and everything goes blank again.
After a while, I slowly opened my eyes and saw a few doctors and nurses standing around me. Probably they sensed that I have a number of questions running inside my head because they started to explain to me about my health condition and also said that I had gone through plastic surgery because of the burn on my face caused due to the accident. Which shook me off, I couldn't accept the fact that my looks were completely changed. Everyone there started calling me Abhishek, I was puzzled. That's when I met Rachel. I owe him a lot because he has been the one who took the responsibility of taking care of me.
It's been a week since I was up from the coma, today Rachel had come to meet me.
"Hello, Abhishek", Rachel greeted me
"Rachel can I ask you something", I said
"Shoot it"
"I don't understand why everyone here calls me Abhishek"
"Because that's your name"
"No bro I'm Krish... Krish Malhotra"
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah", I said as a nurse entered the room
"Excuse me, do you know any details about Krish Malhotra, one of the passengers who traveled on that bus", I asked the nurse. She had no idea about it so she called someone and spoke for a while.
"Krish Malhotra didn't survive", she said as she was hanging up the call
"His body," I asked
"We got his family number from the travels and we informed them, but couldn't have over the body to his family as the body was already half burnt", she said as she was checking my BP.
"But I am Krish Malhotra", I said
"Excuse me what?"
"I really don't have any idea about what happened and why is everyone addressing me as Abhishek", I said to her.
After a few discussions, going through some documents and talks with a few doctors gave enough reasons that my reports might have been mostly exchanged with Abhishek's. Later, all my medical reports were changed to my actual name.
Even after waking up and everything. I neither called Megha nor uncle Dhruv because I assumed that with a span of so many months together they would have probably moved on in their life so me entering into their life again might cause complications. I might get over her soon, I hope.
Then I spent some of my days in the hospital and soon later got shifted to some PG. Days passed months passed but my thoughts about Megha did not they just kept lingering in my mind. Every single moment I spent with her was stored in my memories. I recall everything that my mind had collected about her was my all-time work. I used to always stalk her Instagram profile. I used to always speak about it to Racheal and I remember always mentioning her just as my girlfriend
On one fine day Racheal told me that he was going to introduce me to his girlfriend I remember how restless and excited was he. I was bored keeping him company and listening to all his continuous blabbering about his girlfriend and their love story. I just wandered around my neighborhood and there was a medical camp held nearby so I just took a stroll there. There I saw a figure which was very familiar to me. The person who made me a better, and the only one to whom I had opened my heart. Seeing that person I had a broad smile on my face, it was no one else but my Megha standing there and treating some patients. She was there surrounded by many other doctors treating patients it made me feel happy. I walked toward her, hoping that she will be happy seeing me and she failed to recognize me. What stupid am I? I had totally forgotten that now I am bearing another look and that pain of not being able to be recognized by Megha was worse than anything that I have felt. Then I walked back to meet Rachel and his girlfriend.
I stepped into the room and found Rachael with a girl, as I walked closer I cleared my throat so that he could notice me, and to my surprise, the girl with him was very familiar to me indeed someone who has spent a lot of time with me, yeah it was Riya there, standing in front of me as Rachel's girlfriend.
"Hey Abhishek, this is...", Rachel said
"Riya...", I blurted even before he could complete his sentence.
There was an intense tension-filled in the room. Rachel and Riya were equally confused about how I know her. While I was confused thinking about how did these two become a couple.
"Excuse me. May I know how you know me?" Riya asked with a puzzled expression
"Come on Riya, it is me, Krish Malhotra," I replied
"Huh"
"Megha's boyfriend"
"What the hell? You gotta be kidding me. Weren't you dead?"
"No some reports were exchanged, I am still alive. I survived the accident but had gone through plastic surgery so that's why I'm looking like this now"
"Oh. Hello, nice to meet you, actually I had been your caretaker for a very long time now", Riya said as though she is talking to me for the first time.
"Hi, same here, thank you for taking care of me while I was in coma."
"My pleasure"
"You guys continue your chat. Riya I'm sure your boyfriend has a lot of questions piled up in his mind. So clear them I got some work. Meet you later", I said and walked out.
I went inside my bedroom smiling like an idiot. This world is so small, isn't it? I met Rachel here and his girlfriend turns out to be Riya who is Megha's best friend. There might be a reason behind this right. Maybe life wants me to get back into Megha's life once again.
After some time Rachel came to me and said, "Bro what is happening here?"
"Nothing, why? Where is Riya? Didn't she say you anything", I replied
"Riya left like you know she is traveling back to Bangalore tonight. So she asked me to clear all my doubts with you?"
"I know this going to be a little too much for you, the thing is that I know Riya from long ago"
"I already know that you both just had a conversation in front of me. How do you know each other?"
"Yeah, by the way, do you know her best friend Megha"
"I know Megha. She is an amazing girl, but a few years ago because of a person's death she is just broken, days are passing, but she is still not ready to let go of the past and move on in her life, it has affected her so badly that she even tried ending her life a few months ago"
"Do you know who died?"
"Her boyfriend I don't know how his name but Megha and Riya have told me a lot about him"
"Did that guy mean so much to her"
"I heard she was very happy always smiling when he was alive but then his loss took her smile away from her forever"
"She doesn't deserve to be in pain"
"Hmm"
"It is all my fault and she is suffering"
"Are you crazy? How can you be the reason behind her suffering?"
"I thought she would have moved on, I should have called her the day I woke up from coma"
"What?"
"Rachael I'm Krish Malhotra..."
"I know that"
"Let me complete, I'm Krish Malhotra the one who you guys think is dead I'm Megha's boyfriend. She is an angel who brought light back to my life, she was the reason behind PTSD recovery"
"Do you mean Megha is your girlfriend?"
"Yes it is her"
"Holy shit"
"Hmm-mm."
"Bro she is broken without you, it is not too late now better go to her and reveal everything to her"
"No, not at all I am not going to do that"
"What the hell! Why?"
"This character Krish Malhotra has given her a lot of pain even the pain which she didn't deserve, so I am going to re-enter her life as Abhishek Malhotra and bring back her smile. I just want to have a completely fresh start with her."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I am"
"Okay let me inform Riya about it", he said.
We called Riya and explained everything. She was completely against this plan at first but when I promised her that this will bring back happiness in Megha's life she agreed to support and play along with us in this plan.
Then a few days later I came back to Bangalore and stayed with Rachael. I got a job as a science teacher in some schools here. I waited impatiently for the day when I can meet Megha, and that's when we got the best opportunity that was Riya and Rachel's anniversary. I asked him to plan the Paris trip and make sure that Magha is a part of the trip but the room booking was a surprise for me too. I appreciate Rachel for booking a single room for Megha and me because it helped me to build a good healthy bond with her. During the trip I realized what phase of life she was in and how much she going through, I slowly got closer to her and fell in love with each other. I was very happy that she had accepted my proposal. I directly went to uncle Dhruvs place and explained to him whatever happened and apologized for hiding the truth from him. He agreed to help me with this plan because he also believed that this will be fruitful to bring happiness back into his daughter's life.
I thought I was good at being Abhishek but once she told her dad that she feels that she is in love with me because she finds the characteristics of Krish in me, and I had a fear that she might find out the truth at the same time felt happy that she is in loves with the one I truly am. Life was settled and happy after our marriage till the day that Mathew again came in front of my eyes there was no problem in seeing him, I was pissed off when my wife spoke to him even after whatever he has done to her and she was even freely speaking to him at night. Anyone might think it is because of possessiveness but actually, it is because she was talking to Mathew and that is what made me angry.
BACK TO THE PRESENT (MEGHA POV)
"So Krish you mean whatever you did is justified", I asked Krish
"Not exactly, but do you think speaking to Mathew was fine", he questioned me back
"It was safe, he is not the person with whom you had all those clashes. He is completely changed now Do you even know during the time, when you weren't here with me, Riya was busy taking care of you and dad was in Chennai he was the one who took care of me"
"He is never safe"
"Krish he has changed drastically, and he has become a very responsible person now and I feel safe with him, okay?"
"Let me get this straight. What is your relationship with him and who is Sahana? I remember you taking that name while having a conversation with Mathew the other day"
"Mathew is my brother and Sahana is his daughter"
"Let me ask you something since when did you get close to him? Sahana is his daughter!" he asked me.