Chapter 7: A Stranger in the Mirror

A gasp.

A jolt.

Khushi's eyes flew open.

Bright ceiling lights. A soft pillow beneath her head. The steady beep of a monitor nearby.

She wasn't dead.But she also wasn't alive in the same way anymore.

The door burst open.

"Oh my God! Khushi!"

A woman rushed in...tall, elegant, with wide eyes and trembling hands. She dropped her handbag on the floor and practically fell to the side of the bed.

"My baby, oh god, you're awake..." she sobbed, holding her face.

Khushi flinched.She didn't recognize her voice.

This wasn't Aai. This wasn't her Sonali.

Yet... this woman's arms wrapped around her like they were made to hold her.

"W-Who are you…?" Khushi's voice cracked like dry leaves.

The woman froze. "It's me, beta… it's me, Meera. Your mom. Don't scare me like that..please. You were unconscious for almost two days!"

Khushi blinked.

"Mom…?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

Meera gently cupped her face. "Yes. You fell into the pond at the farmhouse. Don't you remember? You slipped… Kaka pulled you out just in time. Your head hit a stone..there was blood🩸..Khushi, we thought we lost you!"

Khushi's mind spun.

Pond?Slipped?Farmhouse?🏡

None of it made sense.

She touched her own face and her hands trembled.

When the nurse stepped out and Meera got a call, Khushi slowly slid her feet off the bed and walked toward the washroom.

Her heart thudded like a ticking bomb.

She turned on the light.

And saw a stranger in the mirror.

The face staring back at her wasn't hers.

Longer nose. Slimmer jawline. Hair styled neatly in a way she never did.

But her eyes… her eyes were still hers.Brown. Fierce. Broken.

Khushi's knees buckled. She sat on the edge of the bed, breathing hard.

Flashes filled her mind...Ron screaming.Nisha laughing.The basement door slamming.Her mother's bangles falling to the ground.Then nothing.Then darkness.Then this.

"I died…" she whispered. "But I came back... in someone else's body."

Four days later that evening, Meera returned with a tray of hot soup, khichdi, and a chocolate bar tucked to the side.

"Your favorite," Meera smiled. "Well… your favorite two months ago. You change your mind every week these days."

Khushi sat up slowly.

Meera helped her adjust the pillows.

As Khushi took her first spoonful, Meera sat beside her and said softly, "You scared us all, beta. Papa couldn't sleep. Dadaji sat in front of your room for hours."

Khushi swallowed hard. "I… I'm sorry…"

Meera touched her forehead gently. "Shhh. Don't be sorry. Just be okay. That's all I want."

There was that feeling again.Love.Genuine, raw, motherly love.

So different from the last time she saw Sonali's eyes...filled with heartbreak and goodbye.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the hospital window.

Meera came in holding a file.

Khushi was sitting up, flipping through the TV channels.

"You're looking better already," Meera beamed.

"I think…" Khushi blinked, "I'm okay."

"Well," Meera said, handing her the file, "this might motivate you to recover faster."

Khushi raised an eyebrow and opened the folder.

Exam registration. Seat number. Hall ticket.

"Board exams…?"

"Your 10th finals are in thirteen days," Meera said, brushing Khushi's hair gently. "I know it sounds crazy right now, but… before the accident, you were so ready. You'd finished the whole syllabus."

Khushi looked at the file again. Her name—Khushi Joshi—stood out like a branding iron.

It felt wrong. Like she was cheating. But… it was her handwriting.She recognized it.Yet didn't.

Meera added gently, "You told me last month, 'I'll top India, Mom. Watch me.' You were so sure."

Khushi's throat tightened. "Did I really say that?"

Meera smiled. "With full drama. Even pointed your pencil like a sword."

Khushi chuckled softly. "Sounds like me…"

But inside, something else stirred.

The old Khushi..Khushi Patil...had topped India.

She remembered crying alone in the bathroom when her results came. Sonali had been gone. Her family shattered.

This time… could she top again?

Could she write a new ending?

That night, after Meera left, Khushi sat up with a pen and notebook.

She stared at the blank page for a long time.

Then wrote:

My name is still Khushi. But I have lived two lives.One ended with betrayal.This one… I will not waste.They think I died.Let them.Because the girl they killed…Will be the reason they fall.

Somewhere in Mumbai, in a luxury living room…

A boy with round glasses and an inhaler sat watching cartoons.

Suddenly the channel changed. His cousin Karan rolled his eyes.

"News again? You're only seven. Why do you care?"

But the boy stared at the screen.

News Alert: Khushi Joshi, a daughter of Joshi Tech, is awake after a near-death accident.

The boy's heart skipped.

The girl on screen… those eyes…

He whispered, "Tai…?"