‘Right, so, well. I am going to take you through our findings and lay out the options here. We were able remove the fragments. Here, let me show you,’ he said, placing Abhimanyu’s test results on a table in the room. What followed were long, incomprehensible medical terms and data that boggled Meera. ‘As is the case with rare closed head injuries, there’s a chance the patient might have traumatic neuropathy. This condition is seen in 2.5 per cent of mid-facial injuries and 2.5 per cent of closed-head injuries,’ Dr Patel said, pointing to the milky white areas of a dark X-ray report a nurse had held up against the light.

Meera tried her best to follow what was being relayed to her in cold medical terms, while Abhimanyu slept, splayed across the bed, still as rock. Dr Patel continued, ‘This could result in subnormal visual acuity – I am not saying this is confirmed – but there’s always a chance. As we said, he suffered a retinal hemorrhage, but the optic disc pallor usually develops, if it at all develops could take weeks.’ And on and on he went. Meera’s quiet panic reached a full-blown meltdown when Dr Patel uttered the only coherent sentence at the end of his soliloquy: ‘So, we suggest that he be flown to Mount Sinai in New York tonight to continue treatment.’

Meera looked at Ranjit Singh expectantly, who, without batting an eyelid, declared that he will make the necessary arrangements to transfer Abhimanyu at once. He rushed out of the room with the doctor to make a few calls, and, more importantly, get an authorization from Ranakpour.

This new development had thrown Meera off completely. She was supposed to wrap up for the day and leave for home. Instead, she found herself pacing the halls, waiting for Ranjit Singh to somehow facilitate Abhimanyu’s big move. In a way, she found herself thrown off track from her life in general ever since she had met Abhimanyu. The whirlwind romance that started at the Orient Club and continued miles away in Ranakpour, the queen’s death, the prince’s horrific injury – everything felt unreal to her. She didn’t have a single moment to herself to think things through. But she felt compelled to continue. That was the frame of mind she was in when she ran into Kamal at the hospital, who had come to visit Abhimanyu.

‘Meera! What are you doing here?’