A Love Twice Told (ishman) (shubish)

Do I Know Him?

Today Shubman's family was all busy trying to convince someone not to go somewhere, leaving something behind, and Shubman was very confused. He tried asking about it, but they were all too busy. After the nth attempt, Shubman gave up and returned to the confines of his room, where he sat and thought about life again.

Shubman had no work these days. He ate, slept, watched something, and slept again. That was all he did, with a bit of physiotherapy and a hell lot of medicine, of course. Some people came in to meet him every day. He knew most of them. The people that he had forgotten about were all busy with something and couldn't make it to him at the moment. Something told him that today he will be meeting one of them. Would it be Virat Kohli? There was anticipation in his heart; he was a mere fan after all.

What wouldn't he have given to be playing for Team India all those years back? This was him living his dream, and he was proud of himself for it. But when he thought about it some more, he realized that this memory loss thing could scar his cricket career permanently, and that thought was scary; it was more frightening to the 15-year-old shubman inside of him. So, Shubman was trying his best to regain his memories, but every time he tried remembering something, it would trigger a non-existent migraine in his head, and he would be discouraged to continue.

Shubman was battling another episode of migraines when he heard a commotion at the entrance of his house. Curious, he stood up and walked downstairs. As he descended halfway, he noticed a man standing at the gate, looking concerned. Surrounded by Shubman's family members, the man seemed to be searching for someone.

Their eyes met, and Shubman felt a spark of recognition. Although he didn't know who the man was or why he was there, he had a strange sense of familiarity. As Shubman descended the stairs, the man broke free from the crowd and hurried towards him, pulling him into a warm but urgent hug. Shubman was stunned.

Although he didn't know who this man was, the hug made him feel secure, like he had finally found something he was desperately looking for, something that had been lost for some time now. The man broke free from the hug and looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry, are you okay, Shubi?" he asked him, and he realized that they were on a nickname basis. "Shubi?" Shubman repeated dumbly.

"Ishan, we wanted to tell you something, but you wouldn't listen." Shahneel started, and Shubman looked at her, trying to figure out the words that would be coming out of her mouth next. Shubman was thrilled to know that this pretty man was the Ishan everyone was talking about. Ishan looked at Shahneel too, waiting for her to continue. Even from a distance, Shubman could feel Ishan's heart racing. He was nervous.

"Shubman has lost his memories." Shahneel gave the jab at one go and waited for her words to sink in. "what?" Ishan looked baffled, like he had anticipated everything in the world but this. He looked around, trying to figure something out. "Shubman doesn't remember anything that happened in the past ten years. The last thing he remembers is from when he was 14 or 15." Shubman's mother said, trying to help Ishan. "You don't remember me?" He asked, looking at Shubman, and the look he received proved that Shubman actually didn't have any recollection of him at all.

Ishan was then brought into the living room, where he was fed like a toddler. Ishan refused to eat much, saying that he had an upset stomach, but Shubman's family knew better than that. Shubman got wind of one thing: Ishan was a cricketer too. His family had informed Ishan about Shubman waking up in the middle of one of his tournaments, and Ishan had hurried here, ditching everything else. This was what the commotion was about. Shahneel had given Ishan an earful about how he shouldn't have done that and how that was the reason they didn't want him to know about it even earlier.

Ishan took it all quite sportingly. He had blended in with them like it was the most natural thing in the world, and Shubman was left in awe. His mother, he realized, had called Ishan "son" for the fifth time in a row, and the irony of it all was that if an outsider were to be added to this picture, he wouldn't say that Ishan didn't belong in this family. Shubman was left too stunned by it all.

Shaheel passed Shubman a smirk when she caught him staring at Ishan; the meaning of that smirk was beyond Shubman's understanding, so he remained quiet. Ishan gave Shubman a small smile and asked him if he was okay for the second time this evening. This time Shubman decided to answer him. "Yes, I am very well; thank you." "Goddd shubman, I know that you don't remember me, but please, for the love of everything precious, don't be formal with me."

Shubman just smiled at that. He could feel Ishan cringing at his formal tone. They might have been really close, he realized. "How old are you?" Shubman asked out of nowhere, stunning everyone present at the table. "a year older than you." Shahneel decided to answer instead. Shubman just nodded at that.

When his family was talking about Ishan back at the hospital, he thought that he might be someone important to them, but looking at their bond now, this was way beyond just being important to them. Ishan even knew all of Shubman's house-helps by their first names, and everybody seemed to adore him. Ishan had brought in a wave of happiness and hope with him, and although Shubman didn't recognize him, the fact that he had someone like him in his life warmed his heart.

After that encounter with Ishan, Shubman had stormed his brain for any possible explanation for the pull he felt with him. Shubman had realized that he definitely knew him from somewhere and that he was important to him, but where did he know him from? How had they met? All of these questions had helped catalyze his migraine, but he refused to just give up.

Shubman had heard that voice before; he had seen that face before, from where, he had no idea. Shubman had decided to finally give his paining head a bit of rest and go ask Shahneel about Ishan. He had imagined certain answers or even a lack of response from his sister; what he hadn't anticipated though was that brilliant smile that his sister passed him when he mentioned Ishan's name.

She smiled at him like she was waiting for him to approach her, like she had just won a bet against someone. That smile scarred Shubman more than it comforted him. "What?" she smiled again. "You want to know about Ishan, Shubi?" She said it in that vomit-inducing sweet tone that Shubman absolutely hated. Anything that followed that tone was always a disaster.

Shubman gave Shahneel an unimpressed look and proceeded to leave her room. Shahneel, on the other hand, caught Shubman's forearm and dragged him inside again. "Alright, alright, no more teasing." She continued when they had both settled on her bed. "Ishan, his name is Ishan; that should turn some gears in your head shubman, and if it doesn't, then I am very concerned. He was your best friend." "Is." Shubman interrupted her before she could continue.

Shahneel looked at him with curious eyes but decided to continue nonetheless. "yeah, is. He is your best friend. He was the one we were most afraid of telling about you. He had been stuck in the hospital since the day you were first admitted and absolutely refused to go on that tour of his. I had to drag his ass out of the hospital and into an Uber. It just slipped up by my stupid mouth during one of our phone calls, that you had woken up. And that madman took a flight here."

Shubman just smiled at her. Listening to her, Shubman felt like it was something that he would do. "I just told him that you woke up and he cancelled my call and rushed here; I couldn't even tell him that you had lost your memories." She continued. "You'll seemed quite close with him," Shubman said, searching her eyes for answers.

"Well, his parents flew in to see you when you weren't even awake, so yeah, you can imagine your bond." She answered, making him think about it. "Oh, that reminds me, his parents would be here tomorrow. To meet you, of course. Although you don't remember them, please behave nicely." She said it pointedly. Shubman gave her a look at that. Of course, he would behave properly. Even if Ishan weren't his best friend and practically a member of his family, he would still behave nicely in front of his parents. He wasn't that stupid.

"Okay, okay, don't give me that look. Also, why were you curious about him?" "Well, you would be curious too if you suddenly lost your memory and some stranger came into your home and warmed up with your family like his own, and you have no idea why." He said it curtly, making Shahneel laugh in embarrassment. "Sorry, Shubi, I can't imagine what you must be going through at the moment. But remember that we will always be here, okay?" Sometimes Shubman liked his sister quite a lot.

He went to bed thinking about how and when he got to know this Ishan person and how they had become so close. He had this strong sense of familiarity with him, and his smile warmed his heart. With a single thought in his head, Shubman drifted off to sleep. 'Do I know him?'