Chapter 41

Hospitals don't go quiet, they hum, a constant low rhythm of machines, footsteps, distant voices blending into something that doesn't stop, and Abhi sat outside her room with that sound pressing into him, not loud enough to distract him, not quiet enough to let him think clearly, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped tight, fingers digging into each other like he was holding himself together, and every time he blinked, even for a second, he saw the same thing again—her on the floor, curled, struggling to breathe, trying to say she was fine when she clearly wasn't, and it didn't leave, it stayed, sharp, raw, replaying in a way that made his chest tighten again and again.