Unheard Love #WishICouldTellYou

Unknowing

"I wish you could hear me, speak to me, tell me you felt for me. I wish I could tell you how much I loved you."

Ananth could feel her warm, comforting embrace around him, something he had not felt for a long time.

The girl looked up at him again- tears in her hazel eyes now- "I just wish we could rewind back to the date, before you were hit, before they proclaimed you were in a coma."

"I must leave now; I'll be back tomorrow morning, of course. I'll give my prayers to whatever power exists, just, please, come back to me." Ananth felt the warmth of the words against his cheek.

His eyes traced her tender face before she left through a glass door. The room, he now noticed, was showered in a bright white light. A sharp, sterile smell could be detected.

A noise from the door and the smart clicking of heels against the ground turned his eyes back.

A stern-looking woman, perhaps in her forties or fifties, with dark brown hair and brown eyes, was staring at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Sneha, you were saying you detected sudden brain activity?"

"Yes ma'am," a voice spoke from behind her. "For the first time in six months."

"Get an MRI scheduled for tomorrow. Call up his girlfriend, or whatever she is, she will need to sign some papers." The middle-aged woman said in an authoritative tone.

"On it, doctor."

The woman pulled up a stool and sat down, and her face became gentler as she spoke to Ananth.

"Ananth, can you hear me? Blink twice for yes."

He did as he was told, and the movement came surprisingly naturally.

The woman's eyebrows once again raised, this time in surprise.

The woman reached back and picked up a tiny silver torch.

"Ananth, I want you to follow the light." She said, and switched on the torch.

Ananth's eyes tracked the light as the doctor moved it in front of him.

"One last thing." Her voice was softer now. "Can you try to lift your arm? Blink once if you can't."

Through sheer willpower, he tried hard, to lift his arm, even move a finger, but failed. He blinked once.

The frown returned upon the woman's face and her assistant walked back in.

"I called the girl up, ma'am. She is making her way back."

"I'm afraid we have good news and bad news for her. The bad news is that Ananth has 'Locked-In' syndrome. He might not be able to move ever, unless we act fast. The good news is that he is awake." The doctor finished in a quiet tone. The two left.

Sometime later, he heard someone walk in again. The girl from earlier stood by his side, her gaze transfixed on his.

"So he can hear me?" She asked.

"Yes. We will start his treatment soon." The doctor replied.

"You'll make it, Ananth. You'll live your life once more."