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As for the words I’d been hearing while I was in a coma, they must have been some weird medicine-induced hallucination.Because there was no way the man who said all those things and begged me to wake up could have abandoned me as soon as I opened my eyes.

And still, I couldn’t help but keep my eyes trained on the door every single day, waiting for him to come. But he didn’t come.

Not even when they discharged me from the ICU and moved me into a private ward that cost an arm and a leg. Aisha, Daya Bua, Sufi and all the friends I had made since I married Viren filled my room with flowers and presents, but there wasn’t even a get-well-soon card from my husband.

My fake husband, I corrected myself. It was time to start using the correct terminology for our fake relationship.

I didn’t ask if Viren had returned from Dubai, and nobody mentioned him. As the days passed and he was still a no-show, it began to make even our visitors uncomfortable, though they didn’t say anything. Except for Sarang.

“I’ll go to Dubai and drag him back home by his ear, Daima,” he growled one evening, thinking I was fast asleep. “He can’t do this! He must be out of his mind.”

“It won’t do any good, beta,” she said with a sob, and my heart sank at her words. “Our Viren has changed overnight, Sarang. His hearthasreally turned to stone.”

I struggled to hold back my sobs, and thankfully, they left right away. I turned my face away from the door and allowed my tears to fall silently, crying for what I thought I had lost, but which wasn’t mine to lose in the first place.

Dhruv broached the topic when it was clear I would be discharged the next week.

“What the hell is going on between you and Viren, Sue? Why hasn’t he been in to see you?”

I turned a weary face to him and smiled bleakly.

“I think that’s self-evident, Dhruv. We’re not together anymore.”

“Bullshit! That man was here from the moment you were brought in right until the moment you opened your eyes. He didn’t eat, sleep or move from your side when you were critical. He held on to you as tightly as you held on to life. So what happened to make him vanish overnight?”

“Haven’t any of your patients been ghosted by a partner after an accident?” I asked cynically.

“Of course,” he replied. “It’s sadly more common than you think. But none of those partners was as steadfast in their care as your husband.”

“It was the funeral, in my opinion,” said Sufi, with a giant sniff as he rearranged my flowers.

“What funeral?” I asked in confusion.

“Ramesh’s funeral. I saw Mr C during the last rites. Something happened to him, and when we left the crematorium, it was as if something was broken inside him.”

“Find out what’s wrong with him and fix this, Sufi. Because this is just wrong,” said Dhruv severely before he left the room.

“I don’t know how to fix this, Sue,” whispered Sufi in dismay. “For the first time in my life, I have no quick fix or jugaad for a problem.”

“It can’t be fixed, Sufi Singh. Sometimes, it’s important to know when a problem is past fixing,” I said, feeling exhausted and broken.

“This is your marriage we’re talking about, Sue. You can’t give up so easily,” he exclaimed.

“Why not?” I snapped. “When it’s clear that Viren has given up already. There’s nothing left to save.”

And I was proved right the day I was to be discharged from the hospital.

Sufi and Dhruv were completing all the formalities and billing, and Daya Bua and Aisha were helping me pack my things. This room had been my home for a month now, and Ihad grown attached to it. I didn’t know how I could go back to Chaudhry House when I knew Viren didn’t want me there anymore.

There was a knock at the door, and Aisha squealed with joy.

“He’s here! Chachu is finally here!”

She ran to him, and he picked her up easily, giving her a tight hug. He then greeted Daya Bua, who gave him a very cold welcome. And I noticed he still wasn’t looking at me, the coward.

Did he really think I was going to fall on his chest and cry about his absence? I mean, I would if I could, but I knew it wouldn’t make any difference to his stony heart. So why bother?

I didn’t say a word, just went on packing my stuff into the holdall Sufi had placed on my bed. Eventually, Daya Bua hustled Aisha out of the room, and I braced myself for whatever was coming next.