Hours passed. Around mid-afternoon, he got up and brought some coffee for himself and the others. “Thank you, beta”, said uncle, managing a faint smile. He put his hand over uncle’s shoulder to show his support. How easily does grief bring people close to strangers? He sat down beside the couple. The girls were resting in another room. She rushed to uncle and aunty and pulled them towards the room. “She’s opened her eyes, you were right. We should be positive. She’s asking for you and aunty.” As the couple went inside, she looked at him, tears of joy in her eyes. Suddenly, they were hugging each other. That tiny figure fits so perfectly in his arms. It felt good, amazing. Something that he had longed for since the first time he saw her, was happening right now. Stating that it was anything but magical would be an understatement. They remained like that for a few seconds, not letting any air pass between them. She broke from his embrace suddenly, looked at him for a second and rushed to tell the other girls. He just stood there, amazed and confused by what had just happened.
Everyone gathered outside the room. He stood beside his friend but made sure he could see his beautiful lady from there. Did he just call her his beautiful lady? Oh, he was losing control. He felt his phone vibrate just then and wondered if it was his girlfriend again, who through some black magic knew what was going on in his mind and had called to pull him back to reality. But, it was just Vodafone..trying to irritate him at this hour of the night. It worked though; he got a little distracted and returned to the seats outside the ICU. He was expecting many emotions to rush inside him at that moment. But all he got was emptiness. He didn’t know what to feel. He wasn’t one of those guys who cheated on his girlfriend for a newly found fling. Nor was he one of those guys who went around changing girlfriends. But this was new; he had never felt something like this before. Never before had he wanted his singlehood so badly! He wanted her. He wanted her presence around him, his life. But he knew it would be wrong. He was already in love. And they were made for each other; him and his girlfriend, or so he thought until he hugged this girl. What was happening to him? He needed some sleep to clear his mind.
He was woken up by his friend. “Coffee?” she asked, passing him a cup of Nescafe. They sat in silence for a while. Things had changed so much in the past one and half day. He remembered talking to her in CCD, laughing and making fun of each other. And here they were, with coffee in their hands again, but complete silence. “We are taking her back home. Uncle knows a Doctor there who can treat her. She is out of danger. Thank you so much for being there. You’re a great support!” He raised his hands in objection, “Hey, that’s what friendship is about, honey. Don’t thank me for being a friend.” They smiled at each other.
His phone rang again, this time it was his girlfriend. He excused himself and went outside. The fresh air hit him hard like reality replacing imagination. “Where are you? I wanna know!” she shouted. “Baby, please Arnab Goswami mat bano yaar. Wo ek hi kafi hain!” He tried to calm her down with his stupid joke. “Very funny!” she said in an irritated voice. He knew he would have to explain her everything. And he narrated the entire incident, skipping the romantic encounters with the girl. He was walking on the lawn outside the hospital, talking to his girlfriend. The sun had replaced the night sky and the rays made their way through trees. Finally, he went back inside. Uncle and his friend were talking to the Doctor. “We will take her to the hospital in our town then. Thank you so much, Doctor”, uncle was saying. He motioned towards the ICU, but the bed was empty and so was the room. He must’ve talked for really long over the phone. He turned around only to find the pretty face. “Thank you, she will be alright. The doctors back in town are very nice. We are taking her in an ambulance, in case. She’s out of danger though.” she told him, smiling her sweet, innocent, magical smile. “Oh yeah, of course. She’ll be alright”, he replied. She shook hands with him, smiled and went to where everyone else was.
One by one everyone came and said goodbye. Uncle and Aunty thanked him genuinely before leaving. His friend came, hugged him and said, “I’ll see you soon, okay? Be a nice boy. Bye.” Everything happened so quickly, he couldn’t quite register it. Since the accident, things had slowed down so much that it suddenly seemed like the situation was playing in fast forward. He walked behind them, absent minded. They were leaving. She was leaving and he hadn’t even cleared his confusion or wished her goodbye properly. He was gonna be stuck with it now, stuck with her memories for quite a while. Dammit! What was all this confusion? He had a whole day, week, month, as long as he wanted now; to figure it out!