The two took a cab to return to their homes. Since they lived close to each other, it was economical to share one cab.
"Raghav, I know you don't remember anything about the past, but I wanted to say it was great spending time together like the old times"
"Don't we usually meet?"
"Nope, the last time we met was about a year ago"
"Did something happen? Even Meena mentioned today morning that we don't talk"
"It's a long story"
"Tell me, maybe we can sort it out? In my original life, we were best friends. I can't imagine something so bad happening that we don't talk for a year"
"I have done something bad, Raghav. I always wanted to apologize to you, but you never gave me a chance"
"I may not be your Raghav, but you can trust me. I won't judge you"
"Just like you said, we were best friends. We worked for five years together in the lab we visited today. I was working on microbial analysis of bacteria in the upper layers of the atmosphere. You worked on the psychological analysis of the long-term effects of space travel. We often helped each other with our research. That lab was like our hideout when we had problems at home. We shared our hardest as well as the happiest times with each other.
I was dating Meena at that time. You and Preeti were really close friends, although not in a relationship. I remember how sad you were when you asked her out and she said no. But the two of you remained good friends even after that.
But then something happened that changed our lives. Meena was pregnant. I was shocked to hear that. We weren't married and I was still doing my PhD. I didn't know what to do. Meena was ready to marry me, but I… I knew it would end my research and career. I was confused, Raghav, I was completely out of my mind"
"What did you do then?"
"I broke it"
"What?"
"I broke up with her. In the middle of her pregnancy! I still can't forgive myself for that. I left her alone when she needed me the most. She was devastated. She didn't know what to do or how to tell her parents about it. But you, as always, came to the rescue. You decided to marry her and raise the kid. I don't know why you did that. Why do you always have to be a hero, huh? Why did you agree to raise our kid?"
"Wait, wait. You mean I married Meena because she was depressed from the breakup?"
"Pretty much. But she didn't want to force you to raise someone else's kid. So she had to let go of the baby"
"My God! What did you do, Joseph?"
"But that was not what made you mad. Right after your marriage, I got into a relationship with Preeti. You were angry with both of us. The moment you married Meena, I started dating the girl you loved. You couldn't believe I would do that to you. I get it, I would be angry too if I were in your place. But I felt really lonely after I left Meena. I held myself responsible for her sadness. Preeti was the only one who would support me during that time. Naturally, I developed feelings for her. She was also getting too old to marry. So we decided to get married. And that was the last nail in the coffin. Since our marriage last year, you never spoke to me and Preeti. That is until now"
Raghav understood why his other version was angry at Joseph. He was angry now too. Why is he helping me? Maybe he wants to fix things between us? But he is guilty, he deserves to be left alone. While Raghav was thinking all this, he remembered a mistake he made.
"Oh no! Meena!"
"What about her, Raghav?"
"I yelled at her this morning. God damn it, I don't know how she would have felt"
"What? You need to go right away and apologize to her!"
Raghav immediately pulled out his phone and noticed there were eight missed calls from Meena.
"Shit! Oh Shit! What have I done? Brother, please drive fast, please"
***
Raghav knocked on the door of his house. Immediately, he heard the sound of the latch opening and the door opened. Meena stood before him, looking at his eyes without any expression. Without uttering a word, she walked back inside leaving the door open.
Raghav walked inside slowly. He noticed Meena was preparing dinner. She didn't try to look at him.
"Meena, I'm sorry about this morning"
Meena didn't reply. Raghav continued speaking.
"I know you are mad at me. My phone was silenced. I just saw your missed calls. I'm so sorry. Something is wrong with me, Meena"
"Who are you?"
Raghav was surprised by the question.
"What do you mean?"
"Who are you? My Raghav doesn't call me by my name"
Raghav remained silent. He knew he couldn't lie to her. And that wouldn't be fair either.
"You're right. I'm not your Raghav"
"Where is he? And who are you?"
Raghav then explained to Meena everything that happened from the past three days.
Meena didn't reply. She felt she lost her Raghav.
"Meena, I know you are worried, but I'm trying my best to get things back together"
"It's not your mistake. Maybe something is wrong with me. It seems like everyone who I start getting close to eventually goes away from me. First, it was Joseph. Then my baby, and now …"
Tears started rolling down her eyes. Raghav wanted to give her a tight hug, but that wouldn't be the right thing to do.
"No, Meena. I promise you, I'll get you your Raghav back. Just give me one more day"
Meena silently walked into the bedroom and lay down on the bed. Raghav decided to not interfere and let her stay alone for a while.
He took the 'stay awake pill' before he would feel sleepy. He didn't see if Meena had slept but he guessed that she didn't. However, he stayed in his room for the night and didn't disturb her.
Throughout the night, he researched dreams and read tens of papers about human psychology. He also learnt a lot about string theory. Eventually, Raghav came across one paper that caught his attention. The paper was titled, 'Experimental research on reconstruction of dreams and memories via weak electric shocks to the brain'
The paper explained that weak electric shocks to the Prefrontal Cortex could retrieve lost memories. And shocks to the Hippocampus, which is located inside the temporal lobe of the brain, could help recall forgotten dreams. That's when Raghav remembered how it all started.
That's it! That makes so much sense. I started jumping into these alternate realities the night after I tried to test the bionic arm on myself. Maybe, it had some kind of effect on my Prefrontal Cortex, or Hippocampus, or both. If I can somehow reverse the effect, it should fix everything.
The moment Raghav thought that, he realized in this reality, Joseph had a similar bionic arm. Maybe recreating the events that led to all this could solve the issue?
Raghav immediately called Joseph, but he didn't pick the call. He called him two more times, but there was no response. He realized it was very late at night and maybe Joseph had his phone silenced. So he decided to wait till the next morning.
***
"Hello, Joseph, I think I have a good plan. Can you come to my house?"
"Your house? Uhh…"
Raghav understood why Joseph hesitated. Meena would never want Joseph at her house, and probably the other Raghav wouldn't either. But he wanted everything to be just like before, so he wanted to carry out the experiment where it all started - in this room.
"Don't worry, Meena is visiting her parents. And it shouldn't take much time. I need you here"
"Okay, Raghav. I'll be there in an hour"
Joseph arrived right after Meena left. Raghav explained his plan and asked if he could borrow the bionic arm from Joseph. After he agreed, Raghav examined the arm to make sure it worked just like the one from his reality.
"Okay, Joseph, I'm going to connect all the electrodes, including the one that connects to the motor neurons. Once I am ready, you need to quickly connect the power and disconnect it"
"I don't know if this is a good idea. If doing this started all that you are saying, then how will doing the same thing stop it?"
"We have no other choice. I need to do this. I need to get back my life. And Meena needs her Raghav back. This is the only way"
Joseph hesitantly agreed to co-operate. Raghav connected all the electrodes to his body and sat on the bed. Joseph held the power supply wires an inch away from the battery, waiting for Raghav's signal. Everything was exactly the same as the first day.
But Raghav didn't hear the front door opening. Meena had forgotten her purse and returned to pick it up. That's when Raghav signaled Joseph to connect the power.
The moment Joseph connected the wire to the battery, a huge spark welded the wire to the battery terminal. A large amount of current flowed through the electrodes connected to Raghav's body. Raghav screamed in pain. Meena ran into his room hearing his scream. She was stunned to see Joseph there.
"What are you doing? What are you doing to Raghav?"
She pushed Joseph away and ran towards Raghav.
"No, Meena, don't touch him!"
Raghav's vision started getting blurry. He couldn't hear or speak. Joseph got back up and struggled to pull out the wires from the battery. But it was too late. Meena immediately started pulling out the electrodes from Raghav's body. And that was the last thing Raghav saw before darkness completely covered his eyes.
***
"Raghav, Raghav? Wake up Raghav"
Raghav only heard the voice faintly but it was very familiar to him. He slowly opened his eyes and a bright light forced him to close them back. But his eyes eventually adjusted to the light and could open completely.
"Wh–where am I?"
He could see Meena's face. She smiled but had tears in her eyes. Before he could say anything, Meena suddenly came closer and kissed him. Raghav's heartbeat raised, yet he felt calm. It was like something he wanted from a long time and finally achieved. The first girl he ever loved was kissing him. But he felt guilty too. He was married to Preeti. It was wrong. He felt guilty for feeling good about kissing Meena. He immediately pushed her away.
"No Meena, I can't do this"
More tears rolled down Meena's eyes. And this time, she was sad. She thought she had her Raghav back. But it didn't work. She ran outside the ward crying.
"Meena! Meena!"
***