Ram woke up to the sounds of Priya yelling at someone very loudly. He opened his eyes and scanned the room for her but she was not there. So he followed her voice and found himself out of the front door. She was standing by the window and was shouting on the phone, "I already told you I can't come to work right now, I've got some personal work and you expect me to show up for 3 hours, are you mad? You know what I am resigning. All paperwork will reach you in an hour, yes in an hour", Priya disconnected the phone and turned to head back inside.

"Priya what happened?", Ram asked noticing that tears were already streaming down her face.
"Ram…", Priya wanted to tell him but she broke out crying instead.
Ram walked her inside the house and tried to calm her down, "Why are so upset?", he asked her.
"Dadi has a high fever and it's not a very good sign at her age", she spoke out her concerns.
"What're you saying? She was perfectly fine last night", Ram said getting worriedly himself.
"Yes, she was", Priya told him nodding. "But when I checked her this morning, she was burning with fever."
"Are you sure? You could be mistaken right?", Ram tried to be hopeful as they moved to the stairs.
"I wish I was", Priya said climbing the stairs, "I am gonna check her again."
"Yes do that", Ram said as they walked up to Dadi's room.
Priya checked her one more time, "the temperature keeps rising, Ram gets dressed I am calling an ambulance."

He grabbed a pair of his clothes and headed to Priya's room to get ready, while Priya dialed the emergency number. By the time Ram got ready the ambulance arrived and the medical assistant immediately understood the seriousness of the situation and his Dadi was taken to the hospital. She has been taken to the emergency ward", 

"Ram, I am going there, you wait in the waiting room, I'll get to you when everything is fine okay", Priya said showing him the waiting room, and then stormed off in the direction of the emergency room.

Ram stepped into the waiting room; there were already some people there. He walked took a seat and tried to block all the negative thoughts. He silently prayed for his Dadi's wellness as he waited in the room for half an hour which definitely felt more than that. The door to the room slid open and everyone looked up to see, who it was Ram felt a little better seeing that it was Priya. She looked around for him and they both moved toward each other.

"Thank god you're here, I was beginning to lose my calm", Ram told her the truth, "How is Dadi?"
"She had a heart attack on her way here", Priya told him the shocking news, "But we stabilized her for now."
"Will she be okay?", Ram asked even though somewhere in the back of his mind he knew the answer.
"I can't say", Priya told him and it seemed she just wanted to cry, "I've come to take you to her room. 
"Yes I have it", Ram said with a nod.

Priya led the way to the dean's office and asked permission to stay with his Dadi, who was kept in an emergency ward, where no visitors were allowed. Priya explained the entire situation to the dean and the dean agreed to let Ram in the room, so they did some paperwork before he could be with his Dadi. And then Priya led him again, to his Dadi's room.

"They didn't fire you, did they?", Ram asked as they walked through the corridors. He wanted her to look after Dadi.
"No, I did show up for work today didn't I", she replied in a soft voice.

Priya pushed open the door and they both stepped into the room. Ram's Dadi was lying on a bed, with a bunch of monitoring devices connected to her, beeping in a rhythmic manner, making their own kind of music. Ram walked to her and grabbed her hand, took a seat next to her, and mentally told her, "Please don't leave me, Dadi."

"Ram, I am sorry but I have to go. The dean ordered me to look at attend other cases too but I'll be checking her every now and then", Priya said and once he gave her a nod, she walked out of the room.

The entire day Ram sat beside his only family member, holding onto her hand tight, hoping that by doing that he won't lose her. He wished and prayed for his grandmother to open her eyes and nag him about getting married. Priya came to check on her every hour or so, but she didn't exchange any words with Ram. Time just seemed to pass by as the ward door opened and Priya stepped without her lab coat.

"My shift is over that means I can join you now", Priya informed him. She moved towards him and handed him a neatly packed sandwich. Ram took it but didn't feel like eating it, "Eat it, it's not for staring. I know you haven't had anything since morning."
"I know you too didn't have anything either", Ram said to the girl sitting next to him and giving her one of the sandwiches as he himself opened one for himself. She did the same and they both ate the sandwiches in silence.

"Ram! Priya!", his Dadi mumbled. And Ram and Priya at once stood up and looked at her. She slowly opened her eyes and weakly smiled at them. And then spoke very softly, "My time is here."
"No don't leave me, I don't have anyone but you to call family", Ram and Priya both said together.
She held out her palm and revealed the rings which she showed them last night, "You can have each other", they both looked at the rings in her palm, "my last wish", his Dadi said, "Please!", they both took one ring and put it onto each other's fingers without giving it further thought. Ram's Dadi smiled and said, "Thank you", and became silent forever and all the machines beeped loudly.

Both Ram and Priya knew what had happened. Priya reached and closed Dadi's eyes with a shaky hand. Ram moved behind Priya and couldn't help but hold her; he needed her warmth more than anything else right now. Priya turned and buried her head in his chest, holding on to him tight, she needed to be in those strong protective arms because she was feeling vulnerable. They only had each other to share their pain now. I

It was raining when Ram and Priya made their way back home from the funeral. It had been two days since Dadi's death and they both hadn't talked to each other properly, just talking about breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They didn't even sleep or eat food properly. They both kept telling each other to sleep and eat but were not doing it themselves. All this time, they had spent hours comforting and supporting each other when the other became weak.

Today they held a prayer meeting for Dadi. Many people showed up to pay their respect. But if there was a crowd present at the prayer meeting, none of them could really know how exactly Ram and Priya were feeling. Even now as they walked in silence, they both knew what the other was feeling.

They reached home and Priya moved to unlock the house. They got in the house and headed upstairs to change their clothes, without a word to each other. Priya went into her room while Ram went into his Dadi's room, which he had been using as his bedroom but did not like it. He wanted to be as away from that room as possible since it reminded him of her.

Ram, after changing into something comfier, descended down sat on the couch and turned on the television. He switched to the news channel but he did not watch it but rather just stared at it. Priya walked down after some time and asked him, "What would you like to have for dinner?"

Ram turned his attention to her, she had started to look pale from all the crying or because she was not happy, it was what he thought, "Anything will do", Ram said as he wasn't really looking forward to dinner and turned his attention back to television. Priya quietly walked into the kitchen which was another thing Ram hated after his Dadi's death; he would have liked it very much if Priya talked to him and not ignored him. She wasn't really ignoring him but she wasn't the person he had known for some time now. 

Priya opened the refrigerator's door to see what she could make for dinner, which she was not looking forward to but Ram and even she hadn't had anything properly for the past few days now. All they eat was breakfast and skipped the two following meals. They were only having breakfast because they weren't able to meet each other's eyes after Dadi's death. She decided to make mixed vegetables as it will keep her busy for a longer time and doesn't require that much of her attention. She took out the vegetables and chopping board and started chopping down the vegetables almost absent-mindedly and cut her finger, "Ouch", screamed in pain.

Priya looked down at her bleeding finger and didn't bother to stop the bleeding, because she was reminded of the days when she had similarly cut her finger and Dadi was always there to scold her for not paying attention as she put a band-aid on the cut lovingly.

Priya snapped out of old memories when she felt someone holding her hand. It was Ram, "I'll get first-aid", he said and almost ran out of the kitchen, she heard his hurried steps on the upper floor and then his steps coming back to her, "I got it but there are no band-aids in it. It doesn't even have bandages", Ram said rummaging through the contents. He looked up at her and then at her bleeding finger and then without thinking anything put her finger in his mouth, to make the bleeding stop.

Ram let go of her finger, "Thank you", Priya thanked him sincerely with the weakest of her smile. She turned and resumed chopping the vegetables.
"Priya, let's have dinner outside, what do you think?", Ram asked, she didn't reply so he spoke again, "I am hungry and I can't wait for the mixed vegetable, so let's just go out." At this, she nodded and Ram couldn't help but feel a little happy at this and spoke again, "So let's get changed we can't go like this."

They both headed to their respective room, got dressed, and made their way into the hall and out of the house. The rain had stopped so they walked where they could find a taxi. They stopped a passing taxi and Ram told the driver to drive to one of the best restaurants. They didn't talk to each other and stared out of their respective windows and then Ram suddenly spoke or rather shouted, "Hey stop!", the driver applied the brakes suddenly and Ram bolted out of the taxi saying, "Wait I'll be back!"

Priya watched him rush into a convenience store as the driver commented, "What a weird guy", and she looked at the driver but didn't say anything. She knew it must have been important that he rushed out like this; she just decided to ask him later and waited for him patiently while the cab driver was expressing his feelings about Ram's sudden action. She saw Ram exiting the store and the cab driver stopped his rant.

Ram saw a questioning look on Priya's face and an annoyed look on the driver's face as he got in the cab. He completely ignored the driver's looks and asked him to continue to their destination while he faced Priya and pulled out a band-aid from his pocket and put it on Priya's fingers, "Thought it might help", he said. Priya couldn't help but smile at him and he mirrored her smile. 

Priya lay awake in his bed and trying to remember the evening, the moment he saw Priya smile he felt happiness creep inside him but he also felt the sadness trying to suppress that happiness. And he just felt a little frustrated for some reason and being in his Dadi's room wasn't helping him either. He got up, not wanting to be there anymore. He descended the stairs and walked to the couch and lay down on it, keeping a cushion as a pillow.

Ram closed his eyes and a memory of the time when he was 5 years old started playing in his mind. His parents had left him with his grandparents because they had to attend some late-night party. His grandparents made him sleep in his room but he had a nightmare and went straight to his Dadu and his Dadi and without asking him anything they offered him to sleep together with them. He jumped in their bed and had a wonderful sleep, with his grandparents.

Ram suddenly felt cold and wished for his Dadi's warmth. He decided to get a blanket later and laid there his eyes closed, then all of a sudden he felt warm. He opened his eyes a little and saw Priya walking away after pulling a blanket over him. He reached out and caught her hand. He noticed that she was still wearing the engagement ring whose pair was in his own hand. She turned to look at him her hair flying as she turned.

"I can't sleep", Ram said getting himself into a sitting position.
"Me neither", she said and sat on the couch next to Ram they both pulled their legs up on the couch and faced each other after a long time. Priya pulled the blanket on her bare legs and looked at Ram expecting something but when he didn't say anything and just stared at her, she asked, "So what's keeping you up?"
"I don't wanna talk about that. Let's talk about something else", he suggested. She didn't say anything so Ram continued, "So how come I never saw you, I did my schooling here only and never saw you anywhere not in school or anywhere? I mean our grandparents were best friends or something right?"
"It's possibly because I studied in a girl's boarding school", Priya told him looking straight into his eyes.
"But I never saw you on holidays or during vacations either", he asked, not taking his eyes off her beautiful face. He just wanted to keep talking with her.
"I studied in Delhi, I didn't come here very often and after my graduation, we move to Mumbai, because of my father's transfer my family wants me to join work there as it was an expanding City, I worked there for a couple of months than my Parent's and Dada Ji sent me and Dadi here while they stayed there cause he had to do some work. And one week after that we heard that My parents and my Dada Ji died in a car accident", she said and rested her elbow on top of the couch and supported her face with her hand.

"I'm sorry about that", Ram said still staring at her face which looked more beautiful in the moonlight, which was filling the room and escaping through the windows.
"No, it's no problem when I heard that my Parents and my Dada Ji died it took me a whole week to get past them and your Dada ji helped", Priya said.
"Tell me about it", Ram asked pulling the blanket over himself.
"When I got a job here, he used to bring me back from work, if I got late or something, said if I was his granddaughter he'd do it, so why can't he do it for his best friend's granddaughter. He was always there to help out me and my Dadi when we were going through some financial problems", she told him.
"So you were here when he died", Ram asked. She nodded and he asked, "What happened to him?"

"He had a heart attack a call came", Priya said and stopped suddenly.
"What call?", Ram asked his curiosity rising.
"You don't wanna hear that", Priya said not meeting his eyes anymore.
He moved closer and lifted her chin up and said, "I do, believe me."
"There was a call informing that you went missing and they were more than sure that you died", Priya said tears in her eyes.
"It… it was because of me he died I can't believe it", suddenly there was a rush of realizations; "It's all because of me that Dada ji died, Dadi became sick and your Dadi was killed. It's all my fault", Ram said feeling angry at himself.
"No… no it's not your fault", Priya said shaking her head, tears streaming down her face.
"It was my doing all my mistake", Ram said as a feeling of guilt overtook him.
"No… no it was not you", she said holding his face in her warm hands and looked into his eyes and said, "it was me... I was the one who received that call. If I had kept it to myself none of this would've happened."

Priya let go of Ram's face and she had the same look of guilt on her face that Ram was feeling now but he was not mad at her, he couldn't be. He pulled her to his chest and let her cry on him. He pulled the blanket over her, covering her completely. This was probably why she was not talking to him because she didn't want him to get hurt. Did she care about him that much? And will he ever be able to repay her for what she had done for him and his grandparents? He didn't know anything but he knew that she was with his grandparents when he should have been there with them. Ram didn't blame her for telling his Dada Ji that he died, she was only passing on the message and Ram believed more knew that she was lying. He can say that now, he knows her more closely than anyone and one thing was more clear than ever it was no one's fault that their grandparents died. It was definitely not Priya's fault or his fault.