Page 6 of Since You Stole My Heart

Maithili hummed faintly as she leaned back in her chair. ‘Do you remember anything from the nightmare? Was it about the accident again?’

She gave a slow, reluctant nod.

‘Do you want to talk about it? Only if you’re ready.’

‘I mean…’ Kashvi exhaled, fidgeting with the ceramic handle of her cup. ‘There’s nothing new in it. I’ve talked about the accident before.’

Maithili offered an encouraging smile. ‘I still think you should do it again. Maybe this time you’ll remember something new. It might help us understand why this nightmare keeps coming back.’

Her fingers trembled, and she bit down on the inside of her cheek, grounding herself in the sharp sting of pain. ‘It started the same way. Maa was driving the car. She kept asking me to settle down, but I kept arguing. Since I was in the back seat, she had to turn around to look at me.’

‘Go on, I’m listening.’

Cold sweat prickled at the back of her neck. Her throat felt tight, as if the scream from the dream were still lodged inside it. ‘It happened in a flash. Maa screamed, I think, or maybe it was me. She reached out for me, but there was a loud crunch of metal, and then…’

Kashvi shook her head, pressing her trembling knuckles to her mouth.

‘It’s okay. Take your time. Just take a deep breath,’ Maithili reassured her, sliding a box of tissues within her reach. But she didn’t need them. She rarely cried, not even here, where it felt safe enough to fall apart.

Kashvi swallowed hard, her voice cracking at the edges. ‘That’s when I woke up.’

‘How did you feel when you woke up?’

Kashvi gave a hollow laugh. ‘Like I was still stuck there, sitting in that car, about to die.’

‘But you didn’t.’

‘Exactly,’ she said sharply. Her eyes stung as she added, ‘I didn’t, but my Maa did.’

‘It’s been a while since you’ve had this nightmare, hasn’t it?’

Her breaths came shallow and uneven. ‘Yeah. It went away for a while.’

‘Then there must be a reason it’s come back now. Something must have stirred it up.’

Kashvi traced the seam of her jeans, unsure how to talk about it without making it worse. But keeping it buried had done nothing except bring the flashbacks back again.

Though Maithili spoke softly, the truth in her words made her flinch. Her gaze drifted back towards the window. She could lie, deflect, or change the subject entirely—she’d done all three before—but the weight of what she’d been carrying all week sat thick in her chest.

‘It had become manageable, I guess. But then I found out something about Di.’

Maithili asked, ‘Your sister? Siya, isn’t it?’

‘Yes, the only one. She’d been asleep in the front seat and suffered the direct impact of the accident, which caused internal damage. She recently found out she can’t have kids. Ever,’ Kashvi said, bitterness lacing her words as much as shame.

‘Do you still blame yourself for that accident?’

A spike of guilt pierced her chest. ‘You already know the answer to that.’

‘You are holding yourself responsible for things you could never have controlled, Kashvi. Maybe your mother had been in a rush to get somewhere, or maybe there were other factors behind that unfortunate incident.’

She snapped. ‘Di found a letter from Maa along with her will, and it said she had finally decided to leave Dad. Of course she was in a rush to get away from her imprisoned life.’

And the cruel irony was that her own daughter had robbed her of that freedom.

‘So you entirely blame yourself for what happened to your mother and sister?’

Kashvi flinched. Her chest rose and fell too fast, the tightness clamping around her breath like a fist. ‘Di lost our mother that day, and with her, the chance to have children of her own. So yes, I do.’