??????
“W-what did you say?” Vikram chokes out, voice hoarse.
We’re in the kitchen. Ishika left to sleep a good while ago. So I decided to bringherup.Khushi.
The color drains from his face the second I say her name.
I blink. I hadn’t expected that level of shock.
“I... I wanted to talk about her,” I say carefully. “My therapist thinks it’s time.”
“You... yourememberher?” He sounds like someone just rewound his entire life.
“Of course I do.” I frown. “I mean, mom and dad never talked about her, so I guess it became this unspoken, off-limits topic. But yes. I remember her. I—”
My voice breaks. “I was the one who—”
“I need to sit. Wait.”
His breath stutters as he stumbles to the couch, head falling forward like the weight of it is too much.
“Whatdoyou remember?” he asks, rubbing his temples as if bracing for impact.
I sit too. My voice barely escapes me.
“I remember you were out cycling. I was playing with that kid next door—the scrawny older one. I left Khushi in my pillow fort... and when I came back...” I inhale sharply. “She was gone.”
Vikram stares at the coffee table like he’s trying to burn a hole through it. His eyes are wide. Unnaturally wide.
“We really thought...” He breathes like someone’s running a marathon through his chest. “Advik, we all thought you didn’t remember her. A few days later, mom and dad asked you about Khushi, and you looked them dead in the eye and said‘Who?’”
My mouth dries.
“They were so relieved,” he continues. “Relieved that you wouldn’t carry the guilt like we all do. They thought you didn’t—fuck!”
He stands abruptly and starts pacing. Every step sounds like a clock ticking backward. My heart hammers in my throat. I saidwhat?
Then he whispers to himself. “What the fuck?”
“Vicky, Idoremember her.” I say. “I... I saw mumma remove every trace of her after a few days and it just made sense that they... they didn’t want us to remember. Later, I thought it was some twisted grief. And you never talked about her in front of me—”
“Because we thought you forgot her!” he snaps, and I flinch violently.
I whisper, as realization settles into my bones. “I’m... sorry. I was p-playing outside—”
“No. No,no—fuck,” he spins around and crouches right in front of me, gripping the edge of the table. “That’s not what I meant, Viko. We thought you didn’t remember she existed. That’s what you forgot. Not the incident—her.”
He looks up slowly.
“Mom and Dad kept saying how lucky it was that you wouldn’t carry the burden like we all did. That you’d been spared. That your brain had... shut it out.”
A tremor passes through him. “Shit. You were probably in shock. That’s what it was.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” I mumble. “One day her things were there. The next—gone. It just... made sense that I wasn’t supposed to remember. That they didn’t want me to.”
“You thought we blamed you?” he breathes, stunned.
I nod. “You never said otherwise. I figured you were all grieving in your own way. But I was the one who—”
