"Your grandmother has fallen from the stairs."

Krishnaa heard the words fall into her ear but couldn't process it. For a second, she forgot how to understand what words put into a sentence meant. She wanted the women to repeat what they had just said but she heard a familiar "Didi!" and saw Raghav, her brother rushing towards her. He was looking hysterical, he hugged her and what was happening hit Krishnaa.

She pulled him away, gently and walked inside. Some people whom she recognized to be close friends of her father were trying to console him. Her mother and some women were crying close to her grandmother's unconscious body. Her house was never well lit, it had lamps and few light sockets. Electricity had fully made its way few years back. It was never well lit but it looked darker than usual with the gloom spread.

"How long has it been?" Krishnaa enquired from no one in particular.

"Few minutes, didi. She slipped from the stairs." Raghav replied with tears in his eyes. The woman lying on the floor with blood oozing out of her head and small wounds on the rest of her body had loved him always, maybe a little more than his own mother.

Krishnaa kneeled down on the old woman's side. She held her hand to feel her pulse and how unfamiliar its touch felt hit her like a wave. "It's there but it's faint. We should take her to the hospital."

"It's of no use, beta. We won't make it in time and even if we do it will be useless. Why do you want to harass her in her last minutes?" Arun's friend said.

"There are a lot of people outside. Go tell them to ask Santosh Chacha for his car. I know a doctor. I'll call him for help. Did you try to stop the bleeding?" Krishnaa asked ignoring what the man had just said.

Her father nodded helplessly. "It's not working." He added pointing to the first aid he had applied.

Krishnaa knew her elders were not wrong in telling her to let her grandmother be, let her die in peace because the body would have to undergo unnecessary harassment in the process of visiting the main town's hospital where the doctors would probably just check her and after some futile attempts with their limited resources, declare her dead and even if she became stable they would refer her to Patna, the capital and discharge her but she had seen a certain someone not giving up and not being cynical without trying. She wasn't going to either.

What happened after, felt like centuries passing but at the same time it was too quick to process. The car arrived, Krishnaa, Arun and few other villagers helped take the old woman to the hospital. A wailing Raghav and their mother, Yamuna were left behind with the other village folk. In 15 minutes they reached the main town and had to get down from the vehicle to clear the road ahead. They reached the hospital, Arun saw Pranay, who was outside with few people who looked like doctors and they escalated the process of admitting Krishnaa's grandmother. The old woman was taken inside the hospital on a stretcher and it was only when her head left Krishnaa's lap, she saw the faint blood stains on her Kurta and what was happening dawned upon her.

With unsteady steps she got out of the car. A vaguely familiar man was talking to her father outside the hospital. She took two steps towards them but then backed out.

"Krishnaa!"

What felt like a lot of effort, she turned to the source of the voice. Chandni was walking towards her with Ayush tailing behind.

"Are you okay?" She asked looking at Krishnaa's spoiled clothes. She nodded.

"Your father is talking to Rajvardhan ji. He is an acquaintance. Pranay called him here so that the hospital won't turn your grandmother down. He is getting things done faster. He's quite an influence. After all he is the MLA." Ayush grinned, but gained a smack by Chandni. "I'll see if I'm needed."

Ayush left instantly and Chandni hugged Krishnaa.

"Your clothes-" Krishnaa began speaking but was interrupted by her friend.

"It's okay. It's all going to be okay. You want to go inside?"

Krishnaa refused.

"Then, you want to come to my house? I'll get you changed. You need it."

Krishnaa nodded slightly.

"Where is Pranay?" She asked after a while.

"He'll be inside with the doctors, I guess. I'll tell Ayush to drop us off and I'll inform Arun Chacha too. Okay?" Chandni asked and jerked Krishnaa a little by the arms when she remained unresponsive.

She watched Chandni walk away but everything looked too different than it did before, like life was in a slow motion movie or like she was in an alternative universe where everything looked the same but felt different. Her friend came back with Ayush and the two of them sat in a car. Ayush muttered something about it belonging to someone. She didn't understand.

She didn't register when the car came to a halt or when she was told to get down or when she entered Chandni's home or when her family greeted her and asked whether she was okay or when she was taken to a room which she faintly recognized as Chandni's . She was given clothes and asked to change. She was then told to eat and sleep and she mechanically followed the advise and went to sleep.

_____________________

Krishnaa heard someone calling her name and she woke up.

"Bro, you're okay?" It was Chandni. "Someone's here to see you."

The girl blinked her eyes. She had a bad dream, she felt like telling her friend about how she had been dreaming of her grandmother almost dying and then how she had saved her but then it struck her that if it was a dream she wouldn't be sleeping in Chandni's bed.

"How's that old, wretched hag that made my life hell for 14 years till Raghav was born?How dare she die before redeeming herself? How dare she leave me hanging?" She wanted to ask but didn't.

"Pranay is here. He's standing outside the room. I'll go outside and let him in. Okay? I'll be standing guard outside. My parents are sleeping if they find out, we are all dying tonight. Okay? Are you alright? Do you need something? No. Okay." Chandni said and went out immediately, letting Pranay in.

Krishnaa stared at the man in front of her who was looking at her, expectantly, as if waiting for her to ask the right questions. He came and sat on the bed, next to her feet.

"She made me, who I am." Krishnaa said after a short pause. Her eyes were fixed on her hands. "She wanted a son for my father and I was the only daughter for 14 years. She always picked at my mother and lashed out at me. She couldn't stand me being happy and then my brother came along. He was loved, by everyone. She gave me my self hatred, my habit of overthinking which I am afraid might become anxiety or depression one day. She made me cynical, rude, unambitious, bitter and unsure of myself. She started my story, how dare she try to leave it in between? Is it that easy and convenient to ruin someone and die and leave without a word?"

She looked like she would break into violent sobs any second. So, Pranay shifted a little closer and held her hands that were shaking. She grabbed them tightly.

"I should be indifferent to her death. Why can't I be indifferent to her?" She looked at him. "Why do I still want to be treated like she treats my father and brother? Why did she have to be a lovely mother to the two of them and an awful witch to me? I went home a little late today and instead of shouting at me, she was lying lifeless on the floor. I should've listened to everyone when they told me to let her be and die in peace but how could I just stand there and watch her die? How could I not try when you have been teaching me to not give up by just being like that?"

Pranay couldn't bare to look at her. He kept looking at their hands, trying not to tear up on hearing her sobs.

"Is she alive?" She finally asked after a while.

Pranay kept looking at their hands trying to recollect any lesson from his breaking the bad news lectures at medical school.

"She's dead, isn't she? That woman left me hanging. What did I ever do to her? Did she not have any accountability towards me? How could she leave without answering any of my questions? Where do I get my closure?"

"Krishnaa, I-" Pranay wanted to speak, say something that would sound perfect but he couldn't find the right words. "We tried. We tried everything."

"I would never blame you." She looked at him and all her guards fell down. "Can you, can you hold me? It feels like I'll fall apart."

He left her hands. His own vision was getting blurred on seeing her vulnerable and weak. He inched closer to her and pulled her in his embrace. The girl broke down into violent sobs instantly and she kept crying and shaking. He held her silently. A stray tear or two fell from his eyes and he knew her pain was a lot more unbearable and heavy than his own. Her pain broke his heart more than his own problems ever did. He knew that if she ever cried like that night again, he would burn down the whole world or would just sit beside her, hold her and absorb every ounce of pain from her body. She should be happy, that was all that mattered. He knew he was in the eye of the cyclone named Krishnaa Trivedi and he accepted it. He wasn't going to leave till the storm calmed down, passed away and whatever that has to be build beyond, took shape.

_____________________

The next few weeks were difficult with the Trivedi family arranging their eldest's funeral. Arun's brother, Ashutosh and his family flew to Patna immediately and in a few hours they were at Jiradei. Everyone had someone to hold on to and cry. The two orphaned brothers were crying holding each other. Arjun's wife, Seema was consoling Yamuna along with the other women of the village. Raghav was trying to be brave for everyone but he had abandoned his room and was sleeping with his sister every night in a hope to get comfort from Krishnaa but she was someone who would do anything to wake up the old woman, she called Dadi and ask her what did she ever do to be hated other than being a girl and if being a girl was that terrible, why did God make her one?

Ashutosh had two sons around Krishnaa's age, Aditya and Ved and both of them were often seen talking to little Raghav of how the old woman would pamper them when they visited in vacations. Krishnaa wondered why was she the only one without any good anecdote of her grandmother?

And each time a thought like that crossed her mind, her eyes would find a familiar face in the crowd of the guests, Pranay, who had decided to stay and help with the rituals. He was there when the corpse was taken to the cremation ground, he was there helping when the family members were served the ceremonial rice, daal and chatni after it. He stayed back late and talked to Arun. Ashutosh gave fire to the body and stayed outside the house because of the rituals but Arun stayed by his side and Pranay stayed with him like a rock.

Arun had taken a liking to this boy who had helped the villagers selflessly, who had fought as much as he could for his mother's life and who was being like a son to him in his hours of need. Pranay had told Arun about his desire to make a hospital in the district when Arun was crying one night about how they probably would've saved his mother had they had more resources and the old man couldn't be any more fonder of the younger.

"Your parents are lucky, Pranay. They really are." Arun always repeated the same sentence.

Pranay was almost always there. He couldn't meet Krishnaa in front of everyone, he couldn't hug her when she was crying alone, he couldn't cheer her up when she tried to smile when the others were trying to lift each other's mood by recollecting funny incidents about the deceased but she was silently getting emotional over not having one story to talk about. He was always there. Distant? Yes but his reassuring, loving eyes were always on her and his kind smile was always trying to tell her to hang on for another second.

"My mother never liked my daughter." Arun told Pranay one night. "She always wanted me to have a son and I didn't even try for a good 12-13 years because my wife became sick in delivering Krishnaa and I didn't want to risk her life again. I had my wife, I had a child and that was enough but maa wasn't satisfied. So, she kept annoying my wife about it and Krishnaa, well, she is true to the name she chose for herself. She kept fighting with my mother for her mother and she had no filter. That little girl had more guts than I ever did. I could never tell my mother off because she wasn't physically harming or torturing Yamuna but Krishnaa, she wouldn't have it. We always told her to apologise but she never did. Then, we had Raghav, unexpectedly. So, maa became nice to my wife and loved Raghav so much but Krishnaa never tolerated the hypocrisy. She kept growing cynical and distant. I wonder how she is holding up now? She doesn't open up to people easily. She won't tell me."

Pranay thought of the day when Krishnaa came to meet Chotu and when he didn't accept her apology, she had opened up to him easily and honestly while trying to apologise again. She always told him the truth and when he realized that, he felt something warm inside of him.

Pranay helped the Trivedis with the final Shraadh that happened on the 13th day and was there when the family saw the guests off.

"You didn't have to help." Krishnaa told him before he left after the Shraadh.

"I am going to be their son in law. I obviously had to."

She was caught off guard and after what felt like a millennium she truly smiled.

_____________________

"Do you really like me? How can you seriously like someone like me? Are you retarded? You don't look like you are." Krishnaa asked Pranay one day when they were sitting idly on Daha's bank. Birds were flocking around them and vehicles were running on the bridge over head. The sun was setting and the two should've headed home but they couldn't get enough of each other.

"You should throw your mind away, seriously." He replied. He pulled her hand in his lightly and intertwined her pinky finger with his. "Krishnaa Trivedi, Pranay Singh Rajput, loves you with all his heart."

"Corny." Krishnaa laughed out loud. "I would instantly close a film where the hero would be so cheesy. Yuck."

But then, she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a second before watching the sun set into the horizon.

Thank you for reading!