YAADEIN (PART 1):

TUJHE BHULA DIYA:

"It's a serious head injury", the doctor said. "Repercussions could be anything. Unke uthne se pehle hum kuch nahi keh sakte hain."

"Par wo... wo uthegi, right?" Karan asked.

"Unke brain mein activity toh hai, toh we're hopeful ki wo itna damage nahi hua hai", he continued. "Jitni jaldi hosh aa jaaye, utna better hai. It'll be the best agar unko agle 6 ghante mein hosh aa gaya."

"Main... main mil sakta hoon?"

"Ji, zaroor." He pointed to the room, and Karan dashed to it, entering the room. Her left arm was in a cast, and there were various cuts on her face. A bandage was covering most of her head, and he felt the knife in his heart twist.

'Monami!' He yelled, the tires of the car squealing. A thud as the car rammed into the tree, but he barely cared.

He raced to his girlfriend, cradling her gently as crowd gathered around her. Blood leaked from her head like a broken pipe leaking water, and he kept his hand on it, gently pressing down to it to stop the bleeding.

Her eyes stared up at him, her breathing hitched. "Karan..." Her eyes slid close.

He sat down next to her on the stool, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Please. Jaldi se theek ho jao", he muttered. "Please. I love you."

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

The devices were going crazy and Karan's heartbeat had shot up, matching the frantic rate of the monitor. She was... awake. But she was panicking. Confused. They won't let him near. It was dangerous, they had said.

Shouts. Orders. An injection. And then, her heart rate dropped down. Slowly. His didn't. He was still staring at his girlfriend, his heart pounding in his ears and his gaze unblinking.

She was awake. The doctors kept him back, asking him politely to be patient, and then, talking gently to Monami. She wasn't speaking. She stared at them. Wide eyed. Confused. Her eyes roamed the room, skipping right over him. She didn't see him there, perhaps, he reasoned, just watching silently.

"Sir", a nurse said. "Hume kuch check up karne hain. Aap please bahar jaaiye."

He looked at his confused girlfriend, and he almost protested. He didn't want to leave her. She was scared, he could tell. She was confused. How could he leave her?

"Sister... main reh nahi sakta, please?" He said. "Main beech mein nahi aaonga."

"Nahi. Sorry. Par jaise hi aap aa sakte hain, main aapko bula loongi", she said, patting his arm sympathetically. "Aap please bahar wait kijiye."

He nodded, casting a look to Monami before walking out of the room. Her health was the priority. If this was the best, then so be it.

He fell into a chair, sighing tiredly. His bones seemed to hurt. A hand on his shoulder made him look up and he saw his friends there.

"Karan, kya hua andar?" Faizi asked.

"Use hosh aa gaya hai", he answered. "Par she was... panicking, confused, pata nahi. Doctors use check up kar rahe hain."

His eyes slid to Sid. Sanju had an arm around him in comfort, his eyes bright red with all the tears he had shed. He didn't doubt his looked the same. They were aching and sore.

"Excuse me?" A voice said almost 20 minutes later. They looked up. "Aap log sab andar aa sakte hain?"

"Sure", Faizi said, casting a confused look to the others. It was a strange request.

"Patient ko zyaada excited ya worked up mat karna", she instructed them. "Usual se zyaada calm aur thoda drowsy rahegi. Don't worry about it. And please, aisa kuch mat karna jisse uski heart beat badh jaaye."

"Sure, sister", Koel said, nodding.

Monami looked up when they entered, but neither happiness nor any other emotion crossed her face.

"Monami", Karan said, making a beeline to her. He clutched her hand, smiling at her. She stared back at him, before down at their hands. He frowned a little.

"I am sorry", she said. "Kya main aapko jaanti hoon?"

He stared at her, his grip on her hand loosening. "Monami..." He blinked. She looked back cluelessly, just waiting for his answer expectantly. "Monami, yeh... yeh mazaak hai, na? Yeh bahut ghatiya mazaak hai."

Her eyebrows furrowed, lightly shaking her head. "Nahi, yeh m-mazaak nahi hai. I'm... I'm sorry. I-I don't know you."

He released her hand, taking a step back from him. She was staring at him, and she opened her mouth, just looking back at him with a lost expression. She felt bad, he could tell.

He... didn't know what he was feeling. Numb perhaps would be the word for how he felt. She didn't remember him. She didn't remember him!

"I am sorry", she said. He looked away from her.

Her face was printed in his memory, the curl of her lips when she smiled at him, the slight redness of her cheeks when she laughed at him, the love in her eyes that was always, always there. It wasn't. Now.

"Monami", the doctor said. "Tumhe yeh yaad nahi?"

"N-Nahi", she said, looking at him. He closed his eyes, turning away from her. His eyes stung, and his hands curled into fists.

"Main tumse bahut zyaada pyaar karta hoon."

"I love you too, Khadoos Shergill."

"Soch rahi hoon tum jaise sadu, khadoos robo se pyaar kaise ho gaya mujhe?"
"Too late, madam. Ab toh ho gaya."

"Ek cheez hai jiske bina main nahi reh sakta. Tum."

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

He adjusted the pillows behind her back, covering her with the blanket. His gaze didn't lift up to her face, and he turned away from her.

"Sid drills karke aa jaayega", he said, not looking at her face. "Tab tak main rahoonga tumhaare saath. Main... main bahar hoon. Kuch chahiye toh bata dena."

A week later, she was discharged from the hospital. Her memory was wiped clean off the past 1 year, just a few days after she had gotten her acceptance letter from the academy. Just a couple of weeks before meeting him.

She had fallen down, Sid had explained. She had a concussion but she was fine. It wasn't anything too serious. Nothing life threatening, nothing critical, no surgeries needed. But it was the reason why her memory had wiped up to that particular point.

She only remembered Sid. He had introduced himself as her trainer, but she was smart enough to figure out that wasn't all they were. But she didn't ask. He was grateful for that.

"Karan", her voice said, stopping him just as the door of the doorway. "T-Tum andar reh lo. Mujhe problem nahi hai."

'Tumhe nahi, Monami. Par mujhe hai', he thought, not turning around. 'Tumhe injured chodh toh nahi sakta, par tumhaari aankhon mein dekhkar yeh ajnaabi waala ehsaas jo tum dila rahi ho, wo main tolerate nahi kar paa raha hoon.'

"I'll be outside", he said, walking out and sitting down on the chair just outside her room.

He leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. She didn't remember him. Everything they had shared. Everything that was between them. She didn't remember.

Her eyes stared at him like he was a stranger, not a hint of recognition. The eyes that had held all of the world's love and care for him didn't even glint with recognition. The lips that turned up with the brightest smile every time he saw her didn't even twitch in happiness.

She didn't remember him.

Did she even love him if she didn't remember him?

Note- This is a two shot. It's very cliché following memory loss, but it was a request, and so I had given it a shot. I hope you like it!

I'd love to hear your thoughts, so if you have the time and will, considering dropping a comment. If you like my work, consider checking my other works out as well. Thank you!