I was soo tired so I just went downstairs to get myself coffee. When i return to the waiting room, Dr. Chhetri is sitting. He don't notice me right away. "Any news?" I walk into the. Dr. Chhetri stands up. "We've still got her under anesthesia. We were able to run some tests. I'm waiting on the results, but you can see her for a few minutes." Now? We can see her? Right now?" I'm gathering up my things as I reply. "Ishaan... I can't let anyone else in," he says. "She hasn't been moved from recovery yet... I'm not even supposed to let you in. But I'm doing with me." some rounds and thought I'd let you walk. I reach over and turn back toward the door.

I follow Dr. Chhetri past the nurses' station, through the doors, and down the hall to the double doors leading to surgery. Before we go any farther, he takes me into a room where we both wash our hands. When we get to the door, I can barely catch my breath. I'm so nervous. My heart is about to explode through my chest. "Ishaan, you need to know a few things first. She's on a ventilator to help her breathe, but only because we've got her in a medically induced coma. There's no chance of her waking up right now with the amount of medicine we're giving her. Most of her head is bandaged. She looks worse than she feels; we're keeping her comfortable. I'll allow you a few minutes with her, but that's all I can give you right now. Understand?"

I nod. He pushes open the door and lets me in. As soon as I see her, I struggle to breathe. The reality of the moment knocks the air from my lungs. The ventilator sucks in a rush of air and releases it. With each repetitive sound of the machine, it's as if hope is being pushed out of me. I go to the bed and take her hand. It's cold. I kiss her forehead. I kiss it a million times. I just want to lie down with her, hug her. There are too many wires and tubes and cords running everywhere. I pull a chair up next to the bed and interlock her fingers with mine. It's getting hard to see her through my tears, so I have to wipe my eyes on my shirt. She looks so peaceful, like she's just taking a nap.

"I love you, Adriti," I whisper. I kiss her hand. "I love you," I whisper again. "I love you." The covers are pulled tightly around her, and she's got a hospital gown on. Her head is wrapped in a bandage, but most of her hair is hanging down around her neck. I'm relieved they didn't cut all of her hair. She'd be pissed. The ventilator tube is taped over her mouth, so I kiss her forehead again and her cheek. I know she can't hear me, but I talk to her anyway. "Adriti, you have to pull through this. You have to." I stroke her hand. "I can't live without you." I turn her hand over and kiss her palm, then press it against my cheek. The feel of her skin against mine is surreal. I wasn't sure if I'd ever feel it again. I close my eyes and kiss her palm again and again. I sit there and cry and kiss the only parts of her I can. "Ishaan," Dr. Chhetri says. "We need to go now."

I stand up and kiss her on the forehead. I take a step back, then take a step forward and kiss her hand. I take two steps back, then walk two steps toward her and kiss her cheek. Dr. Chhetri takes my arm. "Ishaan, we need to go." I take a few steps toward the door. "Wait," I say. I went towards her again then kiss her on the forehead again before we leave.

The rest of the morning drags by. Nitya was discharged. She wanted to stay with me, but Dhruv and I wouldn't let her. All I can do now is wait. Wait and think. Think and wait. That's all I can do. That's all I do. I wander the halls for a while. I can't keep sitting in that waiting room. I've spent way too much of my life in there, and in this hospital. I was here for six solid days after my parents died. I don't remember much from those days.

As soon as I begin to doze off, Dr. Chhetri walks in. I sit up in my chair, and he takes a seat next to me. "We've moved her to a room in ICU. You'll be able to see her in an hour, during visiting hours. The scans look good. We'll try easing her off the anesthesia over time and see what happens. It's still touch and go, Ishaan. Anything can happen. Getting her to respond to us is our priority now," The relief washes over me, but a new sense of worry creeps in just as fast. "Does." It feels like my throat is squeezed shut when I try to speak. I grab my bottle of water off the table in front of me and take a drink, then try again to speak. "Does she have a chance? At full recovery?" He sighs. "I can't answer that. Right now the scans show normal activity, but that may not mean anything when it comes to trying to wake her up. Then again, it could mean she'll be perfectly fine. Until that moment, we won't know." He stands up. "She's in room five in ICU. Wait until one o'clock before you head down there." I nod. "Thank you."

As soon as I hear him round the corner, I grab my things and run as fast as I can in the opposite direction to ICU. The nurse doesn't ask any questions when I walk in I act like I know exactly what I'm doing and head straight to room five. There aren't as many wires, though she's still hooked up to the ventilator, and she has an IV in her left wrist. I walk around to the right side of the bed and pull the rail down. I climb into bed with her and wrap my arm around her and lay my leg over her legs. I take her hand in mine and I close my eyes.. "Ishaan." Adriti's mom says. I jerk my eyes open, and she's standing on the other side of Adriti's bed. I stretch my arms out above my head. "Hey," I whisper. "I brought you some cloths." "Thankyou. What time is it?" She looks at her watch. "Almost five," she says. "The nurse said you've been asleep for a couple of hours." I push my elbow into the bed and lift myself up. My arm is asleep. I slide off the bed and stand up and stretch again. "You do realize visitors are only allowed fifteen minutes," she says. "They must like you." I laugh. "I'd like to see them try to kick me out," I say. I walk over to the chair and sit. The worst thing about hospitals is the furniture. The beds are too small for two people. The chairs are too hard for any people. And there's never a recliner. If they would just have a recliner. I might not detest them so much.

Have you eaten anything today?" she asks. I shake my head. "Come downstairs with me. I'll buy you something to eat." "I can't. I don't want to leave her," I say. "They've been reducing her meds. She could wake up." "Well, you need to eat. I'll grab you something and bring it back up." "Thanks," I say. "You should at least take a shower. You've got dried blood all over you. It's gross." She smiles at me and starts to head out the door.