No. It can't be a portal. Because the face staring at me, is my own. Yet not mine.
I am below a sky no more but enclosed within metallic walls and dark blue tiles. The me in the mirror looks at me like I'm a stranger. I study her with the same eyes.
Then she laughs, and I feel lighter instantly. She points toward my cage of walls. I may be trapped in a room, she isn't. Instead, there is a dark sky above her, with nine stars.
My sky.
"How many times will he have to save your life?" She speaks, her voice silkier like she sleeps in the night without a care. Snores and all.
"Who?"
"You know who," she wears a knowing smile, "Tell me, how many times till you realize it?"
"Realize what?" I study the other me in doubt.
No way she's me. Look at her. Everything about her is different. Her clothes, her stance, her hair, her earrings.
But the spark in her eyes...That's me...
She plays with the edge of her salwar, exhausted with the rounded questions, "Realize that he, is the only one that can save you. From the things you don't know about, from the things that were kept from you, from the things you have forgotten- and- and from carrot."
What the frack is she saying?
"Carrot?" She mumbles, her voice changing, deeper, "Carrot."
I feel a sudden jerk before the light hits my eyes. And I wake up with a dry mouth next to Gauri. "Carrot?" I mumble.
"Yesss!" she chuckles, shocked to see me awakened by their talking, "We were talking about stalking the canteen for Gajar ka halwa after you woke up."
My arm is covered in red marks, "Did I fall asleep again?'
Gauri ties my hair up and wipes my dried face with a tissue, "Yes. You fell asleep actually. We thought you collapsed."
Om continues, "The doctor checked you, said your vitals were fine."
"But that didn't stop Shivay from getting a second recommendation. He was keen on it for some reason."
I knew why. Because only he knows that this is not the first time I've fallen unconscious
"Even after that, you were perfectly healthy," On continued, "So we came to the ground floor waiting area. Fully air-conditioned, super quiet- And it worked. You slept like a baby for more than three hours."
Three hours?! There is a square digital frame, hung on the wall, showcasing the time as: 1:08 pm.
"There is some food in the Dabba if you want, "Gauri tilted her head in implication, towards a box kept beside Rudra.
"Damn it," I pick myself up, "I have got to stop falling asleep in places."
Rudra laughs, but Om narrows his eyes, "Where else have you been sleeping?"
I fashion my eyes such that he gets exactly what I mean to say, without me having to say a thing.
Om looks away then. And I find myself, searching for something. Someone.
Rudy clears his throat, while Gauri lowers her voice, "He's not here. Fourth floor. Outside Dad's room."
"I never asked for Shivay," I stretched my neck side to side.
"Strange," Gauri says, "I never said his name."
I roll my eyes at my best friend, before escaping to find Shivay.
CHAPTER 19 Our Secret
Start from the beginning
