Living in a Mirage

Chapter Twenty One

"The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me because there was no longer anyone to remember with. It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself as if the things we'd done were less real and important than they had been hours before."

- John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

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Dedicated to my dear @Olaf789 to whom I apologize for the delay and thank for being the one who kept reminding me and bringing me back here, who's thought stayed in the back of my mind and kept reminding me whenever I lost the concept of time because days have blended in nights and vice versa and I no longer know better...

Thank you for waiting, dear readers, and apologies for the delay!

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Dr Waltz looked at the young man sitting in front of him with pity and he wished he actually had answers to the questions he was being asked. He sighed loudly and then turned to look at the man sitting next to him, Dr Shah, the one who was looking at the young man sitting in front of them with arrogance; a smirk on his face that represented his superiority because finally, the day has come - the day when he would be proven right and his theories about the young man's mental health valid.

"Manik, your case has been a difficult one to study as my team and I haven't been the ones who had treated you since the start. You have been treated in India, and I must say, the Doctor in the ER that night had done a pretty good job, but it seems she and I have confused the retrograde amnesia with the concussion," Dr Waltz said, trying to find words to make it seem less devastating as he could.

He had dealt with such cases and patients always reacted strongly when they were told their memories were wiped away or at least inaccessible to them for an unterminated period, a normal reaction, but something about the one sitting in front of right now made it felt as if he was sentencing the young man to death. Somehow, the memories of just two years pre-accident were more important to him than his whole life. The reason had been clear to everyone during the course of the stay of the patient that continued to fascinate them with each new development...

"I myself had thought that. Because the way you keep confusing the events of the past few years of your life should mean you are suffering from Post Concussion syndrome. But Doctor Shah after meeting you had insisted otherwise. And I guess your trip back to India has proved him right," he said as he nodded at the old man sitting beside him.

Dr Waltz couldn't help but look at the psychiatrist sitting beside him with disapproval. How could he gloat when the matter was of such a delicate nature? Yes, the young man was a stubborn, willful, and raging creature, someone who had caused him and his team a lot of trouble, but that didn't mean they should make things more difficult for him just to satisfy their wounded egos because the young man had denied their theories and help.

He disapproved of Dr Shah because he was proving to be someone not at all appropriate to be the psychiatrist of the young man. He was too arrogant, too smug about his success. It wasn't the first time he wished he could throw the man out of his cabin.

With a sigh, Dr Waltz shook his head and continued as he ignored the old man even though they were supposed to be on the same side.

"I wish I could tell you that I think Dr Shah's reasoning doesn't sound correct, but the truth is that his hypothesis is our best guess. Human minds are more fascinating and unpredictable than anything else in this universe, we can't say anything about it for sure," he said with an apology in his voice.