Jaaiz's POV :

As I stepped into my brother's house in the late afternoon, I knew that I wasn't the first one who probably has reached the file. Somebody was already in the house and the red scarf lying on the sofa clearly indicated it was none other than Ruhanna.

I tiptoed to his study room to find Ruhanna reading each and every paper like she just reached the under cover agent papers. Her eyes gazed at me as she probably felt my presence in the room.

The horrified look on her face explained she knew what was kept away from her all these years. Perhaps, it is going to be tougher than I imagined this to be. Not only Siddhant, but I have another person who is going to bombard vigorous questions at me.

Both of us kept staring at each other for a couple of minutes until I could see Ruhanna's eyes welling up as she tried hard to not break down. I decided not to say anything but when she started sobbing covering her face I no longer could distance myself. She was my one weakness which made me vulnerable to my knees.

"Hey...stop crying..." I stepped closer trying to console her. That was the moment when I wanted to hug her genuinely. By genuinely, I mean it is lust free. The simple care and affection I never showed her, surprisingly I wanted to make her see it through me.

"You knew about this? Did you?" She asked weeping. It pained to see her cry like that.

"Yes."

"Does he know?"

"He came across these file on the night before his accident."

She sat on the chair holding her head as she rested her elbows on her thighs. I collected the papers lying on the floor and put them back in the file. Suddenly she stood up wiping her tears and glanced over at me. I took a deep breath preparing myself to answer all her questions.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't supposed to weep like that. But this is the worst joke life has played with me. No wonder how much drifted must have Siddhant been after coming to know that he was adopted by your parents." She spoke vehemently.

I knew this was going to end up pretty bad. Her eyes were shattered in a way where I could see all her broken heart pieces.

The day when I eavesdropped my mother talking over the phone with somebody about my brother's adoption papers still travels clearly in my mind. I was terrified. For long, I though about asking Ammi about this but I never did. I was almost 15 years back then, Siddhant was still in college and honestly, our family was finally recovering from the aftermath of my father's demise. Posing all such questions on my mother had the fair chances of further deteriorating her health so I never inquired her about this nor did I let Siddhant have any clue about this.

They considered me to be an insensitive jerk since I was a child. I just never let them know how sensitive I was just to keep up the peace in my family.

"And the most amazing thing..." Ruhanna laughed shortly which transformed into tears later, "He was adopted from a Hindu family. And all my life my parents kept loathing me for daring to fall for a Muslim guy. I had to sacrifice my love for the sake of some stupid norms of this society, for the prestige my parents held in the society, for the beliefs which had nothing to do with our love, for the religions which never defined any of us. And now after I have lost everything I ever wished for I know that he is a Hindu!!! And you know the most unbelievable of all things?"

She opened the file and took out his original birth certificate and read aloud with a painful smile on her face.

Siddhant Tanmay Parashar.

Son of Mr. Tanmay Parashar and Mrs. Deepali Saikia.

I froze therein. Father's name was Tanmay Parashar? I am three times confused as Ruhanna is right now. What the hell was going on all these years?
Truthfully, I never had the tiniest bit of clue about this for I never had a look on my brother's birth certificate. I just remembered the file in which my mother kept his adoption papers but I never dared to open the file. Seems like some truths were unlikely hidden from me as well.

I snatched the paper from her hand and re-read it ten times to check if there was any spelling mistake. There could be another Tanmay Parashar with the same name. Moreover, Parashar was an unmarried man. The only person who had all the answers to everybody's questions was my mother.

"I can't believe this. That's my mother's maiden name. Deepali Saikia." I uttered wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"Wait...what?" She was baffled completely. "You mean he is not adopted?"

"I-i-i can't feel my skin...his middle name is Tanmay! His mother is my mother which means he is my stepbrother! Save me somebody! I think I'm going to have a heart attack." I took heavily deep breaths praying this was all some stupid joke.

"But why would your mother lie to the whole world?"

"I have no idea. I seriously can't get any of this fvcking shit in my head right now. Siddhant is Tanmay's son yet he tried to kill his own son....I can't understand which father on earth would do that?"

Ruhanna's eyes widened immediately, she bent towards me and snapped her finger, "I knew Tanmay was behind the accident!"

Should I tell her that I was involved in this equally? Perhaps, not now. Her hatred for me will become indestructible.

In between all these intriguing confusion, my cell phone started vibrating in my pocket.

"Alright. I'll be there right now. Thank you." I hung the call, and smiled looking at Ruhanna.

"He is awake." I broke the good news to which she immediately jumped up thanking her God almost a million times from then.

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The door to Bhai's room was slightly ajar. I followed Ruhanna as she stirred forward to find her friend Shibani sitting by his bed. As we entered in the room, Bhai was smiling at some joke Shibani had just cracked. It felt good. To see him breathing consciously without any mechanical support. Ruhanna gave him a warm smile and sat on the edge of the bed while I made a place for myself behind Shibani. I didn't want to look my brother or step brother in the eye.

"You scared the hell out of us.." Ruhanna sighed.

"Oh come on. I was just enjoying some break from this cruel world. Even I deserve some rest and holidays." He smirked.

And the way they looked at each other, even now, made me struggle with the fact that nobody ever looked at me the way Ruhanna looks at Bhai every time.

"Then I should stab you with this knife and send you to another holiday. What do you think Ruhi?" Shibani pointed to the fruit knife lying next to his bed.

He laughed out warning her, "Don't take advantage of my wounded body Shibani."

"Sympathy." Shibani commented rolling her eyes.

I kept staring at the medical appliances in the room as if I could understand their operating system. It was just a lame activity I chose to avoid getting into a conversation.

"Jaaiz.."

My eyes shifted when he called my name. The doctor said there is a chance of him losing some fragments of his memory since he was in coma for four days. All I prayed for was to evacuate his mind of every bad memory he shared with me. I wished for him to see me the way he saw while sharing his toys with me in the childhood.

"Yeah Bhai." I curved a smile.

"How have you been doing?"

Ruhanna and Shibani looked at me as my face went pale white not knowing how or what to answer. I have always been this unexpressive dork deep down.

Taking a deep breath, I replied, "I don't know. It just wasn't as easy as I thought.."

"Quiet an emotional episode up here, fellas!." Anurag walked in the room creating another row of discussion. Three of them talked and talked about every possible thing Bhai missed in these 4 days. As if these dickheads solved the Bermuda Triangle mystery while Bhai was in coma. This is exactly what I call the 'Return of Stupid Friends' in life!

"Jaaiz...where is Ammi??"

I came out of my unconscious thoughts with a jerk. Ruhanna dazed at me and slightly shook her head indicating me not to say anything.

"S-s-he...is at home."

"Oh! I had to talk with her.." Siddhant said wearily.

"About what?" Ruhanna asked.

"Nothing much. Just some family matters."

"Come on man! You have just opened your eyes, can't you stop being such a skunk?" Anuraag hollered at him.

"Has he been diagnosed with some insane brain syndrome while I was in coma?" Siddhant asked Shibani.

She answered giggling, "He has been suffering from that since birth."

"Keep laughing! Yeah, laugh more.." Anuraag whacked disgustedly and left the room.

I was expecting Siddhant to forget about that file. But his memory was as sharp as a knife, not even a fragment of it was lost. Damn those doctors for lying about the chances of my brother's memory loss!

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After Shibani left, we three were left alone in the room. I felt like a bone in the meat standing in that room where Bhai and Ruhanna were laughing out to some stupid things which didn't even reach my brain. Feeling restless, I was almost about to leave when Ruhanna brought up an age old topic which stopped me.

"Sid, I can't believe we fell in love once upon a time...how silly right?...but look at us now, I cannot ask for a better friend than you." She spoke in awe.

This is what she does and I hate it. She keeps lying to herself. Friends? She should have checked in front of which devil she was lying. For God's sake, anybody could say how much she loved my brother.

I skeptically glare at her for lying so well. But, she hides her glance away from me.

"When did we fell in love?" Siddhant asks with a baffled look on his face.

Ruhanna narrows her eyes unable to figure out the logic behind his question.

"You don't remember falling in love?" I asked walking towards his bed.

"Of course, Jaaiz I remember how much I loved Sana...she was the love of my life. And she still is. How can you think I shall ever forget that?" Siddhant spoke as if I offended him big time.

My mouth was agape. Straightway, I looked at Ruhanna as her eyes started welling up and she rushed out of the room slamming the door hard.

"What happened to her?" Bhai asked me as she ran out like that without a word.

"Bhai, you don't remember anything about both of you? Like nothing?"

"Huh? I remember she is my good friend probably one of the best one."

I ran my hand through my hair with literally another blow to my face
"You should take some rest now." I said and left the room.

This hit me like a brick on the face. How could he forget about the emotions he shared with Ruhanna? No wonder, Ruhanna is shattered by now.

My ridiculous brother forgot what he wasn't supposed to forget but retained what he should have forgotten. Great! What a stupid play of time and life. If only I could select his memory like I select the files in my laptop so easily and delete the ones which had adverse effects on everybody!!! He needs another coma, I guess.

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A/N :

This chapter is completely from Jaaiz's point of view. So what do you think of him? Is he good or bad?

Then, there is a lot of confusion over Sid's real parents. And adding oil to the fire, now Sid has forgotten about Ruhanna's part in his life. Is he going to retain his memory soon enough?

And with whom do you think Ruhi suits better? Sid or Jaaiz? Do let me know. And yeah, stay tuned for more updates later in the month.

Lots of love,
Hiya.