Raghav went back to his house. He was not able to contact Joseph, nor was he allowed inside AIIMS. The only person he had access to was Preeti.
"I have lost my AIIMS ID. I have the ID of a lecturer at Manipal University for some reason. I don't know what's going on"
"I think you need to rest dear. You have been behaving weirdly since morning. First, you tell me about your arm and now you seem to have forgotten about where you work"
"Wait. Do you mean to say I'm a lecturer?"
"What's wrong with you? Did you forget your favorite students? Anmol, Disha, did you forget them?"
"I don't know who these people are"
Raghav was going mad. It was as if his life had changed suddenly. The arm might have been a dream, but his whole life couldn't be one too.
He asked her to let him stay alone for a while and locked himself in his room. He turned on the desktop computer and went to the AIIMS website. He clicked on the "research staff" section. As he suspected, his name was not on the list. But he noticed Joseph was still there. He immediately e-mailed Joseph.
'Hey Joseph, this is Raghav. I don't have access to my institute email for some reason. I lost my ID too. Why am I not being allowed inside the institute? Can you tell me what's going on? I lost your number, give me a call asap'
Immediately, he got a call from an unknown number.
"Hello, Joseph?"
"Raghav? Are you on leave? The students are waiting for your class"
"Who is this?"
"I'm Karthik, calling from the biotech department office"
Raghav realized this call was from Manipal University. He wanted to tell the caller that there was some miscommunication, but he didn't have the patience to talk.
"Uh… umm. Yeah, sorry, there has been an emergency. I can't come today"
Then he hung up.
He waited hours for Joseph's reply, but he never got anything. So he decided to visit Joseph's house directly.
Upon arriving at Joseph's place, he knocked on the front door and waited. Nobody opened the door. He was probably at the institute. But Joseph's wife should have been at home.
"Hello? Miss Paul?"
Nobody responded. He thought maybe she was out and walked back to the car. But then he noticed something on the front gate. A nameplate that said,
Suhas Bedi & Neetu Bedi
"My God! This house is not Joseph's!"
Raghav went back home and sat on the bed in his room. He realized something was different around him. It was as if he was in a different universe. Was it a dream?
Preeti was worried. She walked into his room and silently sat beside him. She rested her head on Raghav's shoulder.
"You have been so worried since this morning. Tell me, please, what's going on?"
"Preeti, my love, I'm lost. I don't know where I am"
Preeti tightly locked her fingers into Raghav's.
"You are with me. Forget about the world. I'm here for you always"
Her words calmed Raghav down.
"I know, I know. Thanks for being by my side"
"You need to rest dear. Just lie down and close your eyes. Tomorrow morning, everything will get back to normal"
Raghav smiled and lay on the bed. Preeti lightly caressed Raghav's forehead. He soon fell asleep.
This time, he had a very beautiful dream. He spent an entire day on vacation with Preeti. They went to a beach, then to a movie and finally did some shopping. He forgot about the world around him. All he wanted was to be with his wife.
When he woke up the next morning, he felt much more relaxed. But he still couldn't forget what happened the previous day. He wished it was all a dream.
"Preeti? Can you get me a cup of –"
Preeti came running to his room.
"Shhh! Why are you yelling? Rina is asleep"
"Who Rina?"
"Stop joking, Raghav"
Suddenly the sound of a crying baby pierced through Raghav's ears.
"There you go, you woke her up"
Preeti immediately ran out of the room. Raghav went out too and noticed a baby in Preeti's arms. He had no idea about who she was.
"Shhh. Don't cry, don't cry. It's your dad's fault. He was the one yelling"
Preeti pointed at Raghav when she said that. Raghav was startled.
"This baby is my daughter!?"
***