Silent Love

| 23 |

Sidharth

Shanaya was out of surgery by the time I reached the hospital.

"She's right now in a medically induced coma which is going to give her brain a little time to recover from the imbalance. But she should be awake in a day at the latest." Dr.Nanda, the neurosurgeon who had taken up my sister's case told us. He was also my mom's old friend from college.

By the time I had reached the hospital, and as I had expected, my mother was found in a miserable state. Since my father was not around and we had still not been able to contact him, she was visibly terrified.

Shortly after I had consoled her, the neurosurgeon walked out of the OR to update us on my sister's condition.

“Are you saying she survived? That she’s going to be okay?" My mother asked in disbelief. Since it was a brain injury, I couldn't blame her for calculating the worst outcomes. I was well aware of the risks of brain surgery, although death is not always an outcome, there is a high risk of memory loss, loss of speech or paralysis. Just the mere idea of it sent a disturbing feeling down the pit of my stomach.

"Yes. She did.” The doctor said, giving both of us a huge reassuring smile.

My mom sobbed at him in delight and flung her arms to engulf him in an embrace. "Thank you so much.”

“You're welcome." He said. Once they pulled apart, it was my turn to offer him my gratitude.

"Thank you so much, doctor. May I know if there were any complications?”

“Not of the ordinary." He replied. "There was an emergency trauma surgery performed on her to prevent excessive loss of blood but it's a very standard procedure and it went
well so I wouldn't worry about it. We'll know more about how her brain is coping once she awakens, but from my experience, I can assure you that she's going to be in good health soon."

I nodded at him in relief and he paid me one last smile before he left us alone.

“I'm so relieved." My mother muttered, sighing. “Do you have any idea where your father is? He's having me worried."

"Don't worry about him, Mom, I'm sure he's okay. Didn't he tell you that the place he was camping at has a really poor signal? I'm sure he'll get back to us the moment he's in a better network coverage area."

"I hope so.” She said. "He's going to be devastated."

"Shanaya's going to be awake and okay by the time he returns so I think he'll be relieved. Don't worry about it, Mom, please."

“You're right." She said and briefly spared a glance at the huge wall clock that was hung in the waiting room. "Do you want to go grab a bite? I'm starving."

“Let's go.” I nodded.

After the transaction, I walked over to where my mother was seated whilst holding two plates of breakfast, one for each of us. It was almost 9 am  and since I didn't have time to grab a bite before boarding the flight, I realised that a meal was far overdue.

We ate in silence for a long time, mainly because both of us were tired due to the chain of events that had happened the previous day and we were also very hungry. Once I had a fair portion of food, I asked.

“Did the police reach out to you?"

"They did." She said. "They were here at the hospital by the time I arrived and took me into investigation right away. It was a hit and run case."

My eyes widened. "What?"

“Yes, they have no information with regards to who did that. They're still investigating. I was in no condition to listen to them last night, I was worried sick about Shanaya's surgery. They understood it, and told me they'll return today with more information.”