Everyone's staring me. I feel like they're all waiting on me. I don't know why. Waiting for me to cry, maybe? To yell? To hit something? "What!" I yell at all of them. My aunt flinches. I immediately feel guilty, but I don't apologize, I close my eyes and inhale, trying to figure out the order of events. I remember talking to Dhruv about Nitya, and I remember Dhruv yelling. I even remember slamming on the brakes, but I can't remember why. I can't remember anything after that... up to opening my eyes in the car. I bring my legs off the table and turn to Dhruv. "What happened, Dhruv? I don't remember." He makes a face as if he's tired of explaining. He does it anyway, though. "A truck crossed the median and hit their car. You slammed on your brakes, so we weren't involved in that wreck. But when you slammed on your brakes, we were hit from behind. It knocked us into the ditch. As soon as I got out of the car, I ran to Nitya's car. I saw Adriti get out, so I thought she was okay that's when I went to check on Nitya." "So you saw her? She got out on her own? She wasn't thrown from the car?" He shakes his head. "No, I think she was confused. She must have passed out. But I saw her walking." I don't know if the fact that she got out on her own makes a difference, but it somehow eases my mind a little.

My Uncle leans forward in his chair and looks at me. "Ishaan. I know you don't want to deal with it right now, but they need as much information as you can give them.They don't even know her name. They need to know if she's allergic to anything. Does she have insurance? If you give them her social security number, they may be able to figure a lot of this out," I sigh. "I don't know. I don't know if she has insurance. I don't know her social. I don't know if she's allergic to anything. She hasn't got anyone but me, and I don't know a damn thing!" I lay my head in my hands, ashamed that Adriti and I have never discussed any of this before. Didn't I learn anything? From my parents' deaths? Here I am, possibly facing my past head-on again... unprepared and overwhelmed. My uncle walks over to me and wraps his arms around me. "I'm sorry, Ishaan. We'll figure it out."

Another hour passes with no word. Not even about Nitya. Adriti's parents goes with my uncle and aunt to the cafeteria for food. Dhruv stays with me. I guess he gets tired of sitting in the chairs because he gets up and lies down on the floor. It looks like a good idea, so I do the same thing. I put my hands under my head and raise my feet up in a chair. "I'm trying not to think about it, Ishaan." I hear the fear in his voice. "Dhruv stop. Stop thinking about it. Let's just think about something else for a while. We'll drive ourselves insane if we don't." Yeah..." he says. We're silent, so I know we're both still thinking about it. I try to think about anything else. But i couldn't. Every now and then, one of us will lift our head when we hear someone walk by. We eventually become too tired even to do that. I've begun to drift off to sleep when I'm sucked back into reality. "Sir?" someone says from the doorway. Dhruv and I jump up. "She's in a room now," the nurse says to Dhruv. "You can go see her. Room 207." "She's okay?" The nurse nods at him and smiles. And Dhruv is gone. Just like that.

The nurse turns to me. "Dr. Chhetri wanted me to let you know they're still in surgery. He doesn't have any updates yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we find something out." "Thank you," I say.

My uncle and aunt eventually come back with Adriti's parents. My Uncle and Adriti's father are trying to fill out the paperwork for Adriti. There aren't any questions I could answer that they doesn't already know the answers to. They leave most of the questions blank. My uncle walks the forms to the nurses' station and returns with a box. These are some of the personal items found in the vehicles," he says to me. I lean forward and look inside the box. Lake's purse is there. So are my cell phone and my jacket. I see her phone. I open her purse and pull out her wallet and hand it to my uncle. "Look in there. She might have an insurance card or something." He takes the wallet out of my hands and opens it. They must have already given Nitya's things to Dhruv, because there's nothing left in the box. "It's late," my aunt says. "We'll take Adriti's parents home with us so they can get some rest. Do you need anything before we go?"

My aunt picks up her purse and coat. I follow them out and walk down the hall with them. When we get to the end of the hallway, I stop and give Adriti's father a hug. "I'll call you as soon as I find out anything," I say to him. My uncle and aunt hug me goodbye, and they leave. My entire family leaves. I'm almost asleep I look down at my watch. It's after one in the morning. Why haven't they told me anything? Dhruv walks back into the room. He looks at me for answers, but I shake my head. He sits down in the seat next to me. "So Nitya's okay?" I ask. "Yeah. She's bruised up but okay," he says. I'm too tired to make small talk. Gavin fills the silent void. Dr. Chhetri walks in. I jump up, "Ishaan? Walk with me?" Dr. Chhetri tilts his head toward the hallway. "Wait here, Dhruv, I'll be right back." We've gotten to the end of the hallway before he starts to speak. When he does, I have to brace myself against the wall. I feel like I'm about to collapse.

"She made it through surgery, but we aren't close to being in the clear. She had a lot of bleeding. Some swelling. I did what I could without removing a portion of her parietal bone. Now all we can do is watch and wait." My heart is pounding against my chest. It's hard to pay attention when I have a million questions on the tip of my tongue. "What is it we're waiting for? If she made it this far, what are the dangers?" He leans against the wall next to me. We're staring at our feet, as if he's trying to avoid looking me in the eyes. He has to hate this part of his job. I hate this part of his job for him. That's why I don't look at him I feel like maybe it takes the pressure off.

"The brain is the most delicate organ in the human body. Unfortunately, we aren't able to tell just by looking at scans what exactly a person's injuries are. It's more like a waiting game, so for right now we're keeping her under anesthesia. Hopefully, by morning we'll have more of an idea what we're dealing with." "Can I see her?" He sighs. "Not yet. She's in recovery throughout the night. I'll let you know as soon as they take her to ICU." He straightens up and puts his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. "Do you have any more questions, Ishaan?" Now I look him in the eyes. "A million," I reply. He takes my response as it was rhetorically intended and he walks away. When i return to the waiting room, Dhruv is still sitting who jumps up and rushes to me. "Is she okay?" "She's out of surgery," I say. "But they won't know anything until tomorrow." "Know anything about what?" He asks. I sit and motion for him to sit down next to me. "When she hit her head, she hurt her brain. We won't know how badly she's hurt, when she'll wake up, or even if there's any damage until they take her off the anesthesia." Dhruv says, "I'll go tell Nitya. She's been hysterical," and he leaves the room.

I was hoping a weight would be lifted off my shoul-ders after finally speaking with the doctor, but it doesn't feel that way at all. It feels worse. I feel so much worse. I just want to see her.