Madhav scoffed at him. ‘I resign!’

Vinesh Rao was banking on Madhav backing off and apologizing. Instead, Madhav threw his resignation letter on the desk and showed his boss the middle finger. Before walking out of the office, he said, ‘Stop treating your employees like slaves. Make sure you are remembered for something good in life.’ A couple of people flashed him covert smiles of approval as he left.

Madhav had locked himself in his room to write these letters which clearly revealed that there were two sides to his personality. He wrote his resignation letter, which stressed the importance of his dreams. The other letter he wrote as Parth, realizing the need to be annihilated from Madhav’s life. He also wrote a third letter to Meera, apologizing for his behaviour.

Dr Lodwal put down the letter and looked at Radhika. ‘This is a case of DID,’ she said.

‘Dissociative identity disorder,’ Radhika muttered. She had suspected the same.

‘It’s not PTSD as you’d earlier thought. His recent actions make that very clear,’ the doctor replied. ‘Your attempt to glean information about his past by telling him your issues and meeting his mother seems to have worked.’

‘Yes. It did work, doctor. But now I’m scared. I have never handled such a case before and this happens to be a person I love—it makes me feel so helpless. Is it really DID?’

‘This is what it looks like, Radhika.’

‘It means that the night he came and asked for the book, it was not him?’

‘Yes, Radhika. His alternate personality rarely comes out in public or maybe it’s yet to become a part of him completely. This is exceptional and terrifying at the same time.’

‘What should I do now?’

‘I know you do not share a therapeutic relationship with Madhav any more, but the only way to complete recovery is to expel Parth’s personality, leaving behind one integrated self. Madhav’s alternate personality expressed the desire to be expelled so Madhav’s true identity can take over completely. Only you can convince him to let go of Parth. Just tell him that he doesn’t need Parth in his life. You can’t do it as a therapist, but you can surely do it as someone who cares for him deeply.’

A tear rolled down Radhika’s cheek.

‘Radhika, you have come so far and I am proud to see how patiently you have dealt with such a personal case. If you can try just for a little while longer, I think you can facilitate the final breakthrough in this case. I think only you can make this happen because no one else has made this much progress with Madhav before. You’re closer to resolving this than you think.’

‘What should I do next? I’m contemplating going to the site of the trauma and rekindling those memories to begin the final healing process,’ she said.

‘Yes, Radhika. We’re still unclear why Parth’s death caused this disorder. It’s obvious that a large part of Madhav’s life has been dictated by what he considered to be Parth’s desires—the medals, the achievements, the corporate job, they’re all at odds with Madhav’s real desires. Only you can resolve this dissonance because he doesn’t seem to respond to anyone else.’