Chapter 1: A Stormy Beginning
Saanvi Mehra jolted awake to the shrill cry of her alarm clock. The sun had yet to rise, and raindrops lashed against the windowpane of her high-rise Mumbai apartment. At 27, she was a woman of discipline—a dedicated general medicine doctor working at one of the busiest public hospitals in the city. Her modest yet elegant apartment bore traces of both practicality and warmth, shared only with her loyal golden retriever, Bruno.
The air smelled of monsoon rain and brewing chai. Saanvi moved through her morning routine with practiced efficiency—feeding Bruno, brushing her sleek dark hair into a neat ponytail, slipping into her light blue scrubs. Her phone pinged relentlessly with hospital updates—today promised a rush of patients battling flu, accidents, and flood-related chaos.
She stood by the window, staring at the torrential downpour. Roads were waterlogged, and most cabs had refused service. Finally, after thirty frustrating minutes, one reluctant driver agreed to pick her up. Umbrella in hand, she rushed down, the water soaking through her shoes. Her phone buzzed again—messages from junior doctors asking about emergency wards.
The cab splashed through flooded streets. What should’ve been a thirty-minute commute stretched past an hour. Tension coiled in her shoulders. She was needed at the hospital—patients depended on her. Her fingers hovered over her phone to call again when it happened.
A deafening crack split the sky. The cab shuddered, the ground trembled violently. Thunder roared like an angry beast. Before she could comprehend what was happening, a blinding bolt of lightning struck dangerously close. The vehicle skidded, flipped once, and crashed into a streetlight.
Saanvi’s vision blurred. Pain burst in her chest as something sharp pierced her side. She heard her driver scream, heard Bruno’s bark echo in her mind, then silence. As the world tilted and dimmed, her eyes locked on the strange light in the sky—not just lightning now, but something… otherworldly. A surge of heat. A pull in her chest. She felt herself slipping, not just into unconsciousness, but somewhere beyond.
And then… nothing.
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