Shubman's world turned black.

When he came to, he found he was sitting on a chair, his sister looking down at him with tears in her eyes, and his mother holding what looked like an ice pack.

"What happened?"

His mother just handed him the ice pack and motioned for him to put it on the back of his head, where, now that he thought about it, a dull, throbbing pain was growing.

"You fell, Shubi. The news.."

All at once, the last few moments of his life flashed before his eyes and he wished he had stayed unconscious.

Patna flight.

Ishu...

Dear god, please no. Anything else but this, Shubman prayed with his eyes closed, willing for the last few minutes of his life to have been a dream, the most horrible dream he could have conjured.

A few tears leaked out, and when he opened his eyes and faced his sister, eyes red-rimmed and full of pain, Shahneel knew her baby brother would never be the same again.

Steeling herself, she took hold of his shoulders, looked him square in the eyes, and said,

"Shubi, be strong. It's just one piece of news. There have been no new reports yet. You know how the media is. He might not even be on the flight."

At that, Shubman quickly wiped the tears from his eyes, cleared his throat from the onslaught of sobs that he was sure were on his way up, and sat up.

"You're right, you're right. I just...."

Shahneel quickly gathered her brother in her arms, and their mother quickly enveloped both her children in a hug, not knowing how else to comfort them.

Shubman tried recalling the last time he saw Ishan, the last time they spoke. He tried to really stress his memory, but there was no quick recollection. All he remembered was the tired smile Ishan had bestowed upon Rohit bhai in return for a pat on the head, and that was it.

Shubman's breathing sped up, and he kept struggling to remember the last time he had heard the voice he longed to hear just once.

Just once, he thought. Dear god, please let me not have lost him.

A sob broke out of him then, which echoed in the quiet of the house and sent a shiver up the spine of the walls.

"Shubi, stop. You know what you have to do."

Shubman knew it, but did not know if he had the strength to go through with it.

He picked up his phone from the stand with shaking fingers, and dialed the one person he knew would feed him no bullshit.

When the person on the other end picked up, Shubman could do nothing more than bawl his name,

"Virat bhai."